JUNE 2015

Eye For Games is about game design and development • • www.eyeforgames.com

TRIAL BY VIKINGlast life games

© 2015 Audiokinetic Inc. All rights reserved.

* Visit wwisecertification.com for details

Wwise is the most advanced, feature-rich interactive audio middleware for games, bar none. Whether you’re an indie or a multi-million dollar production, Wwise will work for you.

New in Wwise 2015.1Integration with Nuendo 7Profiler, RTPC & Vorbis EnhancementsIncremental SoundBank GenerationEvents triggering eventsSub-platform customizationAnd much more...

episode oneOnikira: Demon Killer

Hosts: Rai Sewgobind, Chad Fust, Tim Mitchell, Phillip Ash

ART DIRECTOR

Rai Sewgobind

COPY EDITOR

Jerry Kline

WRITERS & CONTRIBUTORS

Tom SchoenMax Simard Poirier

COVER DESIGN

Game: Trial by VikingDeveloper: Last Life Games

Eye For Games is a platform about game design and development where students, young professionals and developers can network and connect. By looking from different perspectives we provide inspiring, motivating and educative content.

EDITION SUPPORT

Creative UncutIndievelopmentKlei EntertainmentLast Life GamesMoon Studio - Gareth CokerPlaysaurus Switchblade Monkeys

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EFG magazine June 2015

For more information you can contact us at: contact@eyeforgames.com

Watch the episode here!

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GARETH COKERM U S I C & S O U N D

I N - D E P T H - C H A R A C T E R A N D A B I L I T Y D E S I G NSECRET PONCHOS

map of pages

Freedom of creativity in the game industry,

how much do you have?

16MORTAL KOMBAT XFeatured by Creative Uncut

Who is Ratchet? who is?

The appeal of Clicker Heroesauthor’s blog - Tom Schoen

Trial by Vikingin development

Art book special: Don’t Starvein depth - item / creature design

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RAI BLOG

WE ASKED... Do you feel at home in the game industry?

map of pages

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Ori and the Blind Forestby Max Simard Poirier - music & sounds

music & sound interview with Gareth Coker

These days you see games come and go, especially with the number of indie games coming out. With all these

new titles and IPs it’s hard to be able to create a vibe of sorts that will stick with the game and truly give it an

identity. In my opinion, I truly think music is the key to solidifying a game’s true identity and I find that indie

games are the breeding greed for truly innovative soundtracks. Unlike AAA games that must serve a greater

audience with “Hans Zimmer-esque” soundtracks filled with giant percussions, immense string sections, and

brass that can shake the very earth you walk on, indie games are able to take a chance on new blood and

actually explore the subtleties of music in interactive media.

Gareth Coker truly delivered an amazing soundtrack that gives Moon Studio’s game Ori and the Blind Forest a

true identity. I had a chance to talk with the composer about his score and how he went about creating and fine

tuning it. Having worked in film, advertising, and games, I was truly intrigued and had to speak to him about

his work on the game.

MSP: Given your background in film and advertising,

what brought you to games?

GC: An email! Moon Studios director Thomas Mahler

reached out to me before he was pitching Ori. I

scored the prototype of the game that was pitched

to publishers. Microsoft bit, and here we are.

Honestly, I’ve never had a preference one way or the

other between film, games, or advertising; they are

different mechanisms to tell stories, which is what I

enjoy doing the most through music.

MSP: Do you consider yourself a “gamer”? Did you

play a lot of games as a child?

GC: I am definitely a gamer, and have been since I was

four. My gaming days go back to the ZX Spectrum – a

machine most people outside of the UK won’t have

heard of. I also recall the times when cassette tapes

were used to load games. Thus, I have played a lot of

games, and I think that helps me get into the mindset

of what a gamer (even though they are all different)

might want or not want from their musical experience

when playing a game.

MSP: Over the course of your career you have

traveled a lot. Did any of these countries have an

impact on your compositions?

GC: It’s difficult to say whether one country in particular

had any more impact than the other, though I’d be

lying if I said that Japan didn’t have an impact, as I

lived there for 3 years. A lot of the influence happens

simply by osmosis. If you go to another country, really

embrace it, and go off the beaten path, you can really

gain a lot quite quickly, not just from music but from

all the different experiences you are likely to have

never had before. It’s all of those things that can help

you later on with writing music. The more you have to

draw on, the easier the creative process becomes – at

least for me.

MSP: How would you describe your experience in

school studying film composition?

GC: I had two chapters to this. At the Royal Academy

of Music, I gained a lot of the tools and foundation

knowledge required for this business; orchestration,

synth design, conducting, composition techniques,

writing to picture, and so on. At the University of

Southern California, it was the practical application of

those techniques. That said, film/game scoring is an

ongoing learning process. Our industry is constantly

evolving and changing; composers have to adapt.

Also, writing for orchestra is a lifetime’s study, never

complete! There is always something to learn from

each orchestral recording, that’s when you learn the

fastest.

MSP: Who do you thank most for all your motivation?

GC: This is an easy one. Simply put, without the

support of my parents, there’s no way I even get close

to being able to do this for a living. There aren’t really

any artists/creatives in our family, and yet they still

allowed me and gave me the space to follow what I

love doing.

MSP: Did you do something entirely different with

this soundtrack than what you’re normally used to

doing?

GC: I think the most unusual thing is that I was

given access to the game from the very beginning.

