Documente Academic
Documente Profesional
Documente Cultură
CONTENTS
FEATURES
3 COMMUNITY NEWS / TEAM GMTECH
4 MORAL CHOICES
6 ENHANCING GAME PLAY THROUGH CUT SCENES
9 GM IN SCHOOLS
12 IDENTITY AND THE PLAYER / AVATAR RELATIONSHIP
15 SURFACES EXPLAINED
17 USING DATA STRUCTURES (PART TWO)
WELCOME READERS! ——————————————————————
REVIEWS
O ur first issue of the year
received some fantastic
feedback from you, so thank
between monthly and bi-monthly
releases, so expect an issue
every couple of months. Just over
19 A DAY IN THE LIFE OF BOB
you all for that. This is our two months after issue 15, we 21 DUO WARFARE
second issue of the year and have some great content that
22 ASTATINE
based off some of your you should be interested in, such
feedback we hope that we as a 5 page interview with Kelle 23 GMTECH HIDDEN GEMS
have further improved the Santiago and John Edwards from
——————————————————————
quality. 'thatgamecompany' on page 25.
An article on how Cut Scenes can EXTRAS
We have continued with the improve your games, a feature
25 INTERVIEW WITH: THATGAMECOMPANY [EXCLUSIVE]
same landscape layout that was on GM IN SCHOOLS and a
positively received, however we fascinating feature on Identity 31 GM CLASSICS - HOVER TANK 3D
did make a few tweaks to it in and the Player / Avatar
33 WORTH A LOOK - GM HIGHSCORES
order to make it just that little bit Relationship.
better. We are always happy to 34 CLOSING
react to any comments and That is all from me, post your
suggestions that you have, so opinions in the usual ways or
just email them in. even email us at
gmtech.magazine@gmail.com.
It has become apparent that we
seem to regularly switch Enjoy the issue.
gamez93 (GMTech Owner)
WWW.GAMEMAKERTECH.INFO ISSUE 16 - JUNE 2009
33 || WELCOME
WELCOME
TEAM GMTECH
COMMUNITY NEWS
A quick round up of all things Game Maker
Editors
Game Maker Blog 500th Blog and work has been in full swing. Just over a gamez93
month after it came to life voting has been
In the two years since its launch in April
taking place and a decision has been made
Timoi
2007 Game Maker Blog has regularly been
updated with news on anything from GM on the main plot line for the game.
Programming of the game looks set to come
publications to interesting GMC topics. It has
to life in the next few months.
Writers
established itself at the heart of the Game
Maker world. Now the Game Maker news site MnemonicPunk
has made its 500th blog post. Phil Gamble GMTV and GMVision Mike Alfus
owns and operates the site and hopes to Following a brief link up with GMKing Danny
and the rest of the GMTV team made a
David McClure
ensure Game Maker Blog remains the
number one source of Game Maker news and decision to publish smaller shows rather than RhysAndrews
topical articles over the next few years. full feature episodes. After releasing five full-
length episodes since 2007 the team hope
Game Maker 8 Progress that this switch to smaller features will lead Reviewers
A couple of months ago Mark Overmars to more frequent releases and keep NAL
community interest high – so far, it doesn't
blogged asking members to contact him if
appear to be going too well. This week also
Xantheil (Alexander Earl)
they were interested in creating free-to-use
sprites for distribution with Game Maker 8. saw the launch of a rival Game Maker video Broxter
Mark received over 25 applications and has show. GMVision's first episode included news
now made a decision on which spriters' work and interview and several game reviews.
he will use. YoYo also plan to also include a Proofreader
new collection of sound effects with Game Join GMTech Magazine Maverik94
Maker 8.0 so if you are good at making your We have made quite a few changes to
own original sound effects visit the Glog and GMTech over the last few months and we are
submit them. always looking to improve the magazine Special Thanks
further and continue to impress our readers.
