Worker notes

Ted Price – President

Ted founded Insomniac Games in 1994 because it was the only way that he could write off the purchase of video games as “market research”. Prior to starting Insomniac, he worked in the finance side of the medical industry which wasn’t the most logical starting point for a career in video games, but he learned a lot about health insurance. He graduated from Princeton with a degree in English and his ultimate aspiration is to buy a ranch in Guatalahara and become an asparagus farmer.

Alex Hastings – Vice President, Software

Al is the best Mario Kart player in the world. He loses sometimes, but only when he feels sorry for everyone else.

Brian Hastings – Vice President, Technology

Brian was born in Moorehead City, NC and attended Claremont McKenna College where he received degrees in mathematics and literature. At Insomniac Games he coded much of the critically acclaimed Disruptor for the PlayStation and authored the graphic and technical tools which are the foundation for the Spyro team. Prior to Insomniac, Brian created software for the medical industry and modelled for the Guess Jeans company. (Well, not really, but his Mom wanted him to.) In his spare time he attempts to find the way of Zen by not looking for it.

Craig Stitt – Artist

After completing Ph.D.’s in Nuclear Physics, Quantum Mechanics and Lunar Oceanography, Dr. Craigario A. Stytte took an extended leave to tour the world in search of the elusive “Drakus Violetus Minor”, or ‘small purple dragon’. Upon his return, Dr. Stytte remained mute concerning any discoveries made during his travels and has in fact disappeared from the academic circles he once presided over. He is now living under the guise of ‘Craig A. Stitt’, a simple artist who supposedly spent several years at Sega helping to develop a mildly successful series of games based on a small blue insectivore, and from there, joined Insomniac Games to contribute to the highly acclaimed but little known Disruptor.

Alain Maindron – Animator

Alain hails originally from France. He lived in England for nine years, working in traditional animation, on commercials and on films such as Fieval. He spent some time at Disney Australia and after a stint of directing films, ran an animation studio in London for two years. He co-directed Ecstatica, a 3D-computer game and then spent a year at Argonaut and at Shiny Entertainment. Now at Insomniac he is responsible for most of the animation in Spyro and contributes heavily to game design.

Chris McNulty – Programmer

John Fiorito – Artist

John was born in the San Francisco Bay Area and graduated from the University of California, Berkeley, majoring in architecture and architectural history. He attended Art Centre College of Design in Pasadena, CA, earning a degree in illustration. John is also responsible for much of production design and spends most of his days building, shading and texturing Spyro’s levels. Prior to joining Insomniac Games, he worked in retail, food preparation and Disney Interactive.

Matt Whiting – Programmer

In 1996, Matthew Whiting earned his Masters Degree in Engineering at NASA Langley Research Centre. Rocket science didn’t really pan out, so he decided to move on to something a little more high-tech. Video games being the obvious choice, Matt joined Insomniac Games in 1997 where he has been working as a programmer on Spyro. His future aspirations include someday beating everybody, including Alex Hastings, at Mario Kart.

Dan Johnson – Artist

Dan stems from Iowa where he started his animation career in 1993 at 19. Due to the lack of animation training facilities in his home state, he decided to educate himself in Alias Wavefront’s Advanced Visualizer, Kinemation, and Dynamation. After accepting a job offer in Santa Monica, CA, Dan continued his “education” as lead animator on his first game title, Treasures of the Deep. While on the same project he taught himself Alias Wavefront’s Poweranimator over the course of three months. In December of 1997 Dan accepted a position at Insomniac Games. Currently he is working as a modeller and assistant animator on Spyro. Dan currently lives in Calabasas, CA and plans to continue his studies. His hobbies include computers, animation, traditional art, photography, and video games.

Chuck Suong – Artist

Chuck is a graduate of the Art Centre College of Design in Pasadena, CA, having earned a B.F.A. in Illustration while on scholarship. He also attended L.A. County High School for the Arts where he was also a scholarship winner. Prior to joining Insomniac, Chuck worked at Kronos Digital Entertainment where he created animation for Cardinal Syn, Dark Rift, and the Saturday morning cartoon series, Spider Man. Chuck also worked at Sierra On-Line where he did background design and illustration for The Realm. At Insomniac, Chuck is responsible for generating marketing images for Spyro and creating soundsync animations.