While I haven’t been writing music for the project for

four years, I’ve been able to play it throughout its

development. This allowed me to get a feel for how

the mechanics of the game worked, which gave me

ideas on the kind of pulse, drive, and momentum I

wanted to give to the music. Then when the visuals

came in gradually, that informed what kinds of

instruments I wanted to use for each main area of

“I think the most unusual thing is that I was given

access to the game from the very beginning.”

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the game. The long development time and constant

access to updated builds meant that when it came to

crunch time, not just me, but everyone had a great

feel and understanding of the kind of experience we

were trying to create for the game. It meant we could

get content out pretty quickly that was faithful to the

overall vision of the project, as everyone was totally

in sync.

MSP: Let’s say you get started on a score for a

video game, what is the first thing you do? How do

you start composing?

GC: If it’s available, I’ll always ask for a build of the

game. I think it makes life a lot easier if you can

really understand the mechanics of the game from an

early stage. Then I’ll try and dig into the story and

overall narrative arc of the game and also what the

director / development studio is trying to achieve.

Then it’s simply a case of writing, testing in-game,

and iterating, finding themes, discarding themes,

developing themes, testing again. The score as it’s

heard in Ori is simply the result of me playing the

game a lot, and then recomposing certain sections to

improve the overall flow. I think the earlier you can

play the game, even before you’ve written a note of

music, the easier it makes the creative process.

MSP: What was your initial reaction when you saw

the game in its development stage?

GC: The first time I saw the game was its prototype.

The game had a different look back then, a lot more

abstract, but the core mechanics of the game were

there and simply put, when I picked up the controller

and wandered around the world, I thought “This is

fun, beautiful, and challenging.” When you see those

three things, that’s often a promising sign for what is

to come.

MSP: Did you have a lot of collaboration and back

and forth with the sound designer on the game?

GC: Andrew Lackey was our chief sound designer

for the game, and while we never met in person, I

feel like we had some kind of a telepathic link

throughout the game’s development. We never really

got in each other’s way, and rarely found music and

sound competing for space. Our ideas meshed very

well from the beginning. A simple example of this

regarding the music is the fact that there is very little

untuned percussion in the score. This is because Ori’s

sound effects sort of act as the percussion section. I

thought, “Why bother getting in the way of them?’”

This was one of the things we discovered early on in

the game’s development, and taking away the option

of having untuned percussion meant I could focus on

other ways to give the music rhythmic energy, which

we largely did through tonal pulses, rather than tribal

drum rhythms.

MSP: What do you like about indie games?

GC: I can’t really compare the indie game experience

to the big studio game experience, but one of the

things I liked about Ori was how easy it was to interact

with other members of Moon Studios, and also, as I’ve

alluded to already, having the constant access to all

the development builds of the game. Even though they

weren’t my personal programmers, it felt like Willem

Vos and David Clark (who handled the majority of

the music implementation) were always just a Skype

message away. It felt like whatever I asked for it was

handled within a matter of hours, if not minutes! I

really liked the openness of the studio. It was very

easy to get feedback, both good and bad, on your

work!

MSP: Do you often let yourself get inspired by other

forms of artistic expression like books, visual art,

etc.?

GC: We are lucky to have some fantastic museums and

art collections in Los Angeles. LACMA (Los Angeles

County Museum of Art) almost always has something

new and interesting to look at, and I always have fun if I

go to the California Science Center. I find I get inspired

by not just art, but also knowledge and stories. The

world has a rich history, and frankly, there is so much

of it that I know comparatively nothing about. A good

story for me, whether it’s expressed in a painting, a

book, a documentary or a film, is something that can

often kickstart a good idea.

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MSP: When is it you feel you are the most creative?

GC: It’s either the middle of the night, or first thing in

the morning, depending on my sleep pattern, which

varies greatly. I am not creative in the afternoon,

so that time is usually reserved for tasks that don’t

require the creative side of my brain. Of course, the

other thing that always inspires creativity is the ticking

clock that represents your deadline!

MSP: Is there anything in particular (or anyone)

that inspires you constantly?

GC: I generally don’t have to look too far for inspiration.

Great art and music is never far away. Personally,

I never tire of hearing the work of the composer

Maurice Ravel. There is a beauty to his orchestral

work that is also very accessible to the untrained ear.

I can put a work by Ravel on, read the score, and I’ll

almost always find something new that interests me.

MSP: Do you have a quick fix for writer’s block?

GC: Writer’s block is the worst! But I have found that

if I am struggling for an idea, I simply fall back on to

techniques that I learned and it can often get me out

of a hole. Some of the best advice given to me, was “If

in doubt, play the tune.” That is, if you’re struggling

in a scene, if you play the melody it can often get you

through that scene. It generally works, although the

one caveat is that you need a good melody in the first

place!! The other thing that I find that is very effective

is getting some exercise; I usually choose to play

tennis or go for a run.

MSP: If there was one game you could go back in

time and create the soundtrack for, what would it

be?

GC: I am a huge sci-fi fan, and I love the world that was

created by Bioware for this game series - I would love

to go back and do Mass Effect. That said, it’s tough

to imagine music any different from what is in the

game now, but it sure is fun to think about musically

conceptualizing a gigantic new world/galaxy like that

one!

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Freedom of creativity in the game industry, how much do you have?by Rai Sewgobind - blog

I am not a feminist, but I do believe in equality. I have an opinion, I have a point of view, and

if I would like to see something changed in the game industry then I do this as a gamer,

not as a feminist who is targeting the game industry.

