Discuss it in Talkback!

If you thought our Downhill Jam Wii interview was all we had up our sleeve, you're in for a surprise. We here at Planet GameCube also got a chance to partake in another Q&A session with Kenny Johnson, a designer at Vicarious Visions who is hard at work on the Nintendo DS version Tony Hawk's Downhill Jam. (Owners of American Sk8Land, the first Tony Hawk DS game, who frequent Activision's American Sk8Land community forums may have seen Mr. Johnson moderate there as “AgoraKenny".) In the Q&A, we talk about game features, the power of the DS hardware, and what Wi-Fi features to expect for Downhill Jam DS.

PGC: Is Downhill Jam for DS closely based on the Wii version? Are there any exclusive tracks?

Kenny Johnson: Downhill Jam DS and Wii are both about speed and downhill skateboard racing, but have unique features. You will see exclusive tracks, different characters, and stories in each version of the game you play.

PGC: What is the structure of the single-player modes? Is there anything resembling Classic mode, with freestyle skating?

Johnson: There are four single player modes in Downhill Jam DS:

World Tour is our Story Mode. You join Tony Hawk to hit awesome skate spots around the globe, organize a crew, and compete in downhill competitions. One thing I like is that you can choose which goals to complete. Maybe I’m better at trick challenges than racing, so I can play through the game my way. If I feel like playing the rest of the goals, I can then return to previous levels and do that too!

Jam Session is like Classic Mode from the old Tony games. You’re presented with goals like high scores, combo scores, a time trial, and a secret tape to collect, which you complete through runs down the track. High scores from Jam Session will be tracked online through Nintendo Wi-Fi!

Quick Race is our no-nonsense mode, allowing players to jump right into the game, any level, with up to three other AI opponents.

Finally Free Skate returns in Downhill Jam – skate the track for fun, or take your time to explore, find short cuts, and practice your trick lines!

PGC: Has the 80s-cartoon style from American SK8Land been used again in the game's story?

Johnson: Like SK8Land, Downhill Jam has a funny and colorful story, unique to the DS version of the game, with some great voice actors.

PGC: Have there been any upgrades to the 3D engine since the last game?

Johnson: Downhill Jam’s engineers went all out with this game. Jam levels are typically three times the size of SK8Land’s levels, and even with geometry and texture streaming, the frame rate stays at a solid 60 fps while racing downhill with up to three other AI opponents. This game definitely pushes the DS hardware!

PGC: What is it about the DS hardware that makes it so adept at rendering cel-shaded graphics?

Johnson: The DS is actually quite a powerful system. Our engineers and artists found that cel-shading works great, so you’ll notice Downhill Jam has a lot of style with bright colors that look great on both the classic Nintendo DS and the new DS Lite.

Of course there are other rendering tricks that are surfacing too – the fact that we can stream textures and geometry is great, and I expect we’ll see future games pushing new aspects of the hardware as developers learn to use the DS in even better ways!

PGC: Have the touch screen controls been changed since the last game?

Our biggest touch screen feature, the art editor, has improved greatly since SK8Land. You might remember, SK8Land had a popular 16 color graffiti and skate deck editor. Downhill Jam introduces a full, customizable RGB color scale, and editable shirt and pants textures - in addition to the graffiti and skate decks from SK8Land! The art editor also features a new ‘zoom’ feature so our community pixel artists can have even better precision with their work!

As for in game touch screen use, touch specials are still in Downhill Jam - allowing easy access to awesome moves and high scores.

PGC: Will the DS version have the same types of downloadable content and website integration that American SK8Land did?

Johnson: Stat tracking returns with Downhill Jam, as do downloadable goals, and replays – you can now skate alongside replay ghosts which is great for discovering new trick lines and short cuts. With the new art editing tools mentioned above, players can now create and share shirts, pants, skate decks, and graffiti online through the community site.

News on our best Wi-Fi feature has been kept quiet, though I can tell you we do have voice chat with friends over Wi-Fi in game (not just a lobby), and new Head-to-Head game modes for racing and tricking!

In short, players aren’t going to be disappointed with the Wi-Fi features in Downhill Jam. Everything that was in SK8Land has been improved, with some new Wi-Fi additions mixed in!

PGC: What are the challenges of implementing voice chat during online gameplay over a wireless DS connection?

Johnson: It’s a challenge to implement any Wi-Fi features into a game because of the size of the information that can be sent and processed by the DS, and the latency of the players’ Internet connections. It’s hard enough to implement smooth game play that feels right for multiple players!

Adding voice chat, we’re talking about the DS processing a fun game with other players first, then additionally recording, compressing, sending, and playing chat recorded through the microphone! It’s a lot of information for the DS to sort through, but our Engineers figured out how to do it online during Wi-Fi play!

PGC: Why do you think more developers aren't taking advantage of online features for their DS games? Is it that WiFi support is so difficult to implement?

Johnson: As I mentioned above, it is challenging to implement Wi-Fi features on the DS. Though, I also think the DS is a much more powerful system than developers give it credit for! Downhill Jam proves that a lot can be done with Nintendo Wi-Fi, and I hope to see other developers support such ambitious Wi-Fi features in their future games!

PGC: Does Downhill Jam feature as much recorded music and voice acting as American SK8Land? Will Mindy return to haunt our dreams?

Johnson: Downhill Jam DS features more music tracks than SK8Land, and great voice acting. The game actually uses a lot more recorded dialogue than SK8Land, with skaters that shout to each other as they skate and compete down the game’s slopes. I won’t reveal the music track list or list of voice actors, but I’m very happy with the talent we got on the project!

SK8Land’s wacky cut scenes were a hit last year, so this year the team at Vicarious Visions worked together to come up with a new cast of wild characters and events, unique to Downhill Jam DS! No, Mindy’s not in this game, and we think the players will like the new personalities we’ve come up with!

PGC: Will the custom bail-out sound clips be returning, and has the feature changed at all? Can they be heard by other players during online play?

Johnson: The custom sound has returned for Downhill Jam! You can record a short quip using the DS microphone, and tell the game to trigger it on gaps, special tricks, and/or bails. This will not be moderated, however, so it won’t be heard by other players on Nintendo Wi-Fi Head-to-Head.

Of course you can use voice chat with friends on Wi-Fi instead to communicate during online play!

Planet GameCube would like to give a big Thanks to Mr. Johnson, Vicarious Visions and Activision for the interview!