Jared Hardy – Systems Administrator / Bouncer

The new weirdo at Insomniac, Jared Hardy, is somewhere between a little helper and a lifesaver. His schizophrenia helps him serve as a level cleaner, system administrator, network administrator and art critic. In this spare time, his schizophrenia keeps him between inventing, painting, mixed media art, novella writing, 3D modelling, Java and C++ programming and making up useless math games. He is a (very) recent graduate of USC, earning a B.A. in Computer Science and a minor in Fine Arts. He managed to learn the “neaten” system in a few days, but he’s still having trouble memorizing everyone’s names.

Oliver Wade – Animator

Oliver is from St. Louis, Ohio, His first animation can be found at the Hubert Humphrey Middle School Library in the margin of Chapter Twelve of the book “Building Better Citizens Out of Unruly Boys” by Master Sergeant Horace “Horace” Strictman, retired.

Upon graduation from high school, Oliver went into the typewriter repair business on the advice of his career counsellor, but always dreamed of being an animator. His big break came when his boss at AAAAA-1 Type-Right tapped Oliver to handle their 10-second TV spot on public access channel 78. At 3:37 am that next Tuesday, Typo the Typewriter was born and a career was launched. Oliver parlayed those 10 seconds into a weekly kids variety shown which eventually caught the eye of the Hollywood bigshots who flew him out to California and the rest is history. He quit his job at Type-Right, handed the variety show over to Leif Garret and followed his dream west to Studio City where he works at Insomniac Games and continues to make kids smile with his animation.

Alex Schaefer – Artist

Alex began his art career by posing as a nude model for life drawing classes. He was chosen specifically for his ability to twirl his leg hair into tiny spikes. After seeing everyone doing “purdy drawings”, Alex decided to become an artist himself. He studied at the Art Centre in Pasadena until he was asked to leave, (the charges were eventually dropped). He has done work for several interactive companies including Disney Interactive and has done some automobile design (he designed the Yugo Skrewyorselph). He is currently being kept in a small box at Insomniac where he creates level textures when he is not busy making odd noises.

Interview with Ted Price

What were your main aims when creating the game?

What we tried to do here was create a game that really stood out in three areas: physically, technically and in terms of gameplay… and we spent a lot of time on it. The gameplay has been a very big collaborative effort between Universal and Insomniac; everybody’s participated in adding elements to the game that make it very unique.

How did you come up with Spyro's character?

Al Hastings [Insomniac's game engine designer] created this engine that really gave us the ability to have a 3D character that could move fast and could do a lot of different things; so we were trying to come up with a character that would satisfy those needs. One of our artists Craig Stitt said “Hey I’ve always wanted to do a game about a dragon” and everybody bought into that because dragons are pretty cool. So we asked the same designer who worked on Crash, Charles Zembillas to come in and help us design Spyro. The idea was that we wanted a dragon that was not too young, I mean not like a little kid, but not an adult dragon either. And we came up with Spyro who is a recalcitrant, kind of teenage dragon who's not mean or a bully but he’s not into following rules.

What's different about Spyro artistically?

Artistically what we tried to do was create worlds that took advantage of the engine that we built. Now, the engine allows us to create panoramic views, something you don’t see in a whole lot of PlayStation games. You notice on Spyro there’s no fog and you can look forever. So artistically we tried to create these very beautiful, fantastic worlds that had lots of big, exciting features. We also tried to keep it very bright and colourful without being cartoony. Which separates it from all the other games.

…Spyro himself is capable of a lot of emotions and we have a lot of cinematic scenes where Spyro rescues the crystal dragons where they will actually talk to him, which bring out Spyro’s personality. He has the capacity to emote very well.

Who came up with the soundtrack?

Stewart Copeland, who was the drummer for The Police, has actually done all the music in the game. He’s probably more famous for doing film soundtracks than games - this is his first game. But Stewart has written over 50 different tracks for the game. He himself is a game enthusiast and really enjoys Spyro. So we’re very excited to be able to use his music.

What gave you the idea to you use Stewart for the soundtrack?

I just liked to way he did it back in the Police days, but also he's recently done film soundtracks for John Waters. His most famous one is Rumblefish. That was his first soundtrack. In some ways that was very similar to how he got involved in this project. Francis Coppola was making Rumblefish and called Stewart (who had never done a movie soundtrack) and said, “I like your music. I’d like to do the music for Rumblefish” and similarly we called him and said “We like your music, we’d like you to do the music on Spyro”. And he did.

