The Conduit

The Conduit
File:The Conduit Logo.PNG
Developer(s)	High Voltage Software
Designer(s)	Lead Designer: Rob Nicholls CCO: Eric Nofsinger
Engine	Quantum3
Platform(s)	Wii
Genre(s)	First-Person Shooter
Mode(s)	Single-player, Online Multiplayer

The Conduit is a futuristic first-person shooter developed by High Voltage Software exclusively for the Wii using the Quantum3 engine. The Conduit was first revealed to be in production by IGN on April 17, 2008. A publisher for The Conduit has not yet been announced as High Voltage Software is waiting until the game is complete before signing with one, but the game's release date has been set for sometime in Q1 2009.

Gameplay

The shooting controls of The Conduit are inspired by Metroid Prime 3: Corruption and Medal of Honor: Heroes 2, first-person shooters which had well received Wii control schemes. The Conduit will utilize user customizable control features, such as the ability to alter the size of the bounding box, the speed at which the player can move the camera, and cursor sensitivity. This allows players to easily change the sensitivity of their aiming and movement to suit their play style. Furthermore, the player can adjust these options in real time, without having to leave the adjustment screen in order to try the changes. The developer has also allowed for the player to completely change the control layout, so that the function of any button or motion on the Wii Remote can be mapped to another button or motion. Other customizable aspects include the player's running speed and the layout of the HUD.

File:The Conduit Screen01.PNG

A pre-alpha gameplay image of The Conduit

The Conduit provides an experience typical of a first-person shooter, namely that the player must traverse a level from objective to objective, using weapons to fight off any enemies. A unique point of the game is a device known as the ASE, or "All-Seeing Eye," recovered by the player early on, will also be featured in the game to solve puzzles. The ASE can detect hidden mines scattered throughout the level by enemies, or reveal secret features in the environment that allow the player to progress further on.

The enemies of The Conduit, an alien race called the Drudge, also incorporate various devices to defeat or hinder the player. Among these is the Drudge portal, or Conduit, several of which can be placed throughout a given level and allow Drudge enemies to spawn from them until they are destroyed by the player. Several other Drudge devices, such as a "Regenerator Unit" and "Pulse Box," will also appear in the game, but their purposes have yet to be revealed. The Drudge themselves possess advanced artificial intelligence provided by the game's Quantum3 engine, allowing them to adopt unusual strategies in combat, including recognizing when they are outmatched by the player and then proceeding to run away.

Multiplayer

Multiplayer in The Conduit will feature at least three competitive multiplayer modes for online play, including Deathmatch and Capture the Flag modes. Splitscreen multiplayer will not be included, but the development team is working on LAN support. Multiplayer will feature up to 16 players simultaneously during matches. Online voice chat will be included as a part of the multiplayer through implementation of the WiiSpeak peripheral; The Conduit will be the first third-party Wii game to use the accessory.

Plot

In the near future, Washington, D.C. begins to experience several strange phenomena. A mysterious flu-like virus, "The Bug," sweeps through the region, causing high-security buildings to be left understaffed as government workers stay home to try to avoid catching the disease. Months after the initial outbreak, a terrorist attack destroys part of Washington Monument, and only weeks afterwards on September 11, a presidential candidate is assasinated by another terrorist cell disguised as her Secret Service detail, heightening national tensions.

Following these alarming events, a secretive organization known as the Trust realizes that the capital has become the epicenter for an extraterrestrial attack by an alien race identified as the Drudge. "John Adams," the enigmatic commander of the Trust, directs a newly inducted Trust agent codenamed "Mr. Ford" to infiltrate the area and find the truth behind the sudden attack. Along the way, Mr. Ford must overcome the onslaught of the Drudge, a group of traitor Trust members led by a man calling himself "Prometheus," and virus-infected humans under the Drudge's control. In the end, Mr. Ford will discover the horrifying truth of how far the conspiracy reaches.

