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FEATURE: 2009 GAME MIDDLEWARE SHOWDOWN VOL16NO7AUGUST2009 T H E L E A D I N G G A M E I N D U S T R Y M A G A Z I N E CINEMATIC CAMERAS DAMAGE ARBITRATION and the art of manipulation the quick and the dead 0908gd_cover_vIjf.indd 1 7/20/09 4:23:47 PM CONTENTS.0809 VOLUME 16 NUMBER 7 POSTMORTEM DEPARTMENTS 30 HIGH VOLTAGE'S THE CONDUIT 2 GAME PLAN By Brandon Sheffield [EDITORIAL] THE CONDUIT represents High Voltage's first major foray into the world of First-Person original IP, after years of making licensed product. The lack of an external license to guide their choices and a publisher to keep them on track 4 HEADS UP DISPLAY [NEWS] proved difficult—this postmortem provides good information for any The best game mods of 2009, Amiga Forever updates, company looking to make that leap. By Josh Olson and Eric Nofsinger the 2010 IGF submission timeline, and more. FEATURES 36 TOOL BOX By Andrew Jones, Tom Carroll [REVIEW] Corel Painter 11, Art DVD reviews 7 MIDDLEWARE SHOWDOWN More and more companies are using middleware to alleviate the pain 41 THE INNER PRODUCT By Noel Llopis [PROGRAMMING] of rising development costs. But there's not a whole lot of information Procedural Content Creation out there. Our survey shows what developers want from middleware, and which packages are most popular in each field. By Mark DeLoura 45 PIXEL PUSHER By Steve Theodore [ART] Check Out That Asset! 18 BANG! ARE YOU DEAD? Determining damage in online player-versus-player games requires 49 DESIGN OF THE TIMES By Soren Johnson [DESIGN] an arbiter, not only to make sure that hits are correctly scored, but Turn-Based Vs. Real Time also to circumvent cheaters. Sony's Ronald Roy shares some tips. By Ronald Roy 51 AURAL FIXATION By Jesse Harlin [SOUND] Retro Fitting In 23 THE FEARFUL EYE: CINEMATIC CAMERAS Most games don't really aim for cinematic excellence, preferring 56 ARRESTED DEVELOPMENT By Matthew Wasteland [HUMOR] instead to show as much of the game as possible. But it's possible Staying Sane to do both as this article proves through a careful dissection of the design considerations involved. By Chris Pruett COVER SOURCE ART: THE CONDUIT ART TEAM 1 GAME DEVELOPER | XXXXX XXXX WWW.GDMAG.COM 1 0908gd_toc_vIjf.indd 1 7/21/09 11:05:10 AM GAME PLAN // BRANDON SHEFFIELD www.gdmag.com Think Services, 600 Harrison St., 6th Fl., San Francisco, CA 94107 t: 415.947.6000 f: 415.947.6090 HFIERASDT-LPINERESON SUBSCRIPTION SERVICES FOR INFORMATION, ORDER QUESTIONS, AND ADDRESS CHANGES t: 800.250.2429 f: 847.763.9606 e: [email protected] IS IT REALLY MORE IMMERSIVE? EDITORIAL PUBLISHER Simon Carless l [email protected] TALKING WITH OUR PREVIOUS ART DIRECTOR horrible things going on around him? This goes back EDITOR-IN-CHIEF Brandon Sheffield l [email protected] recently, I recalled something I’d forgotten: First- to the “silent hero” dilemma that has existed ever PRODUCTION EDITOR person games can be quite intimidating. We tend to since role-playing made its way into the electronic Jeffrey Fleming l [email protected] accept it as a de facto viewpoint for several popular world, notoriously perpetuated by the Japanese ART DIRECTOR Joseph Mitch l [email protected] genres today, and it also saves developers from console RPG. SENIOR CONTRIBUTING EDITOR having to develop a camera system independent of Almost all first-person games have this sort of Jill Duffy l [email protected] the player’s control. But it is rather daunting, and has silent character—one whose only interaction with CONTRIBUTING EDITORS a high learning curve for those who haven’t already others is usually taking orders until they turn their Jesse Harlin l [email protected] Steve Theodore l [email protected] experienced many first-person games. backs, and then just shooting and collecting things. Noel Llopis l [email protected] The art director in question is a more casual That doesn’t seem inherently immersive to me. It Soren Johnson l [email protected] Damion Schubert l [email protected] player, and to her, first-person games seem can be, but it isn’t necessarily, as is often assumed. ADVISORY BOARD disorienting and conceptually difficult. Talking about