This brilliant feature deserves to be included in more video games: it makes for exciting replay

Gaming News This brilliant feature deserves to be included in more video games: it makes for exciting replay

The real Developer Direct!

As I traveled through the cursed manor of Derceto while testing the final episode of Alone in the Dark (2024), this feature reminded me of this hit like an arrow right in the heart. After taking a quick look at the game options to get the “Developer comments“, I go to the basement of the building. In front of me is the symbol of a microphone with the inscription “developer“Competition. I lean on that. “Hello and welcome to the “Alone in the Dark” audio commentary.“ echoes in the dark place. “My name is Mikael Hedberg and I am the creative director”. The man best known for his work on Amnesia: The Dark Descent and SOMA then returns to the introductory scene I just saw, giving details of how it was redesigned in relation to the game. Originally published in 1992.

Rikard Ryberg, the project’s artistic director, speaks a little further as the player walks in front of the winter garden. He discusses the references used in the construction of this new Derceto. A few meters away, our national player Frédérick Raynal, the creator of the first Alone, published 32 years ago, has his little word

With such instructions my second run Software takes on a completely new dimension. Not only do I take the time to unlock what I hadn’t previously restored, as in every “new part“This is a bit of self-respect, but above all I discover all the production secrets in the company of Pieces Interactive.” With the added bonus of the words of the man who started it all, who reveals some interesting anecdotes about a software that revolutionized the horror-adventure game .

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Word of the Gospel… with bubbles

You will tell me – and you will be right – that making-ofs are not only not new in the world of video games, but they are also not uncommon. There were such in the 1990s Promotional video cassettes presents the work of various studios. At the beginning of the 2000s the great report by Fun TV on Silent Hill 2 was included in the collector’s box of the Konami title while Microsoft offered it in 2004 a breathtaking documentary of sincerity to the design of Halo 2 in the limited edition software. Since then, we have noticed the emergence of numerous making-ofs on YouTube, be it for God of War, The Last of Us Part II or Psychonauts 2. Developers’ word is valuable in the world of video gamesand there’s reason to be excited when we’re given the opportunity to discover what goes on beneath the neon lights of studios, even if the exercise is scrutinized by the marketing departments of the industry’s biggest corporations.

Even though Valve also offered that a report Rather conventional in its form, to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the release of Half-Life, the American group revolutionized the concept of video game making in 2005 on the occasion of the playable technical demo Half-Life 2: Lost Coast. In fact, in the levels that highlighted the Source Engine’s HDR rendering, bubbles appeared floating above the ground. When the player activates it, a member of the development team speaks to share information or various anecdotes. Valve subsequently integrated this interactive commentary system into Episode One, Episode Two, Portal, Portal 2, Left 4 Dead, Left 4 Dead 2 and Team Fortress 2. In Half-Life: Alyx, VR requires the player to put an audio headset on their head instead of activating bubbles, as if they were visiting the bridges of Paris aboard a riverboat. Well seen !

Joy in giving, joy in receiving

You can put it this way: This process is simply brilliant. Instead of copying what exists in the world of cinema with its documentaries that can be viewed in the DVD/Blu-Ray bonuses, this commentary system draws on what video games have best compared to other media: l Interactivity. In fact, it’s up to the user to decide when to listen to a comment and how much time to spend between two speech bubbles to deepen the exploration (or not). The developers, for their part, use this gigantic tour into the depths of their production to show the debug menu from time to time to show the players trajectories, information about the 3D models or even hitboxes. There is simply no better way to reveal the secrets of a creation!

These comments on listening to control objects that are integrated directly into the world of software are the perfect opportunity to go into more detail of the design, which would have been edited in a classic making-of on video, should not take longer than an hour and a half. Half-Life Alyx features 3 hours of commentary spread across 147 interesting locations for an adventure estimated to last around twelve hours. Yes, that’s a lot of time to go into detail, and that’s a good thing.

In Valve games, this function offers us the opportunity to hear Gabe Newell, the company’s big boss, both an introduction and a conclusion, but not without inviting players to send him messages after publishing his professional email . In Alone in the Dark, this system allows you to learn more about the meta aspect that is not particularly accessible on the first try. And there is something terribly surreal about receiving the farewells from the artists from Pieces Interactive and Frédérick Raynal shortly before the confrontation with the final bossI have to admit.

Almost 20 years old, a good, little-used idea

As you must have understood, this brilliant feature would be perfect for most games on the market with a single player campaign. Resident Evil, Uncharted, Elden Ring, Halo, Zelda… all would be ideal candidates for interactive commentary. Aside from Valve’s creations and Alone in the Dark, I can’t think of any other major game that involves a similar process. And that’s a shame, because there are many ways to better integrate this functionality and make it even more exciting. There was the very intelligent “The Making of Karateka,” which is real interactive documentaryBut mostly the making-ofs make do with YouTube videos of varying lengths.

“Each completed game is a miracle in itself“We can read on the third page of the book written by Jason Schreier: “Blood, tears and pixels” (Mana Books). Yes, The video games we love are complex products that combine a variety of professions. Who would have believed 35 years ago that companies would hire level designers, camera operators, or even technical artists? The opportunity to hear what authors have to say about their creations in the video game they designed is a luxury that is always too rare. Take a second run Being with the developers during an interactive journey full of anecdotes is one of the best ways to motivate me to relaunch a title. And I dare to imagine that I’m not the only one.