Who did the characters' voices?

The voices are all done by professional voice actors. Carlos Alazraqui who does the voice for Spyro is the voice of the Taco Bell Chihuahua. It’s a very popular ad over here. I don’t know if you guys have it in Europe…

…We don’t eat Taco Bell.

No Taco Bells, OK. He plays the voice of Spyro as well as some of the voices of the other crystal dragons. We also have several other movie stars who are doing voices for dragons. A guy named Clancy Brown who’s been in The Highlander, he’s been on TV shows, Starship Troopers. He’s doing it too. They're all very good.

What were your biggest challenges in designing Spyro as a completely 3D free-roaming environment? Did you have problems getting the gameplay to work?

Well I think that was one of the biggest challenges – creating fast gameplay in an open, 3D environment. We spent a lot of time putting together test levels to see what worked and what didn’t work. And one of the things that Brian Hastings will tell you is that we realised that in a 3D environment if you have someone shooting at you from behind it's very frustrating. So one of the things you will not see in Spyro is an enemy who will shoot you in the back. Tweaking Spyro’s chargeability also took a lot of time to get the control correct so that it wouldn’t be frustrating in a 3D environment - you can actually hit and aim easily. That had a lot to do with the speed that the enemies moved. There was a lot that went into that. We spent the first six or seven months of the project just tuning those characteristics so we would actually have a game that was fun… before we even started building new environments.

When you founded Insomniac Games, did you have a set idea about which direction the company should go in?

We wanted to create games that were on the cutting edge technologically and focus on a very small number of games at once. Those were kind of our two goals. I think that with Alex and Brian Hastings, and Matt Whiting and Chris McNulty, the programmers, we really have been able to do that - stay on the cutting edge of technology. And of course I can go on and say that we wanted to create amazing art too, because I came more from an art background. I guess overall, though, we wanted to create games that we would like to play. That was something I really wanted to do.

What do you think the future for video games is?

I think consoles are going to get faster, they’re going to be pushing more polygons which will allow much more photo-realistic environments, more characters on the screen, but I think it's always going to be a challenge no matter how fast those consoles go, to come up with gameplay that really works. And I think we’re still just discovering how to do good gameplay in 3D. Because 3D in a realtime 3D environment, in open environments, is a new phenomenon from the last few years… and we have a long way to go before we max that out.

…I think the biggest challenge is consistently going to be gameplay. I mean how do you create great gameplay? And as consoles get faster, people will be seduced by the ability to throw more polygons out there and make much more pretty environments and special effects but we’ve all got to remember that it all comes down to gameplay.

What are the benefits of developing on PlayStation?

Well, first of all PlayStation has a much greater installed base than any other console right now. Secondly, as our programmers will tell you, it’s a great platform for which to develop. We’ve had really good support from Sony, technically. We’ve also had amazing support marketing-wise from Sony. It’s wonderful to work with a group of people that are so professional, creative and focused. I mean the things that Amy Blair and Kenny Mathers and Liz and Molly have done have blown us all away. Because on our last game we weren’t working directly with Sony…

I mean Universal have done a great job but by having a third party in as well, Sony, it just makes it that much better. They're fun… Sony likes to party.

Overview and features

Gnasty Gnorc, super villain, has turned Spyro the Dragon’s family into crystal statues and has set himself up as dictator of all seven Dragon lands. Spyro must free as many dragons from their crystal prisons and battle Gnasty Gnorc in a final showdown to release the world from his evil domination.

Spyro frees dragons by touching the crystal statues and is rewarded with a cinematic scene where the crystal dragon becomes real again talks to Spyro, offers him thanks and perhaps a little advice and then disappears. There are 120 crystal dragons placed throughout the stages and levels and also serve as save points.

Spyro’s [sic] must also collect all the treasure released when Spyro breaks open a chest, kills an enemy or solves puzzles. 100% completion of the game will result in the reward of either an extra level, or the chance to go back and play through the levels as a different character.

Spyro is protected by Sparks the Dragonfly. When Spyro is hit for the first time, Sparks will change colour from yellow to blue. If he is hit again he will change from blue to green and if he is hit again Sparks will then disappear. If Spyro is hit again, he will die. Sparks the Dragonfly, however can be recharged by charging creatures, releasing butterflies for Sparks to eat thus recharging his powers.

