Dev Update #73: Giving a Voice to Our Alpha Trailer
If you've played Gears of Eden Alpha 1, or have watched any of our Alpha 2 test streams on Twitch, you know that we don't have voiced characters in the game. In fact, we only have one character that really talks at all right now... the main rover character. What little it has to say comes across only in text.
There are advantages and disadvantages to having voiced characters in games. A text-based approach allows more dialogue, an easier and less-expensive pipeline for getting updated content into the game, and the ability to have more branching stories and options without incurring a lot of additional costs. Not to mention text files take up a lot less space and processing power. While voiced characters do add a lot of costs, increase production time, and take up more space - they also bring some characteristics to a game text can't do as well on it's own: personality and expression.
Don't get me wrong, well written text can convey emotion or express a feeling. Surely. But it does so by relying on the reader's imagination to connect and fill in from their own context and history. A voice actor helps create a more specific and universal character that we can all experience in the same way. In Portal 2, J.K. Simmons created one of the most iconic characters ever seen in a video game... except he's never really seen. Cave Johnson exists almost exclusively as a voice and only a voice. Would that character have the same impact if he were conveyed only in text?
For the demo version of Gears of Eden, this problem is easy to answer. At present, we simply do not have the funds to seriously consider fully voicing the game. I wouldn't say that is the only reason we are utilizing a text-only approach—there are narrative reasons we are drawn to text as well—but it's certainly a big factor. Personally, I love the idea of voiced characters in our world, and hope we have the luxury of revisiting this consideration in the future, as that means we'd be in a financial situation to do so!
In the meantime, we are looking at other ways to utilize voice. The first attempt is in our upcoming trailer that will be launched to promote our Alpha 2 release (not to be confused with the teaser trailer we launched a couple weeks ago). This trailer is narrated by a friendly AI played by the multi-talented Kristi Kates (who in addition to voice work, also acts, writes, and performs music). We've recently completed voice recording for the trailer, and are really excited to put everything together over the coming weeks.
Another way we are looking at utilizing voice is through non-character systems in-game. This could include systems like a base AI with voice prompts, or menu system confirmations. There are a few ways we can still make use of voice without voicing every character in the Gears of Eden universe. We'll be continuing these discussions and decision making processes internally as we move down the development path, but we'd love to hear your feedback and ideas. Feel free to chime in with your two-cents with a comment, or a message on Twitter or Facebook.
For now, we'll leave you with this tease from our recent voice recording session.
You can find out more about Kristi Kates on her website, or follow her on Twitch to enjoy her weekly live music streams. As always, you can keep up with Gears of Eden via our pages on Twitter, Facebook, or Discord. In addition, you can support Gears of Eden via our website, through Patreon, or via Twitch. Thanks for reading, and have a great day!
Dev Update #72: Hidden Lore
There was a time when a video game Easter Egg was some strange, hidden reference that you wouldn't be able to find without either a great deal of luck or the knowledge of where it is. A classic example is the Gabe Newell room in Half-Life, and who can forget Guybrush Threepwood (of Monkey Island fame) showing up in Star Wars: The Force Unleashed 2? Oh. Just me? Okay, well I still maintain that the game is worth playing to see Guybrush and Darth Vader go at it. (Actually, having watched that video... maybe not.)
The point is that we still have this classic form of the video game Easter Egg and I doubt it's going anywhere in the foreseeable future. It has been supplanted, however, by a new form of Easter Egg: the lore object. These are diaries, codex entries, in-world books, and so on. Typically, they're just as unnecessary to the game's enjoyment as their older brethren, but they offer the developer an easy way to further engage the portion of their audience that needs to know more about the game and its world without boring the rest of the audience to tears. A nice little combination, right? In the right hands, these lore objects transcend their status as Easter Eggs and become fully realized tools.
Anyone who remembers back to the original cRPG days can tell you that these have been around longer than many gamers today have even been alive. And yet, I'd wager that most people first experienced lore objects in an Elder Scrolls game or perhaps one of the modern Fallout games. The thought that went into these brief texts is truly impressive. If you play Skyrim, it is very possible that you'll read from multiple different genres! Comedies, textbooks, academic papers, epistolary works, and, quite famously, erotica (to name a few). It even goes beyond that though! Not only are there multiple genres to read from, there are multiple authors to read by! One series of textbooks reads completely different from another, and the same can be said any of the other genres.
