Lair Developer on decision to use Sixaxis Controls, aerial combat and more

While at GC Leipzig Generationgamerz managed to chat with Julian Eggebrecht, Co-Founder & President of Factor 5, about the upcoming Lair. The first thing Julian said was that Lair was a perfect fit for the PS3. Factor 5 wanted to design a flight game but not a regular flight game, they wanted something new, the next step. Lair is that next step.

[jonjay]

This guy must be having a laugh. Its got such poor reviews and its really funny because all I have been hearing from my brother is ps3 this and ps3 that...

LOL tbh...

[Saint Sony]

Lair is that next step?! Ok. If so, there's not much hope in PS3 flight games. Lair may be only possible with PS3 what comes to GFX (which I doubt, it does not look THAT good) but damn, WHERE's THE GAME ITSELF? Why do all the PS3 devs think that only GFX matter? Look at 360 games, they pretty much got all sides covered. Nice gfx, nice games and plenty to choose from.

[UJUSTLOSTONE]

The captain must go down with the ship, I hope Gamestop has a copy to demo, so that people can play and see exactly why the game is rating so poorly

[tplarkin7]

Didn't they know that the controls failed many months ago? Didn't the testers complain? How did this happen?

[Clinton514]

Yes or no?

[Kaze88]

Im still waiting for Lair's demo to see it my self.
Some of the reviewers have complained a lot about that the game is only using the motion control when flying. So why cant they do an option that you dont have to use motion control in it? Some ppl wouldnt even want to play warhawk with only motion control, some like it some hate it.

it seems that if this game would be on the wii it would be good/great, but when its on ps3 and its using motion control its crap....

[nirwanda]

they could have redesigned a great rogue squadron engine cheaply, would have had motion controls that actually work and had lots of customers to sell too.

[MrWonderful]

game is great. its beautiful does get choppy at times but if you can play warhawk using the motion controls then you can play this

[Keyser]

Reading the game reviewers thoughts it sounds bad from the heavy hitters like IGN, 1UP, etc...

Reading the gamers thoughts the controls don't seem bad if you take the time to learn them.

I'm going to have to see for myself. It's obivous that there is a lot of good substance in this game but you have to master the controls.

It appears that they designed it to be a niche game by forcing the users to use the sixaxis controls. I'm not mad a that becasue I don't mind trying new stuff but you definitely loose that broad appeal by not giving people the choice of using buttons like in Warhawk.

I'll see for my self and post what I think, if you even give a shat. :)

[timmyp53]

adding some analog stick controls would of got some better feedback

[EZCheez]

I got this game last night and the controls really are that bad. What's sad is that the controls are the only serious issue with the game. It's the best bad game i've ever owned. I only hope that they release some sort of patch for the controls because as of right now, the analog sticks are wasted using both of them for the camera view.

[Kaze88]

Uhm be more specific, is the controlling slow,sluggish or what???

[HowarthsNJ]

The people complaining are just unskilled with the motion control.

The controls are tight - one to one with the dragon.

You're piloting a glider with wings and a bit of AI. It's not like flying a plane. Anticipation of location and timing are needed a bit more.

A creature can't fly from point A to point B like a rocket etc.

Here's my advice:

Rent or borrow the game, complete the first chapter to unlock the training grounds then practice there for a few hours.

If you can't handle it during that freeplay time then you won't like going back to the game either.

[EZCheez]

Please do not comment on sixaxis skills as an excuse as to why the conrols are bad. That is being blind to a real problem. I'm sorry but you have to just be honest with yourself sometimes and admit when something is bad.

You can't say you never see the camera completely lose your orientation when you lock on to a character.

You can't say the dragon turns on a dime, because if anything it turns like an 18-wheeler. Even if that is what the developers were aiming for that doesn't make it good.

Sometimes you just have to face the facts and admit a game isn't that great. I knw everything else about it is good, but to say the controls are okay is lieing to yourself and trying to make yourself feel better about the $60 you just spent.

Also, there isn't a lot of "in-your-face" interaction because you can for the most part take everything out from a distance with your fire attack, and you will most likely do so because you will find it hard to steer directly towards anything that isn't sitting still.

[HowarthsNJ]

"You can't say the dragon turns on a dime, because if anything it turns like an 18-wheeler."

It *can* turn on a dime in a way:

While in flight grip L2 or R2 (not both) then make your sharp turn and let go of trigger. The dragon will shoot out in the direction you came from and the camera will whip around to follow.

[Mu5afir]

Did you even play the game? The controls aren't that bad at all, I am pretty impressed by the graphics and the gameplay. Yeah, at first it was a bit annoying to maneuver the dragon around, but I got used to it pretty quick.

[EZCheez]

Please read my original post again and save yourself a silly question.

You guys are talking to me like I wanted this game to be bad. That couldn't be any farther from the truth. Why else would I rush to Gamestop after getting the call that my preorder came in?

