Interview with Robb Rinard, Creative Director Behind "Jeremy McGrath's Offroad"

A while back I reviewed an impressive XBLA racing game called "Jeremy McGrath's Offroad". I actually gave the game some much deserved praise. I had definitely enjoyed my playthrough of the game. Everything from the HD visuals to the actual gameplay were all brilliantly designed. Not long after the review I had talked with my PR contact about an interview he wanted done. I typed it up, and sent it to him. I had almost given up hope on ever getting the interview back, until I just checked my email. I'm definitely glad to be able to bring you this interview between me, and the creative director of 2XL Games. Hopefully the interview will spark your interest enough to at least give the demo a try. Without further adieu though here is the interview ...

Hi, my name is Robb Rinard. I’m the Creative Director at 2XL Games

         1) Brad (OtakuDante): I always like to start off my interviews by learning something about the developer. Could you tell us a little about yourself/your development team?"

2XL games was formed in 2005 by two former Rainbow Studios guys: Rick Baltman and Robb Rinard. Together we’ve designed the top selling racing games in the world. Our past titles include Microsoft Motocross Madness, Sony ATV Offroad Fury, Activision Mat Hofman Pro BMX, Atari Splashdown, Star Wars Pod Racer Revenge.

For the past four years, 2XL Games has been growing steadily. We currently have a staff of about 60 developers working on mobile, PC browser, and console products. We are one of the last remaining developers in Phoenix since THQ shutdown Rainbow Studios in 2011.


2) Brad (OtakuDante): "What type of audience were you hoping to reach out to with "Jeremy McGrath's Offroad?"

Fans of racing and action gaming were the target for JMO. We have a lot of experience developing titles and our fans have certain expectations in terms of the course design and driving model. Jeremy is a great example of the future of console gaming. Smaller scope and roughly 1/6 the price. Instead of 60 dollars, we can deliver a high quality driving experience for around ten bucks.

3) Brad (OtakuDante): "What inspired you to bring back the oldschool racing genre?"

Remember Ivan “Ironman” Stewarts Off-road, from back in the day? I think it was based on the Super Sprint engine (also a classic). We’ve been fans of the offroad genre for years. Part of our inspiration actually came from the complete and total saturation of the mobile market in only 2-3 years. It’s hard to stand out in a crowd of hundreds of thousands of apps. The XBLA and PSN market, on the other hand, only have hundreds of titles, not thousands. So that was definitely part of the driver.


4) Brad (OtakuDante): "I noticed that "Jeremy McGrath's Offroad" was more of an arcade racing game than any of the similar racing simulators that were made for the older gaming consoles. What made you go for the arcade style of gameplay?"

I’ve always felts that a title we made back in 2002 called Sony ATV Offroad Fury was easily the best tuned, most approachable title we ever shipped. My goal for the driving model was deliver something at the same level of complexity at Off-road Fury,  just with trucks instead of ATVs. Our 2008 title Baja: Edge of Control was way too deep for most folks to appreciate.

5) Brad (OtakuDante): "What was the reason behind your inclusion of the XP ranking system? I think it's a first for racing games of this type."

It’s a great system for allowing the player to decide what’s most important to them in terms of performance upgrades. It’s been really well received since the game was released.

6) Brad (OtakuDante): "During my playthrough of "Jeremy McGrath's Offroad" I noticed something interesting going on with the background scenery. It seemed as if it were done in layers, and that the plants/backdrop were designed in 2D. How were you able to apply this visual technique so seamlessly?"

JMO is a tunnel racer with the illusion of wide open worlds. One of the tricks to mastering that illusion is the ability to have lots of 2D elements that give the appearance of being 3D. If you could drive off the road players would see that we are using lots of billboard elements. But in a tunnel racer, the player is kept within the bounds of the track and can never get close enough to large trees to give away the illusion.


7) Brad (OtakuDante): "As a diverse gamer I really appreciated what you did with both the singleplayer, and multiplayer modes. I was wondering why you decided to make the online mode feature a drop out system where the player left alone wouldn't be punished for such situations? It's a feature I think a lot of online games should definitely include, and I'm glad it's there."

There are a bunch of approaches to handling the DNF case (did not finish). I think the system we have in JMO is fair. There a million different network cases of how things can go wrong in a live multiplayer session. We put a lot of work into handling each of those cases as gracefully as possible.


8) Brad (OtakuDante): "As I did my playthrough of 'Career' I couldn't help but notice some of the track's backgrounds looked slightly similar. It initially confused me, but I ended up going back to take notes on all of the features as I usually do. After that things made more sense. Do you think this might be a little confusing to those who buy the game?"

In a 60 dollar retail product, we can afford to create more unique envrionments. I think Baja had over 50 different tracks. But that game also had a ten million dollar budget. We intentionally set out to build a smaller scope game, and that makes it harder to have a robust career mode, but I think the trade offs are worth it when you consider we brought the price of the game from 60 down to 10 bucks. Still looks and plays great!


9) Brad (OtakuDante): "I noticed at the main menu of "Jeremy McGrath's Offroad" there was a section reserved for downloadable content. What are the DLC plans for the game? Any new tracks? Any new vehicles?"

Yeah, we have a new DLC pack in progress. Should be out in a few weeks.


10) Brad (OtakuDante): "As a reviewer I've seen several, if not many different developers abandon plans they had for additional DLC. Do you plan on sticking with the launch of new DLC (if that was your initial plan), or is it based on how well sales of the game do?"

Yes, we plan on delivering the content on schedule!


Brad (OtakuDante): "I would like to take the time to thank you for participating in this interview. I know some questions I asked were likely easier to answer than others, but I tried to touch base on topics that might interest the readers. I think you have produced an amazing arcade game that definitely deserves a chance with the online gaming community. It's not often that developers revitalize a game genre in such great way. I wish you the best of luck with sales, and hopefully the online will pick up in population very soon. Thanks for your time!

Thanks Brad, you should also check out our Ricky Carmichael Motocross Matchup title on iOS and Android. It’s a blast too! -robb