HeavyNorse
#BlackLivesMatter
https://www.facebook.com/note.php?note_id=2059818764116285
TKT: When did you first get involved with Mortal Kombat and what was your initial position with the franchise?
Derek: You mean like in the beginning, beginning? Oh damn, it was MK DS. Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3 on the Nintendo DS [2007], I tested that, yeah, and from there is now where I’m at. *laughs*
TKT: Where do you draw inspirations from when designing how a character controls and fights? Do you get a lot of creative control?
Derek: Oh, well it all depends on the character. Umm, when it’s someone like Mileena; they have to be ravenous and sexy. Their personalities have to translate into their fight styles and for who they are. So I will watch as many movies as possible with badass female martial artists to try and emulate those into our characters, because that’s what people want. They want to feel the personality of the character for when they’re playing them and I feel like Mileena was a good example of that in Mortal Kombat X and with Injustice 2 - Cheetah - She was also a great representation of how you would expect her to feel and play. You’ve got to embody the character and I absolutely love doing, you know; powerful females.
TKT: In this Reveal build, are there any characters that you’re personally responsible for?
Derek: Currently... *pauses* - No.
TKT: Which character in this build is your favourite to play thus far and why?
Derek: My favourite to play... Skarlet. She’s bloody, she’s cool, she’s sexy. It is good to see her reborn, like she had one identity in MK9 and now she’s taken over completely different identities, she is more of a blood mage, right? Manipulating blood versus just kinda using it and I love that, I love this twist of Skarlet.
TKT: How long would you say it takes to fully design and complete a character, going from the initial concept arts to final playable form?
Derek: Umm, that all depends on our flow within the studio, like right now we’ve got a lot of animations just coming in for different things and what not, right, so the minimum for a character is a month. Minimum. That’s when everyone is on full-force with that character.
TKT: Do you have any educated guesses as to what this games Meta is going to be?
Derek: It’s gonna be a slower-paced, more poke-like, footsies-based game. The pressure is not there with us removing the run mechanic. 50/50’s are not like a heavy thing in it in any way, it’s more of a reading and punishing your opponent, you use the offensive and defensive meters. You are not having one meter that you have to like control and maintain throughout the whole game, so you can use defensive things to get out of combos, or to get away more than you would in previous games because it’s not taking away from your offensive meter. So it is going to completely change how people have played and paced this game in comparison to our previous games.
TKT: In regards to Crossplay, was it ever discussed or tinkered with at the studio internally?
Derek: *long pause* - It’s the future. It sounds kinda cool, but we are not going to... We’re not really talking about that, I mean it’s the future right? Everybody wants that but not everybody has the power to, you know...
TKT: Was a Mortal Kombat Battle-Royale inspired mode ever considered for Online?
Derek: Did you make that idea up, did you start this idea? Umm, no. *laughs*
TKT: Can we expect all previous Online modes in Mortal Kombat X to return for MK11?
Derek: Ooh, that’s a good one, umm *long pause*. We’re not taking about online currently, but what we’ve done from game to game is kinda followed a similar format so it will be similar, but better.
TKT: Has the Online netcode improved further from its iteration in Injustice 2?
Derek: We are always looking to improve online functionality.
TKT: Region-Lock, has it been purged from existence?
Derek: Umm, I can’t answer that.
TKT: Can we expect to see an evolution of the Quitality mechanic in Mortal Kombat 11?
Derek: Quitalities? Fuck yes!
TKT: With essentially a three-slot gear and augment system in-place, how has this been reworked for MK11 versus Injustice 2?
Derek: Yeah, so it is just the three-slots for gear that you customise cosmetically and the skin, right, like these are just more pieces, but the skin is your real visual. Unlike Injustice where you pieces were your visual, these are more like accessories to your main skin. Umm, none of the gear has stats, they don’t have attributes and things like that, so it’s vanilla. Augments and things like that are more for your local versus and the single-player content. Like you may need to put in specific augments to get through a tower that has Sub-Zero with all these ice things going on or what not, and with our new single-player Towers of Time, you actually have more control than you’ve ever had before.
TKT: In regards to Kosmetics and Skins, can we anticipate any Klassic skins from perhaps the 3D Era, like Deadly Alliance or Deception for example?
Derek: Umm, there WILL be Klassic skins, but from what exact classic games, I’m not sure. There’s a bunch of skins per character.
TKT: How old is this Reveal build your showing today?
Derek: Oh, it’s... *long pause* - I don’t want to go to the extent of weeks, but probably close to that.
TKT: The roster in this Reveal build has 25 character slots, it that number final?
Derek: Erm, it’s a pretty solid number!
