Uusimmat

Pelintekoa Suomessa ulkomaalaissilmin osa 3: lätkää ja kenttäsuunnittelua

07.05.2010 15:48 Jukka O. Kauppinen

Suomalainen Trials HD oli viime vuoden suurimpia hittejä Xbox Live Arcade -palvelussa. Peli äänestettiin niin vuoden 2009 parhaaksi Xbox Live Arcade -peliksi että vuoden 2009 parhaaksi suomipeliksi.

Brittikaksikko Lee Rowlands ja Henry Tofts viettivät Suomessa kuukauden askarrellen peliin uusia ratoja. eDome julkaisemassa matkapäiväkirjassa suomalaista elämää ja pelintekoa tarkkaillaan kuukauden ajan kulttuurishokkien värittämän hauskanpidon kautta. Kolmannessa osassa kaksikko on jo kotiutunut ja täydessä pelinteon vauhdissa.

Trials-päiväkirja julkaistaan englanninkielisenä. Jokaisen osan alussa on Red Lynxin Antti Ilvessuon lyhyt suomenkielinen alustus.

 

Journey to Finland!

Lee Rowland & Henry Tofts

This journal was written by Lee Rowland and Henry Tofts about their time in Finland. It consists solely of their own thoughts and impressions of their experience in Finland, and was not edited in any way by anyone at RedLynx. We thought you would enjoy their feelings and insights into what it feels like to visit and work in Finland for the first time, and how we do things here. – Antti / Red Lynx

Osa 1:Pelintekoa Suomessa ulkomaalaissilmin osa 1: Trials HD ja Henryn ja Leen elämysmatka

Osa 2: Pelintekoa Suomessa ulkomaalaissilmin osa 2: Helsinki on kuin City17

Osa 4: Pelintekoa Suomessa ulkomaalaissilmin osa 4: harhailua kantakaupungissa, painottomuutta metsästämässä

Osa 5: Pelintekoa Suomessa ulkomaalaissilmin osa 5: mikroautoilua ja urakan päätös

 

Henry aloittaa torstaina uuden radan parissa ja Lee saa retroratansa valmiiksi. Illalla on vuorossa molempien ensimmäinen jääkiekko-ottelu. Perjantaina poikia pyydetään jäämään viikon verran pidemmäksi aikaa kuin alun perin oli suunniteltu. Lee tekee peliin ensimmäisen monsteriauton ja huomaa, kuinka objektit vievät muistia. Lauantaina on tylsää, joten pojat päättävät mennä toimistolle tekemään ratoja. Lee saa valmiiksi Dangerous Ride -kentän ajolinjan ja Henry kokeilee uusia ideoita. Maanantaina he saivat olla todistamassa toimistopainia, sekä Antin kaapista löytyviä salaisuuksia. Lee kamppailee Dangerous Riden ruudunpäivitysongelmien kanssa, mutta keksii pian ratkaisun.

 

24-09-09 – Thursday
9.00am – 5.15pm

 

Henry:

Started the new track today. Trying to approach the use of wooden objects in a different way. When making a track I tend to decorate first and then look at the driving line. Sounds backwards I k now but it helps when you see the theme forming to come up with fun routes the player could take plus the particular way it could be built.

Went to the ice hockey game after work to watch Helsinki’s home side utterly destroying a neighbouring city 7-0. Never been to an ice hockey game before but it’s a major thing here in Finland. Went with Jorma (localisation and leaderboard) and Timo who is a project manager for various secret releases Redlynx have planned for the end of this year.

 

Lee:

Finally completed 4 Bit Trip. Has some minor issues but flows nicely and is totally different to every other Trials HD track. Glad I don’t have to stare at so much green space any more!

Got the newer build of the game today. Turns out that we were using a pre-release build! Seemed pretty stable though. Although I wanted my next track to be set in a stadium, Antti isn’t keen. Not sure how I can decorate an entire car based track with just tyres and cars. Also, I worry that it’s going to be very similar visually to the Junkyard track. Need to really think this one through tonight. Needs to be done by Monday! Hmm, looks like we’ll be in over the weekend.

