Shootmania in sixth year of development. Nadeo making it "as pure as possible"

Nadeo's International Project Manager, Edouard Beauchemin has shared new Shootmania details with PC Gamer. We fired questions at him before having "one more go" on the upcoming Trackmania Canyons at Ubisoft's Summer Showcase. Three hours later, I left the booth.

Shootmania is an ambitious user-driven sandbox of an FPS. Users will be able to create their own gametypes and maps in a few minutes, similar to how the Trackmania community create their own unique courses. I asked Edouard whether Shootmania will feature some form of persistent levelling system similar to the ones featured in most modern FPSs.

It wont. According to Edouard, "A whole experience system could have been implemented into Trackmania, but a game based on skill is more interesting for the people we like to play with. With Shootmania, it's the same thing. It's based on skill. There are no RPG mechanics. We want to make it as pure as possible."

"Trackmania is the purest arcade racing game we could come up with and we hope to do the same with Shootmania – the purest FPS that could come up with."

Shootmania is set to be an instantly gratifying experience: "It's going to be a pure run and gun game. Go through it, bring your friends and shoot! Even for weapons – we limit it to a few so you don't have to think about buying the right weapons at the start of the game. You'll come with a gun in your hand and you'll start shooting. It's got a fun spirit. You're not pretending that you're a sniper from the US army. You're there to enjoy your game."

I asked Edouard if he's nervous about the team's lack of experience in other genres.

"It's the question that everyone is asking. We're asked ourselves first. We've been asking it since 2005 when we started to work on Shootmania. We're extremely pleased with how it looks and plays, and the possibilities you can have in the game."

More on Shootmania, Trackmania 2: Canyons, and the upcoming Questmania soon.