In order to do this we are looking for writers,
Philip Gamble
Game Maker Community Game
Not many community games that have been reviewers and issue checkers to join the Kelle Santiago
started have lasted for longer than a week. team and help work on the issues. You can John Edwards
get full details about getting involved by
However it appears that a recently launched
visiting the GMTech forum.
FredFredrickson (Martin
project may well be an exception, the GMCG
has its own designated section of the forum Crownover)
MORAL CHOICES
Good or Bad - Mike Alfus examines the choices developers offer gamers
gamers have to really think about the
D o you want to be a knight in depending on what choices they make choices they make.
shining armor, or a dark lord who throughout the game? It’s certainly possible,
rules over the land with fear? Do you and seems to be the way the current trend in One game that did this incredibly well was
want to be a Jedi or a Sith? Do you gaming is pointing. Grand Theft Auto IV. GTA has always been
want to use your newfound powers to known for pushing the limits of gaming and
help the masses or to rise above them, Many games that incorporate a moral choice coming up with new ways to immerse
making them slaves to your will? system do so in a way that leads the players gamers in their massive city landscapes, so
down two distinct paths, good or evil. In when they tackled the issue of moral
Basically, do you want to be good or evil? games like Fable, you are able to choose choices, they didn’t just go the good/evil
different ways to complete quests, and also route. GTA forces the player to really
Over the last few years, moral choices in different encounters with NPCs. The choices consider what they’re going to do. The
gaming have been on the rise. Some games, are fairly clear as to which ones are good decisions aren’t just black and white, good or
like Fable, even marketed themselves on the and evil, as opposed to being morally bad. They’re multiple shades of gray, with
fact that you could be good or evil, and it ambiguous. Your choices are usually an equally gray outcome, just like life itself.
was up to you to decide how the story played reflected in your character's appearance,
out. Are we approaching a day in gaming which either becomes more virtuous and Isn’t that the true goal of a moral choice, to
when there will no longer be one single, noble as time goes by, or more sinister and have the gamer really struggle with the
linear game play experience? Will every vicious, even sprouting tiny devil horns if decisions? At certain points in the game,
game have multiple paths and plot threads you’re malicious enough. Many Bioware you’re faced with choices that have no clear
that players can spin themselves off on, RPGs like, Mass Effect and Knights of the Old cut outcome. It comes to the point where
Republic have a similar system handled one has to choose between killing two
through dialogue as well, and the player can people that they had missions for. While it’s
usually tell what answers will lead you down true that pretty much every person you deal
which path. with in GTA is a criminal, it’s still not an easy
decision to make. Neither one had wronged
Moral choices can be so much more than you directly, so who are you to judge them?
that though. That’s not to say that more When a game can make me ask those kinds
linear moral paths are boring or wrong, of questions, then it’s moved beyond the
because sometimes it’s fun to be the bad traditional gaming experience.
guy, and it’s good to know how to get there.
However to make gamers face choices that And the kicker?
are more than just good or evil, the choices
need to be more ambiguous, with the I drove around for awhile in game, finally
outcomes not so clear cut. That way, made my decision, then “took care of it”.
Any cut scene begins with two game states Next is the camera. With your storyboard
that have to be joined together. Once you done, you can think about the behavior and
have those two endpoints you want to movement of the camera. What is it going to
connect, come up with a script for your cut focus at? Does it smoothly move from one
scene. What is going to happen? Who will perspective to another or jump there? Both
appear? What will the player, character, or can be good, it just depends on what you
party do? If you have multiple characters, want to tell. In 3D games you'll also have to
you can also throw in some conflict (“I don't think about camera angles, close-ups and
think our army can really invade that enemy much more.
