Analysis of Games: Ratchet and Clank

As part of our course, we need to analyse game design and gameplay of video games, with references to platforms and technologies of the time.

And for this post, I have decided to look at Ratchet and Clank, 2002 and Ratchet and Clank, 2016.

Main Mechanics

Ratchet and Clank was released by Insomniac Games for PS2 in 2002. The game is a 3D Platformer, similar to Insomniacs previous spryo the dragon series,but with a new emphasis on gun play and shooting mechanics.

Ratchet and Clank was Insomniacs first game after leaving the Spyro the Dragon Series, which has relatively simple movement mechanics to match its light hearted tone and audience.

Where Ratchet and Clank has considerably more complex than the previous Spyro games, which meant that Tutorial pop ups were necessary within Ratchet and Clanks games.

I personally much prefer the older Tutorial pop up system on the first ratchet game, compared to the tutorials within the 2016 game below:

In the first Ratchet and Clank, including the move the backpack upgrade can add, Ratchet can:

• Swing a Wrench
• Hyper-Strike
• Comet-Strike
• Jump
• Double-Jump
• Boost-Jump
• Glide
• Stretch-Jump
• Fire Weapons
• Strafe
• Hover
• Hover-Strafe
• Swim

For context, in Spyro 3 you could:

• Jump
• Breathe Fire
• Charge
• Glide
• Hover
• Swim

During the Spyro games, the player was never required to press more than one button at a time, where in the Ratchet and Clank games require the player to hold a shoulder button and a regular button, which is used a lot now in games on new consoles, but coming from simple 3D Platformers from the PS1, Insomniac made sure that the player isn’t overloaded with input options.

This all changes however in the 2016 game, some of the controls are completely different, which I found extremely confusing when I played the 2002 game the night before I played the 2016 game. This ended up with me pressing the wrong buttons, accidentally stretch jumping off a ledge etc.

But in the 2016 game, you can still do the same moves, expect for the added strafing, which wasnt included until the very end of the first game, and the hover isnt included in the 2016 game. I have made a video which includes all the mechanics that are in the new game, which as mentioned before, doesnt include the hover and hover strafe.

During the Clank sections of the game, controls are more limited, Clank can only Jump, Glide and punch, but he can also control Gadge-Bots but again, these can only do limited moves, Wait, Follow, Attack or Enter.

One of the main problems with this game, is that a lot of gadgets are given to the player, but arent really explained too much. For example, with the grind boots, the player is given them after one of the missions, but the player doesnt even use them properly for a couple of levels. The grind level require no input at all from the player, other than the occasional optional jumping mechanic to require some bolts. This means that the player gets the easiest possible introduction to the new boots, but it means that they dont get any active practice with them at all. This also applies with the gadgebots, they are briefly used by the player in the clank level, but they arent used to solve any puzzles until a few hours later into the game.

 

During one of the next planets that the player visits, Rilgar, the player finally gets to use the Hydrodisplacer in some puzzles, as well as the swimming. Here Ratchets slow swimming and air meter are put to use, providing some panic in the player to ensure that you get out before your meter runs out.

While on Rilgar, the player can participate in the hover board race, which is a small mini game where you can skate around in order to win a prize at the end, this allowed Insomniac to get some more use out of the skating mechanics from Spyro 3 but avoids the feeling of being a copy due to its futuristic looks as well as Spyros was in an open park while Ratchets is a race. This shows that developers can use the same mechanics within games without them feeling the same during different games, without it feeling exactly the same throughout different games.

 

When the player finally gets to planet batalia is where the first grindboot section starts, which can prove challenging at times with some obstacles including bombs, but these can all be jumped over. The other challenge is sometimes the player needs to change to another track, but overall it isnt too difficult to accomplish.

Orxon provides the second and final Clank level of the game, where it is a lot more challenging compared to the first clank level, where there a more puzzles. The gameplay then becomes more about moving the gadgebots throughout the level, making sure that you dont lose any rather than being about clank.

