Project Draco head calls Kinect development 'tough'

Project Draco head Yukio Futatsugi talks about the difficulties of developing for a Kinect-exclusive game.

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Project Draco, the dragon-flying game from Panzer Dragoon creator Yukio Futatsugi, is taking the mantle of spiritual successor to the beloved classic. It's also a Kinect exclusive, which may make some series fans worry. In a new interview, Futatsugi talks about the challenges of developing for Kinect, and why he thinks potential pitfalls won't be a problem.

"It's interesting, but it's also tough," he told Gamasutra. "The fun part lies in the ability to control things with your body, the way you can directly affect what's going on with your body instead of going through something else. But making games for it presents a lot of challenges. It's hard to really make a game that can only be done with Kinect -- something that can be said for any title, not just ours.

"You can tell a player to move their hand in a certain way to fire, but different players will interpret that in different ways. Previously you could just say 'Press the A button' and everyone got that, but trying to catch all the possible ranges of motion can be tough to implement." Still, he says that the device can pick up on small movements, and testing is being performed at Microsoft.

He also notes that input lag hasn't been a problem so far. "We're helped by the fact that you're piloting a large dragon in this game, and so in the game world, there's going to be a little bit of a delay between your commands and his movements," he said. "There isn't going to be the sort of lag that causes stress to the gamer, however."

Project Draco is due out next year, but it will sport a new name when it hits retail shelves.

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