I’m not too sure how well DLC for games usually sells, but I would think Trials HD DLC will be popular, especially with the editor community. Then, when videos of these new tracks appear on YouTube, others will buy the DLC to play them.

Went to my first ice hockey match with Jorma and Timo (Product Design Lead).

 Was a lot of fun and the home side won 7-0! 5,600 people were there, atmosphere was great and everybody enjoyed themselves.

Alcohol on sale but not allowed at your seat. A shame England can’t act as responsibly as Finland. Oh, and Finland only has salt popcorn! No sweet flavour! Blasphemy!

 

25-09-09 – Friday
9.00am – 8.00pm

 

Henry:

Thinking of heading into the studio tomorrow to work more on the track and maybe play some games to fill the time. Found out why the voice over says ‘No mustard on my bike’, apparently he hates mustard in any form…simple as that.

Things are starting to pick up ever so slowly. Won’t be long before the office goes into overdrive. Two weeks this time this Sunday. Time has gone very fast.

We have been asked if we can stay an extra week so that we are here for the DLC’s testing phase. Makes sense so that we are able to be here to test and play our finished maps plus other map content to make sure it is all working properly. Antti’s desk is where the magic happens.

 

Lee:

Started looking at my track with a fresh perspective. If it must be car based and flat, then it is going to have some insane physics objects and nutty contraptions!

Built a large amount of objects for the track today. Love my rotating wheel of cars and see-saw. As this track holds an achievement, there is a hidden trigger and route with it in. Ride on top of the car to get it! Also, Jorma pointed out that some like to race through a track without having to be held up by the physics objects. Although that is the style of this track, his comment has made me build a hidden speed route underneath the track. Also, the Monster truck I have built (this being the fifth version and seems to work ok for now), requires you to stay on top of it as it drives the racing line. You can drop off this into fire to speed through to the end, albeit on fire! I really like this track now and have some more cool bits to add. Decorating will be difficult and time consuming. (not to mention memory hungry) but I have some ideas.

 

26-09-09 – Saturday
6 hours

 

Henry:

Went into the office today for several hours to work on map to the fill the time and to experiment with some machine ideas.

 

Lee:

Saturday. Helsinki, especially around the hotel is so quiet. More like a Sunday. Went into the office as I wanted to get more work done on the track. Got the Monster truck working properly. This is now the seventh attempt with all previous versions being a little unreliable or glitchy. Added some minor details to the track and added the final obstacle. The main driving route is pretty much complete now. The hidden faster underground route and the car achievement section are stumping me however. The car section is essentially simple: ride on a car as it rolls down a hill. The fast route is beginning to feel unnecessary. It eats up memory and changes the whole flow and feel of the track. I may scrap this section completely. For now, I will focus on decorating the track. Hit a brick wall on what objects to use though. Piles of cars are memory and processor hungry, so platforms holding them up may be needed. Will brainstorm what to decorate the track with later.

Kind of good to go in today. We were the only people in and we’ve saved a day of work we would have used next week. Although I got only minor things done, at least the route is now finished.

 

27/09/09 – Sunday

 

Henry:

Another day off and we are back in the office. The presence of an oven however in the kitchen is the main factor here. Mmm that is a tasty burnt burger (I forget food when I use an oven).

 

Lee:

Everywhere is once again very quiet today. Really nice to see the breakfast area quiet too.

Went into work to continue on the track. Added some new sections and altered a few others. Tore out the hidden fast route. It was too big and would eat up too much time and memory.

Continued with decoration of the track. Hard to make the track feel like one whole piece rather than separate bits stuck one after the other.

Found my 4 Bit Trip track in the actual game as a new playable track. However, it is a very old version of it. Almost the first day version. I hope the final build isn’t lost as there is so much I added and altered since then.

Played some Live Arcade games in the boardroom. Some seem fun and I may pick them up when I get home.

 

28/09/09 – Monday
9.00am – 7.00pm

 

Henry:

Today was productive but felt like an uphill struggle. Sometimes you can be making a level and it just isn’t clicking into place. Problems with the physics also took away much needed time that could have been spent finishing off the machine. It’s getting somewhere now however and should have it finished tomorrow.