Key Features:

• Graphically, one of the most stunning games ever seen, technologically superior to any other game in this genre. No pop up, no fogging, amazing distance drawing – a true 3D world!
• Spyro’s enormous depth of gameplay and challenge is only equalled by its graphical excellence.
• Highly accessible control system, designed specifically for the Analog Controller (DUAL SHOCK)
• Enormous depth of gameplay. Each level has a specifically focused challenge and objective. Ther are over 30 regular levels and lots of hidden levels, secret paths, challenging puzzles to keep even the most experienced platform gamers up all night.
• Progression through the game is carefully graduated allowing players to learn at their own pace.
• Master your flying skills in the hidden bonus rounds.
• Music composed by Stewart Copeland - ex band member of The Police.
• Dragons rock!

Game Features

Levels

Spyro The Dragon will comprise of approximately 34 levels, split into seven very different worlds; each world inhabited by its own, very distinct-looking family of dragons. In each level the objectives are to:

• Collect all of the treasure in a level (kill enemies and find chests)
• Find all of the crystal dragons in a level
• Find special objects in a level (dragon eggs, fairies)

Pickups

Crystal Dragons

There are approximately four crystal dragons in each stage and four in each regular level plus one in each boss level for a total of 120 in the game, each with its own unique animated cinematic sequence!

Treasure Points

Treasure points are earned by; you guessed it, collecting treasure. There are different types of treasure, some found in treasure chests; some carried by enemies, some freestanding in the levels. Each type of treasure has a different point value. There are 10,000 treasure points in the game and a player must find all of the treasure in order to achieve 100% completion. There are three types of treasure chests:

1. Wooden chest: Can be destroyed by flaming or charging
2. Armoured chest: Can be destroyed by charging only
3. Lockbox: Can only be opened with a key

As the player moves into later stages, the amount of treasure available in each level increases.

Spryo [sic] Power-ups

Power-ups take the form of secondary characters or “friends” who endow Spyro with special abilities. The first time that Spyro encounters each friend, a cinematic sequence will be played where the friend explains the “gift”. Each power-up will time out after a certain period. Power ups include:

• super flame (given by a flame salamander)
• Invincibility (given by an armadillo)
• Super jump (given by a frog)
• Time slow (given by an elf)
• Fireball (given by a small wizard)

Spyro Moves and Animation

Spyro The Dragon can:

• run
• walk
• jump
• charge
• fire a short-range flame burst
• glide
• flip 180 degrees
• roll to either side
• roll to either side [sic]
• fire while gliding
• slide on slippery or angled surfaces
• teeter on an edge
• roll forward downhill
• roll backward on steep surfaces

Dragon Families and Their Environments

1. Artisan Dragons

Purpose: This family provides the world with artefacts of culture and beauty. They write songs, create sculptures, paintings and are the most gentle of all the families. They are very social beings and enjoy creating venues for gatherings and art viewings.

Description:Smallish, graceful, brightly coloured.

Environment: Meadows, rolling hills, green valleys, smooth natural flowing rock formations, trees, bushes are sculptured into fluid shapes – spirals, swirls etc, cultivated fields and flower beds.

Architecture: Structures are ornate and built with flowing curves. Building materials are marble and precious metals.

2. Peacekeeper Dragons

Purpose: These Dragons enforce order throughout the world. They are the strongest and most war like of all the families.

Description: Large, muscular, spotted markings.

Environment: Large cracked rocks, Grand Canyon-like chasms, purple tar pits, sand dunes, blue-white ice caves underground.

Plant life green and brown, tumbleweeds and cacti. Rock formations have sharp, spiky features and are very angular in general.

Architecture: Structures are angular and rise to points, often adorned with spikes. Building materials are steel, iron and wood – very Jules Vernish. Glowing red and yellow stones are inset into the architecture.

3. Magiccrafter Dragons

Purpose: This family spends its time making the various magic artefacts used by the inhabitants of the rest of the world. They are fairly anti social and prefer to inhabit remote locations to study their craft in peace.

Description: Tall, stoic, alabaster white, long necks, tufts of white hair on head and over eyes

Environment: Plateaus, cliffs, caves, and rocky ledges with snowy, icy areas. Rock formations are pyramidal with flat tops. The rocks are made of white granite.

