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===Publisher===
===Publisher===
High Voltage Software began the development of ''The Conduit'' without a publisher. Soon after the game received a high amount of publicity, at least 10 companies expressed interest in publishing the game.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://blogs.ign.com/Matt-IGN/2008/04/23/87599/ |title=The Conduit: Getting a Publisher |date=2008-04-23 |accessdate=2008-04-23 |last=Casamassina |first=Matt |publisher=IGN }}</ref> The developer claims that one of the reasons why many of its licensed games 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.<ref name="IGN Date" /> On September 2, 2008, High Voltage Software announced that they had selected the publisher for ''The Conduit'', and that they would reveal their choice within the following weeks.<ref name="IGN Podcast Summary" /> One month later on October 2, 2008, during Nintendo's fall media summit, the developer's CCO Eric Nofsinger stated that although the developer had wanted to reveal the chosen publisher during the conference, further legal matters had to be finalized and the publisher would not be officially announced until sometime in mid-October.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://wii.kombo.com/article.php?artid=12875 |title=High Voltage Software to Announce The Conduit Publisher in the Next Week or Two |date=2008-10-02 |accessdate=2008-10-02 |last=Levin |first=Phillip |publisher=Kombo }}</ref> According to Eric Nofsinger, the chosen publisher was open to the idea of a sequel to ''The Conduit'', and High Voltage Software regards the game as the first in a potential franchise, saying "I think people are going to feel like they got their money’s worth [with ''The Conduit''], but we’ve got a big ol’ universe of stories that we want to tell."<ref name="October In-Depth Interview" />
High Voltage Software began the development of ''The Conduit'' without a publisher. Soon after the game received a high amount of publicity, at least 10 companies expressed interest in publishing the game.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://blogs.ign.com/Matt-IGN/2008/04/23/87599/ |title=The Conduit: Getting a Publisher |date=2008-04-23 |accessdate=2008-04-23 |last=Casamassina |first=Matt |publisher=IGN }}</ref> The developer claims that one of the reasons why many of its licensed games 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.<ref name="IGN Date" /> On September 2, 2008, High Voltage Software announced that they had selected the publisher for ''The Conduit'', and that they would reveal their choice within the following weeks.<ref name="IGN Podcast Summary" /> One month later on October 2, 2008, during Nintendo's fall media summit, the developer's CCO Eric Nofsinger stated that although the developer had wanted to reveal the chosen publisher during the conference, further legal matters had to be finalized and the publisher would not be officially announced until sometime in mid-October.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://wii.kombo.com/article.php?artid=12875 |title=High Voltage Software to Announce The Conduit Publisher in the Next Week or Two |date=2008-10-02 |accessdate=2008-10-02 |last=Levin |first=Phillip |publisher=Kombo }}</ref> According to Eric Nofsinger, the chosen publisher was open to the idea of a sequel to ''The Conduit'', and High Voltage Software regards the game as the first in a potential franchise, saying "I think people are going to feel like they got their money’s worth [with ''The Conduit''], but we’ve got a big ol’ universe of stories that we want to tell."<ref name="October In-Depth Interview" />

It was made official on October 29, 2009 that [[Sega]] will publish The Conduit worldwide in 2009.


==Reception==
==Reception==

Revision as of 15:46, 29 October 2008

Template:Future game

The Conduit
File:The Conduit Logo.PNG
The cover of a promotional guide for The Conduit.
Developer(s)High Voltage Software
Publisher(s)Sega [2]
Designer(s)Rob Nicholls (Lead Designer),
Eric Nofsinger (CCO)[3]
Composer(s)Diego Stocco[4]
EngineQuantum3
Platform(s)Wii
Genre(s)First-person shooter
Mode(s)Single-player,
LAN multiplayer,
Online multiplayer[5]

The Conduit is a futuristic first-person shooter developed by High Voltage Software exclusively for the Wii. The Conduit was first revealed by IGN on April 17, 2008.[7] SEGA have announced that they will be publishing the game[8],after a long period of the game having no publisher, and the game's release date has been officially set by the developer for sometime in March Template:Vgy.[1]

Development of The Conduit began in October of 2007.[9] The game makes use of the Quantum3 engine, a game engine designed by High Voltage Software specifically for the Wii. The engine allows effects such as bump mapping, reflection and refraction, and gloss and detail mapping to be implemented in the game.[7] High Voltage Software created the engine to make The Conduit a comparable experience visually to games on the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 despite the Wii's hardware limitations.[3]

The storyline focuses on an alien invasion of Washington, D.C. in the near future. The alien race uses the eponymous Conduits, which are portal-like devices, to deploy their forces throughout the city. An organization called the Trust sends Mr. Ford, a newly inducted agent, into the area to discover the reasons for the attack.[10] The online multiplayer feature of the game includes several game modes such as Deathmatch and will have voice chat capability through the Wii Speak peripheral.[11][12]