Development

The Conduit is a futuristic first-person shooter built from the ground up by High Voltage Software exclusively for the Wii, and was announced to be in production on April 17, 2008 through IGN. High Voltage Software began considering creating a new game for the Wii that would cater to the "hard-core" audience. The game was designed to have a comparable experience to games on the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360, but utilizing only the software of the Wii. The game's announcement was seen as somewhat of a suprise by many because High Voltage Software had largely been known for its licensed titles which had been marketed mainly to younger audiences. By the developer's own admission, many of these licensed games have recieved mediocre reviews in the gaming press. Eric Nofsinger, the development team's Chief Creative Officer, claimed that High Voltage saw potential in the Wii early on, but noted that much of what has been successful on the Wii has been family oriented titles and titles promoted by Nintendo. Nofsinger went on to say, "The other titles that have come out in that vein have been a bit lackluster. The games that have done well are the casual games so publishers see those as viable. We’re trying to do something that really hasn’t been done to its full extent to my knowledge."

Quantum3 engine

The game is notable for the extreme focus on the game's visuals by High Voltage Software, using a Wii-specific engine called Quantum3. Development of the game engine began in October of 2007. This engine allows for "full 16-TEV stage material pipeline using up to eight texture sources and a host of innovative blend operations," and as also quoted in IGN's exclusive look at the game, the engine "allows the developer to create graphic effects normally seen on other consoles with vertex and pixel shaders- specifically, dynamic bump-mapping (via tangent space normals or embossing), reflection and refraction (via real-time cube or spherical environmental maps), light/shadow maps, projected texture lights, specular and Fresnel effects, missive and iridescent materials, advanced alpha blends, light beams/shafts, gloss and detail mapping, seamless resource streaming, projected shadows, heat distortion and motion blur, interactive water with dual-wave channels and complex surface effects, animated textures, and more." It will also include advanced enemy artificial intelligence, allowing "human-like behavior."

Animation

High Voltage Software is currently aiming at a steady 30 frames per second frame rate for the game with no drops in frame rate. The developer had previously stated that they had a goal of 60 frames per second, but they decided that development time would be better spent on other features of the game and that the game would run smoothly at 30 frames. High Voltage has stated that "With Conduit, we are trying to make a Wii game that looks like a 360 title."

Red Eye Studios, a subsidary of High Voltage Software, is supplying motion captured animation for The Conduit.

Publisher

High Voltage Software began the development of The Conduit without a publisher. After the game received a high amount of publicity, at least 10 companies expressed interest in publishing the game, according to IGN. The developer claims that one of the reasons why many of the licensed games that they have developed have generated poor reviews is because big publishers interfered with the game design process, and says that they want to do as much as they can with The Conduit before getting a publisher. There have been many rumors on gaming blogs citing that Nintendo might be the publisher. When asked about this, High Voltage Software quoted "It's all rumors and speculation. When we have the final word we will announce it".

Marketing

2008 trailer

On May 16, 2008, High Voltage Software released a gameplay trailer of The Conduit to IGN. This trailer provided a glimpse of the general gameplay of the game, several weapons ranging from modern-day rifles to alien bioweapons to futuristic devices, and also introduced several gameplay elements such as solving puzzles using the "All-Seeing Eye" and designs for some human and alien weapons.

E3 2008

On July 16, 2008, during E3 2008, High Voltage Software debuted a playable demo of The Conduit. This demo involved the first half of a level included in the game and showed several of the Drudge enemies in the game, as well as multiple human and alien weapons. The level itself was located in downtown Washington, D.C., beginning with a boss battle against a large Drudge creature, then progressing through a mine-laden sewer which required the ASE to find and destroy the mines, and ending in an alleyway where several Drudge Conduit-portals were spawning enemies. Environmental effects showcased included reflections in glass objects such as windows and the scope of the player's weapon, water effects, and textures.

External links

• The Conduit Official Website
• Official High Voltage Software Website
• IGN's The Conduit Page