gamedeveloper201003.pdf

I n n e r P r o d u c t s t r e a m i n g v i r t u a l t e x t u r e s

vol17no3 MARCH2010

Hacks, kludges, an d under-Han ded tactics

from b eyond tHe m atrix

P roduction te cHniques ac ross tHree leading stu dios

an int erview witH ncsoft illu strator and

direct or Hyung-ta e kim

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CONTENTS.0310

VOLUME 17 NUMBER 3

POSTMORTEM

DEPARTMENTS

20 NAUGHTY DOG'S U NCHARTED 2: A MONG T HIEVES

U NCHARTED 2 is Naughty Dog's latest foray into what they call the

cinematic action genre. The game released to nearly-universal

acclaim, and here they discuss everything from multiplayer

mechanics, to over-ambitious scope, to the power of playtesting.

By Richard Lemarchand

2 GAME PLAN By Brandon Sheffield

[ E D I TO R I A L ]

Playing God

4 HEADS UP DISPLAY [ N E W S ]

A report from the Art History of Games conference plus

Xbox Live Indie Games sales analysis.

FEATURES

47 TOOL BOX By Damian Kastbauer

[ R E V I E W ]

Audiokinetic's Wwise 2009.3

7 DIRTY CODING TRICKS II

In our second installment of Dirty Coding Tricks, programmers share

their last-minute kludges and hacks all in the name of getting a game

out the door. Lessons abound for coders and the non-technical alike.

By Brandon Sheffield

57 THE INNER PRODUCT By Jake Cannell

[ P R O GR A MM I NG ]

Virtual Textures

63 DESIGN OF THE TIMES By Soren Johnson

[ D E S I GN ]

Theme Is Not Meaning Part II

15 TAMING THE WILD WEST

Production methodologies differ from company to company. Here,

Matthew Burns explores the disparate tactics of Harmonix, Treyarch,

and Valve, to determine some best practices.

By Matthew S. Burns

67 AURAL FIXATION By Jesse Harlin

[ S O U N D ]

Planting the Seed

69 PIXEL PUSHER By Steve Theodore

[ A R T ]

Zombie Apocalypse

31 BREAKING THE ICE

Conversation systems are becoming increasingly prevalent in games,

with dialog trees and databases aplenty. Serious games developer

Brent Friedman proposes a simple language as a potential solution.

By Brent Friedman

74 GOOD JOB!

[ C A R E E R ]

Career Pavilion Tips.

92 EDUCATED PLAY

[ E D U C A T I ON ]

Focus on UCLA student Peter Lu's C AVE

53 INTERVIEW: HYUNG-TAE KIM

Hyung-Tae Kim, currently art director for NCSoft's B LADE AND S OUL , is

best known for his approach to anatomy. This interview illuminates

his thoughts on the subject of character and art in general.

By Brandon Sheffield

104 ARRESTED DEVELOPMENT By Matthew Wasteland

[ H UMO R ]

This Just In!

