Free Radical: The five founders (David Doak, Steve Ellis, Karl Hilton, Graeme Norgate, Lee Ray) formerly worked at the new East Midlands Microsoft Offices. Planning Free Radical began when Steve and I (Dave) left Rare at the end of 1998. The company was up and running in April 1999. We left because we felt we'd accomplished everything we felt we could at Rare ? we were keen to create our own successful development studio.

IGNcube: David Doak, Steve Ellis, and Karl Hilton -- These are names we know. Could you tell us what your former responsibilities were at Rare, and any other companies you've worked at for that matter?

Free Radical: Steve Ellis, Programmer, (once worked for Toys'R'Us); Karl Hilton, Artist; David Doak, Designer/Programmer, (used to be a Research Scientist).

IGNcube: How many people work at Free Radical, and are there any other notable companies in others' history?

Free Radical: Approaching 50 people now. Previous employers include Psygnosis (now SCEE), Codemasters, Eurocom, Gremlin (now Infogrames), Climax.

IGNcube: Moving on, we hear you have a new game coming out called TimeSplitters 2. Draw us a timeline: when did development on TimeSplitters (1) end and TimeSplitters 2 commence?

Free Radical: TS1 development ended sometime in September 2000 (can't remember exactly when -- it was a bit of a blur) and TS2 started the next day.

IGNcube: At what point was the decision made to bring it to GameCube?

Free Radical: We always wanted to put TS2 on GameCube -- Nintendo platforms are, after all, our spiritual home, but we didn't get access to hardware until very late in 2001.

IGNcube: We've noticed a big change between TimeSplitters and TimeSplitters 2. Could you explain how different they really are, and why? For example, TS2's single-player just feels a lot different than the original, despite having the same time-splitting concept.

Free Radical: We set out to improve everything. The animation system was completely overhauled and we built on our experiences with 'next gen' hardware. Most conspicuously in engine performance and special effects. We also made a strong effort to create consistency in the artwork (backgrounds, props, characters) within the time genres.

The focus with TS1 was always multiplayer and the single player mode was intended to be a fairly 'arcade' twitch shooting experience. It was criticized for not being terribly deep and this made it an obvious area on which to build and strengthen the gameplay. Ironically, I think that the single player 'story' in TS1 will probably make more sense to people after they have played TS2.

The feel is built up from all of the elements from the core gameplay mechanics (control, interactivity, AI etc) to the art style, to the overlying objective based mission structure. We've had people telling us that TS1 was no GE007 for the last 2 years so that certainly provided some inspiration.

IGNcube: Okay, so you guys had a huge part in designing the N64 classics GoldenEye and Perfect Dark. There's no shame in bringing those same ideas into the next-generation. In fact, we're thrilled to see it. Tell us about the parodies, the design choices, and general styles that are clearly influenced by the two shooters. A few times we found ourselves asking, "Is this legal?"

Free Radical: The most obvious GE007 homage is the opening Siberian level in TS2. Many people wanted to compare the original TimeSplitters to Goldeneye. Since people were clearly going to make the same comparisons for TS2 ? we thought it would be helpful to give them a useful benchmark to work from. Although, (and I'm even getting sick of hearing myself say this), the TS2 dam is very different to the one in GE007 ? try actually comparing them side by side ? not just by referring to some rose-tinted memory.

We were very keen to recapture some of the tempo and feel of GE007 in the Story game in TS2. It's hard to define exactly, but the repetitive shooting and moving gameplay in GE007 had a very satisfying rhythm and flow to it. I think we've managed to capture some of that 'now classic' feel.

IGNcube: Having said that, would you consider this a semi-sequel to those games, even if not directly related by franchise? Is that what you're aiming for?

Free Radical: The TimeSplitters series clearly builds on the experiences we had working on GE007 and PD. However, you should be reminded that only the 5 Free Radical founders worked on PD (4 on GE007). At its peak the TS2 team was 30 people ? they all brought their own visions and skills to the project.

IGNcube: How much time did you spend tweaking the control, and what are you most proud of in that area? TS2 is very smooth.

