Xbox Addict
Legacy Interview
Thursday, April 18, 2002.
Bruce Lee - Ronin Interview
XboxAddict.com interviews Ronin Entertainment, the creators of Xbox's upcoming smash hit Bruce Lee: Quest of the Dragon.
Q: Thanks for taking the time to answer a few of our questions regarding Bruce Lee: Quest of the dragon. I guess well start off with the ever popular who are you and in what specific area have you contributed to the design of the game?
A: Im Justin Lees and Ive been the production coordinator on the game for the past 7 months. Ive assisted the animators on making some of the martial arts moves look more realistic by offering a technical perspective. Ive inspired changes in the lock-on system to make it feel more fluid. Ive also facilitated making sure that everything required in the development process runs smoothly.
Q: Whats the story behind Ronin Entertainment?
A: Ronin, located in Novato, California, is composed of a team of artists from Industrial Light and Magic and designers from Lucas Arts. Some of their proudest work includes the Star Wars series on Super Nintendo, X-Wing Tie Fighter, and Indiana Jones Last Crusade.
Q: To take on the development of game based on someone as legendary as Bruce Lee must have been both daunting and exciting. How many people are involved in the development team and how long has the title been in the works?
A: The game has been in development for a total of just over two years and at any given time, the team has been as big as 50 people. There have been many people who have contributed to this game.
Q: What type of research has gone into making the game?
A: Well, obviously, we did extensive research into his films. Also, in order to preserve the authenticity of Bruce Lees Jeet Kune Do, we motion captured one of his students. In addition to being such an unparalleled fighter, Bruce Lee was a philosopher, and included throughout the game are philosophies that have never before been released.
Q: Can you give us a rundown of the story behind BL:QOTD?
A: A ruthless militia called the Black Lotus has kidnapped Bruce Lees father. His monastery has been desecrated and the ancient relic has been stolen. Bruce sets out on a mission to rescue his father, retrieve the ancient relic and bring the Black Lotus to justice. The story has elements of humor, intrigue and adventure sharply characteristic of Lees films.
Q: What types of changes have been made, if any, since Bruce Lees announcement at last years E3?
A: Almost every aspect of the game has had some sort of improvement, from the combo system to the fighting system to the enemy AI. Weve focused solely on making this an adventure/fighting game as opposed to an arena style title.
Q: In our quest, what different types of locations will we find ourselves kicking ass and taking names?
A: The adventure takes Bruce to various locals such as London, San Francisco and Hong Kong set in various environments like back alleys, caves, ancient temples, and rooftops, just to name a few.
Q: How interactive will these locations be? Will there be modeled cities to venture around in?
A: The level designs tout art that is stylistically representative of the locations after which they are modeled. Although there is some interaction with certain items in the environment such as box crates, trash cans, chairs and tables, we steered more on course to focus on the fighting elements and the lock-on fighting system.
Q: Being both action as well as adventure based, has the game play been balanced with equal parts of each genre? Or would you say that the game is more about fighting with a bit of story behind it?
A: When people think of Bruce Lee, they think of what an awesome fighting machine he was. When asked what people would think about a Bruce Lee game, the response was almost unanimous it would have to be a fighting game. Given the obvious, we also wanted to incorporate an adventure with a sense of cinema indicative of his films. Our emphasis was to create an adventure fighting game that had a breadth of combos for players to do, but wasnt an arena style, one-on-one. Bruce Lee was all about balance.
Q: Will there be different levels of difficulty for the enemy AI? Do the enemies get harder as the game progresses or just the amount of enemies well have to fight at any one time?
A: The difficulty of enemy AI does ramp up as the adventure proceeds. This creates the need for players to stock up health, power and of course, to purchase moves. Different enemies have different styles of attacks, and this also contributes to variation in the AI that players will have to adjust to. It will be important for players to strategically utilize the lock-on fighting system (which also indicates the difficulty of the enemy) while in combat.
Q: In keeping with the feel of Bruce Lee and his style of fighting, what kind of sounds can we expect to hear when we fight? Will we hear Bruce do his well-known yells and the punching sounds from the old martial arts films?
A: You bet. We searched high and low for the right voice over talent and were very satisfied with what we found.
Q: Can you explain the fighting system and how it plays out on the Xbox controller?
A: The lock-on system essentially allows players the option of engaging in combat with multiple enemies or individual enemies. When players initially strike an opponent, the lock on system engages. This allows Bruce to focus most on his attacks of that opponent. The right analog stick can be used to execute non-orienting attacks to any of the surrounding enemies. Players have the option of unlocking (R trigger) in order to engage with other opponents or to simply change the opponent onto which theyre locked (L trigger). Once cycled onto another enemy, Bruce will now engage in fighting with that opponent. An arrow indicator above the opponent tells the player onto which opponent theyre locked. Different colors indicate different levels of difficulty.