TKT: What was the catalyst for not bringing stamina and the run mechanic to this instalment?
Derek: I’m not 100% sure, that’s like a Edwards and Paulo thing, right. We always want every game to play different, we want them to feel different, we want them to have different mechanics. The run mechanic introduced a lot of pressure, it dictated the speed of the game. But now in removing it, the pace and the speed are more about punishing and pokes and all about getting in, it has more of that MK9 feel as opposed to MKX.
TKT: Flip-Stance has been a staple since MK9. Is there a reason it is still in MK11 as it has been stated by people who know animation that it would be easy for Paulo to fix the animation switching and remove the need for the button entirely?
Derek: Paulo LOVES flip-stance and it’s used for other mechanics now too, left trigger is how you do the tech-rolls off the ground and it’s also how you do other things throughout the game, so left trigger is now being a lot more utilised in MK11 than it has in previous games.
TKT: Do Brutalities essentially keep the same format as they did in MKX?
Derek: Oh yeah, there are going to be requirements that you need to fulfil throughout the match to end with a Brutality. *smiles*
TKT: How do the Fatal Kounters work exactly?
Derek: So a Fatal Kounter is basically off of a Perfect Block, you can react and do an attack. You can also wake-up and do an attack and then there’s also the tech-rolls that you can do too and there’s also an air-break as well which kind of takes the place of a Combo Breaker, but it takes both bars of defensive meter.
TKT: We’ve noticed many signature special-moves absent, such as Sub-Zero’s Ice Klone and Sonya’s Leg Grab, Kiss and Bicycle Kicks for example. Are these in the game?
Derek: *pause* - The characters will continue to be tweaked and evolve as the game goes on.
TKT: Lootboxes. Will there be an equivalent to Motherboxes found in Injustice 2 in MK11?
Derek: There. Are. No. Loot. Boxes.
TKT: NetherRealm have stated with previous games that DLC Stages have been considered and could be a possibility. Could we finally see DLC Stages realised with MK11?
Derek: Umm, if we’ve said we’ve considered it, I’m sure we would consider it again. *shrugs*
TKT: DLC Characters. Will they too come equipped fully with skins and all the bells and whistles of the standard roster characters?
Derek: Umm, I’m not really sure if that’s been discussed...
TKT: Lastly, where’s Mileena?
Derek: *laughs* She dead! *laughs* But there’s a lot of dead people coming back so I don’t know! *laughs*
TKT: When did you first get involved with Mortal Kombat and what was your initial position with the franchise?
Derek: You mean like in the beginning, beginning? Oh damn, it was MK DS. Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3 on the Nintendo DS [2007], I tested that, yeah, and from there is now where I’m at. *laughs*
TKT: Where do you draw inspirations from when designing how a character controls and fights? Do you get a lot of creative control?
Derek: Oh, well it all depends on the character. Umm, when it’s someone like Mileena; they have to be ravenous and sexy. Their personalities have to translate into their fight styles and for who they are. So I will watch as many movies as possible with badass female martial artists to try and emulate those into our characters, because that’s what people want. They want to feel the personality of the character for when they’re playing them and I feel like Mileena was a good example of that in Mortal Kombat X and with Injustice 2 - Cheetah - She was also a great representation of how you would expect her to feel and play. You’ve got to embody the character and I absolutely love doing, you know; powerful females.
TKT: In this Reveal build, are there any characters that you’re personally responsible for?
Derek: Currently... *pauses* - No.
TKT: Which character in this build is your favourite to play thus far and why?
Derek: My favourite to play... Skarlet. She’s bloody, she’s cool, she’s sexy. It is good to see her reborn, like she had one identity in MK9 and now she’s taken over completely different identities, she is more of a blood mage, right? Manipulating blood versus just kinda using it and I love that, I love this twist of Skarlet.
TKT: How long would you say it takes to fully design and complete a character, going from the initial concept arts to final playable form?
Derek: Umm, that all depends on our flow within the studio, like right now we’ve got a lot of animations just coming in for different things and what not, right, so the minimum for a character is a month. Minimum. That’s when everyone is on full-force with that character.
TKT: Do you have any educated guesses as to what this games Meta is going to be?
Derek: It’s gonna be a slower-paced, more poke-like, footsies-based game. The pressure is not there with us removing the run mechanic. 50/50’s are not like a heavy thing in it in any way, it’s more of a reading and punishing your opponent, you use the offensive and defensive meters. You are not having one meter that you have to like control and maintain throughout the whole game, so you can use defensive things to get out of combos, or to get away more than you would in previous games because it’s not taking away from your offensive meter. So it is going to completely change how people have played and paced this game in comparison to our previous games.