COVER ART: NAUGHTY DOG ART TEAM

WWW.GDMAG.COM 1

GAME PLAN // BRANDON SHEFFIELD

www.gdmag.com

PLAYING GOD

A CALL FOR NEW UNIVERSE CREATION IN GAMES

UBM Think Services, 600 Harrison St., 6th Fl.,

San Francisco, CA 94107

t: 415.947.6000 f: 415.947.6090

SUBSCRIPTION SERVICES

FOR INFORMATION, ORDER QUESTIONS, AND

ADDRESS CHANGES

t: 800.250.2429 f: 847.763.9606

e : gamedeveloper@halldata.com

EDITORIAL

PUBLISHER

Simon Carless l scarless@gdmag.com

EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

Brandon Sheffield l bsheffield@gdmag.com

PRODUCTION EDITOR

Jeffrey Fleming l jfleming@gdmag.com

ART DIRECTOR

Joseph Mitch l jmitch@gdmag.com

CONTRIBUTING EDITORS

Jesse Harlin

Steve Theodore

Daniel Nelson

Soren Johnson

Damion Schubert

ADVISORY BOARD

Hal Barwood Designer-at-Large

Mick West Independent

Brad Bulkley Neversoft

Clinton Keith Independent

Bijan Forutanpour Sony Online Entertainment

Mark DeLoura Independent

Carey Chico Pandemic Studios

ADVERTISING SALES

GLOBAL SALES DIRECTOR

Aaron Murawski e: amurawski@think-services.com

t: 415.947.6227

MEDIA ACCOUNT MANAGER

John Malik Watson e : jmwatson@think-services.com

t: 415.947.6224

GLOBAL ACCOUNT MANAGER, RECRUITMENT

Gina Gross e : ggross@think-services.com

t: 415.947.6241

GLOBAL ACCOUNT MANAGER, EDUCATION

Rafael Vallin e : rvallin@think-services.com

t: 415.947.6223

ADVERTISING PRODUCTION

PRODUCTION MANAGER

Pete C. Scibilia e : peter.scibilia@ubm.com

t: 516-562-5134

REPRINTS

WRIGHT'S REPRINTS

Ryan Pratt e: rpratt@wrightsreprints.com

t: 877.652.5295

THINK SERVICES

CEO UBM THINK SERVICES Philip Chapnick

GROUP DIRECTOR Kathy Schoback

CREATIVE DIRECTOR Cliff Scorso

CHIEF INFORMATION OFFICER Anthony Adams

AUDIENCE DEVELOPMENT

TYSON ASSOCIATES Elaine Tyson

e : tysonassoc@aol.com

LIST RENTAL Merit Direct LLC t: 914.368.1000

MARKETING

MARKETING SPECIALIST Mellisa Andrade

e : mandrade@think-services.com

UBM TECHNOLOGY MANAGEMENT

CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER David Levin

CHIEF OPERATING OFFICER Scott Mozarsky

CHIEF FINANCIAL OFFICER David Wein

CORPORATE SENIOR VP SALES Anne Marie Miller

SENIOR VP, STRATEGIC DEV. AND BUSINESS ADMIN. Pat Nohilly

SENIOR VP, MANUFACTURING Marie Myers

REMEMBER WHEN THE NORM FOR

a video game was a blue hedgehog

that ran fast and collected rings

and emeralds? Or a plumber that

took mushrooms to become large,

and grabbed a flower to throw

fireballs? In reality they do none

of those things, but in the name of

a game, they make sense, inspire

wonder, and create a new universe.

This isn’t another one of those

articles about the good old days,

and how everything used to be

better. Rather, this is an article

about missed opportunity.

about what is being taught to

children or impressionable folk.

Not that this should influence

creative decisions, but when a

cartoon mouse hits someone

with a mallet it’s a lot different

from when a prisoner in M ANHUNT

does it. The discussion needs to

take place, even if the decision is

ultimately to go with reality.

Maybe in the past we created

crazy games simply because we

couldn’t recreate reality with the

technology. Consider B AYONETTA .

Here you’ve got a woman whose

clothing is made of her hair, and has

guns in her shoes. I’ve heard a lot

of people—journalists especially—

talk about how crazy this is. In

1992 this would not be crazy, this

would be par for the course in the

creation of a video game.

PANDORA'S BOX

» Games that emulate reality do

have the powerful opportunity to

make people think carefully about

the world around them. By placing

the player in real-world situations

and applying real consequences

in-game, a spark may well go off

in little Jimmy’s brain. But there’s

a high likelihood he still won’t see

the consequences as real. After all,

you turn off the TV or the monitor

and that entire world is gone.

I’m not a fan of James

Cameron's Avatar , but its simple

story resonated with a lot of

people, and I’ve heard more people

talking about injustice and the

politics of power based on having

watched a movie about fake blue

people than I have heard them

talking about Guantanamo Bay, or

the war in Afghanistan. It doesn’t

mean these people are stupid,

or even necessarily uninformed,

but it does mean that in order to

really reach them, they had to be

approached in a different way. I

think that this can be true of fun,

as well as serious messages.

We miss out on some of the

great potential of this medium

if we focus too heavily on the

real. We have the power to create

entire worlds—isn’t using this

power to create a shadow of

reality a bit of a cop-out? And

really, it’s only a conceptual cop-

out. In practice, reality is quite

hard to recreate. This is why the

lushly-detailed world of Avatar ’s

Pandora is so compelling to

people. It’s new, but recognizable.

It’s compellingly different, but not

alienating. This is the potential

that exists within games.

CHOOSE YOUR ADVENTURE

» There is a choice that developers

can make now. We know that we

can visually emulate reality to a

pretty convincing level. Now is the

time when we can decide whether

we want to use that power to

recreate reality or forge universes

of our own. We don’t need space

marines or aliens to do it, either.

The world of B IO S HOCK ’s Rapture

captivated audiences immediately.

It was recognizable, but different,

and this is something that

resonates with people.

I just downloaded and played

the H EAVY R AIN demo on the PS3. I

urge readers to do the same and

see how they feel about the reality

emulated there. Sure, there are

complex emotions and scenarios

in place here—but when I’m

playing, I’m just pressing random

buttons that come up on screen

and have nothing to do with the

actions I’m performing. Whether

you agree with designer David

Cage in his choice to make the

game this way is not the point.

The important thing is that he did

make a specific choice, as he told

me in a Gamasutra interview.

When a game is made,

think—what universe fits my

view? Can I tell my story with

a Rapture? With a Pandora?

Or does it need to exist in my

reality? If these questions are

answered honestly, and with real

thought, games will resonate

better, and their messages, their

fun, and their immersion will only

increase in potency.

—Brandon Sheffield

TIME TO CRATE

» As the graphical capabilities

of computers and home consoles

increased over time, and as

demographics skewed older, the

temptation to emulate and recreate

reality grew stronger and stronger.

To that end, games increasingly

tried to make their systems and

design follow realistic constructs,

boasting the most realistic cars and

licenses, or the most realistic guns,

or a military contractor on staff to

advise on tactics. But games are

not reality, they are games.

We’ve seen time and time

again that the closer you try to

emulate reality, the more the

“game” aspects begin to stick out.

Invisible walls in F INAL F ANTASY , or

grenades spawning at your feet

when you go the wrong way in

M ODERN W ARFARE 2 are examples

of kicking the player out of that

illusion of reality, and letting them

know that yes, this is a game, and

yes, the rules are designed to keep

you in the space of this world, not

the real world.

In reality, as a soldier I could

disobey my orders and go exploring

around the other side. I could be

cowardly and turn back to base.

Games shouldn’t have to plan for

every eventuality, of course, but

it’s not so hard to create universes

that are compelling but where

the unusual—or even simple

backtracking—is not so unfeasible.

Emulation of reality also brings

with it all sorts of moral concerns

GAME DEVELOPER | MARCH 2010

WWW.UBM.COM

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