country. Let's look for a different plan.“ - "Yes
we can!”) or some jokes, or anything that The choreography of your cut scene is
gaming companies. Try to avoid that or your
makes the cut scene worth watching. Players important as well. Nobody wants motionless
players will stand around and do nothing in
want to be entertained while not being able characters standing there that just rattle
expectation of the rest of the cut scene. This
to play, they don't like having no control over through their script for the sake of getting it
causes irritation and ultimately breaks your
the game for no obvious reason. Making a over with. Let your characters express
game flow. That’s probably not what you
cut scene is really much like making a small emotions while they talk, let them shake
want.
movie, so give it some real effort. their fists in anger and sorrow, let them run
around the screen in desperation, let them
Voice overs are just enough of a topic by
jump up for joy. The possibilities are endless,
themselves to justify an article on their own
just make sure your scene tells the story as
so we'll just get down with some of the
much by acting as by the actual dialog used.
basics here, Use voice overs whenever you
can get some decent material for them. Do
While transitions to and from cut scenes are
NOT use voice overs if you have bad
not really that difficult to make, make sure
material. While you can often use resources
you don't get the basics messed up here.
of mediocre quality for other parts of your
The famous 16:9 “watch out a cinematic
game and the players will gladly overlook
begins” bars are common today. They make
them because your game is just so much
the screen look like a movie theatre for a
fun, bad voice overs will cause your players
reason and any of your players will know that
to break down laughing, point at the screen
a cut scene has just begun. You don't have to
and ridicule your character. This doesn't only
use those, maybe you don't even want to.
break game flow but game ratings. If you
That's fine, you still should give your player
don't have some real decent voice overs,
some kind of visual cue that a cut scene hast
don't use any. Also, give the game (at least
just begun and, more importantly, ended.
optional) subtitles for players who can't or
The latter is often missed even by big
want to listen to what characters say.
Did you ever have to replay a lengthy boss have to consider player actions that might
battle with 30 minutes of cut scenes before alter the course of your script but if done
it? Yes? So you'll probably know this but I'll right will really immerse the player.
still spell it out for those who think their cut
scenes are so awesome you could watch There's plenty of good material about cut
them every time. Make cut scenes skip-able!. scenes out there, but one of the most
It's okay for cut scenes with vital story important is learning from the pros. Some
elements to be exempt from this, this but as really good games to get inspiration from are
long as your player might have to repeat it, Final Fantasy (almost any kind of cut scene is
make sure he/she isn't forced to see the covered here, from the first instalment in the
same scene twice. He already knows what's series to the most recent PS3 iteration),
going on. Devil May Cry (probably the best example for
cut scenes with awesome fight sequences),
Review your own cut scenes and let others Metal Gear Solid 1-4, Half-Life 2, the recent
review them. You might make mistakes in Suikoden Tierkreis for the DS (you won't
story telling, the script or the actual always have cinema-scale hardware power
implementation of your cut scene that you and this game shows how to cope with that).
didn't notice first or will not ever notice on If you want to keep it basic, turn to old Super
your own. This is especially true for logical Nintendo games like The Legend of Zelda,
mistakes in the script. Players who don't yet Chrono. Trigger and of course Final Fantasy.
know your game are far more likely to spot An overlooked but prime example of cut
things that simply don't make sense at that scenes in that time was Super Mario RPG,
point in the story. since it featured rich cut scenes without
Mario ever saying a word and acting it out in
If you feel you're up to it, try your hands at motions.
some interactive cut scenes. QTE events are
easy to do, they just stop or slow down an in Reading an article won't make you cut scene
game cinematic and prompt players to press king. Make sure you get up so speed with the
the correct button in time. That still too easy references here, do some experimenting on
for you? Half-Life 2 cranked up the difficulty your own, and get feedback from your
in cut scene making by using only cut scenes testers. Practice makes perfect and is
from the ego-perspective and allowing the actually a lot of fun.
player to still move during them. This makes
cut scene making a real pain because you
the fastest in a race. Or a very challenging in recent years he said “within the example, when creating graphics, sound
puzzle game where you control both yourself Netherlands I haven't noticed a recent effects, and musical scores as part of the
and the enemy with your arrow controls. This upsurge in popularity, Game Maker has project. Alongside these there are abundant
requires some careful planning to avoid a been popular for quite some time already.” opportunities to promote students’ literacy
collision with an enemy. But also somebody and numeracy as well as other important
who made a game around being a postman skills such as teamwork, planning, problem
and collecting letters as fast as possible.” solving, decision making, and evaluation.”