Gameplay

The shooting controls of The Conduit were inspired by Metroid Prime 3: Corruption and Medal of Honor: Heroes 2, first-person shooters which had well-received Wii control schemes.[7] The Conduit offers 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.[13] Furthermore, the player can adjust these options in real time, without having to leave the adjustment screen to try the changes. The developer has also included the option 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.[13] Other customizable aspects include the player's maximum running speed and the layout of the game's HUD; the elements of the HUD can be moved to different locations around the screen or removed entirely.[14] The Wii MotionPlus attachment, revealed by Nintendo during E3 2008, will also be compatible with The Conduit.[6] This attachment modifies the functionality of the Wii Remote to enable actions made by the player to be rendered identically in the game in real time.[15]

The Conduit provides an experience typical of a first-person shooter, focusing on combat in a 3D environment and taking place from the first-person perspective of a playable character. A unique feature of the game is a device known as the "All-Seeing Eye," or ASE, which is recovered by the player early on and used to solve various puzzles.[16] The ASE can detect hidden traps and enemies scattered throughout a level, and reveal secret features in the environment that can help the player to progress, such as uncovering invisible doors and platforms and other interactive objects.[17][18]

Campaign

File:The Conduit Screen02.PNG
Mr. Ford uses the All-Seeing Eye as a Drudge Scarab approaches on the left.

The single-player campaign mode of The Conduit will consist of nine missions.[1] The story will be told through primarily cutscenes between missions, but television and radio broadcasts will also be scattered across a mission area for the player to seek out. These broadcasts are unnecessary to fully understand the story, but provide background information that supplements the overall plot.[19]

The main enemies of The Conduit are an insectoid alien race dubbed the Drudge. Their forces are divided into at least four main types: Mites, Drones, Skimmers, and Scarabs. Mites are the smallest forms, some of which can fly and others explode when in close proximity to the player. Drones are adult-form Drudge that serve as common soldiers, and Skimmers are an alternate adult-form that can fly. Scarabs are the most dangerous group, equipped with heavily-armored exoskeletons and powerful weaponry. Other enemies in the campaign include Drudge-controlled United States military personnel and a faction of the Trust organization that has willingly sided with the Drudge for its own unknown purposes.[10]

The Drudge also incorporate various devices to defeat or hinder the player. Among these is the Drudge portal, or Conduit, which can be placed throughout a level to allow Drudge enemies to spawn from them until they are destroyed by the player. 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.[10][20] The game's Quantum3 engine provides the Drudge with advanced artificial intelligence that allows them to adopt unusual strategies in combat. Such strategies include recognizing when the player is open to attack and then charging the player, or running away and seeking cover when outmatched.[18][21]

Multiplayer

Multiplayer in The Conduit will feature at least three competitive multiplayer modes for online play,[20] including Deathmatch, Team Deathmatch, and Capture the Flag modes.[13][1] Voice chat for the online multiplayer will be included through implementation of the Wii Speak peripheral. The Conduit will be the first third-party Wii game to use the accessory.[12][14] Besides the online feature, the development team is also working on local area network (LAN) functionality.[5] Both the online multiplayer and LAN multiplayer will be able to support up to 16 players simultaneously.[9][22]

Plot

Setting

The Conduit takes place in the near future, as Washington, D.C. is shaken by several strange and tragic incidents. A mysterious flu-like virus known as "the Bug" has swept through the region, resulting in high-security locations being left understaffed as government workers stay home to try to avoid catching the disease. Months after the initial outbreak, an alleged terrorist attack destroys part of the Washington Monument, and only weeks afterwards on September 11, a presidential candidate is assassinated by another possible terrorist cell disguised as her Secret Service detail, greatly heightening local and national tensions.[10] 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. Sent to stop the onslaught, Trust agent Mr. Ford must overcome the onslaught of the Drudge and the virus-infected humans under the Drudge's control, as well as a group of traitorous Trust agents that actively support the invasion.[10][16]

Characters

The Conduit's protagonist is Mr. Ford (voiced by Mark Sheppard),[23] a former Secret Service agent newly inducted into the Trust at the time of the Drudge's initial assault. John Adams (voiced by William Morgan Sheppard)[23] is the enigmatic commander of the Trust who orders Mr. Ford to infiltrate the Washington, D.C. area to discover the reasons for the Drudge's invasion. One of the main antagonists is a man calling himself Prometheus (voiced by Kevin Sorbo),[23] a former member of the Trust who left the organization for unknown reasons, and later fell in league with the Drudge.[10][16]

