Giants: Citizen Kabuto is a third-person shooter

Third-person shooter

Third-person shooter is a genre of 3D action games in which the player character is visible on-screen, and the gameplay consists primarily of shooting.-Definition:...

 video game with real-time strategy

Real-time strategy

Real-time strategy is a sub-genre of strategy video game which does not progress incrementally in turns. Brett Sperry is credited with coining the term to market Dune II....

 elements. It was the first project for Planet Moon Studios

Planet Moon Studios

Planet Moon Studios is a game development studio based in San Francisco, California founded by ex-Shiny Entertainment developers Nick Bruty and Bob Stevenson in 1997...

, which comprised former Shiny Entertainment

Shiny Entertainment

Shiny Entertainment was an American video game developer based in Laguna Beach, Southern California, and the creator of several popular titles such as Earthworm Jim, MDK, Sacrifice and The Matrix: Path of Neo. Shiny was founded by David Perry in October 1993...

 employees who had worked on the game MDK

MDK (video game)

MDK is a third-person shooter game developed by Shiny Entertainment and released in 1997 by Playmates Interactive Entertainment in North America and Interplay Entertainment in Europe for the PC, Macintosh, and subsequently PlayStation. It was one of the first PC games to require a Pentium or...

. Giants went through four years of development before Interplay Entertainment

Interplay Entertainment

Interplay Entertainment Corporation is an American video game developer and publisher, founded in 1983 as Interplay Productions by Brian Fargo. The company had been a quality developer until they started publishing their own games in 1988, like Neuromancer and Battle Chess. The company was renamed...

 published

Video game publisher

A video game publisher is a company that publishes video games that they have either developed internally or have had developed by a video game developer....

 it on December 6, 2000 for Microsoft Windows

Microsoft Windows

Microsoft Windows is a series of operating systems produced by Microsoft.Microsoft introduced an operating environment named Windows on November 20, 1985 as an add-on to MS-DOS in response to the growing interest in graphical user interfaces . Microsoft Windows came to dominate the world's personal...

. A port was published by MacPlay

MacPlay

MacPlay was the name used by a series of two American publishers of Macintosh computer games. No game has been published under the MacPlay brand name since 2004.- 1990 - 1997 Period :...

 in 2001 and the game was also ported to the later that year.

In the game, players take control of a single character from one of three humanoid races to complete the story or to challenge other players in online multiplayer matches. They can select heavily armed Meccaryns equipped with jet packs, or amphibious

Amphibian

Amphibians , are a class of vertebrate animals including animals such as toads, frogs, caecilians, and salamanders. They are characterized as non-amniote ectothermic tetrapods...

 spellcasting

Spellcaster

A spellcaster in role-playing games refers to a creature capable of casting magic spells.See also:*Mage *Magician , a practitioner of magic as portrayed in works of fiction...

 Sea Reapers. The game's subtitle "Citizen Kabuto" refers to the last selectable race, a thundering behemoth

Behemoth

Behemoth is a mythological beast mentioned in the Book of Job, 40:15-24. Metaphorically, the name has come to be used for any extremely large or powerful entity.-Plural as singular:...

 who can execute earthshaking professional wrestling attacks

Professional wrestling attacks

Attacking maneuvers are offensive moves in professional wrestling, used to set up an opponent for a submission hold or for a throw. There are a wide variety of attacking moves in pro wrestling, and many moves are known by several different names. Professional wrestlers frequently give their...

 to pulverize its enemies. The single-player mode is framed as a sequential story, putting the player through a series of missions, several of which test the player's reflexes in action game

Action game

Action game is a video game genre that emphasizes physical challenges, including hand–eye coordination and reaction-time. The genre includes diverse subgenres such as fighting games, shooter games, and platform games, which are widely considered the most important action games, though some...

-like puzzles.

Game critics praised Giants for state-of-the-art graphics

Computer graphics

Computer graphics are graphics created using computers and, more generally, the representation and manipulation of image data by a computer with help from specialized software and hardware....

, humorous story, and success in blending in one genre

Computer and video game genres

Video game genres are used to categorize video games based on their gameplay interaction rather than visual or narrative differences. A video game genre is defined by a set of gameplay challenges. They are classified independent of their setting or game-world content, unlike other works of fiction...

 with another. Criticisms of the game centered on crippling software bug

Software bug

A software bug is the common term used to describe an error, flaw, mistake, failure, or fault in a computer program or system that produces an incorrect or unexpected result, or causes it to behave in unintended ways. Most bugs arise from mistakes and errors made by people in either a program's...

s and lack of an in-game save feature

Saved game

A saved game is a piece of digitally stored information about the progress of a player in a video game. This saved game can be reloaded later, so the player can continue where he or she had stopped...