Western RPGs like FALLOUT 3 (or earlier games like Hal Barwood Designer-at-Large this reminded me of my first FPS experience, in ULTIMA IV) do a somewhat better job by at least allowing Mick West Independent Brad Bulkley Neversoft WOLFENSTEIN 3D for the Atari Jaguar. This was my first the player to make some dialog choices, but still, the Clinton Keith High Moon Studios interaction (in perhaps '97 or '98) with a “real” FPS. I character isn’t you. Ryan Lesser Harmonix tried playing the game for about an hour, and came What makes a game immersive or otherwise is not Mark DeLoura Independent away dizzy and unable to read, because my eyes the viewpoint, of course; it’s the situations, external ADVERTISING SALES were jumping around on the page. characters, and tasks that get you involved. One of the GLOBAL SALES DIRECTOR This experience had me pretty convinced that characters I’ve identified most with is the boy from Aaron Murawski e: [email protected] t: 415.947.6227 first-person games weren’t for me, all the way until ICO, and he doesn’t even speak a real language. The MEDIA ACCOUNT MANAGER HALO 2 hit consoles and someone convinced me to give oppressive environments and his seeming innocence John Malik Watson e: [email protected] it another shot. Perhaps that’s not a good thing for an simply made him a sympathetic character. It’s difficult t: 415.947.6224 editor of Game Developer to admit, but it’s true. I have to empathize or identify with a camera or floating gun. I GLOBAL ACCOUNT MANAGER, EDUCATION AND RECRUITMENT since learned the power of the fir st-person viewpoint, can empathize with De Niro’s character in Once Upon a Gina Gross e: [email protected] in terms of what you can show on screen, and the Time in America, even though I don’t agree with what he t: 415.947.6241 interactions that become possible. But I spoke with a does, simply because his world is so well-realized, and I COORDINATOR, EDUCATION AND RECRUITMENT Rafael Vallin e: [email protected] few of my fellow editors, and several had recollections can see how he reacts to events. In first-person games, t: 415.947.6223 of difficulty penetrating that first-person wall. there is no reaction on the part of the character, and it ADVERTISING PRODUCTION The reason is likely that we are used to seeing becomes difficult to feel anything about him or her. games and movies play out before us in a third-person First-person games are incredibly important to PRODUCTION MANAGER Robert Steigleider e: [email protected] view. Having an avatar gives us a strong frame of the industry, and have moved many genres forward reference, and allows us to better navigate the world. If in significant ways. The viewpoint is doubtlessly here REPRINTS I see a little running guy, and I try to make him jump, I to stay, and I want to emphasize that I am actually a WRIGHT'S REPRINTS Ryan Pratt e: [email protected] can gauge that distance. If I have to jump in first-person fan of the concept. But I do think it’s worth taking a t: 877.652.5295 mode, where are my feet? Are they below the camera step back. I feel that as an industry we’ve come to our THINK SERVICES directly? How far can I jump, when everything feels own conclusion that first-person games are inherently like it’s based on my perspective? If I look up a bit, the intuitive and more immersive, simply by virtue of CEO THINK SERVICES Philip Chapnick GROUP DIRECTOR Kathy Schoback platform in front of me looks different than it did before. their camera position, and in spite of the problems CREATIVE DIRECTOR Cliff Scorso A 14-year-old boy will take the time to figure this they bring up. I would submit that just because we’ve AUDIENCE DEVELOPMENT out, and will wind up having an excellent experience. gotten used to this style of game doesn’t mean GROUP DIRECTOR Kathy Henry An older or more casual user will likely be much more everyone has. It’s important to realize that making a e: [email protected] daunted, and less inclined to even pick up such a title. first-person game almost necessarily means making DIRECTOR Kristi Cunningham e: [email protected] a game for the dedicated gamer. LIST RENTAL Merit Direct LLC t: 914.368.1000 THE IMMERSION QUESTION » Are