00:00www.arckhaminsider.com
00:31We are back on the world's most comfortable couch and I'm joined here by Tim Hannigan, the lead AI programmer
00:37at Rocksteady Studios. Tim, how are you doing?
00:39I'm doing great, thanks. How are you?
00:40Good. It's been a tough project, right?
00:42It has been a tough project.
00:43We're nearly there.
00:43Close to the end. I can smell it. Smell the finish line.
00:47It's just around the corner.
00:48Now, we showed a little bit of dual play in the All Who Follow You trailer. I promised everyone an
00:53all-you-can-eat smorgasbord of dual play. And I'm hoping you're the chef who can take us there.
00:58Yeah, I shall do my best, Axe.
00:59Good man. Talk us through where we're at and what we're doing.
01:03So, what we're seeing here is Batman and Nightwing. They're going to team up. They've been tracking down Penguin. He's
01:07got these weapon caches throughout the city.
01:09So, he's got these locations. He's hiding weapons. He's stockpiling weapons. He's kind of supplying the weaponry to the other
01:15people in Gotham City.
01:16Okay.
01:17And you and Nightwing have teamed up to try and track him down. So, you as Batman are going to
01:21try and infiltrate and join up with Nightwing inside the cache to take out the enemy.
01:25And we make a classic Batman entry straight through the ceiling and then seamlessly straight into combat.
01:30As always, straight into combat. So, obviously, the big goal with our combat system is always to go straight into
01:34combat and to be seamless once you're there.
01:36And then talk us through what happens from here in the context of dual play.
01:41So, from here, you're both fighting at the same time. The AI is taking control of the character you are
01:45not controlling.
01:45Cool.
01:45Now, at any point, as Batman, for example, you can switch to Nightwing and the AI will switch to take
01:50control of the other character.
01:51If you're building your combo with Batman and you see that there's an enemy over by Nightwing you want to
01:55take out, you can switch to Nightwing.
01:57You'll keep your combo. If you've got your special charged up, you can instantly use your super combo takedown on
02:02that though.
02:03Super combo takedown. And that's these sort of epic takedown moments where both characters team up for a complete KO
02:09on that though.
02:09Yeah, if you build up your takedown meter by hitting the thugs, then when you've got enough charged up, you
02:14can execute that pre-play takedown.
02:17And then what about other features that we've seen previously in Free Flow Combat?
02:21We've got weapons that you can pick up off the ground. We've got double and triple takedowns. So, dual play
02:26sort of sits on top of all those pre-existing systems.
02:28Well, all those systems integrate together, yeah. So, there's no separate system involved. It's all kind of trying to flow
02:34together seamlessly is always the goal of Free Flow Combat.
02:37Now, you've been at Rocksteady from day one. So, the combat that everyone saw in Batman Arkham Asylum, this came
02:44out of your brainium.
02:45Yeah, I guess you could say that. I mean, obviously everything's a collaborative effort.
02:49Sure. So, working heavily with Sefton, working heavily with everyone on the team who's got input into how they want
02:54the game to express and how they want the combat to feel.
02:56And how's it feel for you having sort of been there and been so critical in the creation of this?
03:03Now, it seems like such an expansive new combat system that it's incredible to think of where it came from
03:10and now where it's gone to.
03:11Yeah, I mean, it is pretty incredible to see where it's come to from those beginnings back on Arkham Asylum.
03:17I mean, I remember the prototype days and it was 2D combat. It was all sorts of different things in
03:23the early days.
03:23But now, you know, to see where it's come and it's all because of the input we've had from the
03:27team and the ideas we've had and the ways we've been able to progress it.
03:31Due to the success of the previous games, it really allowed us to push it to this final.
03:36So, Batman and Nightwing completely clearing house. It's an epic looking fight. The number of enemies that we've got in
03:43combat just seems to be almost out of control.
03:46We've definitely had to up the count this time to account for the fact that there's two heroes in the
03:50room.
03:50Makes perfect sense.
03:51Tim, I think dual play is going to be one of those features that people go crazy for when they
03:55get their hands on Batman Arkham Knight.
03:56You have done an awesome job with this, but I know you're busy. You've got to get back to it,
04:00right?
04:00I do indeed.
04:01Thanks for your time.
04:01No problem.
04:02Tim Hannigan.
04:07Hey, what's up you guys? It's CabooseXBL. You know that I've been covering Batman Arkham Knight on my channel for
04:11over a year now.
04:13And with two months to go, I've got some questions to ask.
04:16It seems Scarecrow has gotten Gotham City to evacuate in Batman Arkham Knight.
04:19What will be going on in this city to make it still feel filled with stuff to do 24-7?
04:24The streets of Gotham City are jam-packed with action.
04:26We've developed an emergent rioting system which sees all of the thugs of various factions ripping up the streets of
04:31Gotham.
04:32And Batman can get involved in that any time he wants.
04:34On top of that, we've got the military forces loyal to the Arkham Knight.
04:38They are spreading their presence throughout the streets as the game progresses.
04:42We're talking tanks, we're talking mobile infantry, we're talking airborne drones.
04:45There's also members of the emergency services in peril and they need Batman's help.
04:49And then on top of all of that, we've got the Riddler with his ever-present threat.
04:54We all know the Joker is dead.
04:56But in the Arkham Knight prequel comics, it seems that he's left a permanent scar on Batman.
05:00Will we see elements of that within the Batman Arkham Knight story?
05:03The death of the Joker at the end of Batman Arkham City had a massive impact on Batman and the
05:07entirety of Gotham City.
05:09The chaos that Joker represented is no longer there.
05:12And that has allowed the Scarecrow to unify all of the forces of the Rogues Gallery.
05:16And that spells bad news for the Dark Knight.
05:19Besides the Batmobile, of course, what would you say was the most fun and most challenging new feature to create
05:24in Batman Arkham Knight?
05:25Building out the entirety of Gotham City in immense detail I think has probably been the biggest technical and creative
05:31challenge for everybody here at Rocksteady.
05:33Seeing the Gotham City that we've built come to life has been incredibly fun and so satisfying.
05:38But for me personally, I think the dual-play features in the game are absolutely incredible.
05:43Teaming up with Catwoman for a dual-play takedown, nothing beats that.
05:46It seems the Riddler is at it again in Batman Arkham Knight.
05:49One thing we all love to hate are those challenging puzzles to get the Riddler trophies.
05:52How hard are they this time around?
05:54If it's bright green and it's got a flashing question mark above it, you can bet your Batarang it's gonna
05:58be tough.
05:59The Riddler's back and he is challenging Batman like he never has before.
06:02As a team, we've challenged ourselves to come up with some of the toughest riddles we can possibly think of.
06:08But we're not sending you out alone. The Riddler informants are also back.
06:11But this time, it ain't gonna be so easy to squeeze that precious intel out of them.
06:15Thank you so much for answering all the questions and if you want to know where to find me, just
06:19search CabooseXPL on YouTube or shine that bat signal up in the sky.
06:22See you guys later.
06:24If you've got any questions for us at Rocksteady, send them in and we'll answer as many of them as
06:28we can.
06:29That's it for this episode of Arkham Insider. We'll see you next time.
06:32And don't forget, be the Batman.
07:02We'll see you next time.
07:03We'll see you next time.
07:04Bye.
07:05Bye.
07:10Bye.
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