For many players of the name & # 39; FMV & # 39; can be loaded with shlocky & # 39; cinematic & # 39; which was interrupted by games in the early 1990s. CD-ROM memory space enabled developers & # 39; wow & # 39; people investing in their first computer with video clips, not to mention the poor gamers who said until then they had to & # 39; t do it & # 39; with blips and bloxes. When clips did not work as cutscenes, the effects often varied from it's so bad in order plain – just bad, and it has taken a long time for the genre to break the reputation of producing low quality video and low quality content.
We've come a long way since then, of course, and there's a small and select group of developers who are still researching the art of working movies, and nobody is more interesting than Sam Barlow. As I've worked on the Silent Hill franchise (best, best) Silent Mountain: Scattered Memories of Wii), Barlow found himself in an engrossing interactive interaction His Story in the year 2015.
Working with developer Fury Bee, Telling Lies is a spiritual succession of sorts; the critical thrust that has revisited the NSA's obvious revelations in the intimate negotiations of the four opponents over a 2-year period. We thoroughly enjoyed the game and recently had the opportunity to ask its maker about plans for a successful movie, a process to bring that comfort, and a return to the horror genre for his next project …
Nintendo's Life: First of all, how did you come up with something to tell Telling You? With so many complex interactions and relationships that the player reveals in a non-linear way, he writes it & # 39; s straight & # 39; and find difficulties in planning? Tell us about the writing process.
Sam Barlow: The process I developed at the beginning of her story with Linging Lies was to spend more time on research, character lives, background stories, etc. So when we get into the game building itself we have enough layers on top to support the players that really block it. So that at any given moment there are two or three things happening at the same time in people's minds.
With Real Lies it was important to carefully calculate the main characters & # 39; s alive in the two years of the story, to make sure those stories came out from each other and were perfectly matched to each other. I can tell you what each of them did every single day of the day! After that we write scenes and actually do that from the perspective of the characters, trying to create really fun moments. Finally, there is the section where the computer analyzes the script and identifies measurement problems. Sites without good search to find them, words are out of use or used. We are faster and faster from here, touching the scenes until the computer thinks things are going well.
Anyone who has played their Story will feel at home immediately through the RETINA program and their keyword search, which feels great with the amount of information that appears while allowing the team player to participate. After the success of His Story, did you ever feel a little hesitant to recreate the same set of Tell a Lie?
Certainly when his Author came out I didn't intend to jump in a straight line. But as time went by I was curious to re-evaluate something of His Story that I thought was very different – the idea of exploring news / video as you would a 3D world in a regular game. I wanted to see how we could build on that idea, while telling a very different story to a very different (great!) Cast.
One of the amazing things about creating a new genre is the way games are viewed and look similar. If they did a military FPS, I'd say a little something – say reloading a mechanic – and it would look like a big deal. But because His Story is a different game in itself, even though Telling Lies has a lot of origins in the first game, from a distance it looks the same! To me these games feel like siblings – share the same parents and genes, but they eventually grow into very different people!
If they did a military FPS, I'd say a little something – say reloading a mechanic – and it would look like a big deal.
Finding a weak keyword balance to create confusion should be difficult to achieve, and it doesn't look like the kind of thing that is easy to change after the footage is in line. How do you strike the right balance? How do you play and make a game like this?
We played the game as we were developing the script. We have a program that can convert text into movie clips that are not timed subtitles. So we "play it" and gain an understanding of how things are laid out. Once we had our favorite full script and the computer liked to record the readings with the actors and I, we only talked heads, for a few days. We used that game to create an alpha to build a game and to put it in place for several gaming tests. We have people to play for 3-4 hours and track their progress. It was heartening to see that people & # 39; ve got & # 39; how good the experience is even with the simplest of documents – and use the information to help tweak specific areas and improve the general flow and balance of things. Once that The script was locked and moved into production …
Tell us a little about photography. We learned that it happened a lot in one studio & # 39; the agency & # 39; By comparing His Story to its one-dimensional character / scene, the characters' plots and multiple settings must have made this a bit more complicated to put together, logically. How long does it take to record?
We shot five weeks at about the same time that was spent in pre-production and lead-in tests. That's a pretty good shot of the amount of content we had to get! But everything was organized to prioritize the players; – give them a set where they can be naturally, where they can play. So, we will be shooting at the same time in two places and players are free to move around in those spaces, blocking things correctly in body language, the way you move around in such spaces. You can tell who is talking to who from the moment they answer the call, how it goes.
