EvilGeniuses recently has the opportunity to interview Double Helix’s Michael Willette (Producer), David Verfaillie (Design Director) and Rich Bantegui (Community Manager) about the development of Killer Instinct Xbox One. A portion of the interview is below, so visit EvilGeniuses’ website for the full interview!
Michael Migliacio: Talk to me a little bit about the origins of the counter-breaker system. How did that idea come about?
Michael Willette: When we were still in the inception phase of the combo system, there were many different roads we took before deciding on the open system. We still had a “golden path” combo formula, the progression from openers, to auto-doubles, to linkers, to auto-doubles, to enders. We initially had the idea of using a “bluff” during auto-doubles as a way of providing a “yomi” opportunity for the player currently on offense. Our senior gameplay designer Dave Hall expanded that original system and made it reactive, allowing it to happen anytime during a combo.
David Verfaillie: The original idea was to have a fourth type of auto-double. You could do a light, medium, heavy, or “bluff”. When we prototyped this out, we started to see potential in the system, but it took Dave’s stroke of genius to make us realize how much of a game changer the counter-breaker could become. Heavy auto-doubles are my personal favorites to bluff, because you can let the sequence play out just long enough for an opponent to recognize the double, and then hit the counter-breaker. Being able to bluff at any time really changed the game.
Michael Willette: This idea played right into our concept of high-risk, high-reward gameplay during combo sequences. We balanced all of these high-damage combo opportunities with the threat of lockout where you get punished for mashing or guessing incorrectly – and this concept is included in the bluff as well. So if you bluff and totally make the wrong read, you drop your combo and are now open to attack for 27 frames – you get blown up. All of these systems are complementary in creating the aggressive, fast-paced, mind-reading nature of what you’re playing right now.
Michael Migliacio: Are you impressed with the community’s response so far?
Rich Bantegui: I’m one of those guys that loves watching what top players are doing with the game. It brings a smile to my face when I see players like Justin playing onstream or going to Jacksonville and winning the tournament. Justin, fLoE, Alex Valle, and others – these are guys with a lot of influence in the fighting game community, and they help people understand how to play the game. I know their intention is to get more people interested in the game as well. Anytime there’s a livestream we have our massive email chain that goes out, we get hyped about it.