Blijbol who helped on the course said, “the Reasons why Game Maker may be chosen
children were very excited while playing above other game development tools include
each other’s final games at a video its combination of Drag & Drop actions
projector” before adding that by the end of alongside more advanced Game Maker
the course “they were more enthusiastic Language scripts. Ashford explains, “Game
than they were anywhere in the Maker is a very flexible system, easy for
programming process.” even a novice programmer to get to grips
with. On one level, games can be created by
It isn’t just pre-teens that are using Game dragging and dropping items from a set of
Maker in education though; Simon has also standard toolbars. However, it also includes
given classes to 16 year olds as part of their a powerful built-in programming language,
computer science class. Describing the Some of the games created at the IMC called GML for the more confident who wish
differences between this and the younger Weekendschool in 2007 and 2009. to progress further with more complex tasks.”
children Simon said, “It's a bit less creative
and more organized because the goal is not Ashford says that another reason for the
to have fun but to get good grades, but I still Writing in the Sec Ed Journal in 2003 John popularity of Game Maker over other game
see how these people learn lots of complex Ashford, head of ICT at North Walsham High design environments is the “extensive
principles like object oriented programming, School in the UK wrote of the many different selection of resources” available online
inheritance, code structuring, state benefits that come from teaching Game which makes lesson planning easy. Free
machines, and many other principles.” Maker. “Designing computer games requires online resources such as a Moodle (free open
students to practise many generic skills source e-learning package) course created
Simon has also taught many other Game associated with Windows based software. by Darren Smith and tutorials and challenges
Maker classes for students, teachers, and for Examples are file management, navigation of available at
members of game design competitions. menu systems, and use of the mouse and http://www.mindtools.tased.edu.au are just
When asked if he thought the use of Game keyboard. It is also possible to use a broad one slice of the offering as traditional Game
Maker within education had been increasing range of different software applications, for Maker tutorials such as the official ones at
SURFACES EXPLAINED
MnemonicPunk change that. Tell Game Maker to select the
screen surface again so we can draw on it.
awesome stuff, but somehow you don't on it, shall we? As mentioned before though, surface_reset_target();
understand how they work. Read on the screen is a surface itself, so whenever
then, and discover the secret art of you draw something in your game, be it via
using surfaces to make your game even GML or drag&drop commands, you draw it on This line does the same as the above line
more awesome than it already is. the screen surface. We want to draw on our that selects our surface, except it now takes
cool new surface though, so let's tell Game the screen again. Any sprite you draw from
There are some really good applications for Maker that. now on will be drawn to the screen once
surfaces that can be used to add split screen more. If you forget this line, you will still be
modes to your game, draw things off-screen, surface_set_target(mycoolsurface); drawing on your surface later on so make
create sprites in RAM for later use, and add sure it's there. Well, cool, so we drew a sprite
some really cool effects that wouldn't be to a surface which is not shown at all. Let's
This tells Game Maker to put aside the
possible otherwise. display it.
"screen" sheet of paper and replace it with
our new one. Anything you draw from this
But first of all, What is this surface thing I'm As said before, you can draw anything to
point on will be drawn on the new surface.
talking about? A surface is basically a canvas surfaces, even other surfaces! Not only that,
that you can draw on. Actually, you're using it's as easy as drawing any other sprite. Just
draw_sprite(sprUbercoolSpaceship,
at least one every day, your screen! It has a the thing we need, eh? Let's draw our cool
image_index, x, y);
height, a width, one color per pixel, and you new surface to the screen so we can see it.