Q: How many moves basically will we start off with and how many can be acquired throughout the game?
A: There are over 100 moves in the game differing in how difficult they are to execute. Of those, about 20 (the coolest) moves must be purchased. These include throws, counters and special kicks/punches.
Q: Can you explain the coin system and how we acquire new moves?
A: Coins are dropped by defeated opponents. Players can acquire more coins by doing flashier, more difficult combos, which is important because those coins are used later to purchase attributes such as health, power, rank and moves. The move purchase menu lists all the moves that the player can afford and shows the price of the moves they cant afford.
Q: Besides Jeet Kune Do, what other fighting styles will we have to master?
A: Since players play only as Bruce Lee, Jeet Kune Do is what playesr will have to master, however players will encounter opponents that are trained in various forms of martial arts such as Tae Kwon Do, Kick Boxing, Shaolin Dragon, Shaolin Tiger, Shaolin Crane and Kenpo.
Q: How big of a learning curve is involved with the fighting system? Will the novice gamer be able to pick up a controller and start dishing it out or will DOA3/Tekken players be salivating at the massive combos available?
A: Our goal was to implement a fighting system that was easy to use, a challenge to master and catered to both general gamers and fighting game enthusiasts. In additions to being able to pull off some pretty flashy moves with a few button commands, there are also more difficult combos that require use of the D-pad in conjunction with well-timed button sequences.
Q: What different types of game modes will be available in both single player and multiplayer? Any plans for online support?
A: This game features only a single player mode and no online support is available now.
Q: We noticed quite a few clothing variations in the screenshots, are these just skins or does your clothing reflect timelined events in Bruces career? How many different costumes will be available?
A: The different outfits merely reflect that Bruce too needs to change his clothes from time to time. Theres really no real timeline relativity to what he wears in the game. Youll see Bruce Lee dressed in four different get-ups.
Q: How well are you guys pushing the power of the Xbox? What sort of graphical effects are being implemented?
A: The characters are over 4000 polygons while Bruce is closer to 8000. The framerate is never below 30 and we are really pushing the Xbox on special effects. We have things like dynamic lighting, real time shadows, real time reflections, weather effects and tons of great particle effects all at once while even making sure the game works on an HDTV.
Q: What ESRB rating are you guys shooting for?
A: Teen
Q: What is your all time favorite Bruce Lee movie?
A: Enter the Dragon . . . Whaataah!!
Thank you for taking the time to chat with us.
Bruce Lee - Ronin InterviewXboxAddict.com interviews Ronin Entertainment, the creators of Xbox's upcoming smash hit Bruce Lee: Quest of the Dragon.
A: Im Justin Lees and Ive been the production coordinator on the game for the past 7 months. Ive assisted the animators on making some of the martial arts moves look more realistic by offering a technical perspective. Ive inspired changes in the lock-on system to make it feel more fluid. Ive also facilitated making sure that everything required in the development process runs smoothly.
Q: Whats the story behind Ronin Entertainment?
A: Ronin, located in Novato, California, is composed of a team of artists from Industrial Light and Magic and designers from Lucas Arts. Some of their proudest work includes the Star Wars series on Super Nintendo, X-Wing Tie Fighter, and Indiana Jones Last Crusade.
Q: To take on the development of game based on someone as legendary as Bruce Lee must have been both daunting and exciting. How many people are involved in the development team and how long has the title been in the works?
A: The game has been in development for a total of just over two years and at any given time, the team has been as big as 50 people. There have been many people who have contributed to this game.
Q: What type of research has gone into making the game?
A: Well, obviously, we did extensive research into his films. Also, in order to preserve the authenticity of Bruce Lees Jeet Kune Do, we motion captured one of his students. In addition to being such an unparalleled fighter, Bruce Lee was a philosopher, and included throughout the game are philosophies that have never before been released.
Q: Can you give us a rundown of the story behind BL:QOTD?
A: A ruthless militia called the Black Lotus has kidnapped Bruce Lees father. His monastery has been desecrated and the ancient relic has been stolen. Bruce sets out on a mission to rescue his father, retrieve the ancient relic and bring the Black Lotus to justice. The story has elements of humor, intrigue and adventure sharply characteristic of Lees films.
Q: What types of changes have been made, if any, since Bruce Lees announcement at last years E3?
A: Almost every aspect of the game has had some sort of improvement, from the combo system to the fighting system to the enemy AI. Weve focused solely on making this an adventure/fighting game as opposed to an arena style title.
Q: In our quest, what different types of locations will we find ourselves kicking ass and taking names?
