Folgen
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On this episode of the deep fried deliciousness, I sit down with a good friend of mine - Seb Varas, Animator on Dead by Daylight. Seb brings us some delicious tidbits of an animating nature, as we discuss everything from how he got into the biz, his love and passion for animation ever since he was a kid, what he does on a day-to-day basis and even ‘what is animation’ (we actually started with that appetizer). So sit back, relax and enjoy our musings as you snack on anything delicious you might eat while listening (ps no eating required)
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Hello again and greetings from the void!
I know it’s been long (too long) since the last Deep Fried podcast, and I'm sure you’ve all been quite hungry for some unhealthy snacks.
A few things have changed since you last heard from me: I’m back living in La Belle Province of Quebec and working at Behaviour Digital. I’m the Lead Designer on a new title that I can’t speak about yet, but I’m sure I will be able to share with you soon (ish).
Now that that’s out of the way... on this episode Me and the Cote discuss the goings on over the past 12 months on the 2 million+ selling Dead by Daylight. We hash out the high points, low points, mistake and successes that made (& make) this game tick. It’s still being played by thousands of people at any given moment and we dissect a few of the reasons why (spoiler: stay true to your vision to have a chance at making things work).
Listen to the whole episode for more delicious tidbits!
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Fehlende Folgen?
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How well do you know your game music? Could you tell a diegetic work if it smacked you in your ear holes? Cam Britton is here again with a delicious mix of auditory beverages including Destiny, Civilization 6 and Watch Dogs 2.
We discuss the congruence of tone of the music of Destiny with it’s mix of solemnity and action (a personal favorite of mine), the ‘time travelling’ score of Civilization 6 (how do you make music for a game that passes through thousands of years??) and the diegetic, and super-diegetic qualities of Watch Dogs 2 (pushing the industry forward in unique and powerful ways)
Dive into another 30+ minutes of the Deep Fried Gamer podcast!
Destiny
https://youtu.be/PfrtX-foWUA
Composers: Michael Salvatori, Skye Lewin, C Paul Johnson & Rotem Moav
Civillization 6
https://youtu.be/sFlxSgOEZrk
Composer: Geoff Knorr
Watch Dogs 2
Audio Directors: Olivier Girard and Richie Nieto
https://youtu.be/twMgc8vQ53o?t=6m11s
https://youtu.be/47ZJXZJKOUo?t=3m30s
Additional Materials
Author: Winifred Phillips - A Composer’s Guide to Game Audio
https://www.amazon.ca/Composers-Guide-Game-Music/dp/0262026643
Mick Gordon
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bthei5ylvZ4
Interview on composing doom
Hollywood Reporter - Composer’s Roundtable
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gSAF9_ZHjfc
Danny Elfman discusses how music should be memorable
Other heavyweight composers, like Hans Zimmer and Trent Reznor, have things to say too.
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How you ask? Good sound design sets the stage for the action and immerses the player into the world of the game. It also enhances the narrative and aids in the telling of your story.
Amazing and talented Cam Britton (Sound Designer at Ubisoft Toronto) speaks with me about the challenges of narrative immersion, environmental storytelling, and narrative progression through sound. We discuss how ‘walla’ is created and how sound designers work with actors to get the best performances. We also talk about how easy games have become over the years. (Check out another one of my podcasts on Designing Difficulty). Cam bring 3 clips from recent titles: Splinter Cell: Blacklist, and Assassin’s Creed Unity.
Listen to Podcast 005 - Designing Difficulty
ACU – E3 - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A9UbtVWTr2c
SCB – Plane Hacked - https://youtu.be/jrDXL2Uk3Q0
SCB - Kobin Apartments - https://youtu.be/Kil3-TTUZLw?t=43m15s
Space Quest 1 - https://youtu.be/inYBmvtGl54?t=1h3m31s
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Welcome to another episode of the DFG. Me and Cote discuss the crazy success (and somewhat unexpected) success of ‘Dead by Daylight’. It’s been about 6 weeks since release and the game has seen some impressive numbers.
One of the main strengths of the game is it’s connection to Twitch and esport: it’s unique blend of system based, replayable action has made it a staple on the streaming site even before release. Streamers have helped in the success by simply enjoying what they saw: their genuine interest has brought the game to millions that maybe would not have otherwise seen it.
Another reason for it’s popularity is its successful drawing on classic horror films for inspiration: what we feel by watching a horror movie from the 80’s is similar to what we feel when we play the game. It also has a ‘voyeuristic’ quality: watching the game is very fun compared to other games. Realizing this, the team introduced a spectator mode for cheap, which was very successful: players often stay in the match and watch the rest of it even when they have been taken out.