can draw stuff on it in whichever way you
want. This will draw our totally awesome spaceship draw_surface(mycoolsurface, x, y);
sprite on our new surface, just as if you had
To use a surface in Game Maker, you first drawn it to the screen. There's a hook to this
have to create it. You can't just use though. Only one surface is ever displayed Now we can see the surface on the screen
something that isn't there yet, right? Let's automatically, and that's the screen. More on and the spaceship on it. It doesn't look any
create a surface and assign it to a variable, that in a second, just keep that in mind. Only different from a normal sprite, does it?
for example. the screen surface will be visible. So your
spaceship isn't, yet. Why the hell would you want to draw your
mycoolsurface = surface_create(640, sprites on a surface then? Because you can!
480); Alright, we now know how to draw things on This opens up some major new possibilities.
surfaces. That's all well and good, but not You can...
have much use if we can't display it., so let's
...draw a set of sprites once on a surface and and now you can use this technique to make working with surfaces, though:
reuse them wherever you need them! This is your ingame menus look just as cool! Never change the drawing target in the draw
much faster than redrawing all of the sprites event of an object. Game Maker can't handle
every step. When working with surfaces you will notice that and will do unspeakable things to you,
that they don't clear automatically. This including killing your kitten and not flushing
...apply post-processing effects to your means that – unlike the screen which is your toilet after peeing. Really, never do this,
game. This includes all kinds of fullscreen emptied at the beginning of every step – a it will mess up your graphics.
blur, fake HDR, morph effects, crazy color surface will not lose what you painted on it Do not use surfaces in 3D mode. Same as
transformations, rotations and other effects. unless you tell it to. Even if we draw a the one before, Game Maker can't handle
Just draw your sprites on a surface, then use second spaceship, our first one is still there this and it will seriously screw your stuff up.
that surface like a sprite. because we didn't empty the surface first. Surfaces might be automatically cleared
This will cause ugly smear effects if you when you switch the resolution so if you do,
...create your own custom lighting system! move sprites on surfaces without deleting don't expect the things you drew on them to
Paint a surface black, then cut out the parts them regularly. A good point to empty a still be there. Redraw them to be sure.
you want to be lit by filling them white. With surface is right after choosing it as target, Like all other custom resources, surfaces are
the correct blend modes this will allow for just before you start drawing on it: not saved along with save games.
any kind of lighting you can come up with.
draw_clear(cl_black); Alright, this marks your initiation in dabbling
...create your own custom view system! If with the forbidden art of surfaces. Always
the built-in view system of Game Maker is remember, with great power comes great
too limited for you, just make your own. There is one final thing you need to do with responsibility.
Draw what every player sees on a surface the surfaces after you don't need them
and then draw those to screen at their anymore, rhough: You need to destroy them. There are many more commands available
respective position. Bingo. Unused surfaces still occupy RAM on your that deal with surfaces, make sure you read
computer. They'll pile up and make your about them in the manual. You'll really love
...create transitions! Game Maker expects an program hog memory if you don't delete those nasty little buggers once you've gotten
initial image and a final image for every them. Here's how to destroy a surface that used to them.
transition you want to create. Since those you no longer need:
are surfaces too, you can manipulate them
like any other surface. surface_free(mycoolsurface);
}
error_occurred = false
more and more things to do are to let the game grow on you. they just stay in the same spot. directional buttons (which
unlocked, keeping the game There's also no walking provide the isometric "up = up
fresh for a while. I can imagine Graphically, although the game animation, or even direction and right a bit, right = right and
quite a few people dismissing the is very good looking, it suffers changing. All the characters lack down a bit etc" standard),
game after five minutes for not from all being a little inanimate. a face, arm, and legs. People bob wishing Polystyrene Man had
being action-y enough though, There are no vehicles and up and down a little - that's chosen the simpler "up = up"
which I think is stupid. You have pedestrians do not walk about - where the small amount of mechanism. Then I found WASD,
animation does which DOES give me that.
exist. There are
some snazzy effects Everything else about the game
for when you get is very pleasant. There are some
drunk or stoned, welcome additions such as a
though, and solid inventory system, a well
generally everything laid out HUD, clear instructions in
within the game is buildings, and in general, a real
well sprited. air of professionalism. The one or
two glitches are forgivable.