Recently I read a Gamasutra interview with Koji “IGA” Igarashi:

“The most difficult thing for me was changing the main character

to a woman.” The first thing I thought when reading this was

what his reason was, because to me it sounded like he had to

force himself into making this decision. But then I read this:

“Americans really love tough female characters. It’s also a

country where a lot of questions and problems about gender are

currently being advanced, and there’s many people who believe

‘there’s been nothing but male heroes in video games; please

make games with both genders.’

“Many people who believe that there’s nothing but male heroes

in video games?”

I think I know who he is talking about and it’s not “many people”

- it’s a certain group of people. And this certain group of people

does not speak for a certain other group of people even if both

groups play video games. So why should that certain group have

the upper hand and result in an artist making a decision that

took away his freedom of deciding the gender for his game?

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Gamasutra interview resource

http://www.gamasutra.com/view/news/244376/Bloodstaineds_female_lead_Miriam_reflects_the_games_audience.php

Another thing Koji “IGA” Igarashi said in the interview:

“I think having a female hero is more motivating

to male gamers, and I think women would like to

control a female avatar, too. Including both genders

as protagonists would have been way too much work

for us to handle, so we decided on making the hero a

woman.”

I know that it is pretty much not acceptable anymore

these days when a developer explains that it is simply

too much work to put both genders as protagonists.

Yet they decided to change the hero into a woman. It

looks to me that male gamers easily accept a female

hero more than female gamers accept male heroes. I

wonder how many non-gender targeted video games

with a female protagonist have been supported by

women. To me this is not equality.

At this point I would also like to ask Igarashi, “How

much freedom do you give yourself when creating a

game that comes from your heart, from your passion?”

If you are a part of the game industry then you’ve

already figured out how certain things work. How triple

A companies and publishers have their own business

model, did their research, and have their target

audience set. And you also know how independent

game developers have their bowl of noodles and their

piece of freedom. But do you really think that both

types have the same level of freedom?

Feminists started with fighting for equality, but all I am

seeing now is an excuse. I am a gamer, I am woman, I

am a woman doing business in the game industry. I do

not call myself a girl-gamer AND yet I do support video

games having female and male protagonists.

Maybe you shouldn’t take things so personally in video

games. Imagine if male gamers would do that...

To all game artists and developers out there (who have

the freedom): give your idea, creativity, and decisions

the needed priority. Work from there together with

your community, because they will enjoy your game

regardless of its genders.

Yesterday I was Fem Sheppard.

Today I am Geralt of Rivia.

Tomorrow I am Kirby.

But I am always myself, enjoying video games.

- Rai Sewgobind, Founder of Eye For Games

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F E A T U R E B Y

C R E A T I V E U N C U T

MORTAL KOMBAT Xc o n c e p t a r t

a r t i s t sMarco Nelor, Justin Murray, Bernard Beneteau, Solomon Gaitan,

Atomhawk Design

feature | creative uncut

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in depth

I N D E P T H

CHARACTER ANDABILITY DESIGNin Secret Ponchos

Hi there, my name is Jose Lopez, I’m the Art

Director on Secret Ponchos. My main role was

to give the game a stylized look in the visual

side, mainly through character design.

Jose LopezArt Director on Secret Ponchos

Yousuf MaparaCreative Director on Secret Ponchos

CHARACTER DESIGN

We kicked off the game with five different characters: Phantom Poncho, Kid Red,

Killer, Matador, and Deserter. Each one of them has a very unique look and fighting

style. We started with the cowboys, Killer and Kid Red, which fit the more familiar

western persona. Phantom Poncho added a bit of Mexican flare with the Day of the

Dead mask and charro suit. Then to venture out a bit and spice up our line up, we

added civil war fighter Deserter, and for our female character The Matador, adding

some Spanish beauty.

On our second wave we introduced two great characters Gordo and The Wolf.

Gordo has a huge presence, he’s massive with a great silhouette and his Gatling

gun is pretty much part of the character; the overpowering weapon looks great

while firing. And the Wolf, she is lethal and quite different from the rest, the wolf

fur she has wrapped over her body makes her look like the real animal as she

crawls thru the maps ready for another kill.

Hello, my name is Yousuf Mapara, I am the

creative director on Secret Ponchos, so I oversee

the game creatively, and design the gameplay

and mood of the game.

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INSPIRED BY ANYTHING SPECIFIC?Yes. They all originated from real wild west characters but the main inspiration

comes from the countless western films we’ve seen all our lives that we love so

much.

DEVELOPMENTWe made sure that the game was cohesive, and that all characters would fit into

that time period of the Wild West. We referenced the western films that we love,

weapons, costumes, and started making a list of what fits our outlaw needs. But

mainly we wanted to give each one of them a specific personality and history, so

we wrote character bios describing their back story and attitude. From there we

looked at how they would carry through from a fighting style and game play. We

always made sure all the elements were accomplished. We never just settled on a

character just because it was a good design.

TRY TO DO ANYTHING UNIQUE WITH EACH CHARACTER?From my end I just wanted to design characters I would love to draw and that

hopefully people react to. Another thing is the weapon they carry. It became

essential to the design to know what he or she would be packing, it set the tone

on who the were, what they been through, and how they fight.