If anything, I would ask you how far you are into the game, because I thought the controls were achievable in the beginning too. In fact everything went pretty smooth until the level with the "bulls" on the bridge. I honestly think there is a slight bit of denial on some people's part about this game. Yes it is great, but the controls are a negative, and I can't believe anyone that has also played it would even be arguing this. They are just not at the level of control that I feel is needed for a game like this. That is my opinion. If you don't like it, then make your own, but don't respond to my comments as if i'm making it up. I could easily view yours just the same.

[HowarthsNJ]

It wasn't the controls that got me on that level, it's was just plain confusion.

I hate the ACE COMBAT series for that very reason. Other pilots (or dragon jockeys in this case) barking at me to do this or that before all is lost and the mission fails.

I love flying the dragon around in battle destroying the enemy, it's being timed that ruins the experience.

They're screaming at you to hurry and there's no time to get your bearings let alone find the creatures you're supposed to throw off the bridge.

I'm hoping all levels will be unlocked for free-play or at least a cheat for it.

[slasher_thrasher]

I picked this game up myself last night and after doing the full tutorial area, which included going back to it once you finish the first actually mission, the game seemed easy enough to play. Once in the tutorial you can practice and learn the different moves from ground combat to mid dragon battles. After doing this for about 20 minutes I'm flying around the levels with no problems whatsoever. On the fourth mission and loving it.

Even the mention in reviews that the 180 turns were hard to pull off I disagree with. At first, like many places mention, I did the motion to do a 180 and I went flying forward. Tried a few more times and finally got the hang of it down. Now I'm doing 180 turns no problem and the game is just alot of fun to play.

If you guys have any interest in this game whatsoever give it a rent. The quick time events are somewhat sloppy looking mainly due to the animation on these parts I think (something is just off about them, could be something else though). They don't seem to run as smooth as something like God of Wars quicktimes but there still fun to watch.
Ground combat is easy and running straight into a crowd of guys and watching them go flying as you slash at them really brings a grin to my face.

The game looks nice, plays pretty smoothly for the most part (but there are some framerate dips but were not talking slideshow here or anything) and overall if you liked the Rogue Squadron games and you like dragons and medieval type settings, then you'll probably get enjoyment out of Lair. I know I am. I wasn't even hyped for the game but I'd give it a solid 7.5 or 8 so far.

[harpua]

this game is geared towards the more highly skilled coordinated gamers, not the casual pedestrian "i can finish this game in two hours" type 360 games.

[mastermindnate]

Are you kidding me! A perfect fit is going to be killzone 2, Unreal Tourney 3, and MGS4: Obsiously this guy hasnt read that so far every review says the contols suck, the ability to user your dragon sucks.. That sounds to me... like the game just plain sucks. How about a little more dev time next time. Maybe a NORMAL control system

[Rooted_Dust]

What ever happened to all the flight games? Besides rare games like Rouge Squadron, Ace Combat, Blazing Angels, and Lair. There is hardly a flight Sim/Aerial Combat Genre anymore. I can't remember the last Space flight/Combat game that came out on any console. Does anyone remember Colony Wars for PS? What happened to this genre?

[HowarthsNJ]

SixAxis option for PS3.

[i Shank u]

i know what you mean rooted dust, use to love colony wars on PS1(and ace combat 2, had the joystick/combo for it), seems like not many want games like that, and the ones that are getting made are crap. 360 just got a colony wars type game, project slypheed, its made by square enix, so it sounded like it had promise; i d/l the demo and it sucks, colony wars owns it. Blazing Angels 2, i d/l the 360 demo, its fun for a little, seems like a good rental but nothing great. The 360 ace combat 6 demo is where the good flying's at, if you like ace combat series youll love the new one, grphx are great and the joystick/throttle combo coming out with it will be sic to play with it. Ace combat 6 looks about the only option for good flying, and doesnt look like much is coming after it :(

[Frances-the-Mute]

it was pretty interesting, they dont have the framerate locked so it does get choppy, the lock on a little weird, and the control are a bit off, id give it between a 7-7.5 tops

[Double-Edged]

is garbage.

heck... why even ....

Better turn that feature off... and stick to analog.

Kudos!

[BIadestarX]

I hope this serves to developers as an example not to depend on a technology or feature that it's not widely accepted. Yeah... brave.. innovative... I give them that... but the game will not apeal to everyone so they filter all those people that are not yet confortable with this way of playing a game. They whould probably played safe and give gamers the option of disabling it and using the more conventional aproach.. it's not like the sixaxis controller couldn't...

I hope every developer from now on learn from Lair... and make it optional... it's what most developers did with analog sticks were introduced at first... you could use Dpad and analog sticks to move... I remember not using the left analog stick for a long time... heck.. if any game would force me to go analog.. I would simply not play it.