Iteration is more common than innovation in game development. When a game is successful, development teams tend to create sequels or create a new game in the same style that belongs to the same category, so as to both attract an existing player base and the opportunity to expand, improve, or refine a successful model.
However, Heart Machine founder Alx Preston was reluctant to stay in his comfort zone.
Heart Machine is an independent studio that previously created the highly acclaimed 2D top-down action RPG Hyper Light Drifter. The pixel-based style of the game is reminiscent of The Legend of Zelda: The Triangular Power of the Gods, but Preston's new solar ash is quite different.
Sun Grey Country is a 3D open-world action platform game published by Annapurna Interactive Entertainment and launched on PS4, PS5 and PC (Epic Game Store) in early December. Compared to the combat-emphasizing Light Traveler, The Sun Grey Nation's gameplay focus is more on exploration and traversal, creating huge technical challenges for Heart Machine throughout the development process.
"I feel like we've done what we want to do in 2D." Preston said, "My ultimate goal is to create a world where players can get lost, and in the long run, 3D is the best way to achieve that goal." ”
In order to develop Sun Grey Country, Preston expanded the core team size of the studio from just 5 to 25 people. "This is probably the biggest challenge for me: assembling teams and making sure everyone does their part and works in the most uniform way possible... That's one of the reasons why Sun Grey's development cycle is close to five years, because the transition from 2D to 3D means we both need to learn a new engine (Unreal Engine) and recruit experts in various fields. ”
Although the studio already had staff who were proficient in Unreal Engine, Preston decided to spend time studying and researching the engine. "I had to do that or I wouldn't be a good creative director or a producer, especially in the early days of the project, when I was a major driver of [game] design."
Unreal Engine does offer more possibilities than GameMaker, the development engine for Traveller of Light, but Preston is also well aware that in order to complete a game, the development team must be self-disciplined and not aimlessly experiment. According to Preston, Heart Machine used Houdini software to generate most of the scenery in Sun Grey Country. Houdini is a node-based program generation software that has been widely used in movies and game titles such as Marvel Spider-Man and Horizon: Dawn.
"At first, we worked together to get Houdini up and running, and it helped us quickly build the expanse of space in the game without having to use a more traditional approach. Without it, our workload would have become even greater. ”
Preston gave another example: In Sun Grey, the development team didn't animate the massive boss monsters, but instead had them move according to an inverse kinematics system designed by max Kaufman, a senior gameplay engineer. "We can't do a lot of labor manually, otherwise the project simply won't be completed ... Only with some clever approach will small teams have the opportunity to develop games of this magnitude. ”
According to Preston, he served as acting game director in the early days of Sun Grey, but later handed the position over to Chelsea Hash, who joined the studio as a technical artist. "I trust my companions more than I did when I developed The Light Traveler, giving them more freedom to create."
In addition, Preston also chatted about some of his thoughts on telecommuting during the pandemic. "I prefer to sit in the office and work together because it's easier to meet face-to-face, or to meet at any time and walk up to the whiteboard and brainstorm." He said, "All of a sudden, [under the pandemic] we need to schedule every time we meet, which can easily make people feel tired. ”
"I'm not trying to complain, after all we were able to keep our jobs and complete the project. But it's an undeniable fact that working from home isn't for everyone, and there are costs to this change and transition. ”
Preston believes that given the huge differences between Sun Grey and Light Traveler, players are better off not directly comparing the two games. "From gameplay focus to perspective, both games are completely different. Some people won't play this third-person game because it will be difficult for players to comfortably play in the game world without the necessary skills. ”
But in a sense, because Sun Grey Country focuses on traversal (rather than combat), this game is more accessible than the extremely difficult Light Traveler. Preston also said that the game will offer multiple difficulty options.
"We've been testing the game to appeal to a wider player base and provide as many players as possible with an experience that will keep them entertained. Of course, you can never satisfy everyone. ”
The original translation https://www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/2021-11-24-how-solar-ash-took-heart-machine-out-of-its-comfort-zone