SCRAPPED IDEASWe had a few good ones that didn’t make the first cut but that doesn’t mean they

are out completely. Once we picked the number of characters we were going to

be able to put in the release of the game, we looked at them as a group: how they

looked together, fight each other, and try to feed looks that cater to different type

of players. So the original band of five we had was the most diverse on its own,

and at the same time worked the best together for our the first wave of the game.

FAVORITE CHARACTERPhantom Poncho! The character carries the look of the game like no other I believe.

The way we stylized all the familiar elements in design plus adding touches of

mystery make him very special.

“I just wanted to design characters I would love to draw and that hopefully

people react to.”

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ABILITY DESIGN

We focus on making sure each outlaw plays totally different from the others, and

that these changes affect how you use your outlaw strategically. Each character

has a primary and secondary weapon, and within those weapon types you can

launch different moves, usually two or three. For example Kid Red wields dual

pistols, he can shoot them rapidly one after another, or you can use his alternate

fire where he blasts both at the same time into the chest of an enemy, knocking

them down and stunning them.

Aside from the moves, characters also have very important subtle differences that

affect how they play. For example, one outlaw may regenerate stamina slower

than another, making each point more valuable to them. They all have differnent

strengths and weaknesses in how they perform their fundamental actions, so it’s

not just their special abilities that set them apart.

INSPIRATION AND IDEASI draw inspiration from the character art Jose creates, and use the inspiration of

their personalities that we imagine. We make a list of moves that would suit that

attitude of the character, and then we make sure to compare that set overall with

the entire set to make sure they work as a unit. Before I finalize the short list of

moves, another important step is I try and get the character’s basic locomotion

working (walk cycles, runs, etc), so I can run around in game and try and visualize,

looking at the model and pretending I’m doing the attacks.

It’s not just one move at a time you worry about though, because all the moves

need to work together as a set, and then that character needs to work well with the

other characters as a larger set, so this stage is really important. Once I have the

moves in my head shortlisted, I start animating them. The animations themselves

give me more information and sometimes the moves change slightly at this phase.

Once I’m happy with them we prototype the gameplay and test that it’s all coming

together.

“ We try and keep the moves feeling “physical”

and grounded in a spaghetti western theme. ”

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in depth

We try and keep the moves feeling “physical” and grounded in a spaghetti western

theme. The other big factor we go by is “everything has a cost,” so that you are

constantly making strategic decisions when playing about what the risk for a

certain move is. Even something as simple as a dive roll has a trade off - it costs

stamina. If you’re too aggressive you might not be able to make an escape. If you

miss a heavy attack, you might be caught in a recover animation where you are

sliding across the dusty ground for a second and vulnerable to a counter attack.

In Secret Ponchos there is constant decision making going on during the battle,

which creates the gameplay.

VISUAL VERSUS TECHNICALWe typically start with the visuals (which is a different way of working than most

studios), and the attitude of the character to inspire the context of the attacks. We

try and understand first the overall rhythm we want the character to play at, and

the last step is then defining the technical details (i.e. is it a stun/wound/range/

are-of-effect). The technical details change a lot during iteration, but usually the

rhythm and concept of the character stay as the anchor.

ANY SCRAPPED ABILITIES?Yes lots! Every character has had scrapped ideas. We explore a lot of ground

before picking what we think works the best. Though it would be awesome to

make it perfect the first time, as we develop the outlaws, we see ways to make

them better. For example, Gordo had a move where he could spit alcohol onto an

opponent, and the next shot landed on them would ignite them into flames. He

could also plant his peg leg down and pivot on it shooting his gatling gun in circles

quickly! We cut those moves in favor of others, but they would be pretty fun.

FAVORITE ABILITY?Killer’s knife throw is my favorite ability at the moment, especially when landed

from super long range. If you hold down R2 while you throw his knife, the camera

attaches to the knife and follows it as it spins through the air. You can bank the

knife a little left or right to curve the trajectory as if he put a spin on it, and it’s

really satisfying to connect with a target who is running from it.

THANK YOU FOR SHARING YOUR PASSION WITH US!No problem. A lot of people do not know the background of how this game was

made, but Secret Ponchos was not made by a big studio, we’re the opposite! A tiny

group of friends working out of our homes. We started collaborating together as a

passion project only because we were excited to make a game that was fresh and

that we would want to play. We hope you and your readers enjoy the gameplay

and the art style, and feel we brought something fresh to the combat game scene.

Switchblade Monkeys Secret Ponchos

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in depth

Do you feel at home in the game industry?

Eye for Games asked the community if they feel at home in the games industry and if there are certain things that could demotivate their passion. Here’s what

our community had to say about it.

Rai Sewgobind - founder, Eye For Games

I do feel at home in the industry because that’s

where my passion lies. This is what best connects me

with people working in the industry, and even other

gamers.

I’ve been working on game development on my

own for over 10 years and have a couple of released

games, but I still feel like an outsider from an industry

perspective. Maybe I’m just anti-social, but I generally

find the game development community intimidating

to enter.

That’s not to say that the game industry in general

has a bad community, as it can be both motivating

and de-motivating. I think it’s important to realize

that while you’re excited about what you’re working

on, so is everyone else with their own projects. One

needs to show interest to get interest.

I think it really depends on the person. Having

passion for something you’re working on is certainly

a key ingredient and I think something that is so often

From a media platform, yes there’s enough that can

demotivate me. It can get pretty tough since we’re still

a very small outlet. Knowing that we are still growing,

improving, and have the support of our community

helps a lot.

lost in the process as one becomes overwhelmed.