first-person games inherently more BREAK DOWN THE WALL MARKETING immersive? A lot of developers seem to think so, » Innovations on the interface side could help SERVICES MARKETING COORDINATOR Laura Robison e: [email protected] but let’s take a second look. Consider the last time lower the casual block, perhaps through the Wii, you felt like you actually were the character in a Project Natal, or the PS3’s new motion controller (THE UBM TECHNOLOGY MANAGEMENT game you played. I’d be willing to guess that most CONDUIT does some work in this direction—see the CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER David Levin people will say “never.” We don’t generally take on postmortem on page 30). Regardless, it will take a lot CHIEF OPERATING OFFICER Scott Mozarsky CHIEF FINANCIAL OFFICER David Wein the role of the character we’re playing, except as of work and concerted effort to penetrate the casual CHIEF INFORMATION OFFICER Kevin Prinz children in imaginary play. What we do is identify audience with a first-person camera. The question is CORPORATE SENIOR VP SALES Anne Marie Miller SENIOR VP, STRATEGIC DEV. AND BUSINESS ADMIN. Pat Nohilly with the character—and how can you identify with whether we even need to, when there are so many SENIOR VP, MANUFACTURING Marie Myers a character you can’t see? A character that usually camera systems that games have yet to fully explore. doesn’t even talk, or have any opinions about the —Brandon Sheffield 2 GAME DEVELOPER | AUGUST 2009 WWW.CMPGAME.COM 0908gd_gameplan_vIjf.indd 2 7/20/09 4:24:28 PM We are tired of stupid zombies populating games. Help us and give ’em brain. Sign up NOW for FREE and download the NEW xaitment BrainPack SDKs Set up and control complex game logic in a few steps. Generate your perfect navigation mesh with a single click. Create realistic behavior in no time. Join the xaitment community now and turn your idea into a stunning prototype without paying any license cost. By signing up for free, you’ll receive our complete modular AI Engine plus our world-class support. Experience the future of next gen game technology and work with the smartest AI technology available. Contact xaitment today for more information about the BrainPack Program under [email protected] or visit our website www.xaitment.com 090414_8x10.75_developmag_3.indd 1 15.04.2009 0:55:18 Uhr HEADS-UP DISPLAY MOD SCENE 2009 NAVIGATING THROUGH THE DEPTHS OF MODDB’S MOD LISTINGS CAN BRING UP A MIXED BAG AT THE BEST OF TIMES. WE’VE SIFTED THROUGH THE ARCHIVES FOR YOU, AND FEEL THAT THESE MODS REPRESENT SOME OF THE BEST OFFERINGS RELEASED OR UP- DATED IN 2009. —Ryan Anderson, ModDB AGE OF CHIVALRY THE BALL THE HAUNTED RADIATOR HALF-LIFE 2 UNREAL TOURNAMENT 3 UNREAL TOURNAMENT 3 HALF-LIFE 2 www.age-of-chivalry.com http://theball.toltecstudios.com www.moddb.com/mods/the-haunted www.radiator.debacle.us Parry, stab, and slash your way to victory THE BALL has you exploring ancient Aztec- Zombies and demons will probably never RADIATOR is a series of short-form, in this medieval, class-based Source mod. style ruins and fighting the animated go out of style, and THE HAUNTED offers a experimental single player experiences. Not many mods pull off melee combat, remains of its former inhabitants with nice take on the subject in terms of both The first two episodes play on themes but AGE OF CHIVALRY provides a satisfying nothing more than a large, magical orb. The aesthetic and pacing. The quick arcade action of love, astronomy, memory repression, (and very gory) representation. Extensive game’s puzzles are nicely varied, and play rewards your kills with weapon upgrades and gay marriage. The mechanics in each Steamworks support makes this the on the connection between you and the ball; and teammate revival checkpoints keep of these episodes are quite limited, but first mod to offer detailed stats and it’s not until you wander into trouble without you from camping in any one place too long. the emotional impact justifies this artsy achievements. it that you realize how much of a friend it Gorgeous to look at, fun to play, and free (for mod’s placement on our list. really is. UT3 users)—what more could you ask for? THE