My first – The Trailer
After the Terminator-game I'm working on had been announced I was indeed happy, but then the next urge presented itself.
I wanted people to SEE what I was working on!
When were we gonna release some sweet screenshots of the game, or even better; a trailer? It would take about three weeks before that happened. When we heard that the first trailer was gonna be shown at the Spike Awards I was yet again psyched!
I hadn't seen it myself untill it arrived at Gametrailers.com.
http://www.gametrailers.com/player/43638.html SD-version
http://www.gametrailers.com/player/43637.html HD-version
(Movies available 18/12-08, embedded in "My Game - The Trailer", http://arcadeberg.com/projects/my-game-the-trailer/ )
Every morning when I get to work I browse to Gametrailers to see what's new while starting applications, during breaks, etc. When Terminator was there on the start page my smile reached from ear to ear.
After watching the trailer I was both extremly pleased and very disappointed. I was disappointed because there were moments when I thought "No, why did they show that instead of that.", "Why did they do it like that?" and "What were they thinking?!". But at the same time I was really happy with it. It looked good, showed off some enemies, some gameplay and the graphics. What more could I ask for?
Now when people want to know more about the game than the title, they watch the trailer. They can get something tangible!
It was great fun reading the comments for the trailer afterwards, as described in my post "My first - Reading the comments" (http://arcadeberg.com/causerie/my-first-reading-the-comments/ , available 18/12).
I bet that with every trailer that comes with every game I'll ever work on those good and bad feelings will reappear. Of course it could have been better and of course it's still nice to show it!
I spy... A Swedish Terminator?
My first – Reading the comments
I'm so incredibly happy that the Terminator Salvation Game has been announced, so I can finally talk about what I'm doing. Well, at least what game it is.
I've been psyched about the recently released trailer as well, so people would finally get to see it! Of course, since this is my first game within the professional industry it's extra special. First announcement, first trailer (see earlier post) and let's not forget, the first time for me to read about what other people think of the game!
Today (or yesterday, depending on if you base it on the time or sleep/wake-cycle) I've read all the comments for the trailer on Gametrailers.com, all 39 pages (now it's 43 pages). It was an amazing feeling. People are speculating, complementing, trashing, hyping, complaining, praising the game at the same time!
I find it awesome that the trailer has had over 100'000 views and over 1000 people has voted, rating it at an average 8.4.
I really took notice of how "everyone is an expert" on Gametrailers and how everyone has to be better than the previous one. People are sure the game is running on Engine X, while some are saying it's running on Engine Y. Meanwhile, someone else is sure it's using the Engine Z. They can't all be right, can they? Is anyone of them right? They say the game looks like Gears of War, Fallout 3, Uncharted, Resistance and pretty much every other game you can think of.
Based on a few seconds of gameplay the users there seems to know everything there is to know about the game. Simply amazing.
About 1/8 comments seem to be written by someone not just out to flame, trash or be a "keyboard tough guy".
My favorite comment though is from "MasterDarknessx", in response to the following from "alfredofroylan":
Hooray another futuristic shooter. Well at least this one has a nice character the T-800
MasterDarknessx response was:
it 2018 dumb fuck there is no t-800 yet, that was a t-600
It's nice with Terminator-fans out there. If he's right or not, I won't say.
For me this is all very cool. I haven't been in "the biz" long enough not to be juiced up by these things. I can't wait for more press-stuff, previews, reviews, sales and being able to say: "I helped make that."
My Game – The Trailer
I present you the trailer for the upcoming Terminator Game on which I have worked on for the last 6 months!
Also available in HD!
http://www.gametrailers.com/player/43637.html (Available 15/12-08)
The University is using my Bach Degree Project
I got word from a friend back the University in Skövde, where I got my bachelor degree, that they're using my "Bach Degree Project in Media Arts: Computer Game Development C" as example when informing students who are about to get starting on their bachelor degree projects on how to do it.
I'm very happy to hear that!
Unfortunately, it's in Swedish but if you want to see it, it's available (8/12-08) here:
http://www.diva-portal.org/his/abstract.xsql?dbid=1085
| Author: | Berg, Kenneth Arcade |
| Title: | Inger iterativ arbetsstruktur fler fördelar än nackdelar inom level design till Unreal Tournament 3?: Reflektioner kring arbetsprocessen bakom "DM-Theatre" |
| Department: | University of Skövde, School of Humanities and Informatics |
| URI: | urn:nbn:se:his:diva-1085 |
| Publication type: | Undergraduate thesis C-level 20 p. (Media Studies) |
| Language: | Swedish [sv] |
| Keywords: | level design iterativ arbetsprocess unreal tournament 3 unreal editor unrealed bandesign dataspel datorspel |
| Abstract [sv] : | Rapporten är en reflekterande text som behandlar arbetsprocessen och omkringliggande mål för ett examensarbete inom medier som bedrivits mot Högskolan Skövde. Syftet med examensarbetet har varit att analysera huruvida en iterativ arbetsform inger fler fördelar än nackdelar vid level design till Unreal Tournament 3. Rapporten tar i diskussionsform upp delar ur hela produktionen för att redovisa utmaningar, framsteg och lösningar författaren bemött. En inblick ges för hur en iterativ level design-produktion kan utföras och för- respektive nackdelar gällande olika delar av denna specifika process. Slutsatsen som dras hävdar att det för med sig många fördelar att lägga upp arbetet iterativt. Detta diskuteras med vissa restriktioner då inget annat jämförbart arbete med annan arbetsprocess bedrivits av författaren som denne kan jämföra med. |
Terminator Salvation
Today it finally went public with a press release, the game I'm working on:
Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment, Equity Games Production and Halcyon Games Announce Terminator Salvation – The Videogame, an Intense, Action Game Based on the Highly Anticipated 2009 Film
BURBANK, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment, Equity Games Production and Halcyon Games announce Terminator Salvation – The Videogame, an action-packed, third-person shooter, to be released in conjunction with the highly anticipated Warner Bros. Pictures and Sony Pictures film, which opens nationwide on May 22, 2009.