. The console version rectified some of the flaws found in the PC versions, at the cost of removing several features. Giants sold poorly for both Windows and PlayStation 2; however, it enjoyed a successful launch for its small Mac OS X market.

Gameplay

In Giants: Citizen Kabuto, players take on the roles of three humanoid

Humanoid

A humanoid is something that has an appearance resembling a human being. The term first appeared in 1912 to refer to fossils which were morphologically similar to, but not identical with, those of the human skeleton. Although this usage was common in the sciences for much of the 20th century, it...

 races: gun-toting Meccaryns, magic

Magic (gaming)

Some role-playing games or game systems can include a set of rules that are used to portray magic in the paranormal sense. These rules simulate the effects that magic would have within the game context, according to how the game designer intended the magic to be portrayed...

-wielding Sea Reapers, and the gigantic Kabuto. Each player is assigned direct control of a single character. The game's developers, Planet Moon Studios

Planet Moon Studios

Planet Moon Studios is a game development studio based in San Francisco, California founded by ex-Shiny Entertainment developers Nick Bruty and Bob Stevenson in 1997...

, created this design to encourage players to focus on the action and not to be burdened with micromanagement

Micromanagement (computer gaming)

In gaming, micromanagement describes minor, detailed gameplay elements that must be manually addressed by the player. It appears in a wide range of games including strategy video games, construction and management simulations and pet-raising simulations...

. Players can customize the controls, which are largely the same for each race, with slight differences for abilities.

The single-player mode consists of a sequence of missions set as an overarching story. Each mission requires the completion of certain objectives to progress to the next mission. The objectives are usually the elimination of enemies or a certain structure, but several of them test the player's eye–hand coordination

Eye–hand coordination

Eye–hand coordination is the coordinated control of eye movement with hand movement, and the processing of visual input to guide reaching and grasping along with the use of proprioception of the hands to guide the eyes. In simple terms, eye-hand coordination involves the coordinated vision and...

 or require the player to rescue and protect certain units. Players control their characters from a default third person perspective

Third-person shooter

Third-person shooter is a genre of 3D action games in which the player character is visible on-screen, and the gameplay consists primarily of shooting.-Definition:...

; a first person view

First-person shooter

First-person shooter is a video game genre that centers the gameplay on gun and projectile weapon-based combat through first-person perspective; i.e., the player experiences the action through the eyes of a protagonist. Generally speaking, the first-person shooter shares common traits with other...

 is optional. Each race has its own offensive style, and a special mode of fast movement. Killing a creature releases a power-up

Power-up

In computer and video games, power-ups are objects that instantly benefit or add extra abilities to the game character as a game mechanic. This is in contrast to an item, which may or may not have a benefit and can be used at a time chosen by the player...

, which heals or awards weapons to its collector.

The real-time strategy

Real-time strategy

Real-time strategy is a sub-genre of strategy video game which does not progress incrementally in turns. Brett Sperry is credited with coining the term to market Dune II....

 elements of Giants consist of base building and resource gathering. Players have to gather little humanoids called Smarties to build bases, and produce weapons or spells. There are a limited number of Smarties in a mission, and players have to rush to gather them, or kidnap them from each other to gain an advantage. Players also have to gather sustenance for the Smarties to make them work; Meccaryn and Reaper players hunt the cattle-like Vimps for meat and souls respectively. The options in building a base are limited; players can neither choose the locations for the structures nor manage their workforce in detail. In contrast, players in control of Kabuto need not build a base; the gigantic creature gains strength and produces troops through hunting for food. Kabuto consumes Smarties to grow in size and power; at maximum size, he can produce smaller Tyrannosaurus rex

Tyrannosaurus

Tyrannosaurus meaning "tyrant," and sauros meaning "lizard") is a genus of coelurosaurian theropod dinosaur. The species Tyrannosaurus rex , commonly abbreviated to T. rex, is a fixture in popular culture. It lived throughout what is now western North America, with a much wider range than other...

-like units to function as troops. To restore his health, Kabuto eats Vimps and other units (player- and computer-controlled).

Multiplayer mode allows a maximum of five Meccaryn, three Sea Reaper, and one Kabuto player(s) to play in each session. Due to the lack of a game server browser

Game server browser

A game server browser, or game scanner, is an application enabling users to locate online multiplayer servers for various compatible PC games...