NAMELESS MOD NEOTOKYO° PROJECT REALITY FALL FROM HEAVEN II DEUS EX HALF-LIFE 2 BATTLEFIELD 2 CIVILIZATION IV: BEYOND THE SWORD http://thenamelessmod.com www.neotokyohq.com www.realitymod.com www.civfanatics.com/ffh A colossal undertaking several years in the At first glance, NEOTOKYO° seems to be PROJECT REALITY is a mod that turns FALL FROM HEAVEN plunges you into a world of making, NAMELESS drops you into Forum City another COUNTER-STRIKE clone. Spend some BATTLEFIELD 2 into a perfect blend of arcade dark fantasy built on the mechanics behind as an avatar named Trestkon. The environment time with it and you’ll find there are several and simulation elements. Strategic planning CIVILIZATION IV. It adds an incredible amount itself is a “physical embodiment of Internet nuances that set it apart from the pack. The and team coordination are required, but of content; choose from two dozen different forums and bulletin boards,” but is filled with combination of vision modes and therm- the action focuses around specific capture factions—each with their own heroes, magic, just as much conspiracy and intrigue as the optic camouflage offers unique checks and zones. Utilizing a force of combined arms, religions and technology. There’s even a card- world of JC Denton. A branching, responsive balances, while the “Capture the Ghost” game whether it’s infantry, armor, or air support, is based diplomatic mini-game! FALL impressed storyline with high quality voiceovers and mode encourages tight team coordination. the key to winning. The best part: you don’t Soren Johnson (CIV IV Designer) enough high definition graphics upgrades make this Impressive visuals assembled by a team of have to spend half the match traveling to to write up an interview with the creators mod a must-play. industry pros speak for themselves. where the action is. (www.designer-notes.com/?p=120). THIRD AGE – TOTAL WAR EUROPE IN RUINS: REINFORCEMENTS MEDIEVAL II: TOTAL WAR KINGDOMS COMPANY OF HEROES/COMPANY OF EXPANSION HEROES: OPPOSING FRONTS www.twcenter.net/forums/ www.europeinruins.com forumdisplay.php?f=654 EUROPE IN RUINS transforms COH into a THIRD AGE is a fan-made imagining of the persistent environment in which you Lord of the Rings universe. A complete and command your own battalion. Experience detailed campaign map of Middle Earth, points carry over from previous battles, along with 12 factions straight from the allowing you to unlock new abilities and lore allow you to create large-scale battles increase your options on the battlefield. of epic proportions. The mod features a Custom maps and units tailored to plethora of other custom content, from EIR’s unique style of play make this a new voice work to cinematic cut-scenes deeper strategic experience than the that round out the entire experience. original game. = SINGLE PLAYER = MULTIPLAYER 4 GAME DEVELOPER | AUGUST 2009 0908gd_hud_vIbs.indd 4 7/20/09 4:19:39 PM 2010 INDEPENDENT GAMES FESTIVAL OPEN FOR SUBMISSIONS AMIGA FOREVER ORGANIZERS OF THE INDEPENDENT GAMES FESTIVAL (OWNED by Think Services, which also publishes Game Developer) AMIGA FOREVER, A ROBUST historical gallery; and Premium, emulator of Amiga software and which adds two DVDs comprising have announced that the 2010 edition of the venerable its operating system, has just 20 gigs of games, history, festival and awards show honoring the best in indie games, is released a new version for 2009. videos, and errata. open for submissions. (www.amigaforever.com) Cloanto, Some companies such as Finalists will be playable on the GDC 2010 show floor, and an Amiga developer since 1986, Factor 5 have made some of their winners will compete for almost $50,000 in prizes. The IGF is has updated the package with Amiga titles available for free on Windows 7 support, smaller file their own web site (www.factor5. an excellent place not only to get noticed, but also a place to sizes for games (using the RP2 de/downloads.shtml), and other launch a legitimate career as an independent developer. Below format), new system ROMs, and titles are legally downloadable is the timeline of dates for the competition. an enhanced focus on usability, a through a variety of sites such