The biggest challenge now for Dead by Daylight: focus on 50% fixing bugs/improving things, 50% new content. The game was built with expansion in mind, and even though they didn’t have much time to create LOTS of content, they created a system that allows to more easily create more content down the line.
A surprise to the team was the popularity of the title in Chinese and Russian markets. We speak about how these new translations were a priority for the team after launch. Another big addition is the ‘Survive with Friends’ mode: there was fear from the community that with this change the survivors would be able to outwit the killer essentially all the time. Using heaps of data, it turned out that there was only a difference of 1-2% in results before/after the change. Lesson: always check your numbers before you modify your designs.
Finally, Dead by Daylight will be at PAX West Sept 2-5th in Seattle - drop by to see the game in action and play some of the new content!
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How do sound and gameplay come together for immersion and playability? What does a game designer expect from a sound designer? My good (and handsome) buddy Cam Britton is here to help me take on these topics and more on this episode of the Deep Fried Gamer Podcast.
Audio can help teach the player important rules about the game without the use of incongruent text or other helpers that ruin immersion. Something we should all remember (it’s often forgotten) when we first start any feature.
We discuss the concrete process of making a feature - and how we communicate to all of our diverse teams what their role in the feature is. We also tackle the idea of ‘audio first’ features and other that may not be so (sorry Cam). We also bring up the fact that the best design (game, audio and otherwise) should be done in the context of a team - involve everyone, and involve them early if you want to succeed at making something awesome!
Cam also brings 3 great audio clips (one feature of which he worked on) to illustrate his points while I do my best to not to ramble too much and ruin my answers - aren’t I supposed to be the one asking the questions?
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What have we been up to recently? I’m currently loving the top-down blaster ‘Alienation’ (the game not the existential break from you and your surroundings. Read my analysis of the game’s top-notch engagement mechanics here). Mr Cote is really enjoying a different unique (and great) title ‘Lovers in a Dangerous Space Time’.
We’re forgetting the big news however: Dead By Daylight release date and pricing has been announced! It is set for June 14th (the first day of this year’s edition of E3) and costs $19.99. Grab it here on Steam.
Cote is also back from PAX east and has a bunch of delicious info regarding his showing of the game to the wonderful fans, Twitch streamers and everyone who waited in line patiently to get hacked to pieces by the almighty killer.
We discuss the fact that ‘DbD’ was well planned: not a lot of feature creep, and very few freakouts leading up to the release. In the industry we can sometimes fall into the trap of judging prototypes too harshly before they are ready and tend to add too much stuff to compensate - this just one of the reasons that adds time to a project. Young designers: remember to take a deep breath and remember that polish is super important for all features.
We discuss the balancing of a 5 v 1 multiplayer game. What was the process of getting the numbers right in a title where the sides are clearly imbalanced: don’t change the core metrics that you have decided upon when first starting the project. The more you change them, the more trouble you will get into when you really start to balance the game.
We talk about what Dead by Daylight will feature in the initial release. Check out the steam page for full details of the offerings on hand come June 14th.
We end today’s podcast with the fateful words: VR is here. Yes, yes it is. And not a moment too soon for the both of us. We’re very excited for all of the possibilities this new tech will provide once we can get a few years into the tech. (Cote already has a Vive on order... a bit too rich for my blood but I know I will get a v2 or v3)
Oh, and don’t forget to check out Dead by Daylight at this year’s E3... tell ‘em the Deep Fried Gamer sent you and you’ll get something special ;)
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Well the title really does sayit all. This week Cam (audio designer at Ubisoft Toronto and allaround great guy) and I discuss these hot topics with appropriatevim/vigor. We discuss how each contributes to the fun andimmersion of each title inasmuch as this podcast allows.
What is foley? Where did it comefrom, and who invented it? It’s a recording process invented byJack Foley in the early days of sound cinema designed to ‘fill out’the sound that was lacking from just the music score and thevoices. From these relatively humble beginnings, it has evolvedinto a rich, high-fidelity area of sound design that we know today.We could not imagine a movie or game without it. We examine anaudio clip from Far Cry Primal and discuss the exciting audiochallenges of bringing a game set in 10 000 BCE to life.
We move on to discuss theawesome sound effects of Star Wars Battlefront. Hailed as one ofthe best sounding games of 2015, Battlefront makes extensive use ofthe lucasarts audio archives. This must have been a huge treat forthese sound designers (Cam I would have both been excited), butalso comes with great responsibility: millions of fans around theworld have bought your game in (large) part because of the iconicsound effects; blasters, lightsabers, and laser cannons. Everysound must be pitch perfect and be instantly recognizable from theoriginal (real?) Star Wars trilogy. I learn that the music for thegame wasn’t even composed by legendary Star Wars composer JohnWilliams. It sure does sounds like it it however. Composer GordyHaab has recreated Williams iconic style with excellent results. Weexamine a very recognizable (not from the trilogy - but heavilyinspired by the seismic charge from Episode 2) weapon - the thermalimploder. How did the audio team get it to sound this unique? Whattechniques did they use? Cam breaks it down for us.