, players connect through online services MPlayer

MPlayer.com

Mplayer, referred to as Mplayer.com by 1998, was a free online PC gaming service and community that operated from late 1996 until early 2001. The service at its peak was host to a community of more than 20 million visitors each month and offered more than 100 games...

 or GameSpy Arcade

GameSpy

GameSpy Industries, Inc., known simply as GameSpy, is a division of IGN Entertainment, which operates a network of game websites and provides online video game-related services and software. GameSpy dates back to the 1996 release of an internet Quake server search program named QSpy. The current...

 for the Windows version, and GameRanger

GameRanger

GameRanger is an Internet gaming service for the Macintosh and Windows computing platforms. The service includes custom software and unlike other gaming services is not strictly web-based. GameRanger was created by Scott Kevill and was first released in July 1999 for Macintosh with support for 11...

 for the Mac OS X version. Besides the standard "destroy all enemy bases and units" missions, the multiplayer mode includes deathmatch

Deathmatch (gaming)

Deathmatch or Player vs All is a widely-used gameplay mode integrated into many shooter and real-time strategy computer games...

es and "Capture the Smartie (flag)

Capture the flag

Capture the Flag is a traditional outdoor sport generally played by children, where two teams each have a flag and the objective is to capture the other team's flag, located at the team's "base," and bring it safely back to their own base...

"-type games. Players have the option to start everyone off with a full base or to build one from scratch.

Plot and settings

The game world of Giants is set on the fictional Island, a piece of rock that is hurtling through outer space. The surface of the rock comprises islands of varying environments, such as grasslands, deserts, and forests, surrounded by azure seas. Players have an unobstructed view of the game world up to its horizon; distant objects are slightly blurred to convey a sense of realism. Planet Moon Studios

Planet Moon Studios

Planet Moon Studios is a game development studio based in San Francisco, California founded by ex-Shiny Entertainment developers Nick Bruty and Bob Stevenson in 1997...

 tailored each single-player mission's terrain to the character played in it. As such, missions for Meccaryns provide a lot of cover to hide behind and shoot from, large spaces of water for Reapers to swim in, and plenty of creatures for Kabuto to eat.

Characters

Planet Moon intended for the player characters to provide a diverse gameplay experience, laying down requirements to make the characters distinct with unique advantages and disadvantages instead of cosmetic differences.

• Meccaryns use high levels of technology and attack together as a pack
  Pack hunter
  A pack hunter is a predator belonging to the animal kingdom, which has evolved to hunt its prey by working together with other members of its species. Normally, such animals are closely related. The most commonly known pack hunter is the Gray Wolf, the ancestor of all breeds of domesticated dogs...
  
   led by the player. Meccaryn players have a variety of equipment to choose from—guns, explosives, and backpacks that provide special abilities: jet pack
  Jet pack
  Jet pack, rocket belt, rocket pack, and similar names are various types of devices, usually worn on the back, that are propelled by jets of escaping gases so as to allow a single user to fly....
  
  s allow players to fly over obstacles and outmaneuver opponents, and the "Bush"-pack camouflages the character as a shrub. In single-player mode, players assume the role of Baz, leader of a group of Meccaryns comprising Gordon, Bennett, Tel, and Reg. The group is designed for humor; several scenarios in the game sets up the responsible Baz to be frustrated with the laid-back natures of Gordon and Bennett, and the troubles gotten into by inquisitive Tel and Reg.

• Sea Reapers are fast swimmers, an ability that grants greater strategic options for their players. Unlike the other two races, they do not drown in the water, but regain health instead. Piranha
  Piranha
  A piranha or piraña is a member of family Characidae in order Characiformes, an omnivorous freshwater fish that inhabits South American rivers. In Venezuela, they are called caribes...
  
  s do not attack them either. To travel fast over land, players can "turbo boost" (super jump) their Reapers to targeted areas. The Reapers can use swords, bows, and spells, such as summoning
  Conjuration
  Conjuration is used in many video games, mainly RPGs, where it is usually referred to as summoning.* A notable example is the Final Fantasy franchise which incorporates summoning of monsters to fight alongside the characters....
  
   firestorm
  Firestorm
  A firestorm is a conflagration which attains such intensity that it creates and sustains its own wind system. It is most commonly a natural phenomenon, created during some of the largest bushfires, forest fires, and wildfires...
  
  s or tornadoes, in combat. Planet Moon initially conceived the Sea Reaper single-player character, Delphi, as evil but changed her to be a rebel with a conscience. They also made her topless
  Toplessness
  Toplessness is the state in which a female's breasts are uncovered, with the areolae and nipples visible, usually in a public space. It can also refer to a female not wearing any clothing above the waist, which is the female equivalent to a male barechestedness.The history and even the present-day...
  
