Development
Work on a Nintendo DS version of Guitar Hero was started in early 2007 according to Vicarious Visions CEO, Karthik Bala. Bala stated that the inspiration for the game was to "see if it was even possible to do a really good music rhythm game on a handheld". The first six months of development were "touch and go", according to Bala, and it took nearly a year of testing and experimentation to determine the best strumming mechanism for the game. Bala claimed that Vicarious Visions had gone through more than 20 different combinations of software and hardware peripherals until they "hit upon the idea of creating a peripheral that would have the fret buttons plugging into the GBA slot of the DS". This also gave the advantage of making the peripheral compact, allowing it to be easily carried by the user. Other designs that were tested but dropped included a larger guitar-shaped unit that the DS was attached to (dubbed "Ukelele Hero" by the design team), different grips with three to six to twelve buttons, and gameplay that was built only around using the stylus. Not until the initial prototype was done did Vicarious Visions approach Nintendo and RedOctane; both companies were skeptical of the game but helped to support the team, Nintendo by assisting in the hardware interaction with the DS, and RedOctane by helping with the ergonomics of the Guitar Grip. This peripheral is not compatible with the Nintendo DSi because it lacks a GBA slot to insert the grip into, but Vicarious Visions has stated that it is eager to continue development of the series on the DSi.
Even with the hardware designed, Vicarious Visions spent additional time refining the game play. According to lead designer Jeremy Russo, the team had the largest number of playtesters brought in for any Vicarious Vision project in order to refine the touchscreen "strumming" action, using a range of testers, including those that had never played a Guitar Hero game, the "'DragonForce' Expert" players, and real guitar players. In addition, the team wanted to expand the "Guitar Duel" mode to include several DS-specific mini-games that could not be recreated on other consoles, but found themselves running out of time. RedOctane wanted to see On Tour as a "polished AAA title on a handheld" and insisted that the "Guitar Duel" be a key feature of the game, giving Vicarious Visions more time to complete the game. The additional time allowed the team to develop the software to recognize every type of strumming approach, including finding a solution to handle the expert players that strummed faster than could be previously recognized. This time also was used to strengthen the "Guitar Duel" gameplay, and as a result, this mode became the testers' favorite feature of the game. While some tracks were brought over from Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock, Vicarious Visions recreated all the note tracks for the game, aiming to keep the same difference in difficulty from Easy to Expert as in the console versions. Each song has been divided into three separate compressed tracks that play back simultaneously during gameplay. Vicarious Visions developed a method to overcome the 2,000-polygon drawing limit imposed by the Nintendo DS hardware in order to allow the characters, each composed of about 2,000 polygons, to be recognizable. They also developed a method of allowing input through the GBA port of the DS.
Bala stated that Vicarious Visions envisioned the "On Tour" series as a trilogy, and despite the availability of the DSi before the release of "Modern Hits", it wanted to finish out the series on the DS system. While Bala has not revealed what plans the development team has for the DSi for Guitar Hero, they have used their experience in creating the DSiWare game Mixed Messages to prepare for further Guitar Hero games on the unit, including the possibility of downloadable content. Much of the core aspects of the On Tour series will be reused in the DS version of Band Hero, also being developed in part by Vicarious Visions; the game will reutilize the "Guitar Grip" while adding drumming support through a "drum skin" and vocals through the DS' microphone, and support for four player localized play has been included.
Read more about this topic: Guitar Hero: On Tour Series
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