Staying motivated is such a large challenge and

proper motivation can often come from the simplest

sources. The game industry in general can be both a

big motivating and demotivating factor depending on

who and how you approach.

For me a big motivator and demotivator is following

other projects development. This can be very inspiring

and motivating, but can sometimes have the opposite

effect of feeling like you’re nowhere near what others

are capable of.

Tim Pelham - CEO at Nitrous Butterfly

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Around developers definitely. I love passionate,

intelligent people, and we have an industry that’s rife

with them. Upper management/executives make me

feel uncomfortable, but I understand that I am the

passion/creative side and they are the money/value

side. We need each other - most of the time.

I think passion is fantastic but working in games

is a continual learning process. Being passionate

and staying a student are what make great game

developers. There are always new approaches,

methods, and techniques to add to our repertoires.

“They will rot your brains,” “You’ll never get a

girlfriend playing those all day,” “Good luck getting a

job in games.”

These were all things I heard growing up. Yet, never

did I imagine I would be working with some of the

nicest individuals, in an industry I love. I’ve always felt

The most demotivating thing about the industry is

the double-sided sword that is your value as a game

developer. On one hand you can be highly sought

after for your experience, knowledge, and skill set,

but at the same time our skill sets are usually feature

or project specific. Once those skill sets become

unnecessary so do we. I liken it to an athlete - you are

valuable when you have an immediate need and are

nothing more than a waste of space at most studios

when you have fulfilled said need.

welcome in the gaming industry, for the most part,

because of the shared passion we all have.

Whether it is a cry of victory or groan of defeat, it’s

our love of games which unites us, and honestly has

led to the strongest professional and personal bonds

I’ve experienced.

I definitely feel at home in the game industry. I love

playing games by myself and with groups of friends

just as much as I love making games. Going to big

game events like GDC is one of the biggest things I

look forward to all year. To hang out with so many

gamers and developers and talk about games for a

whole week is pretty awesome.

It is definitely going to take more than just passion.

Of course, passion for being a part of something as

awesome as the games we all create will help you to

find ways to get everything you need.

Nothing makes me rethink about being in the game

industry. There are several things that demotivate

me and slow me down when working on projects.

Especially when starting a new project. Putting in

hours and not getting any sleep, then morning comes

and it does not look like you did much from a visual

perspective. But, once the pieces all start coming

together and people are wanting to play it, it's all

worth it.

Brian Faulkner - Program Designer/programmer at iFF_Games

Jonathan Jennings - Unity Developer at Fuel Games

Christopher Anthony Conrad - Director Business Development - Americas at Mobecan

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Name:

Birth year/age:

Birthplace:

Gender:

Height:

Weight:

Race/species:

Haircolor:

Eyecolor:

Skin color:

Special:

Combat style:

Primary weapon(s):

Primary enemy:

Goal:

Support/Associates/sidekicks:

Ratchet

15 years old (first series)

Fastoon

Male

5’1 (155 cm)

97.5lbs (44.3kgs)

Lombax

Yellow

Green

Yellow/orange/brown

Bomb glove

Somewhat acrobatic - slashing

Large Wrench

Drek

To save the Solana Galaxy

Clank

"Son of a Qwark!" - Ratchet

Initially, various designs for Ratchet were made-first showing cat-like

features, but then changed to more dog-like features. For his final design

it looked like two different animal features were combined and refined.

Ratchet’s personality sometimes appears different than how he looks

from the outside. He isn’t afraid to make his opinion clear, which often

brings his headstrong personality to the front.

His confidence takes him, along with his robot buddy Clank, on a mission

to save the Solana Galaxy. This adventure also shows off Ratchet’s

comedic side.

RATCHETwho is?

by Tom Schoen

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who is?

T H E A R T A N D D E S I G N O F V I D E O G A M E S - A R T B O O K S P E C I A L

Klei Entertainment

DON’T STARVE

T O P I C S :C H A R A C T E R A N D I T E M D E S I G N

This article first appeared in "The Art of Design of Video Games," a book EFG published in 2014.

in depth

Klei Entertainment

DON’T STARVE

T O P I C S :C H A R A C T E R A N D I T E M D E S I G N

Alex SavinArtist / Animator

Kelly Graham Artist

I’m Alex Savin and I am an artist/animator on Don’t

Starve. There was only between one and three artists

on the project at any given time, so we tended to jump

around a lot. We’d do all types of art assignments

needed for the game whether it be concept art,

character design, animation, UI, etc.

Hey! I’m Kelly Graham, also an artist on the Don’t

Starve team. Like Alex said, on a small team you are

a Jack-of-all-trades! We had new content updates

every three weeks so maintaining the art style and

gameplay consistency was sometimes a challenge.

I’d test out new features and try to work with the

designers as much as I could before release so that

things looked and felt right in game.

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Alex: We looked at a lot of different sources for inspiration. Early

Tim Burton, H.P. Lovecraft, Lemony Snicket, Jim Henson, Jules

Verne, Edward Gorey, and a ton of art blogs just to see what

else was out there. I’m sure I’m forgetting a dozen more. Our

process for designing creatures was fairly loose. We’d come up

with interesting looking shapes or mashup a couple of different

animals. How about if this bird’s body was a huge eyeball and

it walked on stilt-like legs? Okay! Let’s give the rabbits horns -

done!  