  .

• Kabuto is the titular creature of the game, and the only one of his race left. In his back-story
  Back-story
  A back-story, background story, or backstory is the literary device of a narrative chronologically earlier than, and related to, a narrative of primary interest. Generally, it is the history of characters or other elements that underlie the situation existing at the main narrative's start...
  
  , the Reapers magically created him as their guardian but he turned against and drove them away. Creative Director, Tim Williams gave the "Citizen
  Citizenship
  Citizenship is the state of being a citizen of a particular social, political, national, or human resource community. Citizenship status, under social contract theory, carries with it both rights and responsibilities...
  
  " title to Kabuto for its multiple meanings and allusion to the character's longing for a sense of belonging to the Island. The game developer modeled Kabuto's attacks after those of giant monsters in classic monster movie
  Monster movie
  Monster movie is a name commonly given to movies, which centre on the struggle between human beings and one or more monsters...
  
  s, allowing him to use professional wrestling attacks
  Professional wrestling attacks
  Attacking maneuvers are offensive moves in professional wrestling, used to set up an opponent for a submission hold or for a throw. There are a wide variety of attacking moves in pro wrestling, and many moves are known by several different names. Professional wrestlers frequently give their...
  
   and aerial techniques
  Professional wrestling aerial techniques
  Aerial techniques are maneuvers, using the ring and its posts and ropes as aids, used in professional wrestling to show off the speed and agility of a wrestler. These moves are mainly done by smaller, quicker wrestlers who are unable to do most of the power moves. There is a wide variety of aerial...
  
   such as elbow drops, foot stomps and the "butt flop", described as being "like the body slam, but with less dignity". To balance out
  Game balance
  Game balance is a concept in game design describing fairness or balance of power in a game between multiple players or strategic options. Each team or person would be equally matched in every aspect.- Overview :...
  
   his raw power, they implemented a weak point at his belly; a hit on this spot at short range inflicts heavy damage on Kabuto. Players playing the giant monster can switch to a unique perspective
  Perspective (visual)
  Perspective, in context of vision and visual perception, is the way in which objects appear to the eye based on their spatial attributes; or their dimensions and the position of the eye relative to the objects...
  
  , looking through his mouth to target prey.

For non-playable races, the team designed Smarties to have oversized heads, bulging eyes, and idiotic personalities for comedic effects. They set up the Smarties' work ethics as part of a visual reward system; players labor for the Smarties while witnessing their hedonistic

Hedonism

Hedonism is a school of thought which argues that pleasure is the only intrinsic good. In very simple terms, a hedonist strives to maximize net pleasure .-Etymology:The name derives from the Greek word for "delight" ....

 indulgences. The payoff, however, is a "giant gun". Standard enemies include Reaper Guards, male Reapers with no magical ability who serve as common soldiers, as well as fauna

Fauna

Fauna or faunæ is all of the animal life of any particular region or time. The corresponding term for plants is flora.Zoologists and paleontologists use fauna to refer to a typical collection of animals found in a specific time or place, e.g. the "Sonoran Desert fauna" or the "Burgess shale fauna"...

 such as the insectoid

Insectoid

Insectoid denotes any creature or object that shares a similar body or traits with common earth insects and arachnids. The term is a combination of "insect" and "-oid" . Compare "humanoid"....

 Rippers, beasts of burden

Working animal

A working animal is an animal, usually domesticated, that is kept by humans and trained to perform tasks. They may be close members of the family, such as guide or service dogs, or they may be animals trained strictly to perform a job, such as logging elephants. They may also be used for milk, a...

 Sonaks, and bat-like Verms.

Story

Originally featuring each race in its own stand-alone story, the single-player mode was changed by Planet Moon to a single sequential story to make the creative process simpler. It starts players off as Baz, and they must complete a sequence of missions before they can proceed to the next sequence in the role of Delphi. On completion of Delphi's story, players take control of a Kabuto character. Williams used cut scenes to introduce and conclude each mission, focusing on humor to make them original and interesting rewards for the players.