Architecture: Dominated by white granite towers, other structures are monolithic towers with flattened tops and all structures have jewel-encrusted runes and stone carvings.

4. Beastmaster Dragons

Purpose: These dragons are responsible for the creation of new species of creatures inhabiting the world. They prefer to live on one of the most fertile environments of the earth – swamps.

Description: Because of their habitat, these dragons amphibious appendages and appear almost salamander like with their gills, striped green and orange skin, elongated heads. They are quiet and anti social.

Environment: Marshes, cypress groves, root covered caves, mud flats. Trees and the few rocks drip with ropy vines and feathery moss. Mangroves and other trees have stilt-like roots, holding trunks well above water. Long willowy marsh grass is prevalent.

Architecture: Most architecture is on stilts, with ramshackle wood and tin huts. The platforms on stilts create paths through swamps and other hazards. Hollowed trees also serve as structures.

5. Dreamweaver Dragons

Purpose: These dragons are also peacekeepers in their own fashion. They flit through the dreams of the world’s mortal inhabitants, ensuring that no nightmare is too severe.

Description: They are of average size but huge wings and huge eyes dominate their features. They are sky blue in colour.

Environment: Rocks and plants have been shaped in abstract forms – holes, twists. Rocks, plants and platforms drip green moss, with small, floating misty islands connected by web-like bridges.

Architecture: Structures are abstract with holes and strange twists. Structures also drip moss. Building materials are light and fragile – porcelain, thin white rock.

6. Machinist Dragons

Purpose: These dragons have created the machinery and energy sources that keep the industrialised parts of the world running.

Description: Short and blocky and silvery. They like to wear machinery attachments to enhance their functionality (jeweller’s glasses, hydraulic gloves, metal backpacks etc…)

Environment: There is very little natural architecture since the levels are dominated by machinery. The few plants that grow have an angular appearance, mimicking the machinery.

Architecture: Blocky, heavy Jules Vernish structures made of riveted steel, wood and stone. Gears, smokestacks, vents, bulbous tanks, steam pipes, support struts, turbines. Despite the abundant machinery, the environment is very clean; metal gleams, wood is polished, stone is marbled and flawless.

7. Aquifier Dragons

Purpose: This family has the responsibility of controlling the many waterways of the world and protecting travelers from the beasts inhabiting the depths. Fountains placed at strategic places around the world regulate the water supply and purity.

Description: Since they inhabit watery regions, they are more serpent-like than any of the other families. Long, slender, ocean green, with lots of frills (such as feathery gills, flowing crests etc).

Environment: Dominated by water – open seas and raging rivers on chasms. Large crystals are abundant on the island. Trees and other plants have crystals hanging from them like fruit. Plants and rocks have a faceted, spherical theme.

Architecture: Structures are crystal domes and arches. Most structures have a spherical/circular theme.

In addition to these worlds, Spyro will also have a selection of bonus levels, which are time based flying rounds.

Enemies

• Enemies are differentiated by size and whether or not they are wearing armour
• Any enemy wearing armour cannot be flamed
• Enemies are either small (same size or smaller than Spyro) or big (2x or more than Spyro)
• Small enemies can be charged or flamed
• Big enemies cannot be charged, only flamed
• Small enemies wearing armour must be charged
• Large enemies wearing armour are invincible and must be pushed into environmental hazards using charge

Enemy Attack Types

Enemies use one or more of the following attacks. Each enemy is given a specific timing and movement behaviour or script to create its unique gameplay characteristics.

• None. (“Fodder”). This enemy is just for fun, though chasing it can get Spyro into trouble
• Contact. Enemy hits Spyro if Spyro is very close by
• Charge (smart or dumb). Enemy runs after Spyro. It may run straight at Spyro (dumb) or dodge and turn (smart)
• Radial. Enemy “whacks” Spyro from a distance beyond that at which it can be attacked. Thus the player must move quickly to kill it
• Projectile. Enemy shoots something at Spyro

All enemies, regardless of attack type, have an attack animation to indicate that Spyro has been attacked. Not all attacks harm Spyro, e.g., a radial attack enemy might toss Spyro back a few meters without harming him.

