Bioshock interview @TTLG

[mkreku]

Darque: postcount +1

Dark_Raven: postcount +1

metadigital: postcount +1

 

Added to discussion: BIG FAT ZERO.

 

 

 

mkreku: postcount +1

[Dark_Raven]

Lockdown the thread has run out of steam.

[Slowtrain]

Added to discussion: BIG FAT ZERO.

 

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

Without spam posts, gaming boards like this would barely be worth visiting.

 

spam is your friend. and it tastes good, too.

[Morgoth]

A general note about the video/Semi FAQ

 

The e3 video was a modified version of something we built in March for the first Game Informer cover piece. It was really the first bit of playable BioShock ever made.

 

We enhanced it for E3 and showed pretty much the same thing at Leipzig. It's now been retired for our new gameplay demonstration which we are slaving away on.

 

I'm saying this not to make excuses for anything you didn't like, because the videos out there and should be fair game to comment on and criticize. We put it out there to get people's comments on it. But for the crew here who are really into deeply discussing the game, I thought some notes might be helpful. Consider this the read me file for the E3 demo.

 

The look of the world of Rapture really solidified for the first time when we did this demo. Ditto water visual effects. However, the game has progressed substantially on the visual side since then. I think the next gameplay video will demonstrate what I mean.

 

The animation system is super rough. We're incorporating Havok's animation system mixed with IG's homebrew stuff.

 

All the voice acting came from an impromptu short session we did before the demo. The Little Sister will have a full suite of dialog, as will all the AIs in the game. Our goal is to have substantially more character dialog per character than even other IG games.

 

Weapon effects are first pass. We've just done a new rev on them. I think they are amazing now. Our goal was to exceed the weapon effects in Black, and I think we're going to achieve that (even adjusting for next gen)

 

Engine was entirely unoptimized. We've just finished our core optimization pass last week. As I mentioned another time, load times and performance were a key technical goal on BioShock.

 

Plasmid effects are first pass. They have been entirely replaced.

 

On screen and machine intefaces have not only been redone completely by a new artist, their functionality and feedback has been completely rethought. You'll see more of this soon (maybe I'll even leak a shot or two!)

 

There are 3 different big daddy's and a whole bunch of splicers in the game, plus skin, powers/weapons and even attachment variations (masks, hats, etc.).

 

We've hardly begun tune game controller/mouse stuff. It's just not something we do until later after we've done a ton of focus testing on our first pass.

 

One of the coolest visuals you're going to see down the road is views of the actual underwater buildings from windows in Rapture. That will be soon.

 

Regarding my voice: I'm not actually a serial killer, but I will be playing an evil clown vending machine in the game. I know you hope I'm kidding, but I'm not. I've also decided to use Jade Raymond from Assassin's Creed to do all our future PR work because she's way hotter than me.

 

 

OMG! That video was from the E3! And the next one will even look better.

 

But on top of that, Ken is gonna lend his voice for an evil clown vending machine!!! :cool:

[Darque]

[Hell Kitty]

Levine did sound rather sinister at times in the video.

[Morgoth]

I agree. That's why he's the perfect candidate for a clown! Man I hate clowns btw.... Watching It while being an eight year old did not make me love them.

[mkreku]

I've also decided to use Jade Raymond from Assassin's Creed to do all our future PR work because she's way hotter than me.

Now this sounds interesting. Who is she?

[Morgoth]

Now this sounds interesting. Who is she?

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

You can download an AC diary movie from Jade Raymond.

I tell ya, hawt game with hawt PR chick? Ubisoft definitively has a winner there! Irrational hopefully too....

 

Don't be sad Ken, we still love you.... as the clown vending machine, that is.

[Pidesco]

I have much more respect for the PR profession, now.

[Morgoth]

Yeah, Jade has a smile that let men drag down onto their knees.

[Morgoth]

EvilAvatar has a new two-part interview with teh man! Read Part1 and Part2 now!

 

And since uncle Morgoth is always good to you kids, I'm even gonna post an incredibly new screenshot here!

 

 

[Slowtrain]

That was an interesting interview, but I've yet to see anything about how Bioshock ias going to make people rethink the entire FPS genre. It still seems nothing more than a rehash of SS2. Perhaps the AI enhancements and better graphics will give it more impact on the gaming public than SS2 had And I still don't find the setting particuarly compelling.

 

Still, interesting to see how it turns out.

[Xard]

I love Art Deco style

[Morgoth]

That was an interesting interview, but I've yet to see anything about how Bioshock ias going to make people rethink the entire FPS genre.  It still seems nothing more than a rehash of SS2.  Perhaps the AI enhancements and better graphics will give it more impact on the gaming public than SS2 had  And I still don't find the setting particuarly compelling. 

 

Still, interesting to see how it turns out.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

While I myself would have prefered a Sci-Fi setting (heck lets just say Shock 3), I trust the devs that they know what they're doing and what they want to achieve. Do you rather want to see a System Shock 3 published by EA who only wants to see $$$ or a new IP that actually gets supported by it's publisher?

Oh and yes, System Shock 2 sucked graphically, and having Quake 3 and UT as competitors surely didn't help it to get any attention outside of hardcore gamers either.

But Bioshock is going to be a big-budget game now, with the latest and greatest Bells & Whistles so that the mass market gets attention too, but in it's core it's still about intelligent, emergent gameplay. Irrational would be fools to just turn it into a dumb clickfest FPS.

Edited December 3, 2006 by Morgoth

[Slowtrain]

^I wasn't meaning to sound down on Bioshock. This is the one game currently in development that I might make a leap of faith on and buy the day it is released.