We finish off by discussing themusic from the 2 latest Assassin’s Creed games: Unity - set duringthe French Revolution, and Syndicate, set in London during theindustrial revolution. We love the scores that are both powerful,but very unique from each other and very reflective of the timeperiod they were written for. We examine the score, specificallyduring fighting gameplay within each game and compare and contrasthow each was used. We also discuss the inspirations for each style,the lengths the audio team went to to get authentic sound, and howthese scores inspire, and are inspired by the characters in thesetitles.
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Regular Kevin and I begin by discussing the merits (or lackthereof) of the 1994 Damon Wayan’s ‘comedy’ “Blankman”. This is a perfect segway into our discussion of the rise of, and massive importance of Twitch.
Bought for about a billion dollars by Amazon a few years ago, it has an average viewership of 500 000 with a peak viewership of 23 million. A few more than this podcast. Just a smidge.
So how does Twitch relate to game design? As your real estate agent says; Exposure, exposure, exposure. But you have to make the right kind of game. Single player games just don’t perform as well as the replayable e-sport style games such as Counterstrike, League of Legends and DOTA 2.
We move on to our discussion of League and Kevin’s love of it. I’m cool, I can just call it that. Of the 100+ characters, only a handful are considered ‘viable’ by the community for high-level play. I love how the community can come together and democratically decide on this. Amazing. Kevin also teaches me about the intricacy and interest for viewers of the ‘wombo combos’ that can be created using different champions. Also, any community that spawns the words ‘wombo combos’ are amazing..
Twitch has really facilitated the communication between devs and fans. There’s even some game dev streams on twitch. This is really the ultimate form of engagement for gamers: literally watching games being made. Vlambeer has used this to great effect while creating their title ‘Nuclear Throne’. I thought they were American. Kevin is right - they are Dutch. The community that this small company built really evangelized their game and brought it to the masses much more than if they had ignored this platform. The learning that fans can get from seeing games made just calms everything down: they can start to understand more why their favorite gun was nerfed, or why a boss's attack was buffed. Good stuff all around.
We move on to different design considerations for making your game popular on twitch. How do you excel here? E-sports style is obvious, but what about sandbox survival games? These can be popular. Rogue lites have been known battle it out successfully as well. You want to create a high-action game that has a degree of randomization. This increases interest over long periods of time and keeps people engaged. What references can you use from the world of popular culture to make your game shine? Kevin talks about his work on his most recent title: ‘Livelock’.
We then discuss the voting systems that some games (such as ‘Rise of the Tomb Raider’) are using to further engage the community and the streamer. Big head mode and rainbow trail vfx, add some fun and frivolity to the proceedings. But what about real and big changes in a game? Titles like ‘Choice Chamber’ really take this idea to fruition but allowing voting to completely change the experience for the player/streamer and create deep, lasting engagement for both.
We finish by walking our way through ‘Twitch Plays Pokemon’. An amazing (and successful) experiment where the twitch chat wins at Pokemon. It restored my faith for humanity through its ‘Democracy Mode’.
Twitch is great. It offers people the ability to learn about new games, see what they’re like and can stand in for playing them if they can’t afford them (or haven’t bought them yet). Twitch can simply help you to become a better designer. Be careful though - short, story based games can result in people simply watching and not buying your game. I personally think that anyway you can get your game known is a net benefit for your game. What do you guys think?
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This week ‘Mc Ote’ (catchy I think) and I begin by discussing his recent foray into the culinary arts, specifically bread. It’s not all smashing dough though. We talk about the fact that no matter who you are and how you market, you’re selling your game one copy at a time. It can be daunting, but also lots of fun if you’re interacting directly with your fans.
We are both in agreement about how important it is to define your community: you can’t market your game to people if you don’t even know who they are. Obvious, but important. Less obvious, but no less important, is to remember to avoid making a game that “people like us would like”: you need to clearly define your audience, their likes, dislikes and expectations of your game. Remember this one folks.
We bring up that fact that it’s tough to get noticed in the world world of the interwebs. There are a lot of games and distractions out there. Mr MC leaves us with a wonderful nugget of truth: the best copy protection is the fact that nobody cares about you or what you have to say. Nuff said I think.
We move on to our thoughts on community giveaways: they’re exciting and a valuable way to bring attention to your game, especially to give it a kickstart, but be wary. Most people are there just for the prize, and don’t care about your game. Nothing gets people’s attention more than ‘free’. Don’t get caught up in these vanity metrics.
