IGN: Why can't I cross mix the songs? What's holding me back from making a mash-up of Outkast and Snoop Dogg?
Daniel Neil:
With the Ripper who is stopping you!? But point taken. We kept the genres isolated so that players could take any sample from the SampleBase and add it to their tune in the knowledge that it would fit in key. This allows players to build confidence in building tracks before they move on to the more complicated features such as the Ripper.
IGN: Is it a tricky situation giving kids at home the ability to easily sample any artist?
Daniel Neil:
Not tricky at all! This allows kids to mix up their own music into the tracks we supply, or even with other music. It opens the door, allowing the game to create music of any style.
IGN: Why do the different genres have set ranges for their BPMs? Why can't I slow a track down to half-speed for effect and then whip it back to normal?
Daniel Neil: There are a few technical reasons for this. For example if you speed up the track, the game is processing sound quicker and with the level of effects complexity that we allow, the consoles literally cant keep up. As far as slowing the track down, the delays that are matched to the beat require space internally to store their delayed audio, and a slower track will require more delay space. We wanted to leave as much space free for samples. I am not a fan of the "You cant do that" messages that pop up in other games after you might have spent an hour getting the track written.
IGN: What were your goals in terms of the experience that you wanted to provide to the users of this title?
Daniel Neil:
Our biggest goal for the experience was that it must feel like a console product. Just because a concept or feature works with a mouse and keyboard does not mean it will work on a controller. In fact in many cases the opposite is true. I am actually now faster at laying down a track using MTV 3 than any professional sequencing package!
We also wanted players to surprise themselves as to the quality of music that they could produce. We have stacked the game with really professional samples… and paid the premium to do so! With these, and the level of sophistication and polish that you can apply in the effects processing, it is unbelievable the sounds that you can get from MTV 3.
IGN: How do you feel about the mash-up scene that mixes different genres together?
Daniel Neil:
It's a perfect match for MTV 3. We allow people to do it themselves without having to buy expensive PC software and you know.. writing music from your sofa is quite a lot more relaxing…
IGN: What is your own musical background?
Daniel Neil: I have played in rock and punk bands for too long to mention (I will resist a plug), been a techno DJ, made music on computers and so on…. and now its taken over my job too.
IGN: How big is Mixmax and how many worked on this title?
Daniel Neil: We have a very very small team….you could count them on one hand… even if you had lost a finger or two. A few talented developers can achieve a lot if they are given space to produce a product that they believe in.
IGN: What were some of the biggest difficulties in making MTV 3?
Daniel Neil: Probably the biggest difficulty was the development team deciding that some feature, although complete, could be done in a slightly neater or clearer way, and then doing it again. Luckily we had the space to allow this to happen, and I think it shows.
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