I N S P I R A T I O N

Kelly: Yeah, the theme became combo-creatures pretty quickly! I

think that really helped give a familiar sense to the Don’t Starve

creatures and how you should interact with them but still gave

you room to be delighted/weirded out by them. Chester was

designed as a furry mobile treasure chest which upon first glance

you’re like, “What the crap is that thing?!” But we animated him

to bounce around with his tongue out and follow you like a dog,

so then you love him.

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Alex: Sometimes we would just design a weird and creepy

creature and the game designers would find a suitable use for

it in game. The Deerclops was an example where we designed

the character and then came up with a use for him afterwards.

Other times the game designers wanted to fill a missing role

and we’d design a character based on their input. The Treeguard

was created to prevent players from cutting whole forests down

without consequences, and the monkeys were created so that

you couldn’t leave your items out on the floor without having

them stolen.

D E S I G N

Kelly: In general, we tried to keep with the eerie, cute theme and

avoided anything too spacey looking. In some cases, with both

creatures and items, we’d just be hashing out stupid ideas and

if something made us chuckle (and could be remotely useful in

game) we’d throw it in!

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Alex: At first we brainstormed the different

things we could make from just the basics

like berries, carrots, monster meat...we

quickly realized that you can only make

so much interesting food with those

combinations. From a visual perspective,

it isn’t very interesting just to see different

lumps of cooked vegetables or meats, so

we focused on designing cooked items

that were visually distinct from one

another, like the square waffles or the

round meatballs, trying to get quickly

recognizable shapes and make it look like

a delicious hunger-replenishing meal!  

Kelly: There’s over 300 items in Don’t

Starve that you can craft, cook, or just

pick up in the wilderness. It was more

challenging than I anticipated to design

so many distinctive and delicious looking

food dishes that read as tiny icons. I

would sometimes browse through recipe

images to get ideas. Or sometimes I

would be like, “Mmm, perogies.” And then

I would draw perogies.

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Klei Entertainment Don’t Starve

Alex: The Pigman concept was there even in the

original pitch. The idea was for them to be a non-

threatening species that you could interact with

that would positively or negatively affect your

world. Based on that, we made them upright,

bipedal creatures with primitive human qualities.

We went through a few re-designs. At one point

they had white eyes, but they looked too creepy

to befriend. We also scaled them down to be

about the height of Wilson because they were

menacingly large before. After the first color pass

they looked too “clean” so we gave their skin a

texture that made them more filthy looking and

pig-like.

P I G M A N D E S I G N

Kelly: I like that the Pigmen break up the

loneliness in Don’t Starve. They have these fancy

little houses and try to talk to you like cavemen,

but then you’re battling spiders together like bros

and you feel a little less alone.

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In May 2015, the event Indievelopment took place in

the Netherlands. This is a great event highlighting

the Dutch game industry. Lots of game developers

and game related companies had the chance to

show their best products, and so did we.

It might sound a bit strange to have a booth as a

media/press platform, but if you know Eye For Games

then you know that we have a lot more to offer. In

fact, our booth showcased a few art pieces from

different developers from all over the world, which

also made a good test for the students to guess the

title of the game.

But what made me really proud and excited was being

able to listen and give advice to people who were

looking for it. It’s such a great thing when talking to

people who are interested in the games industry and

ending up in a long and good conversation. And this

was another thing the EFG booth proved to be - a place

where you can get inspired, motivated, and educated.

This was a great opportunity for us and we hope to

get this opportunity on bigger events in the future!

Like I said to our visitors, join our community! The

bigger we are and the bigger we get means we can do

more and give more.

AT AN EVENT AS A PRESS BOOTH?

Yep, this was pretty much the booth. But these images and the art book

said plenty enough to attract people from all corners! Rai had to work

with the tools she had at home and her tight budget to get this semi

game art gallery at Indievelopment.

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Since we are now in the middle of some new

developments some of our monthly content has

been delayed. But it's not all bad news! In fact we are

planning to spice things up with the EFG Podcast and

we're sharing this exclusively with you today!

We are planning to share our episode schedule with

you in advance so you can decide if you would like to

be the guest host on a specific episode. In this way

you can add, discuss, or share your point of view on

different topics.

So whenever you see the podcast episode schedule

posted on our Facebook page just join the discussion

and leave a comment.

YOU COULD BE OUR GUEST-HOST ON AN EPISODE!

w w w . f a c e b o o k . c o m / E y e F o r G a m e s

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I N D E V E L O P M E N T

by Jerry Kline - in development

in development

In a few words, what is Trial by Viking?Trial by Viking is a side scrolling action adventure,

where you play as a morally conflicted viking working

as an agent of Odin in the worlds of the Norse gods.

What are the primary goals of the game?You start off knowing very little about the world that

Odin has pulled you into. He has instructed you with

the vague goal of collecting shards of an ancient

shattered Sunstone originally forged by the gods. You

quickly learn that these shards will also allow you to

choose special gifts from Odin, which will grant you

new abilities. You will need many of these abilities to

progress in the game, much like a Metroidvania. You

will also need to make some friends who will help you

along the way as well. For instance, you may make

a valkyrie friend who picks you up for a few of the

levels, and now all of the sudden you are steering a

flying valkyrie through the game! In the end however,

you will find the main goal of the game is to decide

the fate of the cosmos through your choices and

actions. You will get to make some narrative decisions

throughout the game, which when combined will

decide the game’s ending and the final boss you

face. I think that may be as much as I can say without

spoiling some of the later plot points.