A: The adventure takes Bruce to various locals such as London, San Francisco and Hong Kong set in various environments like back alleys, caves, ancient temples, and rooftops, just to name a few.
Q: How interactive will these locations be? Will there be modeled cities to venture around in?
A: The level designs tout art that is stylistically representative of the locations after which they are modeled. Although there is some interaction with certain items in the environment such as box crates, trash cans, chairs and tables, we steered more on course to focus on the fighting elements and the lock-on fighting system.
Q: Being both action as well as adventure based, has the game play been balanced with equal parts of each genre? Or would you say that the game is more about fighting with a bit of story behind it?
A: When people think of Bruce Lee, they think of what an awesome fighting machine he was. When asked what people would think about a Bruce Lee game, the response was almost unanimous it would have to be a fighting game. Given the obvious, we also wanted to incorporate an adventure with a sense of cinema indicative of his films. Our emphasis was to create an adventure fighting game that had a breadth of combos for players to do, but wasnt an arena style, one-on-one. Bruce Lee was all about balance.
Q: Will there be different levels of difficulty for the enemy AI? Do the enemies get harder as the game progresses or just the amount of enemies well have to fight at any one time?
A: The difficulty of enemy AI does ramp up as the adventure proceeds. This creates the need for players to stock up health, power and of course, to purchase moves. Different enemies have different styles of attacks, and this also contributes to variation in the AI that players will have to adjust to. It will be important for players to strategically utilize the lock-on fighting system (which also indicates the difficulty of the enemy) while in combat.
Q: In keeping with the feel of Bruce Lee and his style of fighting, what kind of sounds can we expect to hear when we fight? Will we hear Bruce do his well-known yells and the punching sounds from the old martial arts films?
A: You bet. We searched high and low for the right voice over talent and were very satisfied with what we found.
Q: Can you explain the fighting system and how it plays out on the Xbox controller?
A: The lock-on system essentially allows players the option of engaging in combat with multiple enemies or individual enemies. When players initially strike an opponent, the lock on system engages. This allows Bruce to focus most on his attacks of that opponent. The right analog stick can be used to execute non-orienting attacks to any of the surrounding enemies. Players have the option of unlocking (R trigger) in order to engage with other opponents or to simply change the opponent onto which theyre locked (L trigger). Once cycled onto another enemy, Bruce will now engage in fighting with that opponent. An arrow indicator above the opponent tells the player onto which opponent theyre locked. Different colors indicate different levels of difficulty.
Q: How many moves basically will we start off with and how many can be acquired throughout the game?
A: There are over 100 moves in the game differing in how difficult they are to execute. Of those, about 20 (the coolest) moves must be purchased. These include throws, counters and special kicks/punches.
Q: Can you explain the coin system and how we acquire new moves?
A: Coins are dropped by defeated opponents. Players can acquire more coins by doing flashier, more difficult combos, which is important because those coins are used later to purchase attributes such as health, power, rank and moves. The move purchase menu lists all the moves that the player can afford and shows the price of the moves they cant afford.
Q: Besides Jeet Kune Do, what other fighting styles will we have to master?
A: Since players play only as Bruce Lee, Jeet Kune Do is what playesr will have to master, however players will encounter opponents that are trained in various forms of martial arts such as Tae Kwon Do, Kick Boxing, Shaolin Dragon, Shaolin Tiger, Shaolin Crane and Kenpo.
Q: How big of a learning curve is involved with the fighting system? Will the novice gamer be able to pick up a controller and start dishing it out or will DOA3/Tekken players be salivating at the massive combos available?
A: Our goal was to implement a fighting system that was easy to use, a challenge to master and catered to both general gamers and fighting game enthusiasts. In additions to being able to pull off some pretty flashy moves with a few button commands, there are also more difficult combos that require use of the D-pad in conjunction with well-timed button sequences.
Q: What different types of game modes will be available in both single player and multiplayer? Any plans for online support?
A: This game features only a single player mode and no online support is available now.
Q: We noticed quite a few clothing variations in the screenshots, are these just skins or does your clothing reflect timelined events in Bruces career? How many different costumes will be available?
A: The different outfits merely reflect that Bruce too needs to change his clothes from time to time. Theres really no real timeline relativity to what he wears in the game. Youll see Bruce Lee dressed in four different get-ups.
Q: How well are you guys pushing the power of the Xbox? What sort of graphical effects are being implemented?
A: The characters are over 4000 polygons while Bruce is closer to 8000. The framerate is never below 30 and we are really pushing the Xbox on special effects. We have things like dynamic lighting, real time shadows, real time reflections, weather effects and tons of great particle effects all at once while even making sure the game works on an HDTV.
Q: What ESRB rating are you guys shooting for?