Master of Ceremonies Ote tells us his tales of handling the community for Dead by Daylight, the time consumption, but mostly the awesome fun time he has. We discuss the massive importance of authenticity and how gamers perceive your title with this in mind. They also look at the price. Expectations from a 60$ title are not what they are for a 20$ dollar one.
We explore the idea of how early before your game is released do you start talking about it? Is a year too early? I bring up the fact that the smaller you are, the more you need to rely on true grassroots fans who want you to succeed and who want to spread the word of how awesome your game is.
We end off by discussing Ote’s PAX East planning, the difficulty of getting the attention of the big media outlets, and the importance of 1 on 1 interactions with fans. Wish him and the team luck come April 22!!
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On today’s episode ‘Regular Kevin’ and I start by discussing the history of difficulty in games: how Nintendo’s (and the video game industry’s) technical and content difficulties in the 1980’s contributed to short, brutal games made by incredibly small teams (by today’s standards). I end up spoiling the news of the fate of the 1982 “ET The Extra Terrestrial” Video Game. Sorry about that. Kevin and I then move into ‘TLC’ territory and talk about his hoarding tendencies with codes for the original “Pilotwings” written on a sorry piece of paper. In case you’re wondering, he still has the paper.
Oh, how times have changed. Through the 90’s and into the mid 2000’s the amount of content in games exploded (and we figured out save games), yet difficulty decreased drastically. Why was this? Was everyone happy with this change? Listen to find out.
We move on to the sea change that happened in 2001 with the regenerating health feature from Halo, and the legacy it has created in games like “The Division” and “Grim Dawn”.
We discuss the sticky topic of positive feedback loops vs negative ones. How does this play out in games like “Skyrim” and “Dead Island”? Which circumstances in your game dictate which loops are important for you?
We discuss the unpredictability of the ‘social’ elements in “Day Z” and how that affects difficulty, and save scrubbing in “XCOM 2” (I admit, I am WHOLLY guilty of this)
We agree that your game should feature as many difficulty levers as possible for the player to pick and choose their very specific difficulty. Kevin loved this feature in the 4th difficulty of Goldeneye 64 (now you can guess how old we are). I lament that fact that as a crappy gamer, can I have an easier Dark Souls? Would it destroy the mechanics? Does it take away from other gamers? I really want to play it more, but I’m garbage at it.
We wrap up by covering the concept of “Flow” (Kevin mangles the poor man’s name who brought us this wonderful idea - but to be honest, I couldn't do any better), how that works it’s way into dynamic difficulty, and how fundamental it is to the overall enjoyment and difficulty of your game.
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Today’s podcast features a new co-host: Cam Britton - Sound Designer at Ubisoft Toronto. We start by discussing his history and how he got into the ‘biz. Studying composing and arranging in school, Cam earned his chops in ‘romantic’ (but mostly in the summertime) Montreal, and New York City.
Moving back to the Tdot (he doesn’t call it that, but I will) he joined Ubisoft Toronto’s office (just down the street from where he was living at the time) as one of the first employees in 2011. Cam shares with us how he worked his way up to where he is now, starting in QA. We both agreed that this experience can provide a strong understanding of the actual work that the different disciplines do in making a game.
Cam explains his process of creating different types of sound: ambience, gameplay sound, and even foley. He also goes into detail about his work on the hidden blade in Assassin’s Creed Unity: what worked, what didn’t, and how he got to what is in the game today.
Cam and I also discuss the changing roles of the sound designer in the video game industry, how technical knowledge is important, the differences between audio engines and game engines, and how his role differs greatly from the film and television industries, even if the titles are similar.
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In this ‘cast we tackle the important topic of how necessary, and pointless planning is. Confused yet? Our humor will guide you through. We also discuss the honesty and integrity of youtube comments. Are you REALLY confused now? (to be honest I’m starting to get a little mixed up...) And we wrap up by talking about how getting into the game industry as a QA tester might be a good idea.
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In this episode I speak with an old friend of mine; Mathieu Cote, Producer on Dead by Daylight at Behaviour interactive. I speak to him about how he got his start in the game industry (with me!), what it takes to be a video game producer and, a discussion about dev diaries and ‘transparent’ game design.
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In this episode I speak with Kevin Neibert, game designer on ‘Livelock’, at Tuque Games. We discuss his background (he has a PhD!), and how he got into the business, his recent forays into PAX South and the ridiculousness that is Youtube comments. We also discuss our current gaming obsession ‘Helldivers’ and the possibilities of the newly minted VR space.
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Who the hell am I? Why am I starting this podcast? In this inaugural episode I discuss my background, experience, my attitudes towards games and what this podcast will be all about.