Free Radical: The basic controls are an evolution from TS1. There wasn't a particular time set aside for tweaking we just tuned things as we went along. I think the main thing with a console FPS is to have a few solid defaults and comprehensive options for customization so that players can create a personal setting which they can save.

IGNcube: On that subject, which controller between GameCube, PS2, and Xbox do you prefer to play TS2 on? Explain why. Be honest. Our readers have only hung a few men for badmouthing Nintendo's console.

Free Radical: At last E3 we spent some time doing back-to-back demos across all three versions. The consensus opinion was that the best controller was the one that you'd just got used to! Although having said that I think that players won't find much problem adjusting between versions.

Each controller has its own good and bad points:

PS2 has plenty of buttons and a good symmetrical layout. But the sensitivity on the analogs can be poor.

Xbox has great build quality and nice meaty shoulder triggers but some quirky button layout (black / white) which is inconsistent between revs - the original controller was also quite annoyingly bulky.

The GameCube controller has a lovely ergonomic feel (it just seems to have grown onto your hands) with good analog sensitivity. The travel and click on the triggers is nice but it can feel a little loose for a shooter. I have no idea what the thinking behind the Z button was ? it is quite unsatisfying to press. More symmetry would have been nice, the GameCube controller seems to have inherited left handedness from the N64. Other than minor grumbles about thumb slippage on the left analog (especially during critical Monkey Ball maneuvers!) it is a good all rounder and definitely the most comfy between the mitts.

IGNcube: What about the different weapons -- what can gamers expect? Where have you drawn inspiration and what are some of your favorites?

Free Radical: They can expect the whole shebang from crossbows, plasma rifles, western revolvers, flamethrowers, Tommy guns, sniper rifles, a variety of mines, lasers and many more. Inspiration is basically just any weapon you have seen in any movie. The sticky plasma grenades from the plasma autorifle are particularly satisfying ? as is the rat-a-tat of a brace of tommy guns.

IGNcube: How do the various difficulty settings change the missions and subsequent objectives? We noticed some of the differences can be pretty huge.

Free Radical: We wanted to make a real difference between the easy, normal and hard difficulties in order to make the game accessible and enjoyable for players of all abilities. The general rule is that the harder the setting then the more compulsory objectives.

IGNcube: The addition of cooperative play seemed pretty ambitious. How does it work in single-player, and does it affect mission objectives or anything else?

Free Radical: We had co-op in TS1 and it was surprisingly popular. When players have differing skills it allows mentoring gameplay where the veteran can show a rookie the ropes (Ideal for couples where one partner is a game freak and the other doesn't want to know.) It's also pretty interesting when you see two supposedly skilled players attempting to co-operate and somehow doing worse than either would do on their own?

IGNcube: When a mission is complete, did you consider adding in statistics regarding accuracy, headshots, etc?

Free Radical: We have an overall accuracy statistic and a variety of others (some of which are fairly whimsical).

IGNcube: How did you go about designing multiplayer this time around? Is it just improved from the original, or has there been a total revamping of it, would you say?

Free Radical: Our main focus with the multiplayer was pacing and balancing. TS1 provided a very solid foundation and we built on and refined it.

IGNcube: Do the multiplayer characters have different attributes, or any advantages and disadvantages?

Free Radical: The characters have a number of attributes eg. speed, endurance, fire resistance etc. which add variety in the multiplayer ? particularly as bots. However, these can be turned off in the options to level the playing field although the character's sizes are obviously fixed?

IGNcube: Most notably, we noticed the monkey is a horrendous fiend. There's no stopping him. Do you think he's unbalanced, and more useful just for a laugh?

Free Radical: Yep, the monkey is pretty small, and cheeky -- just like a monkey really. It's not really unbalancing as players can choose to impose a monkey ban if they see fit. 'Stumpy' the dwarf clown is also pretty nippy and hard to hit, I guess these guys are the successors to Oddjob in GE007.

IGNcube: Who are your favorite characters to play as, and why? Jacque de la Morte with his top hat and monocle is pretty sweet.

Hasit Zala, Lead Programmer: Kitten Celeste and the Crypt Zombie.

Ben Newman, Lead Character Artist: Mr Giggles and Leo Krupps.