As Baz, the player is on the Island looking for the missing Meccaryns, Reg and Tel. Timmy, a Smartie rescued in the first mission, functions as a guide for the player; he also serves as a plot device

Plot device

A plot device is an object or character in a story whose sole purpose is to advance the plot of the story, or alternatively to overcome some difficulty in the plot....

 to move the plot forward, such as introducing other Smartie characters, and providing exposition

Exposition (literary technique)

At the beginning of a narrative, the exposition is the author's providing of some background information to the audience about the plot, characters' histories, setting, and theme. Exposition is considered one of four rhetorical modes of discourse, along with argumentation, description, and narration...

 on the back story. The plot portrays the Smarties as suffering under the reign of the Sea Reapers and their Queen Sappho. Alluding to the film, The Magnificent Seven

The Magnificent Seven

The Magnificent Seven is an American Western film directed by John Sturges, and released in 1960. It is a fictional tale of a group of seven American gunmen who are hired to protect a small agricultural village in Mexico from a group of marauding Mexican bandits...

, Baz gathers the separated Meccaryns, and takes on a quest

Quest (gaming)

A quest in role-playing video games — including massively multiplayer online role-playing games and their predecessors, MUDs — is a task that a player-controlled character or group of characters may complete in order to gain a reward...

 to solve the Smarties' predicaments. In a climactic

Climax (narrative)

The Climax is the point in the story where the main character's point of view changes, or the most exciting/action filled part of the story. It also known has the main turning point in the story...

 cut scene, Sappho sacrifices Timmy to Kabuto, and the young Smartie's grandfather, Borjoyzee, takes over as the player's guide. Baz leads an escape from the area, and sets up a base to lead a counterattack. The ending of the Meccaryn's story sets the back story for the player to assume the role of the Sea Reaper princess, Delphi. Yan, the Samurai

Samurai

is the term for the military nobility of pre-industrial Japan. According to translator William Scott Wilson: "In Chinese, the character 侍 was originally a verb meaning to wait upon or accompany a person in the upper ranks of society, and this is also true of the original term in Japanese, saburau...

 Smartie serves as the guide for this story segment; giving instructions on Delphi's abilities. After completing the training missions under Yan, Delphi proceeds on missions to attack Sappho's base and the Reapers, eventually confronting the queen in a boss

Boss (video games)

A boss is an enemy-based challenge which is found in video games. A fight with a boss character is commonly referred to as a boss battle or boss fight...

 fight. When defeated, Sappho summons Kabuto to destroy the Smarties, but in a plot twist

Plot twist

A plot twist is a change in the expected direction or outcome of the plot of a film, television series, video game, novel, comic or other fictional work. It is a common practice in narration used to keep the interest of an audience, usually surprising them with a revelation...

, Kabuto eats her instead.

Setting up the final stretch of the story, Delphi has transformed herself into a Kabuto-like creature to challenge the original. The player wanders around the islands as the Delphi-Kabuto character, searching for prey to increase her size. After Delphi-Kabuto achieves her maximum size, she proceeds to a boss fight with the original Kabuto. Despite her victory, Kabuto revives in a triggered cut scene and defeats her, turning her back into a Reaper. The player takes over the role of Baz for the final boss fight against the revived monster. After defeating Kabuto, Baz is shown in the final cut scene, flying off to Planet Majorca with Delphi, Borjoyzee, and his fellow Meccaryns.

Development

When five members of Shiny Entertainment

Shiny Entertainment

Shiny Entertainment was an American video game developer based in Laguna Beach, Southern California, and the creator of several popular titles such as Earthworm Jim, MDK, Sacrifice and The Matrix: Path of Neo. Shiny was founded by David Perry in October 1993...

's MDK

MDK (video game)

MDK is a third-person shooter game developed by Shiny Entertainment and released in 1997 by Playmates Interactive Entertainment in North America and Interplay Entertainment in Europe for the PC, Macintosh, and subsequently PlayStation. It was one of the first PC games to require a Pentium or...

development team broke off to set up Planet Moon Studios

Planet Moon Studios

Planet Moon Studios is a game development studio based in San Francisco, California founded by ex-Shiny Entertainment developers Nick Bruty and Bob Stevenson in 1997...

 in 1997 with software engineer

Software engineering

Software Engineering is the application of a systematic, disciplined, quantifiable approach to the development, operation, and maintenance of software, and the study of these approaches; that is, the application of engineering to software...

, Scott Guest, they decided to make their first project fun and original, a game with graphics and gameplay unseen at that time. Nicky Bruty, Bob Stevenson, and Tim Williams initially conceived the idea of pitting players as spacemen, pirates, and giants against each other and having fun. Initially projected for release in late 1999, the game suffered delays to its development largely due to the illness of their chief programmer

Programmer

A programmer, computer programmer or coder is someone who writes computer software. The term computer programmer can refer to a specialist in one area of computer programming or to a generalist who writes code for many kinds of software. One who practices or professes a formal approach to...