A: Teen
Q: What is your all time favorite Bruce Lee movie?
A: Enter the Dragon . . . Whaataah!!
Thank you for taking the time to chat with us.
Xbox Game Search
Latest News
Next Xbox gets "wired in" with official website
It looks like once the cat is out of the bag on the Next Xbox, we’ll have a whole new way to get info about everything straight from the horse’s mouth, as "Xbox Wire" is now live.
Xbox 360 Dash to get a Next Xbox "facelift" soon
It seems only natural that with the Next Xbox spearheading Microsoft’s plans to expand the Xbox brand beyond just one device, that the Xbox 360 would also share in many of the upgrades that are coming, cosmetically, at least. Read on to learn more.
(RUMOR) Is Rainbow 6 Patriots a "dead" project?
It would be a shocker if Rainbow 6 Patriots is cancelled, as it was rumored to be making a possible appearance at Microsoft’s upcoming reveal or at one of the E3 conferences, but when GameStop pulls a game from its database, it doesn’t look good.
GoW: Judgement "Lost Relics" DLC announced
The Locust aren’t done with you yet, soldier! Pick your Lancer back up, steel your nerves and prepare for the coming onslaught in June!
Minecraft available on disc June 25
Wondering what’s the big deal with this Minecraft thing, but you’re not one of those "always on" whippersnappers? No problem! Soon you can buy it at the store and play it offline with friends.
Next Xbox price reveal will likely be at E3
Well, come on kids, you didn’t expect Microsoft to play their entire hand just a couple of weeks before the "Super Bowl" of the games industry, did you? That would be silly.
(RUMOR) Microsoft Points may finally be going away
As we get closer and closer to Microsoft’s May 21st reveal, rumors that the Next Xbox may usher in a future without MS Points seem to be more credible than ever before.
See News Archives
Top Community Gamerscores
2. hellonearth159 - 87,845
3. Variation-XBA - 81,605
4. Timmy Bauer - 58,335
5. Symmetrics Love-XBA - 47,993
6. Enamelized420-XBA - 41,520
7. Silent-XBA - 38,722
8. Ainokeatoo-XBA - 34,076
9. Roujin-XBA - 31,498
10. Yankeez - 30,859
11. Kamshaft-XBA - 29,839
12. thAshAdyOne - 26,895
13. Casper - 26,315
14. Soda Jones - 24,253
15. Tampad - 22,221
16. Highlite23 - 19,309
17. Whisper - 13,272
18. TAXCOLLECTER675 - 13,131
19. HaZarD SFD-XBA - 12,802
20. l Maximus l - 3,010
21. Shadow20002 - 2,880
22. LiLJoe608 - 2,485
23. Sam-XBA - 2,130
24. MixMasta - 175
25. Motoko -
Community Forum Activity
Post by FearfulInk
2 Replies, 243 Views
Double XP weekend Black Ops II on Xbox 360
Post by LiLJoe608
0 Replies, 481 Views
3 Days to Go !
Post by Kamshaft-XBA
5 Replies, 1189 Views
Halo 4 Avatar T-shirt (Ladies)
Post by Silent-XBA
0 Replies, 369 Views
#XboxReveal
Post by Rajio
9 Replies, 1858 Views
[RARE]Xbox 360 XDK XNA EXPO MODEL
Post by itchy
2 Replies, 1968 Views
Magic the Gathering
Post by d-dub363
1 Replies, 473 Views
Clan Member Wanted...
Post by FearfulInk
3 Replies, 944 Views
Community Playdate
Post by tote gunzz
7 Replies, 2388 Views
Dirty Laser Lens
Post by thAshAdyOne
0 Replies, 451 Views
Just looking for some more friends
Post by Grravy420
7 Replies, 1005 Views
Comunity Playdate! Come play with Xboxaddict.com!
Post by Kamshaft-XBA
13 Replies, 1482 Views
Im looking for a bo2 clan
Post by Kubloc
2 Replies, 637 Views
Looking for a bo2 clan
Post by Kubloc
0 Replies, 777 Views
Black ops 2 zombies.
Post by XzMercyOG
3 Replies, 913 Views
Site Statistics
Forum Posts: 737,482
Xbox 360 Titles: 988
Xbox 360 Kinect Titles: 93
Xbox 360 Arcade Titles: 540
Xbox Titles: 847
Staff Reviews: 1,198
Member Reviews: 10,339
News Articles: 11,327
Screenshots: 25,836
Xbox 360 Achievements: 41,421
Xbox 360 Faceplates: 2,016
Cheat Codes: 1,706
Xbox is a registered trademark of Microsoft. XboxAddict.com is not affiliated with Microsoft.
Made in Canada
Site Design by Cameron Graphics