Visual Design Direction

• 1/3 of enemies are “gnorcs”, semi-intelligent, goofy soldier-types who have the same basic physical characteristics:
  • large lower jaw, small pointed ears, gruff demeanour
  • pear shaped bodies with short or no legs
• 2/3 of enemies are fantasy-orientated interpretations of the plant and animal kingdoms. These enemies physically match their surroundings. For instance, in the swamps, one will find a three-eyed mutant toad and in the mountainous regions, one of the denizens is a storm wizard.
• For the most part, the enemies have soft, squat shapes designed to appeal to a younger audience. Colours are bright without being cartoony. We are avoiding mature, realistic scary shapes (a muscular scowling demon for example) and are instead creating characters that have potential for humour.

Games Saves, Lives and Exiting Levels

When a player begins a new game he can designate a memory card slot to which his game will be saved. Data saved includes:

1. Treasure items that have been picked up; this also tells which enemies have been killed (600 treasure-carrying enemies -25 per regular level, 10 per stage, 7 bosses -, plus 2,520 free standing treasure pieces - 100 pieces per regular round, 50 pieces per stage, 5 pieces per boss round, 5 pieces per bonus - equals a total of 3,120 bits)
2. Bonus rounds entered - this is to determine whether or not the special “marker” shows up (7 bits)
3. Stages accessed (7 bits)
4. Special items picked up (6 bits)
5. Keys picked up (4 per stage = 28 bits)

• Every time a player picks a crystal dragon or exits a level through an exit portal, the game is automatically saved.
• Players begin with four lives and can earn additional lives by collecting 100 butterflies for each new life. Butterflies are left by enemies and can also be found free-floating in levels.
• If a player dies with one or more lives left, he begins at the last saved point (i.e. at the place where he last picked up a crystal dragon.)
• If a player dies with no more lives or quits out of a game, he sees the “GAME OVER” screen and can either start over or load a saved game. A saved game will begin the player in the last stage in which he saved. Lives will be reset to 4 while butterflies are reset to 10.
• A player can exit a level at any time by pressing the select button, but he will lose all of the special items, killed enemies, treasure points and butterflies that he has picked up since his last saved point. If he exits through the exit portal, he will retain all of his treasure points, butterflies and special items.

Secondary Objectives

There are secondary objectives both in accessing stages and in completing levels. The stage objectives are as follows:

• Find enough gem points to pay the bridge troll (used three times)
• Free enough crystal dragons to convince the gatekeeper that Spyro means business (used twice)
• Bring enough rescued fairies to the Wishmaster to allow him into the next stage (used once)
• Give dragon eggs to a stage guardian to prevent him from kicking Spyro out (used once)

Bonus Rounds

• In bonus rounds, Spyro has full flying ability
• Spyro has a time limit to collect all of the butterflies in the bonus level. If he is successful, he receives a special 200-point gem. Players can access the bonus levels as many times as they like, but can only win the gem once.
• Bonus rounds are hidden in levels or stages and are accessed when Spyro does something special e.g. flames a rock, runs around a tree, charges a wall section…
• Players learn the location of the bonus levels from the crystal dragons. The dragons will aid the player by creating a glow around whatever object triggers the bonus level opening.

Technical Information

1. Environment Engine :
   • The environment engine is the most innovative technology used in the development of Spyro and is the tool responsible for rendering the level itself. By using multiple levels of polygon and texture detail, and technology to smooth the transitions between the detail levels, this engine allows for infinite distance views, while still providing incredible detail up close.
2. Character / Object Engine
   • The character/object engine renders all the characters and other interactive portions of the playing field. This engine uses a similar detail/transitioning technology so that large numbers of objects can be shown, and just like the environments, characters need not ‘pop-up’ in the distance.
3. Cyclorama Engine
   • The cyclorama engine draws the sky. Normally ‘sky’ is created in 3D games using a large bitmapped picture, which is then taken to represent the horizon. This technique has obvious limitations, limiting the whole sky to a flat plane. In Spyro, the sky is actually a spherical mesh of more than 5,000 polygons, which allows it to ‘wrap’ fully. This is especially crucial when the player uses the ‘look around’ feature (triangle button) as there is no weird distortion or disorientation as the player looks up or down.

Game Info

September 1998 – Sony Computer Entertainment Europe and Universal Interactive Studios are pleased to announce the forthcoming release of Spryo [sic] The Dragon, the latest product from Insomniac Games, creators of the award-winning Distruptor.