Based on the upcoming “Terminator Salvation” film, the game offers players the chance to assume the role of John Connor, a soldier in the resistance, battling for survival against the far superior forces of Skynet. Terminator Salvation – The Videogame is a third-person action game with concentrated armed combat against all of the Skynet enemies from the film while encountering new enemies specifically designed for the game. The game was developed by GRIN Studios, published by Equity Games, co-published by Evolved Games and distributed by Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment.
“Terminator Salvation – The Videogame allows players to battle for survival against Skynet enemies utilizing an incredibly fluid and realistic control set,” said Cos Lazouras, President of Halcyon Games. “The player will be led through a visceral story with extremely polished production values to create a fully interactive Terminator experience.”
“Building on the incredibly strong franchise, Terminator Salvation – The Videogame will be a cinematic gaming experience that complements the upcoming film,” said John Quinn, Executive Vice President, Worldwide Operations, Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment. “Working with Halcyon and Equity Games, we will expand on the Terminator universe on next generation consoles with action packed gameplay and detailed environments.”
The Movie Poster
So there you have it; a third-person shooter Terminator-game.
I won't blog too much about it because I honestly don't know what I'm allowed to say.
Edit: I added the pretty picture.
Theory isn’t enough
Right now I'm taking a small break from designing the game Gangsters, to tell you guys how I'm working with it.
Since previously I've had a document for Gangsters in which I've written about a lot of different elements in the game as separate things. I've written about the police, about the trading, about the expansion of territory and how to "offer protection". I wrote this months ago and every now and then ever since, I've looked at it, changing some stuff, letting it all sink in. I don't really think you can "crunch design" a good game (not saying that this game will be good for sure) and therefore I keep several designs for quite some time, just to give me a good amount of time to think about it.
I now feel that Gangsters has been out of the oven for long enough and I'm ready to mix the ingredients.
What I'm doing now is by using the previously mentioned document I'm trying to write a set of rules, as they would appear if one were to buy the game in a store. This helps me find eventual contradictions and some holes in the design.
Now, this won't make the game nearly done. It's merely a revision further. After I'm done writing this draft of rules, the game will probably pretty much...well... suck! But that's nothing to be grumpy about. In a way, it's a good thing. If only I can isolate why it sucks, maybe I can fix it, making the next revision much better.
Once the draft is complete I will try to trick some friends to come over and play it with me. I might have to bribe them with some tasty chocolate pudding and sweet vanilla sauce but in the end, it'll be worth it.
I'm sure that after just one play-through I will have a bunch of notes I have to go through. I will discover scenarios I haven't thought about, some major imbalances, play-styles I didn't consider and even more holes in the design. Afterwards I'll have to go back to the desk and try and fix these things.
Then afterwards, a real problem occurs; how will I trick my friends into coming over again to play the game they have such horrible memories of? Chocolate pudding just won't cut it...
I'm in need of some suggestions!
If you agree, disagree or just have some neutral opinion about the things I write, I'd love to hear them. Please comment.
Announcements
Hey y'all!
I was thinking; since this blog is (partly) about game design I should let you know some of my projects I'm working on and over time give you some updates. Even if the projects turn out to be as interesting as a big bucket of tar later on, we can do some cozy post mortems together, right? I mean, I don't think all of my ideas would turn out great if they were to be realized into actual games but even if they don't there is always an important lesson to learn.
Oh, and a little disclaimer-thingy. I don't always finish all my projects. The reasons vary; lack of time, boredom, new and more exciting ideas and so on.
My primary game projects right now are:
Park Runner - A 2D plattformer game. It's still in pre-production since I'm still writing on the design for it.
Mouser Jet 2nd Try - It's a little game controlled with the mouse alone. It's the second time I've started this project. Last time I couldn't get the math right so the controls didn't work as intended. It works now however, but there's still a lot of work to be done. It's in actual production.
Gansters - It's actually a board game I'm working on. I've never made a board game before (well, except for one that was an assignment for the university) and I think it will be good practice for me as board games aren't really that different from computer/video games. I'm working out the rules of it now, the concept and the overall design is done. I should really start play-testing it now so I'll realize all the cases and scenarios I haven't thought of.
And maybe I should mention that those titles are just Working Titles. In addition to this I of course have a gazillion other games in concept stage. For some; abstract thought swimming around in my head is an even better definition. You should see my notebooks in which I scribble and sketch my ideas. It's mayhem in most of them, and I have many.
Btw, never use notebooks with lines in them. It's ugly and it ruins the doodles! I only use blank papers.
Today I'm working on the Gansters project. Wish me luck!
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