Can you tell us about some of the movesets and skills the player will be able to use in the game?You start off the game with an axe that Odin has

enchanted for you. You will be able to use the axe as

both a ranged throwing weapon, as well as a melee

weapon with combos. You will then have opportunities

to upgrade your axe’s enchantments. In the case of the

frost axe enchantment, it will even allow you to freeze

enemies and jump on their heads when needed. You

then have an assortment of secondary and passive

items you can use, which range from double jumps

and wall jumps, to bombs and a grappling hook.

There are also various temporary power ups you can

find in the form of potions in the levels, which can

do things like slow time (more so for bad guys than

yourself), or make your character miniature sized so

you can fit through tiny passageways.

What were some of the inspirations for Trial by Viking? Did you look at any other games to get inspiration or ideas for how the mechanics of the game should work?This game honestly started off as a mix between Cut

the Rope and Ghosts and Goblins. It has of course

evolved into something entirely different since then,

but you will still see some light puzzle elements that

involve cutting ropes. You will see elements inspired

by the fast-paced action of the Super Mario Wii U

games; the upgrades and idea that equips can double

as both weapons as well as keys to access new areas

from the Metroid games; the combat style of Rogue

Legacy, and writing style and narrative decision

making in Telltale’s episodic games.

The game seems to emphasize exploration as opposed to a more linear level design, is that correct? Why did you choose to make the game emphasize exploration, as opposed to a more linear world?I love both linear, more action oriented games, as well

as explorative, more discovery oriented games. I also

like variety in games. No one likes doing the same type

of thing over and over, so I really made a point to go

back and forth between the two styles of levels within

the same game. In the exploration focused levels,

you will find a bit slower pace where you may need

Thanks for taking the time to speak with me Jerry. My name is Dustin Hendricks, and I am the designer,

programmer, and writer for the upcoming game Trial by Viking.

Dustin HendricksDesigner, programmer and writer on Trial by Viking

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to solve a few puzzles. Those puzzles may involve

a bunch of different game objects that can interact

with each other in various ways almost like a Rube

Goldberg machine. For instance, you may need to

set off an explosion chain reaction with a bomb that

opens a passage to a switch that turns on an air vent,

allowing you to cut a crate suspended in the air by a

rope, and push the crate up onto a ledge (using the

air vent) which has a pressure plate on it, which opens

the door to a trove of sunstones. Something like that

anyways. These levels of have a fair amount of action

though as well. The specifically action focused levels

however are more just you trying to run as fast as you

can to the end while surviving a whole lot of enemies,

hazards, and jumps. Those levels are great if you have

a heavy left thumb like me and like to run.

Why did you choose to go for a Nordic / viking theme for the game? Was that a decision made early on during development, or did it come to you later?The Nordic/viking theme was one of the very first

things decided. If you go back in time on my Twitter

timeline, you might see a few super early prototype

images that show the viking main character back

at the end of 2013 when I first started creating the

game. I’ve always loved vikings and Norse mythology.

The mythology really has some of the most complex

interwoven stories and fantastical ideas I’ve ever

delved into. I really like the idea that the Norse gods

are flawed just as we are, and have moral struggles

similar to our own. It is such a rich source to draw

inspiration from. I was also heavily inspired by a (new

at the time) fictional television show called Vikings

on the History channel. It has some really well done

writing, and characters that you can’t help but love.

There is some really cool work being done there.

Although I have been seeing more and more viking

themed games in development lately, and I really

hope that vikings do not become the new zombies

of games.

What engine are you using to build Trial by Viking, and why?I am using Unity3D as the engine. I think most major

engines can create similar quality games in the hands

of the right people. I see many questions posted to

forums and Facebook groups asking which is the best

engine, and it’s really what you do with the engine

that matters most in my opinion. I think Unity often

gets a bad rap because at some point it attracted more

novice game makers, and so there are a good number

of lower quality games being released that use it.

The deciding factors for me were price and export

capabilities. I wanted to be able to be on as many

platforms as possible without going broke. There are

a lot of small caveats when it comes to using Unity

however, that take time to learn, like how to warm up

your shaders or to avoid using functions with “Stay”

in them when possible. The system itself is really

powerful however, and I love the component, prefab,

and drag and drop to public variable capabilities.

What are some other essential tools and programs you’ve been using for development?Well, I use some common programming classes,

like one for generating hash values, and one for

serializing objects into JSON for save files and internet

communication. I also built some Unity Editor scripts

that help with quick exports. For instance, one script

removes all unneeded levels and resource files, builds

a demo build, then replaces those files, all with just

one push of a button. The one tool that really helped

a ton with level building is called Rotorz Tile System,

which you can get from the Unity Asset Store. It allows

me to paint custom 3D objects on a grid for quick level

building. I still have to place the background props,

enemies, hazards, and other interactive objects by

hand, but it allows me to get a framework up and

running for each level quickly. Without this, it would

probably take me four years instead of two to build

the 130 levels that will be included in the final game.

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Have there been any design ideas that you had to scrap? If so what were they and why?Hah! So many. Some of the earlier prototypes involved

using a mouse or touch inputs to cut various ropes

(like the puzzle game Cut the Rope). Solving these

puzzles would allow your side scrolling character to

advance further into the levels. I thought it might be

fun, but the idea failed spectacularly once in prototype

form. The pace interruption of switching back and

forth from keyboard to mouse sucked the fun out of

both sides of the game. Instead of removing the idea

completely however, the idea evolved into the main

character using their axe to cut ropes when needed

instead. This ended up being very different, but

added a lot of its own cool opportunities for different

puzzle and action level concepts.