as traditional complaint from users Amiga Future and Amigaland. November 1st, 2009 – Submission Deadline, Main Competition of the software. Efforts to preserve classic November 15th, 2009 – Submission Deadline, Student Competition Amiga Forever runs almost game culture like this are to January 4th, 2010 – Finalists Announced, Main Competition all versions of Amiga software, be commended, though some January 11th, 2010 – Finalists Announced, Student Competition and most importantly, games. might argue it should be a free March 9th–10th, 2010 – Indie Games Summit at GDC The Plus Edition even supports service (those who feel that way March 11–13th, 2010 – IGF Pavilion at GDC the Amiga CD32, the ill-fated might try the UAE emulator: www. March 11th, 2010 – IGF Awards Ceremony (Winners Announced) CD-based home console. There amigaemulator.org). While the —Staff are three available packages: old ways of computing may be Value, which comes with the dead and gone, their legacies most common OS and 50 games resound throughout the game and demoscene productions and software industries, and are PAX 10 ANNOUNCED (respectively); Plus, which adds certainly worth revisiting. all ROM and workbench versions, THE PENNY ARCADE EXPO IS FRIEND TO ALL MANNER OF INTERACTIVE 100+ games and demos, and a —Brandon Sheffield creative endeavor, and to that end, the organizers have chosen the PAX 10, ten indie games that will be featured during the popular expo. The list was culled from over 150 entries, and is displayed below. CALENDAR CARNEYVALE: SHOWTIME by the Singapore-MIT GAMBIT Games Lab (Xbox 360) SIGGRAPH 2009 · Cologne, Germany http://digra2009. CLOSURE by Tyler Glaiel and Jon Schubbe (PC) · Ernest N. Morial · August 17–19 newport.ac.uk FIELDRUNNERS by Subatomic Studios (iPhone) Convention Center · Price: 180–795 LIIGHT by Studio Walljump (Wii) · New Orleans Euros PENNY ARCADE MACHINARIUM by Amanita Design (PC) · August 3–7 www.gdceurope. EXPO OSMOS by Hemisphere Games (PC) · Price: $45–1,175 com · Washington State PUZZLE BLOOM by Team Shotgun (PC) www.siggraph.org/ Convention Center TAG: THE POWER OF PAINT by Tag Team (PC) s2009 DiGRA · Seattle TRINO by Trinoteam (Xbox 360) · Brunel University · September 4–6 WHAT IS BOTHERING CARL? by Story Fort (PC) GDC EUROPE · West London · Price: $30–$55 · Cologne Congress · September 1–4 www.pennyarcade PAX 2009 takes place in Seattle from September 4–6. Center East · Price: £196–£372 expo.com —Staff WWW.GDMAG.COM 5 0908gd_hud_vIbs.indd 5 7/20/09 4:19:45 PM GameDevKnightAd0709_HR.pdf 7/6/09 10:18:43 AM C M Y CM MY CY CMY K M A R K D E L O U R A what middleware packages studios use and why THE CHOICE OF WHETHER TO USE LICENSED MIDDLEWARE LIBRARIES HAS TRADITIONALLY BEEN exploration before making too many decisions about the a controversial one. We engineers are a proud lot, and there is a long tradition of “do it yourself” game’s tech. that goes back to the days of single designer/engineers cranking out Atari 2600 games. Game It can be tough to narrow down the choices. Which engines have become quite massive as platform capabilities have increased, but many of us still libraries have proven the most useful? Which middleware want to be able to write all the engine code, and feel it is a badge of honor to do so. Why rely on companies are the best to work with? And how can you someone else? quickly evaluate a handful of libraries to find the one that These days, however, there are many useful libraries available—both free and licensed—and is best for your game? Unfortunately the answers to using them in your game can be a smart decision that frees you up to concentrate on building many of these questions are typically only found late at features that make your game unique. Instead of spending a bunch of time writing a cross-platform night over drinks with a friend. As one developer told us, audio engine and tools, perhaps you can just license one. Why rewrite the inverse kinematics code “It’s harder than it should be to find other developers to again if you can go out and buy a version that works reasonably well for your style of game? Of talk to who are using the tech.” course, there are financial considerations, and