Because players are free to point the cameras anywhere, it's important to shoot in place and not on set – and we were fortunate to find a place where we took two houses, three houses, a café and
Because players are free to point the cameras anywhere, it's important to shoot in place and not on the set – and we were lucky
The actors probably have to follow the script very well. Is there a place to pull out ads or ideas in the set that you added later, even though everything was pulled out and nailed before it?
Well, once we have tested the text, we should stick it close to it! On set, the script manager had a program that would let him know if the name was lost (or not heard!) He would break things up and we could use them to catch any problems that required us to go and retake one. The biggest challenge was for players not to use ad-lib words in the hottest places where it felt natural to let the words out. They have made a hell of a career!
Would you say you're a hands-on guide? What part of the process of making games like this do you enjoy the most?
Yes, I like to get into growing. I'm a tweaker, either that puts it in the smallest part of the launch set of the 0.01, or messes with the layout of the smaller set piece. Whatever I can get into, I will!
As far as my favorite part is … it's blurred between storytelling – seeing the storyline begin to form into reality – and staying with the players. Walking into the spaces a few months ago was just a word on the page and seeing actors bring things to life and make them special. It is a real privilege. I like to play the game once we have content inside, get myself into footage testing – or even know what's there, I still love what's important!
We think that this kind of game presents unique challenges when it comes to marketing & # 39; marketing & # 39; players. Obviously, wasting an experience is not an option, but the already ubiquitous rifle on the screen communicates the excitement by following narrative threads and playing detective, either. Is this something you are worried about?
I think you'll have to go into secrecy – you can be opaque to some extent, if you're confident that players will want to step up to that challenge. I love working for the best & # 39;what's the f ** k?& # 39 ;, The kind where the player wants to find out what the hell of a thing is. I think if you can define the tone of it, its atmosphere, people have a pretty good idea of what they're set for.
Many games have repetitive moments but how many do you really remember years ago?
Without spoiling anything, we've enjoyed how the report at the end of the game highlights & # 39; habits & # 39; player and it'll hit you for references you may not have researched. Is it possible that large chunks of missing players in the narrative are concerned? Is repatriation a great idea for you during development?
I'm really focused on making people feel confident do have a personal, unique experience. So to me it's a little & # 39; t miss & # 39; things, and more are just things they see. I really need & # 39; to play once, but install as you want & # 39; kind of person, but I know a lot of people can't help but want to keep track of every detail – so there's an option!
At the end of the day I want to make the games that people play the most when they play it, and remember it long ago. Being a deep, memorable experience before is more important than revenge. Many games have repetitive moments but how many do you really remember years ago?
The fact that Ringing Lies seems to make gaming on the PC a natural & # 39; very at home, even though the game translates to TV playing very well – much better than expected, if we're honest! Tell us about the process of bringing the game to the consoles and the work involved to protect the most underrated feeling.
We had peace of mind from the beginning – the idea of placing focus on selecting subtitles was a huge part of that. But I was surprised and excited when I first tried it to see how special the TV gaming experience was – to have those windows open to these private, domestic spaces. in your living room, in the life of kinda actors talking directly to you … that makes things feel very different in a phone or computer way.
Taking the idea of exploring or doing & # 39; deep learning & # 39; live action (…) and making that gameplay … I think there are many ideas we can build there.
Do you think there is room to explore other ideas in the framework of these types of games? Do you have any ideas that you could not use here, for what reason?
Yes. I imagine this idea of using experimental gameplay, all of the richness of 3D Gameplay directly the content of the story is something that I feel opens up a lot of possibilities. Taking the idea of exploring or doing & # 39; deep learning & # 39; live action (as people often do reddit / etc!) and making that gamepad… I think there are many ideas we can build there. I get so frustrated now when I watch shows and movies on my TV and I can jump in line and take directions and jump right into the story!
We had ideas during the development that we didn't use to tell the Lays where the tone did not match, or the truth of the matter. And something else would add to the complexity! Some of those who made it on to the next game where we had the freedom to play more …
Can you tell us anything about what the future holds or what you are working on next?
We are currently developing an awesome topic that is – with great care! – with the same type of space as His Story and Borrowing Lies. It's something else that is complicated and very ambitious (I'm my worst enemy!) And it looks really cool now, but we have a ways to go! I love the horror genre and have had a great time working on the Silent Hill franchise before, so this is a great world for me! It was fun to see what we could do with some of these ideas in a genre where we could just scratch the surface of the player's head.
Many thanks to Sam. Telling Lies is available now on Switch eShop. We enjoyed the game – check it out Nintendo Life review of our full resolution.
