GRIP
Original Rollcage producer David Perryman talks Rollcage and bringing it back for one more spin
Rollcage was a revelation back in 1999 as its grippy cars enabled you to race on ceilings, flip, and spin in mid-air. Now it’s back, as some of the original team pay homage with Grip.
OPM: How did Rollcage come about?
Dave Perryman: It was one of those ideas that evolved over time, rather than popping into existence all at once. It started as a technical demo on moving polygons through PSX faster and more efficiently than anyone had seen before. Which suggested a racing game. With the rendering sorted, we had loads more space to fit other things in: physics, weapons, effects and falling buildings. Crazy speed and downforce were in there from the beginning. But, perhaps surprisingly, not the oversized wheels. They were introduced a few months into production. Originally ‘sledge’ type vehicles – with wheels – were designed but normal-sized within the body of the car. There was a fundamental problem: how to get down off of a tunnel roof? All our solutions were clunky, until John Meegan from Sony turned up at the offices one day with a model car with massive wheels… in no time at all the classic Rollcage car was in the game. OPM: Does its ‘cult’ status make you proud? DP: I guess so. I’ve not really thought of it in that way before. Certainly surprised and a little humbled. It was a great time in my life, working with incredibly talented people. It was a fantastic project to be a part of. And to find out after all these years that Rollcage means so much to so many people is amazing.
OPM: What are your memories of working on the original Rollcage?
DP: Fun; working late; takeaway curry; dial-up internet; running across the courtyard to talk to Andrew Wright about an idea for the Editor I’d had… (very often); cooked breakfasts in a sandwich for lunch; making lifelong friends. And probably the most fun making a game I’ve ever experienced.
OPM: How long did it take to get the driving on walls concept to work properly?
DP: I don’t remember it taking very long at all. Physics with downforce was worked on straight away. I remember the original sales demo map I made and that had driving on walls, but not ceilings (because we couldn’t work out how to get the car down pre-big wheels). Every polygon was driveable. So, from my point of view, if I made a wall, the car drove on it. Harder issues were tweaking the camera, and that was fiddled with throughout the project. We’re still fiddling with it on Grip.
OPM: How did Grip come about?
DP: Over the years Rob Baker had been ensuring the PC versions of Rollcage kept working on modern machines. Chris Mallinson was a big Rollcage fan and contacted Rob to suggest that they do a remake. Rob was up for that – he contacted me and we got on with it.
OPM: Will Grip be coming to PS4, and how can you develop the ideas in the game?
DP: Rollcage’s heritage is with PlayStation and we will be bringing Grip to PS4. We have a lot of ideas on how to add to it, but it’ll all boil down to funding. Ideas we have are for customisations within the game: cars and/or tracks.
OPM: Would you ever make Grip for PS VR?
DP: We do have some ideas of how that could work. It might get messy and we’d need a disclaimer about not eating anything an hour beforehand. But I’d love to see that. Again, funding would be the issue.
OPM: We have Crash Bandicoot, WipEout and FFVII all coming back in 2017, why do you think PlayStation gamers want remakes now?
DP: I don’t know. If I were to hazard a guess I’d say it’s that 20-year generational gap thing. I grew up in the ’80s and it was all ’60s this and ’60s that… and it was all about the ’80s last decade! If that is an element, then what I think is enabling the production of nostalgia games right now are the great third-party tools around. They’ve dropped the entry barrier to people making games. Grip would be unlikely without Unreal Engine for example. Especially with such a small team and the quality we’re able achieve.
OPM: Have we missed ‘fun’ gamers’ games, like Rollcage, and has the indie scene filled a gap the big publishers are overlooking?
DP: I think it has filled a gap. I wouldn’t say the big publishers have overlooked the scene particularly, it’s just not a viable proposition for them. Whereas a small nimble team that engages with its fans can just about survive.