, Andy Astor; he was suffering from stage IV mantle cell lymphoma

Mantle cell lymphoma

Mantle cell lymphoma is one of the rarest of the non-Hodgkin's lymphomas , comprising about 6% of NHL cases. There are only about 15,000 patients presently in the U.S. While it is difficult to treat and seldom considered cured, investigations into better treatments are actively pursued worldwide...

 in late 1999. The team realized they needed more resources and by 2000, they had hired two more programmers and an artist. Producing a next-generation game required them to keep up with 1998–2000's rapid advancement of technology, which resulted in further delays. The team upsized the graphic textures

Texture mapping

Texture mapping is a method for adding detail, surface texture , or color to a computer-generated graphic or 3D model. Its application to 3D graphics was pioneered by Dr Edwin Catmull in his Ph.D. thesis of 1974.-Texture mapping:...

 as they changed the graphical software to support NVIDIA

NVIDIA

Nvidia is an American global technology company based in Santa Clara, California. Nvidia is best known for its graphics processors . Nvidia and chief rival AMD Graphics Techonologies have dominated the high performance GPU market, pushing other manufacturers to smaller, niche roles...

 graphics cards

Video card

A video card, Graphics Card, or Graphics adapter is an expansion card which generates output images to a display. Most video cards offer various functions such as accelerated rendering of 3D scenes and 2D graphics, MPEG-2/MPEG-4 decoding, TV output, or the ability to connect multiple monitors...

. Within a year after development started in 1999, the initial minimum graphics specification climbed from requiring graphics cards to those of the GeForce-series

GeForce

GeForce is a brand of graphics processing units designed by Nvidia. , there have been eleven iterations of the design. The first GeForce products were discrete GPUs designed for use on add-on graphics boards, intended for the high-margin PC gaming market...

. Planet Moon deemed game engine

Game engine

A game engine is a system designed for the creation and development of video games. There are many game engines that are designed to work on video game consoles and personal computers...

s available during development too restrictive and inappropriate for their requirements, and built their own. Called Amityville, it could support Glide

Glide API

Glide is a 3D graphics API developed by 3dfx Interactive for their Voodoo Graphics 3D accelerator cards. Although it originally started as a proprietary API, it was later open sourced by 3dfx. It was dedicated to gaming performance, supporting geometry and texture mapping primarily, in data...

, OpenGL

OpenGL

OpenGL is a standard specification defining a cross-language, cross-platform API for writing applications that produce 2D and 3D computer graphics. The interface consists of over 250 different function calls which can be used to draw complex three-dimensional scenes from simple primitives. OpenGL...

, and Direct3D

Direct3D

Direct3D is part of Microsoft's DirectX application programming interface . Direct3D is available for Microsoft Windows operating systems , and for other platforms through the open source software Wine. It is the base for the graphics API on the Xbox and Xbox 360 console systems...

. The team used it to create the required "lush and vibrant" outdoor environments, and terrain deformation effects.

Planet Moon designed the structure of the single-player mode to be a gradual learning process for the players; the game would introduce new command sets to the players as they progress, and encourage them to repeat using the new commands for that mission. From the start of the project, the team intended the controls to be simple, and mapped commonly used commands to a few keys. Focus group

Focus group

A focus group is a form of qualitative research in which a group of people are asked about their perceptions, opinions, beliefs and attitudes towards a product, service, concept, advertisement, idea, or packaging...

s consisting more than 25 testers went through this design to verify its ease. Planet Moon aimed for a complex artificial intelligence

Game artificial intelligence

Game artificial intelligence refers to techniques used in computer and video games to produce the illusion of intelligence in the behavior of non-player characters . The techniques used typically draw upon existing methods from the field of artificial intelligence...

 (AI); computer-controlled characters would evade shots and take cover. The enemy AI would plot its actions according to long-term goals. The development team consulted Mark Frohnmayer, lead programmer of the multiplayer game Tribes 2

Tribes 2

-Legacy:On November 20, 2002, Sierra released an update for Tribes 2. This update contained two new game types, new maps and updates to address several issues. Sierra, which is now part of Vivendi SU, licensed the franchise to Irrational Games for a third installment; Tribes: Vengeance was...

, for advice on implementing the multiplayer portion. To balance

Game balance

Game balance is a concept in game design describing fairness or balance of power in a game between multiple players or strategic options. Each team or person would be equally matched in every aspect.- Overview :...

 the characters in combat, Planet Moon focused on characteristics that could affect the fighting capabilities, instead of tweaking the damage output. The team faced a tight schedule, and abandoned several features initially in the game. Early designs allowed players to change the landscape; they could gorge out water channels and isolate segments of the land by playing as Reapers. The Kabuto character initially could bake mud into "mud shepherd" units and use them to defend its herd of food.