Development

The Conduit is a futuristic first-person shooter created by High Voltage Software exclusively for the Wii, and was announced to be in production on April 17, 2008 through IGN.[7] The developer began considering creating a new game for the Wii that would cater to the hardcore audience. The game was designed to have a comparable experience to games on the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 despite the hardware limitations of the Wii.[3] The game's announcement was seen as something of a surprise because the company had largely been known for its licensed titles which had been marketed mainly to younger audiences.[9] By the developer's own admission, many of these licensed games have received mediocre reviews in the gaming press.[20] Eric Nofsinger, the development team's Chief Creative Officer (CCO), claimed that the company saw potential in the Wii early on, but noted that much of what has succeeded on the Wii so far has been family-oriented or Nintendo-promoted games. 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."[3] On October 2, 2008, the developer confirmed that the game was still in a pre-alpha state with work continuing on refining and debugging the campaign mode, but the majority of development had shifted to the multiplayer mode.[24]

High Voltage Software launched a contest for user-created control configurations for The Conduit on September 18, 2008. One control scheme will be selected from the submissions and added to the game as a preset configuration, and the name of the configuration's creator will be noted in the credits.[25]

Graphics

File:The Conduit Screen01.PNG
Several Mites attack the player. Quantum3 provides lighting and gloss effects for the scene.

The game is notable for the extreme focus on the game's visuals by High Voltage Software, using a Wii-specific engine called Quantum3. Upgrading the game engine, which had previously been used by the developer in several other titles, began in October 2007.[9][26] 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." These effects include bump-mapping, reflection and refraction, light and shadow maps and projections, specular and Fresnel effects, missive and iridescent materials, advanced alpha blends, gloss and detail mapping, motion blur, interactive water with complex surface effects, and animated textures, among other things.[7] The Quantum3 engine also includes advanced artificial intelligence, allowing for enemies in the game to possess "human-like behavior." According to Eric Nofsinger, "Our [High Voltage Software's] goal is to be the most technically innovative Wii developer on the planet."[7]

High Voltage Software is currently aiming at a steady 30 frames per second frame rate with no flicker for the game. The development team had previously claimed that they had a goal of 60 frames per second, but in the end they decided that development time would be better spent on the game's other features and that it would run smoothly at 30 frames.[7][18] Red Eye Studios, a subsidiary of the developer, is supplying motion captured animation for The Conduit.[27]

During E3 2008, the developer debuted a playable demo of the game which consisted of the first half of a level included in the actual game and showed several of the Drudge enemies, as well as several different human and alien weapons.[13] Environmental effects showcased in the demo included reflections in glass objects such as windows and the scope of the player's weapon, water effects, and textures.[17][21] Following E3, High Voltage Software updated the Quantum3 engine with several new features, including a depth of field effect, heat distortion, and specularity. The developer also claimed it was working to increase the number of predefined death animations that occur when the player kills an enemy, so that each different enemy type would die differently depending on the weapon used against them.[28]

Publisher

High Voltage Software began the development of The Conduit without a publisher. Soon after the game received a high amount of publicity, at least 10 companies expressed interest in publishing the game.[29] The developer claims that one of the reasons why many of its licensed games 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.[11] On September 2, 2008, High Voltage Software announced that they had selected the publisher for The Conduit, and that they would reveal their choice within the following weeks.[22] One month later on October 2, 2008, during Nintendo's fall media summit, the developer's CCO Eric Nofsinger stated that although the developer had wanted to reveal the chosen publisher during the conference, further legal matters had to be finalized and the publisher would not be officially announced until sometime in mid-October.[30] According to Eric Nofsinger, the chosen publisher was open to the idea of a sequel to The Conduit, and High Voltage Software regards the game as the first in a potential franchise, saying "I think people are going to feel like they got their money’s worth [with The Conduit], but we’ve got a big ol’ universe of stories that we want to tell."[26]

It was made official on October 29, 2009 that Sega will publish The Conduit worldwide in 2009.

Reception

Awards

The Conduit won several awards following its appearance and demonstration at E3 2008. IGN gave it three awards, including Best Shooter Game of E3 2008 (Wii),[31] Best Graphics Technology of E3 2008 (Wii),[32] and Best Overall Wii Game of E3 2008.[33] GameTrailers also gave it Best Wii Game of E3 2008.[34]