In terms of sound,
they are fitting. For his last game outing,
There are decent Polystyrene Man has taken a
sound effects in the solid foundation and turned it
game such as door into a treat. It's addictive, it's
opening and the packed with features, and it
music loop, which looks good. It’s a winning
grates on the ears a formula and a highly
little after a while, recommended download.
but can thankfully
be turned off.
ASTATINE
Developer : Cesque
Reviewer : Xantheil
Type : Completed
Download
A statine by Cesque is a
game made up of simple
yet nice graphics, featuring
corpses (that really made me
laugh). All the cities/places had
distinct styles and color
some good sound effects, schemes. I have never been a
plenty of music, a thrilling fan of retro-styled graphics and
storyline and of course thus, but still I found the
awesome game play. You graphics appreciable.
start as an amnesiac who
just remembers his name (I The music differed with the The game play was a major high. collecting items , killing
believe), guided by a spirit, different places/cities, which You could switch between enemies, moving onto new
and as you proceed you start promise abundant musical various weapons and pick up cities, fighting bosses, nearing
to remember (the spirit variety (though I didn’t really like ammunition from time to time for your destination, and finally
doesn’t tell you anything) all the tracks). The sound effects the guns, but what I really loved winning. Also like most other
your quest to kill the (of are plenty too, from the sound of was the chainsaw. When you use platformers, you really miss
course) Evil one. Thus you the revolving chainsaw to the a chainsaw, you not only damage replay-ability. Sure, you can go
move from place to place, death cry of enemies Overall, the the enemy but also prevent him on and try to do the game again,
walking, running and even musical elements were well-done from moving forward, which was but what’s the fun in that. A
driving a train to reach East, which made this game even very realistic (after all, how many sand-box mode would have
the place where the bad guy more enjoyable. of us can walk straight through a really enhanced the replay-
had retreated to. chain saw?). All this made the ability and made this game
chainsaw an ultimate weapon better. But nonetheless, this
The graphics are retro-styled since it doesn’t require any game is surely worth trying out.
and look nice, the HUD, the ammo. However to balance it is It may not stand out from the
text boxes, the player the unique feature where rest, but hey, do you care as
graphics, the enemies, and chainsaw loses energy every long as you’re getting the fun?
the various animations time you use it, which it regained
reflect the effort put it. All as soon as you stopped using it.
Cool, eh ?
Gameplay: 8/10
details were paid attention
to, as can be seen from the Graphics: 7/10
animations of weapons and The rest of the game was like Sound: 8/10
the flies hanging about the any other platformer RPG, Originality: 5/10
WWW.GAMEMAKERTECH.INFO ISSUE 16 - JUNE 2009
23
23 || REVIEWS
REVIEWS
isn’t too much of a problem. The Arcade mode features a total of long enough not to be repetitive the graphics are very well made
retro styled sound effects break 96 demanding levels with and the rhythm goes nicely with and attention to detail is
up the background music nicely enough variety to keep you the bounciness of the ball. Sound certainly shown. The nice
and they go well with the retro entertained. effects are few and far between, environment lets the game flow
theme. but they aren’t too overwhelming in a charming manner and is a
Download This 3D puzzler is thoroughly and they fit the game well. large part of the reason why this
enjoyable to play and the whole game is so good. The platformer
game is very well organised. Download also includes a number of
Jumper Tree by
CRYSTALL_m There is a tutorial that teaches different environments, so that
This environmental puzzle game the basics so that the game can Miscellaneous_Quest by the look doesn’t become boring,
was entered into the fourth YoYo be played effectively without $pecter a really good idea. More work on
Games competition, being one of confusion. The third dimension in This is another game that was the main menu would have been
many that didn’t get the notice it Jumper Tree really expands the submitted into the Zerosoft good, but this is small negative
truly deserved. Working similar idea of the game and it’s Games Retro competition and in a very visually pleasing game.