Interplay Entertainment

Interplay Entertainment

Interplay Entertainment Corporation is an American video game developer and publisher, founded in 1983 as Interplay Productions by Brian Fargo. The company had been a quality developer until they started publishing their own games in 1988, like Neuromancer and Battle Chess. The company was renamed...

 released the Windows

Microsoft Windows

Microsoft Windows is a series of operating systems produced by Microsoft.Microsoft introduced an operating environment named Windows on November 20, 1985 as an add-on to MS-DOS in response to the growing interest in graphical user interfaces . Microsoft Windows came to dominate the world's personal...

 version of the game on December 7, 2000. Planet Moon later created a special version of the game optimized for the graphics card to display water reflections, soft edged shadows, and weather effects. This version was not sold as a standalone commercial product but as a part of certain GeForce 3 graphic card package deal

Product bundling

Product bundling is a marketing strategy that involves offering several products for sale as one combined product. This strategy is very common in the software business , in the cable television industry Product bundling is a marketing strategy that involves offering several products for sale as...

s. MacPlay

MacPlay

MacPlay was the name used by a series of two American publishers of Macintosh computer games. No game has been published under the MacPlay brand name since 2004.- 1990 - 1997 Period :...

 announced on November 01, 2000, it was publishing the version of the game. The Omni Group

The Omni Group

The Omni Group is a company that develops software for the Mac OS X platform. The Omni Group was informally founded as a NEXTSTEP consulting company in 1989 by Wil Shipley, who immediately brought on Ken Case and Tim Wood. The three incorporated together under the name Omni Development, Inc. in...

 was responsible for the porting of the game; they rewrote the game's software

Source code

In computer science, source code is text written using the format and syntax of the programming language that it is being written in. Such a language is specially designed to facilitate the work of computer programmers, who specify the actions to be performed by a computer mostly by writing source...

 to take advantage of the symmetric multi-processing capability of Mac OS X. Eleven months later, MacPlay released the port. Multiplayer mode was initially disabled in the retail release but was re-inserted in a later patch

Patch (computing)

A patch is a piece of software designed to fix problems with, or update a computer program or its supporting data. This includes fixing security vulnerabilities and other bugs, and improving the usability or performance...

. Giants was also ported to the (PS2), a process overseen by Interplay's division, Digital Mayhem, who posted updates of their progress on IGN

IGN

IGN is an entertainment website that focuses on video games, films, music and other media. IGN's main website comprises several specialty sites or "channels", each occupying a subdomain and covering a specific area of entertainment...

. Their greatest challenge for the PS2 port was converting and storing the special effects of the Windows version onto the lesser storage space of the PS2. LightWave 3D was used by the team to convert the graphic resources. Although they had to reduce the image resolution

Image resolution

Image resolution is an umbrella term that describes the detail an image holds. The term applies to raster digital images, film images, and other types of images. Higher resolution means more image detail....

, Digital Mayhem increased the number of polygons that comprised the player character models

3D modeling

In 3D computer graphics, 3D modeling is the process of developing a mathematical representation of any three-dimensional surface of object via specialized software. The product is called a 3D model...

, making them smoother and more detailed in shape. Due to the limited capabilities of the PS2 as compared to the Windows platform and the addition of a save feature

Saved game

A saved game is a piece of digitally stored information about the progress of a player in a video game. This saved game can be reloaded later, so the player can continue where he or she had stopped...

, the team focused on enhancing the action gameplay, streamlining the interfaces, and tweaking the Reaper ski races, level designs, and game balance. They redesigned the controls for the PS2's controller, and after finding the analog stick

Analog stick

An analog stick, sometimes called a control stick or thumbstick, is an input device for a controller that is used for two-dimensional input. An analog stick is a variation of a joystick, consisting of a protrusion from the controller; input is based on the position of this protrusion in relation...

s less easy to aim with than a mouse, implemented a feature to help the player's aim. Digital Mayhem originally intended to retain the multiplayer mode, but discarded it, believing the PS2 environment could not generate the same multiplayer atmosphere as the Windows platform. Interplay released the PS2 port on December 21, 2001. They also announced plans for an Xbox

Xbox

The Xbox is a sixth-generation video game console manufactured by Microsoft. It was released on November 15, 2001 in North America, February 22, 2002 in Japan, and March 14, 2002 in Australia and Europe and is the predecessor to the Xbox 360. It was Microsoft's first foray into the gaming console...

 port but nothing resulted from this.