What’s been the biggest challenge you’ve faced so far?I think the biggest challenge so far has been getting

the word out about the game. It’s something that

looms over every indie developer. If you don’t have

a publisher yet, you have to do all of the promotion

yourself, which most developers (including me)

hate doing. Not only is it hard to reach very many

people on your own, but it feels unnatural to promote

yourself. I find it’s much easier for me to promote

the work of my friends than my own. In an attempt to

promote Trial by Viking however, I got booth space

at GDC Play this year, which was awesome, but also

extremely stressful and difficult to pull off. I am a

one person studio, which means I often work with

some talented freelancers that I know in order to get

artwork and audio created for the games I make. That

also means I had to work the booth at GDC alone.

Luckily I got some help from friends. I even made a

post on Twitter offering a free GDC ticket to anyone

who would watch my booth a few times while I go to

the bathroom during the show. This of course lead to

many jokes, but it is also how I met Thomas Noppers,

a super talented pixel artist who became a fast friend

during this year’s GDC. You may have seen mentions

of the game Penarium from Team 17 being released

sometime this month. Thomas was the main pixel

artist for it and it looks awesome.

What is the current status of the game?Trial by Viking is somewhere around 70% done. I

am currently working on finishing up the cutscenes

and story elements, and I also have about 30 more

levels to design after that. I will also be running a

small Kickstarter campaign in the next month or so

to (hopefully) fund some original music tracks as well

as the voice over narration for the game, which will

be done by the super talented voice actor Erik Braa.

You may recognize Erik from his work on League

of Legends, Telltale’s Walking Dead, or Ori and the

Blind Forest. If you want to know when that campaign

gets launched, you can find some links on the Last

Life Games website to a few places you can follow us

online (http://lastlifegames.com).

Is there a release date set? And what platforms will you be focusing on?I am aiming for fall of 2015. Hopefully early October.

A hard date is not yet set however. I will be focusing

on the PC/Mac/Linux releases first, then console

releases after that, and then some time after that a

mobile/tablet port. The Steam and console releases

depend on a few things. If I pick up a decent publisher

before then it should be fairly easy to get on all major

platforms digitally. Otherwise I will have to rely on

Steam Greenlight and will need to scrap together

additional funding for console devkits. Devkits can be

pretty expensive for a tiny developer like me.

Last Life Games Trial by Viking

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You might have seen articles on other sites:

Clicker Heroes is a hit! Even at the time of writing

this Clicker Heroes is the 7th most played game

on Steam, amidst games like GTA V, Garry’s Mod,

and Team Fortress 2. The success of the game can

also be seen on other platforms such as Reddit,

where a whopping 10,674 clickers are currently

looking to exchange tactics on how to progress

as much as possible, as quickly as possible.

A U T H O R ’ S B L O Gby Tom Schoen

For those who don’t know, Clicker Heroes is a game,

much like Cookie Clicker or AdVenture Capitalist,

where you are tasked with amassing fortune to

spend on upgrades to amass more fortune to spend

on more upgrades. Money is gained from clicking

on monsters untill they die. The higher the damage

the faster the progress. The player usually has a

number of different upgrades to chose from with

their own benefits ranging from more damage per

click to granting an auto click function so the game

will go on doing damage, and thus collecting gold,

on it’s own. Clicker Heroes doesn’t need a whole lot

of maintanence and will continue getting that sweet

currency when you’re not playing or don’t even have

your computer turned on.

So, what’s the appeal of Clicker Heroes? The game

is rather shallow at second or even first glance but

managed to keep a steady player base of around

32,000+ gamers a day since it’s Steam launch on May

13th. To answer that question we would have to see

what Clicker Heroes does to you, as a player. You are

asked to click a monster, who receives damage and

after a small amount of damage they spout cash like a

fountain, which can be invested to get more damage and

more quickly dispatch the onslaught of baddies. You,

as the player, are being asked for the smallest of inputs

but are being rewarded greatly for it with progression,

loot, victory and praise. The game ramps up the hp of

the monsters and adds another element: The illusion

of choice. After a certain amount of levels you’ll be

faced with a seemingly big decision: Do I upgrade my

exisiting character? Or spend three times the gold on

the next tier character? We call this an illusion because

these choices won’t matter as much when you’re only

a little further down the line and basicly stop meaning

once you hit level 120 or so.

While looking for a reason why I’ve been playing a game

where clicking was my only interaction for 27 hours

I came across something called a Skinner Box. B.F.

Skinner was a psychologist from the early 1930’s who

discovered that it was possible to condition the volition

in human behaviour. While we won’t go too far into that

subject matter here, this technique is used quite often

in game development today, particularly in RPG and

Social games. When clicking or upgrading characters

in Clicker Heroes the player actively chooses to partake

and receive gold. The game rewards the player with

the equivalent of the same amount of gold but with an

increasing time investment per payout. It does keep the

player engaged and enjoying themselves, as proven by

the 32,000+ players who have been playing for over a

month now.

Clicker Heroes makes great use of a proven formula to

keep players engaged. It’s a fascinating piece of game

design and player engagement. Now if we could only

apply that kind of engagement to real life activities

we’d be on our way.

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