to the popular game, Coredase, executed very well. It seems like this is a very good platformer
the player has to steer a ball everything is covered in this that has been largely overlooked. The audio was particularly
around a map, planting trees as game, from detailed user enjoyable, with a wide range of
it steps over each map tile. The settings to a well thought out The player must guide Zerry, the tracks making the game really
most fundamental rule of the level editor. main character, through the flow. The music built up tension
game is that once the player has colourful worlds to take down the at appropriate times and was not
stepped on a tile he or she The graphics in this game are evil spirit, with a friend Jasmine too cyclical. No sound effects are
cannot return to that same tile. the only major problem. They joining him on the quest. Passing present, but I feel this would
This rule gives the game a lot of test Game Maker’s 3D many interesting enemies and have disturbed the brilliant
opportunity for challenging level capabilities but unfortunately, through good enjoying level background
they are not up to scratch. As so music anyway. Download
design, which there is. The design, the adventure would be
often with 3D games, they look smooth and enjoyable if it wasn’t
too plain and blocky. Also, some for the terribly slow dialogue cut
of the textures of the objects scenes. Another nice addition is
clash with others and it really the array of tricky bosses that
makes the game unpleasant to meet the player throughout the
look at. The menu visuals are quest, breaking up the adventure
okay, but they’re nothing special into manageable chunks.
either.
The graphics are particularly well
The music is nice and enjoyable. done in this game. Even though
The main loop in the game is the game is retro in appearance,
a sense of beauty when you see them all, intimate feel to it. deadline and never once "crunch" (meaning
but also the visceral feeling of being up close to involuntarily work longer than a normal
to an individual flower. If you do a Google [3] Your first game was only available work week). It turns out, for us there wasn't
image search for “flower” you discover on PC, then we saw a two year gap any magic to it. Quite the opposite in fact. It
photographs from people all over the world, before you released 'flOw', then was just a matter of periodically going
all fascinated with this aspect of nature. another two year gap before you through the tedious process of listing every
Technically, it was an exciting challenge. released 'Flower' - how do you go about single task left to make the game. The
What would happen if we took this aspect of planning your projects in order to reach "details of the task" lists were often wildly
video games that is normally an afterthought a set deadline? inaccurate, but the picture they gave of the
on the edge of the world, the bushes and [John Edwards] Planning is something we overall scope of all our features was
grass, and put it right in front, and make the haven't always been especially good at, but invaluable for helping us decide what was
entire game about it? to be fair, we spent most of that time truly important for the feeling of the game
between Cloud and flOw finishing school! In and we could cut out.
What I really like about “Flower,” though, is fact, Jenova and Nick built the Flash version
that it feels like a very personal expression of of flOw in a couple months while they were [4] You work with Sony Computer
Jenova’s. The story and the themes that are still in school, and then the team spent Entertainment to create games for the
expressed in the game really evolved from seven and a half months building the PS3 PS3 Network, what lead you to make
what I see as his current interpretation of the version immediately after graduating. FlOw this leap from PC to making PS3 games?
world around him, and the game invites the was the first commercial game any of us had [Kellee Santiago] Part of it was that SCEA
player to participate in that space. It has an ever worked on from beginning to end, and made us an offer we couldn’t refuse! Not
consequently the first time we'd ever had to only was a three-game deal a great offer for
plan out production. The plan was actually students just coming out of school, but we
pretty good, assuming Nick was three people also clicked with the people at Sony Santa
and we were on Pluto, where days last 154 Monica immediately from our first meeting.
hours. On Earth, flOw took twice as long as We had pitched to and spoken with a lot of
we originally intended and had half the publishers before them, and I remember
features, and left the team delirious and after our meeting in Santa Monica Jenova
ulcerated with the insane hours and constant and I hugged each other in the parking lot.
stream of worried Sony producers passing Finding a publisher is similar to finding a
though our offices. business partner, because they are very
much collaborators in the development
After taking some time and Pepto Bismol to process, so you want to work with people
recover, we decided planning would be one who really get what you’re about. And they
of the main areas we focused on for Flower. got it.