Antti was wrestling various members of staff today. It’s a daily ritual. He also showed us his cupboard of fascinating objects. There was a bolt action rifle, granny racing and a creepy box full of the toys you get from kinder eggs. I also believe Lee is a robot since he seems to electrocute himself on the doors to the office and the same door everyday at the train station. The floor to my room still remains sticky after I had a fight with a Pepsi bottle. It exploded in a 5ft radius going over the walls, bathroom door, the fridge and the floor. It was like battling a terror of the deep.

 

Lee:

Managed to find out why the frame rate was so bad. The car models seriously harm the frame rate and can only be used sparingly. This is a bit difficult in a car themed track! Took loads of cars out and the track is now so much smoother. Everything needs minor fixes though and some intense decorating. Antti accidentally installed a newer version of Trials HD on my Xbox while I was building my track. This reset my machine, losing about 2 hours work! It did give me the opportunity to get back some objects I had previously deleted. I must remember to take Antti’s chocolate from him in revenge!

Well, tomorrow I need to finish some little bits on the driving line and finish the decorating of the track.

Got our new return flight details today. Return on 17th October, 1 week later than originally planned and now go via Copenhagen rather than Heathrow

 

Tiistaina myös Henry saa oman achievementtinsa ja molemmat hiovat ratoja lähes pikkutunneille saakka. Keskiviikko alkaa Avaruusseikkailu 2001: soundtrackin tahtiin ja jatkuu uusiin DLC -objekteihin, kuten metalliseen kaapistoon ja sementtiportaisiin tutustumalla. Lee jatkaa Ride the Ball -skillgamen parissa ja Henry pelaa uusia ratoja testimielessä läpi. Torstaina Henry ideoi peliin flipperihenkistä skillgamea ja Lee puolestaan dekoroi omaa työn alla ollutta leveliään. TrialsHD ylittää 400 000 pelaajan rajan seitsemän viikkoa julkaisustaan. Henry kertoo skill gamejen vaativan erittäin paljon testaamista, jotta ne olisivat niin hauskoja kuin ovat.

 

29/09/09 – Tuesday
9.00am – 10.00pm

 

Henry:

Today was the longest time we have spent in the office (we are not forced to stay later than 5pm at gun point..no…no).

 The machine achievement while potentially interesting just did not have enough in the way of machine objects to make it look good. So we came up with a new achievement today and just had a mad ideas session. A few hundred rider deaths later and I had six treasure chests that you have to bail out in order to land inside. Six different ways to die and only one chest that drops down to give you the points. Need to think of a point description. I have thought of the name of the achievement ‘No deal. Needs some minor fixes but the track is about done now. We talked today about possible Avatar awards and special items to purchase such as a motorbike or a small RC bike. The large bike for your avatar though is awesome.

 

Lee:

Still on with the track. Antti asked for ideas on changing the ‘machine’ achievement. I suggested a ‘keep airborne’ idea. This evolved into the ‘No Deal’ one. Very funny.

Completely built the ‘ride on car’ achievement area and it works perfectly. My insane ideas had to be removed however (car riding on a car, etc). Added a cool Easter egg at the end of it.

Stayed until 10pm tonight decorating and fixing the flow. The track is about half the original length but retains all the custom built objects except the huge wheel of cars. The force rotation hinge is still too unreliable so it had to go LAlso, I altered the see-saw so you speed over it as it flips you up instead of having to stop and wait.

Hopefully only minor additions are needed before I can fully decorate the rest of it. The new deadline is tomorrow night!

 

30/09/09 – Wednesday
9.00am – 7.30pm

 

Henry:

Walked into the office today to the sounds of 2001: A Space Odyssey main title music and Antti/Zagu hiding behind their desks. A random but funny start to the day. A lot of fine tuning today to the complex of secrets track. Making sure the achievement works and there is no dodgy things going on.

The time consuming process of play testing all the maps and fixing areas has been on going since we arrived. Each of the maps we worked on are around 90% complete and on average the rest of the games tracks are about 40 – 70% done with 5 or so maps un assigned at this point. Ville the art director at RedLynx has just done the art work for the achievement pictures. Really cool stuff. Ville’s is similar to the look of Valve’s Team Fortress 2.