 

 

I agree with almost all of Ken Levine's game development philosophies, and Thief and especially SS2 remain some of my favorite games. So if Bioshock is "only" as good as SS2 and does little more than rehash SS2 gameplay mechanics in a different world, that's more than OK with me.

 

And just becasue the setting doesn't particularly compel me now, doesn't mean it won't make for an interesting game in the end.

 

SOme of what Levine says appears contradictory however. He talks about creating a game that will make everyone rethink what an FPS is all about, but then he turns around and talks about hacking turrets, shooting cameras, and using different ammo types on different targets, all of which is really really old news. So I've yet to really figure out what part of Bioshock he is intending to be so redefining of the genre.

 

Maybe he just means that he hopes that Bioshock will bring the gameplay mechanics of SS2 to a much wider audience that may not be familiiar with them. Therefore while Bioshock may not redefine the genre for the relatively small number of gamers who have previous experience with SS2 or DX, it may help redefine it for a larger audience who is used to only Doom and Quake? Maybe?

 

I don't know. Its not very clear what he is attempting to say.

[Morgoth]

It's the AI baby, something System Shock 2 lacked or only tried to emulate via scripts. If the ecology really turns out as compelling and complex as Ken mentioned, the game will offer lots of surprises, which keeps the gameplay fresh. There's nothing worse than predictability in a game.

[Darque]

Or it could all come crashing down around the player leaving them with nothing.

[Diogo Ribeiro]

While I myself would have prefered a Sci-Fi setting (heck lets just say Shock 3)

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

I was pretty interested on the setting they first mentioned, an abandoned complex used by Nazis during World War II. While the setting isn't new to shooters or shooteresque games, the thought of all the Nazi horrors being given new life had me more on edge than sci-fi or even System Shock 3.

[Pop]

While I myself would have prefered a Sci-Fi setting (heck lets just say Shock 3)

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

I was pretty interested on the setting they first mentioned, an abandoned complex used by Nazis during World War II. While the setting isn't new to shooters or shooteresque games, the thought of all the Nazi horrors being given new life had me more on edge than sci-fi or even System Shock 3.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

So you... don't like the setting now?

 

The plot still seems to have plenty of nazi-licious potential. All that eugenics....

[Slowtrain]

It's the AI baby, something System Shock 2 lacked or only tried to emulate via scripts. If the ecology really turns out as compelling and complex as Ken mentioned, the game will offer lots of surprises, which keeps the gameplay fresh. There's nothing worse than predictability in a game.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

 

I agree. But I've heard so many devs claim ground-breaking AIs in their soon to be released games, but which turn out in the end to be just broken AIs.

 

the Dark engine which powered Thief and SS2 was quite good for its time in creating AI's that could respond to sound and motion. Combat AI's in games like FEAR and Far Cry are quite good and are not rare anymore.

 

Other devs have laid claim to emergent gameplay. I think Harvey Smith was big into that term when pimping DX2.

 

But, hey, somebody is eventually goign to get it right. Maybe that someone is Ken Levine and maybe that time is mid-2007!

 

w000t!

 

 

or something. :joy:

[Hell Kitty]

Maybe he just means that he hopes that Bioshock will bring the gameplay mechanics of SS2 to a much wider audience that may not be familiiar with them.  Therefore while Bioshock may not redefine the genre for the relatively small number of gamers who have previous experience with SS2 or DX, it may help redefine it for a larger audience who is used to only Doom and Quake?  Maybe?

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

I was thinking the same thing, because as you've mentioned, so far we have yet to see anything that hasn't been done before. Maybe it's nothing more then the fact that the graphics will match the gameplay this time around, as he has made the point of SS2 having low level graphics several times now.

 

Of course I read the article imagining Levine's serial killer voice, so what sticks out most is the fear I have that I will wake up at 3 AM and he'll be beside my bed ready to stab me.

 

As for the setting, I like the city under the sea about a bazillion and seven times more than and old nazi bunker. I find under the sea to be as scary and isolated as space ships of SS2, whereas being tucked away underground feels a hell of a lot safer.

Edited December 4, 2006 by Hell Kitty

[Tel Aviv]

Maybe he just means that he hopes that Bioshock will bring the gameplay mechanics of SS2 to a much wider audience that may not be familiiar with them.  Therefore while Bioshock may not redefine the genre for the relatively small number of gamers who have previous experience with SS2 or DX, it may help redefine it for a larger audience who is used to only Doom and Quake?  Maybe?

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Of course I read the article imagining Levine's serial killer voice, so what sticks out most is the fear I have that I will wake up at 3 AM and he'll be beside my bed ready to stab me.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Levine's the clown?! Jesus!

[metadigital]

It's the AI baby, something System Shock 2 lacked or only tried to emulate via scripts. If the ecology really turns out as compelling and complex as Ken mentioned, the game will offer lots of surprises, which keeps the gameplay fresh. There's nothing worse than predictability in a game.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I agree. But I've heard so many devs claim ground-breaking AIs in their soon to be released games, but which turn out in the end to be just broken AIs.

 

the Dark engine which powered Thief and SS2 was quite good for its time in creating AI's that could respond to sound and motion. Combat AI's in games like FEAR and Far Cry are quite good and are not rare anymore.

 

Other devs have laid claim to emergent gameplay. I think Harvey Smith was big into that term when pimping DX2.

 

But, hey, somebody is eventually goign to get it right. Maybe that someone is Ken Levine and maybe that time is mid-2007!

 

w000t!

 

 

or something. :joy:

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Alan Wake is multi-threaded, with a thread for AI, apparently.

[Slowtrain]

^I'm afraid I lack the supercomputer neccessary to run the aforementioned Alan Wake.