As a result, we were able to hit every
[John Edwards] I think what you feel right month before the Game Developer's
after a game comes out is very personal, and Conference, and both times that's been
it's different for everybody. So, while I love where everything sunk in and I felt ready to
almost everything about making games, move on to the exciting planning phases of
release is one of the toughest times for me. the next project. For Flower, specifically, it
You spend the last two months of a project was also when I began to really appreciate
in "beta," or "code complete," meaning you the positive player and press responses,
can no longer make any changes unless you because Flower represents a type of game
are directly addressing a bug reported by the that I want to play, and the warm reception it
Quality Assurance team. This puts you in a got will hopefully encourage more
strange place psychologically, because to developers to make tight, short, emotionally-
hunt down bugs you're forced to play focused games.
through the game over and over again,
constantly reminded of every poorly [Kellee Santiago] Yeah, my feeling when the still would have been successful if you
conceived design or missing feature, but game is released is that I’ve thought didn't go through the university route?
completely unable to do anything about it. everything there is to think about the game, [Kellee Santiago] Absolutely. The USC
This process rapidly erodes any hope that good and bad, so it’s just a matter of what Interactive Media program is housed in the
the game does, in fact, have some aspects will other people notice. Something School of Cinematic Arts, and during our
redeeming value, to the point where all you that pleasantly surprised me about the three years we had to study film production,
can think if you read initial positive reactions release of “Flower” is that now that we have fundamentals of animation, screenwriting,
is, "No! Don't you understand how bad this both “flOw” and “Flower” out as a studio, and critical studies, in addition to our classes
is? Can't you see that so much is missing!?" people are really getting a sense of who on virtual reality, mobile media, interactive
There's also an element of Stockholm thatgamecompany is. That feels really great; installation, and of course, game design.
syndrome, where throughout the project's to be at a point where we’ve been successful Having this rich background in media feeds
development, there’s been a lot of blood, enough to build a small library of games directly into the games we make at every
sweat and tears poured into it and you really under our banner. level, from inspiration to execution. I think
should be relieved to be done with it, but now we are seeing an explosion in critical
you're just not ready to let go, and you feel [7] You started the company after going study when it comes to games, but at that
listless and lost for a couple of weeks. With through the University Southern time, even studying it in school seemed too
any luck, something will go terribly wrong California Interactive Media MFA fluffy. However, going through school
right after launch and you'll have to jump program. Do you feel that the extra allowed us to mature as designers much
back into the code to patch it up. years you spent studying helped shape more rapidly than if we had been working in
where you are today? Do you think you the bowels of some large studio for that
FlOw and Flower were both released about a same amount of time. We also made great
contacts and friends in the industry, who we
keep in contact with and who we still use as
thatgamecompany
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haven't actually read the entire magazine,
on the GMT forums, then we'll get in touch
but I hope that you've enjoyed what you've
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read so far. The interview with
put it into the next issue. This is a great way
ThatGamesCompany is probably the longest
to contribute without having to commit to
article we've ever had!
the team or if you have less time to spend
writing.
ISSUE 17
Looking to the future, a new version of the
DTP (DeskTop Publishing) software we use is
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You can download and read all of our issues
from our website, as well as find out more All that remains is for me to say thank you to
information about GMTech. News about all the writers in the magazine and to
GMTech is always posted there first. everyone that have (or will) encourage us. A
special mention should go to some non staff
www.gamemakertech.info people: Elmernite, ToadFrogs and Giorgio.