Set in a mystical land populated by dragons, pixies, frogs and a menagerie of weird and wonderful creatures, Spyro The Dragon is guaranteed to astound even the most experienced gamers with a technologically ground-breaking 3D environment unlike any seen previously on PlayStation.

Gamers take control of Spryo [sic], a little dragon with heaps of attitude whose family has been turned into crystal statues by super villain, Gnorc the Gnasty. Spryo [sic] must explore a myriad of different worlds and levels in order to free his fellow dragons from their crystal prisons and ultimately defeat Gnasty in a final showdown.

Ted Price, President of Insomniac is justifiably proud of his team’s achievements, claiming that: “Spyro came about through our desire to create a game that blows away all other 3D platformers in terms of gameplay, technology and art.”

Thanks to three purpose-built game “engines,” Spryo [sic] inhabits a stunningly beautiful world that is totally free roaming, where there are no path boarders or restrictive areas. By using multiple levels of polygon and texture detail, and technology to smooth the transitions between the detail levels, the player can enjoy infinite panoramic views, while still providing incredible detail close-up.

With seven different worlds, more than 36 levels, and lots of bonus and “secret” areas, each with a very different look, feel and structure of challenges, the depth of gameplay in Spryo [sic] is phenomenal. Dual Shock compatibility will add an extra dimension to the gameplay by allowing the player to truly feel the on-screen action thanks to the controllers multi-frequency vibrating function. With a specially created exclusive soundtrack by former Police drummer, Stewart Copeland, a huge games fan himself, players are sure to be enjoying this game for months to come.

Chris Deering - President, Sony Computer Entertainment said: “We are very excited about working with Universal Interactive Studios again and feel that Spryo [sic] will undoubtedly be one of the premier games this Christmas. With astounding graphics, truly immersive gameplay and a depth of character interaction that will astound gamers, Insomniac have developed a game that really does have it all.”

Universal Studios Info

Universal Interactive Studios, Inc (UIS) is a software development division of the Universal Studios New Media Group, and represents Universal Studio’s presence in the electronic entertainment industry.

UIS develops and creates ground breaking next generation entertainment software based on original concepts. UIS’s primary goal with each product it creates is to ensure a highly satisfying experience for the game player by focusing on superior gameplay. The company also strives to imbue its titles with Hollywood-quality production values and develops strong characters, environments and storylines that readily translate into other entertainment media in which Universal operates including motion pictures, television, music and recreation.

To date UIS has enjoed phenomenal success on PlayStation. The Crash Bandicoot Series has sold more than 5 million units worldwide and Distruptor, UIS’s original first-person shooter, has garnered critical acclaim among the gaming press and won the award for “Best First Person Shooter” from Ultra Game Players magazine.

Currently, UIS has several PlayStation projects under development, including Crash 3, Running Wild, a high-speed character based obstacle race that combines the control and speed of a racing game with the unique character and environmental elements of a platform game and Xena, Warrior Princess.

The Universal Studios New Media Group develops and promotes Universal’s properties for the global digital consumer market. Universal Studios is a unit of the Seagram Company Ltd., a global beverage and entertainment company.

UIS Key Players

Mark Cerney - President, Universal Interactive Studios -- Joined Atari’s coin-op group in 1983 where he served as game designer and project leader for Marble Madness. Mark then worked as an independent contractor for Sega, where he created coin-op game hardware. Sega asked him to come to Japan to develop consumer software for their 8-bit hardware and during a three year stint, he worked on the extreme high tech end of the 8-bit universe, creating software for the 3D glasses, gun and modem peripherals that sold in excess of half a million units.

In December 1989 Mark returned to California and founded the Sega Technical Institute (STI), a bilingual research and development group at Sega America. At STI, he lead the creation of Sonic II for Sega Genesis. In 1992 Mark joined start-up Crystal Dynamics as Chief Technologist.

In 1994 he started at Universal Interactive Studios as Vice President of Technology. He was recently promoted to President and is responsible for all aspects of game development for UIS’s entertainment products.

Michael John, Producer, Universal Interactive Studios -- Michael is a graduate from Occidental College in Los Angles and joined UIS in 1995 from Philips Media where he produced several titles under Philips Media’s Games Label.