Once you finish the final clank level the player is rewarded with the magnaboots, the player can then go back to batalia to destroy the rest of the gunships, but this is optional but rewards you with a metal detector, which proves pretty pointless as it doesnt really do that much other than find some “hidden” bolts.

Next on Planet Pokitaru the main quest is to escort a character throughout the level,which mainly gets the player to destroy some enemies to stop them from getting to the character you need to escort. Once this is clear, you then need to press a red button to proceed to get the jet, but rather than get the player to complete a puzzle or mission to get the thruster pack which is needed to press the button, the player is forced to buy it.

Once the player gets into the jet, it starts a mini game where you fire machine guns and homing missiles to take down enemies.

After collecting the O2 mask from Pokitaru, the player can than go back to Orxon but this time plays as Ratchet, this level gives the player to attack some enemies, or they can leave the enemies to sleep, which means they wont attack the player unless they attack something nearby them. While on this planet, they player can choose to either use their bolts collected throughout the game to purchase some premium nanotech. This is the players health and this allows them to have 5 hit points instead of 4.Or the player can choose to keep their bolts and buy  more weapons instead. This level then drops them between a group of sleeping enemies. This could panic the player, meaning they will attack one, which makes the rest attack the player as well, or they could choose to just jump over them and leave them.

This level incorporates more slingshot obstacles, which had also been featured in a few other planets prior. The level design of Orxon allows the player to loop round back to the beginning, both as Ratchet and Clank. This makes it easier for the player to get back to the ship in order to go to other places or other planets via the ship.

The players then next go to Hoven to stop the bomb from Drek. This level seems to increase in difficulty, seeing as though it is close to the end of the game. This requires the player to use a range of different weapons, mainly guns to defeat enemies. There is also an ice area within this level, testing the skills developed by the player, which means using the thruster pack makes this part a lot easier.

Oltanis is the last planet of the game, where the player needs either the devastator the bomb gun to do anything within this level. This is also reflected within enemy designs. Again there are a lot of enemies within this level meaning the player must use their skills to defeat them all without losing a lot of health.

One of the big battles on this level is against Captain Quark, who was originally shown to be a hero at the beginning of the game, but I will go over characters later in this post.

The main battle against Quark is similar to the jet mini game on Pokitaru, which doesnt test the base skills the player has spent the entire game learning, but the skills they learned in Pokitaru.

On the main planet of Oltanis, clank cant leave the ship as the weather of the planet messes with his circuits (although this seems strange as there are a lot of robot enemies on this planet that seem fine to be out in the weather, this may not have been intentional but it was strange that clank was the only robot that couldnt go outside).

This is the first level that the player has been without clank since the very beginning and it feels rather strange while playing it. There are more ice levels and strong winds, making it very hard to move around, where clank made this easier earlier on.

After this level, the player goes to other planets to do some smaller missions, including a stealth style robot disguise one in Quartu.

After all of this, Drek then plans to blow up Ratchets home planet. This level reuses the hologuise very quickly after the last level, but this is the only other level that this could be used for without changing too much of the game.

The level then throws in another mechanic without giving the player a tutorial like earlier in the game. The dog enemies can tell that it is Ratchet and will attack the player, but the player needs to figure out how to defeat the dogs, without the robots finding out which cleverly tests the players skills of using the hologuise.

This then leads the player back to Veldin, which was where they started right at the very beginning. Immediately you can see the contrast between now and the beginning of the game.

Veldin At the start

Veldin After Drek Visits

The image on the left shows Veldin when you first start the game, and on the right is when you finally come back to Veldin at the end. By changing this level so much, this gives the player the feeling that this is the final level of the game.

The enemies in this level are very difficult to defeat, taking more than one bomb sometimes to defeat, making progress during this level slower than usual.

There is one part within the level that seems rather odd, which leads to a gold bolt. At first it is rather daunting, making the player wonder what on earth they are supposed to do to get through, as the lasers hurt ratchet.