 

Lee:

Upon entering the office, the theme from 2001: A Space Odyssey was playing and nobody was to be seen. Antti and Zagu were hiding under their desks! Very funny! We only spotted them because they were laughing.

Got to see some new objects in the editor today. Metal lockers, concrete steps, etc. They look awesome! Great to see our suggestions actually now in the game! J

We will be proof reading all the new English text in the DLC. Spelling mistakes, please forward to Antti J.

Finally finished my ‘Dangerous Ride’ track. Took ages to do and is a whole lot shorter and different from what it was at first. Glad to finish it though and is good fun. Has a slower pace than most Trials HD tracks, but I think a lot of people will enjoy it.

Now working on the new ‘Ride the Ball’ level. Very difficult to test as it is a very hard skill game. Very hard downhill all the way! Got to try some unreleased Live Arcade games on Jorma’s Xbox. Most seem complete so should be released soon.

Saw Ville’s new achievement images for the three new achievements. They look really cool and fun. Sebbi said he may be making a unique custom camera for my 4 Bit track to improve the look and frame rate!

 

01/10/09 – Thursday
9.00am – 7.30pm

 

Henry:

Feeling a bit run down today with a minor cold. Office is quite warm and outside has been pretty chilly. Plus all these late nights hasn’t helped. A day of Trials HD and a new map made me feel better. I am not entirely happy with the complex of secrets map I have just done but it will be play tested by everyone and any changes to make it better can be done in the next couple of weeks. I have been put on a new skill game mode called target hunter. I must admit I have a terrible score on this mode from the original game. Kept killing myself on the flippers.  I hate the thought of doing the same idea but just with different objects , its boring and players will just look at it and go ‘oh, this again’. So I wanted the idea behind this target hunter mode to be fun and interesting to play. Tried a few different methods of using vent shafts on the flippers but it sucked. Had a brainstorming session with Lee and came up with a pinball machine idea, which suits this game mode perfectly. Like most skill games this is going to take an awful lot of testing but it should be fun and more importantly it’s different.

 

Lee:

Continued with ‘Ride the Ball’. Got the racing line done pretty quickly. Just spent the day decorating the track. Added some really nice details, but considering the difficulty of the level, not many will get to appreciate them! Hopefully YouTube will provide a good complete video!

The Global Rankings for Trials HD went over 400,000 tonight! I wonder how many of those will buy the DLC too? All of them I hope! An awesome figure for about 7 weeks of release.

 

02/10/09 – Friday
9.00am – 7.30pm

 

Henry:

Must remember to see what is beneath Antti’s army cap he always wears, possibly a squirrel.

The design of the new skill game is fully underway now and lots of fun to build and test. A lot of fine tuning still remains to be done and getting every flipper plus its activation trigger correct is painfully slow. Skill games definitely require the most testing over racing tracks. So if a skill game is fun and simple to pick up and play then it’s because it has been a result of 100hrs worth of testing.

Thinking of growing a beard for the fast approaching winter but it’s getting itchy

 

Lee:

Yay! Finished my ‘Ride the Ball’ track today. Has some really nice decoration in it. I hope at least one person gets to see it all then others can watch the replay!

Saw the refinements Antti had made to my Dangerous Ride track. Actually they are minor and work really well. The ending is all new but also good. Achievement car section is now broken though and needs 10 seconds of fixing. Fixed my 4 Bit track. Refined some shapes to make them more 2D. Is a very unique track JSebbi said the custom camera for this track is now complete. I get to see it on Monday in the new build. I hope it also fixes the frame rate somehow as this could look amazing! I hope I don’t have to alter this track too much as it has a very specific style.

Got my Trials HD hoodie today. Considering how cold it’s getting in the mornings, it’s just in time! Looks great.

Got to see a sneak preview of a new Trials HD Premium Theme. Looks good, containing plenty of editor objects from the game and DLC. Perhaps another should have the bike doing stunts in it.

Started on my sixth track. Created some environments which look good for the theme of it. Will start on the racing line on Monday.

 

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