Near the release of the United States (US) Windows version of the game, Planet Moon failed to obtain a "Teen" rating from the ESRB

Entertainment Software Rating Board

The Entertainment Software Rating Board is a self-regulatory organization that assigns age and content ratings, enforces industry-adopted advertising guidelines, and ensures responsible online privacy principles for computer and video games as well as entertainment software in Canada, Mexico and...

 despite changing the original red blood to green and covering Delphi's toplessness with a bikini top. They made the changes to broaden retail opportunities because many large retailers

Retailing

Retail consists of the sale of physical goods or merchandise from a fixed location, such as a department store, boutique or kiosk, or by mail, in small or individual lots for direct consumption by the purchaser. Retailing may include subordinated services, such as delivery. Purchasers may be...

 in the US refused to sell "Mature"-rated games; Wal-Mart

Wal-Mart

Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. , branded as Walmart since 2008 and Wal-Mart before then, is an American public multinational corporation that runs chains of large discount department stores and warehouse stores. The company is the world's 18th largest public corporation, according to the Forbes Global 2000...

 reiterated in October 2002 that they would never stock their shelves with software that contained vulgarity or nudity. Planet Moon Studios later released a patch that reverted the color of the blood to red, and computer gamers found they could restore Delphi's toplessness by deleting a file.

Interplay offered a bonus disc containing extra multiplayer levels to those who pre-ordered the Windows version of the game. On October 5, 2003, they offered the game's soundtrack to those who purchased Giants from their online store. Composer

Composer

A composer is a person who creates music, either by musical notation or oral tradition, for interpretation and performance, or through direct manipulation of sonic material through electronic media...

s Mark Snow

Mark Snow

Mark Snow is an American composer for film and television.Born in New York, he grew up in Brooklyn, graduating from the High School of Music and Art and, afterwards, the Juilliard School of Music...

 (noted for his The X-Files

The X-Files

The X-Files is an American science fiction television series and a part of The X-Files franchise, created by screenwriter Chris Carter. The program originally aired from to . The show was a hit for the Fox network, and its characters and slogans became popular culture touchstones in the 1990s...

musical scores

Sheet music

Sheet music is a hand-written or printed form of music notation that uses modern musical symbols; like its analogs—books, pamphlets, etc.—the medium of sheet music typically is paper , although the access to musical notation in recent years includes also presentation on computer screens...

), Mark Morgan

Mark Morgan

Mark Morgan is an American score composer for video games, television and films. He is well-known for his work in Fallout, Fallout 2 and Planescape: Torment.-Video games:* Zork Nemesis * Dark Seed II...

, and Jeremy Soule

Jeremy Soule

Jeremy Soule is an American composer of soundtracks for film, television and video games. He has won multiple awards and has been described as the "John Williams of video game music" and "a model of success" for Western composers. He has composed soundtracks for over 60 games and over a dozen...

 (both known for the music of several video games) were involved in the music for Giants. Interplay hired Morgan to compose the scores, although reports showed they initially hired Snow for the task. Morgan, however, could not fully concentrate on the task due to personal reasons and handed it over to Soule. Closing credits

Closing credits

Closing credits or end credits are added at the end of a motion picture, television program, or video game to list the cast and crew involved in the production. They usually appear as a list of names in small type, which either flip very quickly from page to page, or move smoothly across the...

 of the game listed only Morgan and Soule, and Soule compiled their works onto the original soundtrack of the game. Soule originally offered to autograph the soundtrack on its release in the US; however, he stopped his offer when email feedback revealed many were intending to pirate

Copyright infringement

Copyright infringement is the unauthorized or prohibited use of works under copyright, infringing the copyright holder's exclusive rights, such as the right to reproduce or perform the copyrighted work, or to make derivative works.- "Piracy" :...

 his work through the peer-to-peer

Peer-to-peer

Peer-to-peer computing or networking is a distributed application architecture that partitions tasks or workloads among peers. Peers are equally privileged, equipotent participants in the application...

 file sharing

File sharing

File sharing is the practice of distributing or providing access to digitally stored information, such as computer programs, multimedia , documents, or electronic books. It may be implemented through a variety of ways...

 software Napster

Napster

Napster is an online music store and a Best Buy company. It was originally founded as a pioneering peer-to-peer file sharing Internet service that emphasized sharing audio files that were typically digitally encoded music as MP3 format files...

 instead of buying it.

Reception

Game Guru's Game of the Year 2000
Game Guru's Action Game of the Year 2000
GameSpot's Best Graphics, Technical of 2000
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