This later becomes clear that there is an enemy behind it, as well as a button and the taunter is needed to lead the enemy to press the button, allowing the player to go through.

Another part of the level, you come out of a pipe and see a huge area full of enemies, which seems rather annoying as the entire level is spent killing too many, but the player then finds a giant clank pad, which gives the player satisfaction to smash through them all with ease.

The final battle then starts and is really difficult if you dont have any gold weapons or the RYNO. This boss tests the players base skills that have been developed throughout the game.

Characters and Design

In the beginning, Insomniac started with a project named “I-5” which then later on got cancelled, which lead to them starting to design Ratchet and Clank. This game started with the idea of having an alien lizard with gadgets and abilities. While he barely resembles the final character, Ratchet 1.0 already has many of his characteristics in place: oversized hands and weapons, a gadget glove, three-toed feet, and pilot headgear.

Eventually his reptilian body gave way to a more relatable cat form. Ratchet’s final form was decided upon after Insomniac looked at various terrestrial creatures, such as dogs and rats, and feline features stood out to them because of the sense of agility associated with it.

Changes in Ratchets Design throughout the series. 

In the PS2 days, Ratchet had the same head model throughout, from 2002 to 2005 (R&C1-Deadlocked). The two changes came with Up Your Arsenal in 2004 and Deadlocked in 2004. In Up Your Arsenal, Ratchet got a texture upgrade to appear sharper. The big one however was with Deadlocked, where Ratchet gained proper eyeballs for the first time. In the previous three games, the white sclera of his eyes deformed up and down with his eyebrows, similar to Spyro’s eyes on PSone (the iris/pupils were non-deforming objects that were separate from the sclera objects). The somewhat crudity and desaturated colour palette of the day did, in my opinion, give the effect of an older Ratchet, bolstered by James Arnold Taylor’s vocal performance at the time.

Obviously the big jump came with Tools of Destruction in 2007. I remember back in the day that Insomniac boasted about how there were more bones in Ratchet’s PS3 face then there were in his entire PS2 rig! This showed in that Ratchet had much more flexibility in his eyebrows, and his mouth was too; they were no longer confined to the broad shapes like on PS2. Fur was also a big advancement, however at the time IG could only put fur on his eyebrows, cheeks, ears and the tuft of his tail; his arms noticeably had none.

A Crack in Time in 2009 brought full fur over Ratchet (except for his muzzle), at least for his cutscene model. The fur design was changed to be more fuzzy, which fit because his face was more plump and rounded this time around. Ratchet’s outfit is also symbolic because it has design heritage to that of Azimuth and Kaden, suggesting a core Lombaxian armour design.

All 4 One in 2011 had the most radical design changes for Ratchet. Because All 4 One had a camera that could be extremely far away from the characters in a 4 player co-op environment, the designs of the player characters were hugely changed. Clank had more baby-like proportions, Nefarious was more elongated, and Qwark basically became a wedge of pure muscle. Each character too was closely associated with a particular colour. For Ratchet, his design increased the side of his head and feet, and flattened the head somewhat, to help make him easier to pick out at a distance. Because of the extreme camera distance, Ratchet had no fur fuzz at all during gameplay.

Due to the small scope of Full Frontal Assault, none of the characters were changed for that title, but fan demand meant that Ratchet and Clank’s models were adjusted slightly for Into the nexus to look more like the older designs. FFA was the main showcase for Ratchet’s new default outfit (after debuting in A4O), a design that was derived from his starting outfit in Tools. The repeated use of it in the 2016 Ratchet & Clank means that this design is now considered his standard, “stock” outfit.

For RC16, Ratchet’s outfit got one final revision, which was realistic clothing construction. While the design of Ratchet’s shirt is completely illogical (as division-ten will tell you), his shoes and gloves now have signs of warping and visible stitching, the which lends a relatable realism to their appearance. Ratchet is ever-so-slightly fuzzier like in A Crack in Time, and he generally appears more like he did in Tools. One A4O design change has stuck, however, which is that the bottom of his ears reach down to the bottom of the skull; before A4O, they reached only down to the top of his cheeks.