As a writer, this is... fascinating. Tantalizing! But also, terrifying. As much as I love the Mass Effect franchise, I will forever see the codex system they have as a red flag. Certainly, this codex contains a huge amount of cool information about the game universe, but it's just so tiring to read. In an effort to realistically capture the feel of an encyclopedia, they succeeded so well as to turn the writing dry and lifeless. And though this is more realistic, it's hard to ask a player to care about your plethora of made up information if it isn't even pleasant to read.
We are really excited that we are going to hit one of our stretch goals with Alpha 2, and that is the inclusion of lore items! These lore objects are something we want to use in Gears of Eden, but we want to do it right. It isn't our goal to convince you that our world is real, but instead to convince you that it is thought provoking. We want you to care, and we want you to have fun! So here's our plan. When you start up the Alpha 2 release and you start rolling around, you'll find lore objects around the place. Diaries and the such. These aren't going to be crazy, just little bits of text where we do not describe the world... we'll demonstrate it through the eyes of those who have to live in it. If reading lore text isn't your thing, we totally understand. But for those of you who do enjoy that sort of thing, we hope you'll enjoy this first taste.
That's it for this week's Dev Update! I wish I could delve further into this topic, but it's better to leave off wanting more than less, right? If you'd like to talk more about any of this (or even just talk about your favorite Easter Eggs), pop on by our Discord channel! Maybe hang out a bit. And if you want to see the latest and great Gears of Eden news, consider following us on Twitter and Facebook. Those are definitely the places to be if you're interested in game art. We'll also be streaming more Alpha 2 testing over on Twitch this week and weekend, and would love to have you join us in chat! We'll be back next week with another Dev Update, and we hope to see you then. Until then, have a great rest of your week.
Dev Update #71: Hello Steam!
There's a good chance if you're reading this, that you are reading it on Steam! Welcome to our weekly dev update! If this isn't new to you, then you've been following our updates over at GearsOfEden.com (or perhaps on our Patreon). Regardless, the exciting news this week is... Gears of Eden is officially on Steam! Can we shout that? WE'RE ON STEAM! In reality, this is a small step. It's a "Coming Soon" page, after all. But, it feels like a HUGE step for us. We have our new rover in game, our first trailer put together, and now we have our very own store page on Steam! It just feels and looks... really cool! What's even cooler? This isn't even the biggest news this week!
Our main focus right now is on our upcoming Alpha 2 release. Wait. Let's take a small step back. If you're new to Gears, you might want know Alpha 1 has been out for a while now. If you want to get involved and help test our Alpha releases, you can find all the info you need on our Early Access Info page. Alpha testing gives you an opportunity to provide us with feedback on the game at these early stages, and find some of those nasty bugs that sneak past us.
Now, back to Alpha 2. Our goal is to finish up Alpha 2 by early 2nd quarter. As a reminder, we have three major implementations for our Alpha 2 requirements: the improved UI system, the advanced crafting system, and the new player character.
The UI system is in place. This was a big undertaking that held us up for a while, but we have it squared away now! The advanced crafting system is also in place, and you can now craft and equip about 30 different parts for your rover. And... the new rover is also in the game! That's three for three! Kind of. The rover is in the game, but it doesn't yet have any animations. However, these animations will be implemented during our next sprint!
The big news this week though, is that we are wrapping up coding on one of our Alpha 2 stretch goals: interactive objects with inventory systems! This one new system allows us to add three new features to the game. First, we'll be able to introduce scavenging as a mechanic. Right now, you can only acquire objects by mining or crafting. With this new system, we'll be able to hide parts and resources in some of those boxes and bodies strewn around the asteroid for you to find! Second, our SINTER Forge (what we call a crafting table) will get its own inventory system. This means you'll need to stock the Forge with materials instead of magically transmitting the materials you carry in your cargo. Finally, the same system can be used to create a storage chest for materials and parts at the base. It's looking like you'll have a lot more to do in Alpha 2!
The really good news wrapping around all of this is that we are ahead of schedule! Next week, we'll give you an update on these core Alpha 2 goals, and another stretch goal we're hoping to reach for Alpha 2: collectible lore items. Stay tuned!
What a fun week! That's going to do it for this Dev Update! Until then, follow us on Twitter and Facebook for all the latest and greatest news. If you want some sneak peeks at Alpha 2, be sure to follow us on Twitch. And, of course, if you want even more Gears goodness, be sure to check out our podcast, Reaching Eden. Last, but not least, if you are interested in supporting Gears of Eden development, you can do so through our donate page or via our Patreon. Thank you so much for reading and thank you even more for your interest in Gears of Eden! Have a great rest of your week.