TKT: In regards to Crossplay, was it ever discussed or tinkered with at the studio internally?
Derek: *long pause* - It’s the future. It sounds kinda cool, but we are not going to... We’re not really talking about that, I mean it’s the future right? Everybody wants that but not everybody has the power to, you know...
TKT: Was a Mortal Kombat Battle-Royale inspired mode ever considered for Online?
Derek: Did you make that idea up, did you start this idea? Umm, no. *laughs*
TKT: Can we expect all previous Online modes in Mortal Kombat X to return for MK11?
Derek: Ooh, that’s a good one, umm *long pause*. We’re not taking about online currently, but what we’ve done from game to game is kinda followed a similar format so it will be similar, but better.
TKT: Has the Online netcode improved further from its iteration in Injustice 2?
Derek: We are always looking to improve online functionality.
TKT: Region-Lock, has it been purged from existence?
Derek: Umm, I can’t answer that.
TKT: Can we expect to see an evolution of the Quitality mechanic in Mortal Kombat 11?
Derek: Quitalities? Fuck yes!
TKT: With essentially a three-slot gear and augment system in-place, how has this been reworked for MK11 versus Injustice 2?
Derek: Yeah, so it is just the three-slots for gear that you customise cosmetically and the skin, right, like these are just more pieces, but the skin is your real visual. Unlike Injustice where you pieces were your visual, these are more like accessories to your main skin. Umm, none of the gear has stats, they don’t have attributes and things like that, so it’s vanilla. Augments and things like that are more for your local versus and the single-player content. Like you may need to put in specific augments to get through a tower that has Sub-Zero with all these ice things going on or what not, and with our new single-player Towers of Time, you actually have more control than you’ve ever had before.
TKT: In regards to Kosmetics and Skins, can we anticipate any Klassic skins from perhaps the 3D Era, like Deadly Alliance or Deception for example?
Derek: Umm, there WILL be Klassic skins, but from what exact classic games, I’m not sure. There’s a bunch of skins per character.
TKT: How old is this Reveal build your showing today?
Derek: Oh, it’s... *long pause* - I don’t want to go to the extent of weeks, but probably close to that.
TKT: The roster in this Reveal build has 25 character slots, it that number final?
Derek: Erm, it’s a pretty solid number!
TKT: What was the catalyst for not bringing stamina and the run mechanic to this instalment?
Derek: I’m not 100% sure, that’s like a Edwards and Paulo thing, right. We always want every game to play different, we want them to feel different, we want them to have different mechanics. The run mechanic introduced a lot of pressure, it dictated the speed of the game. But now in removing it, the pace and the speed are more about punishing and pokes and all about getting in, it has more of that MK9 feel as opposed to MKX.
TKT: Flip-Stance has been a staple since MK9. Is there a reason it is still in MK11 as it has been stated by people who know animation that it would be easy for Paulo to fix the animation switching and remove the need for the button entirely?
Derek: Paulo LOVES flip-stance and it’s used for other mechanics now too, left trigger is how you do the tech-rolls off the ground and it’s also how you do other things throughout the game, so left trigger is now being a lot more utilised in MK11 than it has in previous games.
TKT: Do Brutalities essentially keep the same format as they did in MKX?
Derek: Oh yeah, there are going to be requirements that you need to fulfil throughout the match to end with a Brutality. *smiles*
TKT: How do the Fatal Kounters work exactly?
Derek: So a Fatal Kounter is basically off of a Perfect Block, you can react and do an attack. You can also wake-up and do an attack and then there’s also the tech-rolls that you can do too and there’s also an air-break as well which kind of takes the place of a Combo Breaker, but it takes both bars of defensive meter.
TKT: We’ve noticed many signature special-moves absent, such as Sub-Zero’s Ice Klone and Sonya’s Leg Grab, Kiss and Bicycle Kicks for example. Are these in the game?
Derek: *pause* - The characters will continue to be tweaked and evolve as the game goes on.
TKT: Lootboxes. Will there be an equivalent to Motherboxes found in Injustice 2 in MK11?
Derek: There. Are. No. Loot. Boxes.
TKT: NetherRealm have stated with previous games that DLC Stages have been considered and could be a possibility. Could we finally see DLC Stages realised with MK11?
Derek: Umm, if we’ve said we’ve considered it, I’m sure we would consider it again. *shrugs*
TKT: DLC Characters. Will they too come equipped fully with skins and all the bells and whistles of the standard roster characters?
Derek: Umm, I’m not really sure if that’s been discussed...
TKT: Lastly, where’s Mileena?
Derek: *laughs* She dead! *laughs* But there’s a lot of dead people coming back so I don’t know! *laughs*
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