It’s also important to remember that Ratchet was designed in an era where Creaturebox’s art style wasn’t as abstract and unique as it is today. Compare the concept art of the Blarg in R&C1 to the critters in any of the PS3 games and you’ll see an enormous difference. The refresh in Ratchet’s design is likely meant to bring him to parity with the world as it evolved around him. His head and feet are bigger, his hands are smaller, the ears reach to the bottom of his skull and his tail is more elongated.

This isn’t limited to Ratchet either; Clank got a refresh in ToD as well where his joints and details looked less like real-world servos and more like futuristic technology, as well as the enlarging of his eyes. Qwark of course got different proportions, lost the butt chin and got a suit of spandex. And obviously Stuart Zurgo looks hugely different in his update after a nine year gap. Ratchet is hardly the only character to have been updated, just the most visible.

2002 Clank

2016 Clank

Qwark 2002

Qwark 2016

As you can see between the two images of Qwark, the difference is remarkable. Where his texture seems rather flat in the first image, the texturing is high quality and uses a lot more bump maps in the newer version of Qwark. You can even see the stitching on his gloves!

 

Environment Design

During the series, there has been a lot of obvious changes with design throughout, especially with the advancements in software. This has allowed the designers to add a lot more complexity to the game.

I have found a recording of Brian speaking about the design of levels and Metropolis during a talk in 2002.

At the start of making the game, the idea that the game was going to be about an alien who travels throughout space and collects gadgets got a lot of designers excited about creating a lot of world designs, but one of the main problems was the art style. Was it Star Wars? the jetsons? And how does the art team go about building such complex environments?

Naughty Dog had offered Insomniac the technology  This was an agreement that ND would give Insomniac their software, and in return, any changes or advancements within the software would be given back to ND.

This software would allow Insomniac to create large expansive levels using input distance geometry.

However, Mark Cerny, Design Consultant at Insomniac had a proposal that they would use their software to make two dioramas that would simulate the view of the final level. They had a controllable character that would walk around the level start and all the objects would have a low level detail, which means that all the view in the background would be completely faked since they didnt have the other engines ready to start producing the levels.

By making these dioramas, this was allowing the art and design teams to make maps for the backgrounds, kick starting a collaboration on art styles, as well as making a great presentation for sony when they went and pitched their game.

They first decided to have 5 different visual themes that would ensure that the environments would be diverse. By having motion within the environments, would have to bring the worlds to life. Within each environment, they wanted to have different sections to help differentiate each area of the level so that there was a feeling of progress and pacing to the player.

The first concept designed was a space port, the idea was to have a tropical paradise populated by space age buildings in the distance. Ships would fly over head and there would be some crashed ships within the foreground for a dramatic effect.

Some sketches were created of some buildings and Mark converted them to map form and that created the first Ratchet and Clank map for the diorama.

The game was literally built around that diorama and it’s understandable why some things may seem out of place. It was modelled after this iconic shot from the level’s namesake, Metropolis – an urban valley crossed by skywalks culminating in the Babelesque train station – and somewhere in there they had to fit in Al’s Roboshack… might as well stick it in there at the end of that last skywalk!

They used the I-5 engine to build and run both levels but were unable to display the amount of detail imagined for Ratchet & Clank. Most of the geometry in the middle and far distance was faked and built at low detail. Some of the farthest objects were flat two-dimensional cut outs.

These levels laid out the visual rules that governed Ratchet & Clank’s universe for the next 10 years: lush brightly coloured environments; ambient movement like waterfalls, spaceships, and air cars; retro-future architecture; and long views showing a traversable destination. Both dioramas became production levels in Ratchet & Clank. The city test remained almost intact and formed the centre of Metropolis on planet Kerwan while the tropical jungle became Jowai Resort on planet Pokitaru.

For Metropolis they wanted it to be a technological city, but wanted to add various vegetation and plants to add a natural element to the level.