References

  1. ^ a b c d Tong, Sophia (2008-08-30). "PAX 2008: The Conduit Hands-On". Gamespot. Retrieved 2008-08-31.
  2. ^ http://uk.wii.ign.com/articles/924/924875p1.html
  3. ^ a b c d Razak, Matthew (2008-07-01). "The Conduit developer High Voltage Software talks shop". That Videogame Blog. Retrieved 2008-07-01.
  4. ^ East, Tom (2008-09-10). "Film Composer Signs Up For The Conduit". Official Nintendo Magazine. Retrieved 2008-09-11.
  5. ^ a b Caron, Frank (2008-09-02). "Conduit for Wii: 360 looks, (mostly) tight controls, '09 release". Ars Technica. Retrieved 2008-09-02.
  6. ^ a b Klepek, Patrick (2008-10-03). "The Conduit Already Has MotionPlus Support, WiiSpeak Too". MTV. Retrieved 2008-10-04.
  7. ^ a b c d e f g Casamassina, Matt (2008-04-17). "Exclusive First Look: The Conduit". IGN. Retrieved 2008-04-18.
  8. ^ http://uk.wii.ign.com/articles/924/924875p1.html
  9. ^ a b c d Magrino, Tom (2008-07-07). "Q&A: Eric Nofsinger channels The Conduit". Gamespot. Retrieved 2008-07-07.
  10. ^ a b c d e f "The Conduit Manual". High Voltage Software. 2008-06-20. Retrieved 2008-06-20.
  11. ^ a b Casamassina, Matt (2008-06-11). "The Conduit's Release Date". IGN. Retrieved 2008-06-11.
  12. ^ a b Karabinus, Alisha (2008-07-16). "E3 2008: The Conduit will use WiiSpeak". Nintendo Wii Fanboy. Retrieved 2008-07-17.
  13. ^ a b c d Casamassina, Matt (2008-07-09). "Pre-E3 2008: The Conduit Update". IGN. Retrieved 2008-07-09.
  14. ^ a b Casamassina, Matt (2008-07-17). "E3 2008: Hands-on The Conduit". IGN. Retrieved 2008-07-17.
  15. ^ "Introducing Wii MotionPlus, Nintendo's upcoming accessory for the revolutionary Wii Remote". Nintendo. 2008-07-14. Retrieved 2008-10-04.
  16. ^ a b c Bozon, Mark (2008-05-16). "The Conduit Returns". IGN. Retrieved 2008-05-18.
  17. ^ a b "The Conduit: E3 2008: Developer Cam Walkthrough Part 1". GameTrailers. 2008-07-15. Retrieved 2008-07-16.
  18. ^ a b c Hinkle, David (2008-06-16). "Wii Fanboy interviews High Voltage on The Conduit". Nintendo Wii Fanboy. Retrieved 2008-06-16.
  19. ^ Tuttle, Will (2008-08-29). "Gamespy: The Conduit Preview". GameSpy. Retrieved 2008-08-31.
  20. ^ a b c "The Conduit Information Center Interview 1". The Conduit Information Center. 2008-06-15. Retrieved 2008-06-18.
  21. ^ a b "The Conduit: E3 2008: Developer Cam Walkthrough Part 2". GameTrailers. 2008-07-16. Retrieved 2008-07-16.
  22. ^ a b "The Conduit online co-op being considered, sequel to be started right away, more". Nintendo Everything. 2008-09-03. Retrieved 2008-09-06.
  23. ^ a b c "The Conduit Goes Hollywood". IGN. 2008-10-14. Retrieved 2008-10-14.
  24. ^ Oxford, David (2008-10-02). "Update: Cammie Confuses Us on Conduit: First-Person or First-Party?". Kombo. Retrieved 2008-10-02.
  25. ^ Casamassina, Matt (2008-09-18). "Take Control of The Conduit". IGN. Retrieved 2008-09-20.
  26. ^ a b "High Voltage Software's Eric Nofsinger Explains How Freedom, Feedback and Fans Channel into The Conduit". GameCyte. 2008-10-06. Retrieved 2008-10-08.
  27. ^ "Red Eye Studio providing motion-capture tech for High Voltage/The Conduit". GoNintendo. 2008-04-27. Retrieved 2008-07-02.
  28. ^ Casamassina, Matt (2008-10-02). "Hands-on The Conduit". IGN. Retrieved 2008-10-08.
  29. ^ Casamassina, Matt (2008-04-23). "The Conduit: Getting a Publisher". IGN. Retrieved 2008-04-23.
  30. ^ Levin, Phillip (2008-10-02). "High Voltage Software to Announce The Conduit Publisher in the Next Week or Two". Kombo. Retrieved 2008-10-02.
  31. ^ a b Casamassina, Matt (2008-07-25). "Wii Best of E3 Awards 2008: Best Shooter Game". IGN. Retrieved 2008-07-26.
  32. ^ a b Casamassina, Matt (2008-07-25). "Wii Best of E3 Awards 2008: Best Graphics Technology". IGN. Retrieved 2008-07-26.
  33. ^ a b Casamassina, Matt (2008-07-25). "Wii Best of E3 Awards 2008: Wii Game of E3 2008". IGN. Retrieved 2008-07-26.
  34. ^ a b "Best of E3 Awards 2008: Best Wii Game". GameTrailers. 2008-07-27. Retrieved 2008-07-28.
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