James Cunliffe, Lead Animator: Stone Golem and The Master.

IGNcube: Backing up all this frantic gameplay is a slick graphics engine. Is the work that's gone into the GameCube version basically just a tweaked version of the original TimeSplitters engine, or is there more to it?

Free Radical: Most of the engine is platform independent in that it functions with no change. The low level object rendering system did have be implemented with the GameCube in mind.

IGNcube: What do you think the strengths and weaknesses of the GameCube hardware are? Please feel free to compare and contrast with what you've learned from PS2 and Xbox.

Free Radical: The GameCube seems to be a very well balanced bit of hardware. In a standard game setup no part seems be radically faster than any other part. A major strength of the GameCube is the speed that something can be running, the APIs seem generally very well designed. For the future its memory will become more of a factor, especially with games being developed on all three platforms simultaneously.

IGNcube: The MoSys 1T-SRAM is so often underrated or overlooked. How did it aid you in the development process?

Free Radical: Its excellent performance was very appreciated, given that we where porting from PS2 were the cache access timings can be problematic.

IGNcube: Did you have a chance to dig into the Flipper graphics chip, or has going multiplatform detracted from that? What do you think about the design of it?

Free Radical: Unfortunately not. The art and design decisions were already put in place when work started on the GameCube, it was only possible to implement small things like the detail textures. This is something we will most likely look at in the future.

IGNcube: (If not answered above) The framerate for four-player split- screen is awesome. What kind of measures did you take to keep it so high?

Free Radical: Discipline in the coding and in the artwork. We are quite evangelical about the importance of framerate in action games.

IGNcube: The animation system, especially in the cut-scenes, is awesome. How did you get the facial expressions to be so fluid?

Free Radical: Thanks. Our animators worked long and hard on the cutscenes to make sure they were of a quality that deserved rewatching. We wanted them to be enjoyable rather than a chore to watch. If its worth doing ? its worth doing well.

IGNcube: We have to know about the no-hands thing. Why don't the characters have any hands and, of course, animations to go along with them?

Free Radical: Over 100 characters would have required over 200 hands. I guess we opted for the more characters and less hands route. Expensive hand models and animations would also have been a good way of reducing the framerate in split screen.

IGNcube: The retro games on the digital transponder, PDA thing are pretty cool. Who designed and programmed those?

Free Radical: Steve Ellis -- he secretly yearns for the days when one person could make an entire game. Graeme Norgate helped him out by supplying suitably cheesy retro tunes.

IGNcube: Originally, there were a lot of ambitions to get TimeSplitters 2 online. Conflicting reports suggest Eidos scrapped it, while others indicate Free Radical just needed more time. What happened and why wasn't it ultimately supported?

Free Radical: The time was not right.

Online console gaming has been a very long time coming but it is still just around the corner. We had ambitions to put TS2 online and people at Free Radical devoted a considerable amount of time and effort into it but in the end it was not to be.

I think the only mistake was that it was announced prematurely while we were still in the R&D feasibility stage. We realise that this was a disappointment to some fans whose expectations had been built up ? imagine how much more disappointing it was to people here who had worked hard to try to make it happen.

Some people have suggested that it would simply have been a matter of another month's work ? that is completely wrong. It could have easily taken another year to produce and comprehensively test an online experience which was fully integrated into the game. If we had rushed it would not have been up to the standard of the rest of the game - we're simply not interested in doing things badly.

IGNcube: So, only the PlayStation 2 and Xbox support link-up. Do you think once the Ethernet adapter is released for GameCube, this kind of link-up might be possible?

Free Radical: There's no link for GameCube as we didn't have access to any GameCube link hardware. If we'd had the hardware we would have supported it. Believe me, we tried to get it, but disappointingly it wasn't made widely available to developers. It would be possible on LAN for future products. But this kind of functionality has to be integrated into the codebase during development so unfortunately it won't work with TS2.

IGNcube: Now that you're finished with TS2, what's next? Will there be a sequel eventually, or do you want to try something new?

Free Radical: For the moment we're keeping our cards close to our chest about future Free Radical products. Rest assured that we're busily at work.

Thanks so much for your time. We can't wait to see what's next.

Source: IGN Cube