This video is showing an early stage in the games development of the diorama.

It features another fake scenery, some unique and instance buildings and cars whizzing around in the sky.

Creating these environments was an enormous task, and changes in the design process was needed to be made. The designers would no longer be working single map per designer, they needed to break the levels up into sections and each designer would specialise in a different task. Insomniac then realised they needed to get some prototypes done because the levels were approximately going to be 2 million polygons and they couldnt afford to make any mistakes. Test objects were built within maya and prototypes were programmed to request different variables of the designers consent. This allowed them to start building prototype levels and have faster revisions instead of having the artists build them , giving them the opportunity to be more experimental.

During one of the tests levels, they were testing ratchets jump levels and jump heights, tuning them to fit other levels, they had to avoid “falling in love” with the geometry.They needed to be able to throw away items that didnt work and not waste time on ones that wouldnt succeed.

Insomniac soon realised that their new games levels were going to be 6 to 7 times larger than one spyro level. In order for them to figure out the size of each level, they took the size of a spyro level in comparison, used its size and called that a “spyro page” this then allowed them to say each Ratchet level was a certain amount of Spyro pages big.

Illustrator was used to create the maps and this gave the flexibility to move and rotate large sections of gameplay, and while having multiple artists working on ideas, they could easily merge multiple files into a single map. This also allowed the artists to export curves and import them into maya for reference.

Once Insomniac had designed their first four levels, they realised that they needed a design template that could be used in all future levels.

Insomniac wanted a nice open view of the level once the player started, showing all of the art that had been created for it. This can be shown in all of the games, but the ones I am going to talk about are the first and most recent games.

Once you start on Novalis in the first game, there is a lot of noise, ships flying around and fire in the distance, but other than that there doesnt really seem to be as much as the newer game, mainly due to the consoles capabilities.

As well as the improved graphics of the most recent game, there are other improvements to the opening of Novalis. You can see over the edge of the cliff just a bit, being able to see a few enemies, which then shocks the player when you come down the lift as to just how many there are.

There are more planes flying around, some shooting at others, and the skybox is animated.

Insomniac wanted to keep each level around 6-8 spyro pages and then created A Macro plan.

Macro plans are references for the entire game, which shows all of the dependencies, level connection points, types of challenges, and items that the player can find, all which fits on a single page.

Once all the foundations were made for the levels, it was time to make the levels for real. All of the gameplay requirements were needed to be incorporated from the macro and put them into what was originally an art test level. The opening view point needed to closesly resemble the demo, but have it all work within their engine constraints. The macro needed platforming and two enemy segments , and once those were created, the secrets were made.

Brian took the map and art  that was made by the artists and roughly made plans for gameplay for each level to make sure that it was of correct length. However,some things needed to be moved around due to the diorama being in forced perspective.

WHen it came to creating enemies, the macro plan showed at what stage the player would have certain weapons, creating enemies depending on the weapons.

3 enemies were created that encourged the use of a long range weapon, knowing the player would have the blaster at this point which meant that the characters created were:

Blarg Commander that fires projectiles with a gun

Helicopter that forced the player to go into first person mode and shoot at it

Mine dropper that continues to drop mines until killed.

However, support for the wrench was still needed as not all players use other weapons. All these enemies, apart from the helicopter can still be defeated by Ratchets Wrench but it takes more hits to down an enemy this way as well as endanger themselves.

The robot dogs were designed to be a filler, but it was used in the game, forcing the player to either dodge the charging enemy or strike at it.

Final enemies are around 1000-2000 polygons and take 8 days to build and animate and a week average to program. With four enemies on one planet, there was little time for any mistakes because the programmers would then go and work on the levels for 6 weeks.

Prototype enemies were only 150-300 polygons and only took 2 days to build and animate and 1-2 days to program which allowed for multiple iterations. Once these prototype enemies were made, levels were able to be made with enemy set ups, adding many variables such as movement speed, drop frequency and hit points.