the available libraries may not do quite what you had A few months ago we put together a survey on game envisioned. But with so many options available, the wise team leader will do a thorough middleware engines and the results were quite useful. Many smart WWW.GDMAG.COM 7 0908gd_middleware_vIbs.indd 7 7/20/09 4:25:14 PM people were willing to share information and anecdotes about their experiences, knowing that Figure 1 platform the data would be anonymized, consolidated, and shared for the betterment of all. Here, we’ve done the same for middleware libraries. WHICH PLATFORMS ARE YOUR CURRENT PROJECT(S) FOR? DEMOGRAPHICS PC 68.6% » As with the game engine survey, the responders to our middleware survey skewed toward PLAYSTATION 3 61.9% the “core” game market. Over 100 senior developers from a variety of development houses XBOX 360 61.0% responded to the survey, and most were working on PC, PlayStation 3, or Xbox 360 titles. NINTENDO WII 32.4% Likewise, most considered their games to be more hardcore, but there was a heavy amount of MOBILE 21.0% casual games as well, with some crossover per developer. (See Figures 1 and 2.) XBOX LIVE ARCADE 20.0% PLAYSTATION NETWORK 18.1% CHOOSING MIDDLEWARE » What drives a developer to choose middleware over writing internal software? A majority SONY PSP 18.1% MAC 14.3% of the developers indicated saving time was the strongest motivation. The pressure to create a title of high production quality was indicated as the second strongest influence—as one WIIWARE 11.4% responder noted, although high-fidelity titles can frequently be created more quickly by using NINTENDO DS/DSI 10.5% middleware, for unique features of the game. “... [that] require doing something that off-the- shelf middleware isn’t really tuned for, we may do something in-house.” Fortunately, as that Figure 2 classifications same person noted, the ability to innovate within the constraints of middleware continues to grow each year. (See Figure 3.) HOW WOULD YOU CLASSIFY YOUR CURRENT GAME? The decision to use middleware is largely made by the technologists on a project—89% of CORE 63.5% responders called out engineers as the key influencers. Producers and other business managers CASUAL 44.2% also have an influence, but at a much lower level. (See Figure 4.) It's long been appreciated that using game engines and middleware libraries can get the SOCIAL 20.2% team up and running more quickly on the target platform during the development process, MMO 13.5% allowing artists and designers to mock up the game much earlier. Commenters noted, "While MOBILE 21.0% middleware is not perfect, it allows us to concentrate on the areas that really make our game different, rather than implementing basics. But programmers tend to not like [middleware] Figure 3 influences because it makes their lives more difficult (and the naïve ones think they can do it better)." The most straightforward way to evaluate potential libraries is to have an engineer sit HOW MUCH DO THE FOLLOWING FORCES INFLUENCE YOU down with each one and work with it, integrate it, and experiment with it—and indeed this is TO USE MIDDLEWARE (OUT OF 5.00)? called out as the most common solution. (See Figure 5.) But of course it is also extremely TIMELINE PRESSURES 3.87 slow and costly. “That costs a LOT of money, but it is better than learning too late that it’s the FEATURE-SET OR PRODUCTION wrong solution,” said one commenter. Another common technique for vetting the usefulness QUALITY PRESSURES 3.70 of a middleware library is to talk with other people who have used it. This is sometimes COST PRESSURES 3.37 easier said than done, since there are usually a lot of NDAs in the way. But icons on boxes, ABILITY TO SHARE TECHNOLOGY AND STAFF ACROSS PROJECTS 3.27 HELLGATE: LONDON made use DIFFICULTY OF FINDING STAFF of middleware from Havok. WITH APPROPRIATE EXPERTISE 3.10 ABILITY TO PURCHASE CUTTING-EDGE TECHNOLOGY 3.09 Figure 4 roles WHO MAKES THE DECISION WHETHER TO USE MIDDLEWARE OR NOT AT YOUR COMPANY? TECHNOLOGISTS 89.0% BUSINESS MANAGEMENT 36.3% PRODUCERS 31.9% ARTISTS 24.2% DESIGNERS 13.2% PUBLISHER 13.2% 8 GAME DEVELOPER | AUGUST 2009 0908gd_middleware_vIbs.indd 8 7/20/09 4:25:27 PM