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BIG UPDATE: Next Doc & Noclip Podcast Guests
🕑 Added 2019-01-30 12:07:06 +0000 UTCHey Patrons,
As January closes it's time to spill the beans on some fun stuff that's coming in February. Most of you know that we had a big project push back a few months and had to pivot hard to get some cool stuff to fill the void. After weeks of emails & calls, alongside a lot of reading your feedback on how we're doing and what you'd like - I wanted to give you some insight into what to expect in February.
Next Doc: Astroneer (Unannounced - keep to yourself for now pleez)
We've wanted to tell this story for AGES but it never seemed to be the right time. I was originally approached by friend of Noclip Samantha Kalman about this game around two years ago. Once our January project was postponed they were the first studio I contacted and thankfully the studio was able to make time for us with less than a week before the game has it's 1.0 release. The story behind this game's journey is a remarkable tale of unexpected success and deepest tragedy. It's the type of story that I don't think we would have been in a position to tell adequately a year or two ago. But we look forward to tackling it this week (we're flying this afternoon) and having it ready for you during the month of February. We look forward to sharing it. Watch this space *cymbal crash*
Podcasts Guests - Questions Please!
Two big guests coming up over the next two weeks. First off I'm talking to Marijam Didžgalvytė of Game Workers Unite about developer unionization. And secondly we've got the one and only Lucas Pope on to talk about designing Papers Please and Return of the Obra Dinn. If you have questions for either please stick them in the comments below now.
Hades: Developing Hell - Episode Two
The second episode of our series on the development of Hades will be live this month featuring a bunch of insight into areas that you requested. Expect it the second half of February.
What do you want? More Behind The Scenes!
I'm still collecting the feedback from our recent "Patron Satisfaction" poll to see the areas we can improve to make Noclip a more satisfactory patronage for all of you. But one of the areas that immediately stood out to me was the lack of Behind-The-Scenes videos for the "Behind The Scenes" tier. We simply aren't shooting enough of those which was a blind spot for me I guess. So starting today I'm going to be filming our journey on the Astroneer doc and coming up with new ways to create more BTS footage than we have been. We have GDC and SxSW coming up after that which I'll be filming throughout. Thanks so much for all the feedback, I'll be incorporating it all into our action plan for the rest of 2019. Expect more updates on all that next month.
Looking Ahead into March & Beyond
You may remember that two years ago we filmed a bunch of interviews at the Game Developers Conference in San Francisco. Well we're doing it again and have several fun projects and interviews lined up for that entire week. We're also showing our Half-Life documentary at the 2nd Annual GDC Film Festival and I'll be at SxSW in Austin doing some fun stuff too. Aside from that we have around 5 or 6 projects either planned or in negotiations at the moment. Everything from the biggest games in the world to the smallest indie projects in the city next door. Not to mention that January project that slipped ahead a few months. We'll be filming across the US, Europe and maybe even Japan again this year. Some really exciting projects are coming together.
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That's most our big updates for now but you can also expect more weekly podcast episodes and some more Bonus Level stuff too. I'm packing to get on a flight to Seattle in a couple of hours. If you have any questions about the above please let me know in the comments below, and make sure to send us those podcast questions for Marijam & Lucas.
Talk soon!
Danny
Comments
This all sounds great. Thanks for the update. Question for Lucas Pope: Did you draw inspiration from any other detective games when designing Obra Dinn? If so, were there any specific aspects in how the genre has been tackled in past games that you wanted to rectify in your own?
Bavo Debraekeleer
Sound all very exciting! Looks like another great year of docs!
Eric Pihlblad
If you can manage, I think talking to the Roll7/505 games devs about launching Laser League at GDC and their hopes for getting cross play up and running using epics new tools would make for a cool interview.
William Heathcote
Aaaaa, I've had my eye on Astroneer since it first went into early access. Excited to see it's getting a 1.0 release soon and that I'll be getting an up close look at it. This is excellent news.
This is awesome! So excited for all the upcoming content 😁
Landon Robinson
Ooh, I'm sure I'll love the Astroneer doc. Been waiting for that game. I'm sure this is getting annoying, I just would really love to hear it: the GB story podcast still on the way? :)
Violet Viveiros
Question for Mr. Pope: In the credits for Obra Dinn you dedicated the game to your dad. Can you expand upon his influence and inspiration to the game?
Khetix
Excellent! Excited for the Astroneer doc. I really enjoyed jumping between planets and seeing the differences when the game launched. I've not gone back to check it out in a while. Guess 1.0 will be a good time to do so. :-)
Everdred
I'd love to know what sort of research went into making Obra Dinn. I doubt many game devs know the intricacies of life on an early 1800s trade ship - is he just a total history buff?
Lucy Yearwood
I cannot wait for the Lucas Pope interview. Hopefully everyone else can suggest some good questions for you to pick his brain because his games are fascinating
Scott Shawcroft
I live in Seattle! Let me know if you need help with anything or have any questions.
Amit Netanel
Question for Lucas Pope: Papers Please had a long-lasting effect on the industry. How do you go on from such a 'Magnum Opus' (if I may) to create something different such as the Return of the Obra Dinn? Does working on a project for so long 'cements' the concepts of that project to your next ones?
Ben Visness
For Lucas Pope: When I played Obra Dinn, I was struck by how consistent everything was. I didn’t notice any information that would be misleading or a red herring. So my questions are: What was the writing process like, and did you write every crew member’s story up front? What did you have to do to make sure all sixty crew members had distinct but solvable stories? And how often did playtesters find “valid” fates that you hadn’t anticipated?
Mike
For Marijam Didžgalvytė: I read the "Points of Unity" for Game Workers Unite and found it to be a document that has more to do with socialist political doctrine than laying down the tenets of a functional union in the real world. The most egregious example is that you will not allow police to be allowed anywhere near you. What if a developer is working on a policing simulator and wants to consult with police? What if a retired cop wants to get into game development? They may be a member of the police union. Also, your view "exploitation of labor" means that no one should profit in any way aside from the workers themselves. Does this mean that you don't believe owners of small indie companies should make any money? I think Game Workers Unite is very impractical and dogmatic, and as a result is putting politics over actually helping workers in the real world.
Brett Geiser
For Lucas Pope - what does he consider the ‘canon’ monitor choice for Obra Dinn? Macintosh ftw.
Question for Lucas Pope: How much time did/do you give yourself after a successful release (papers please)? Do you just spend some weeks enjoying your free time, travelling, etc.? Or was your head already filled with the next idea, just wanting to start as soon as possible?
Noclip
Yup it’s halfway edited. Aiming for release in February, sorry for the wait, it’s a beast of a thing - I want to make sure I nail the production.
Liam Brown
Thanks for the info Danny. Good luck!
Woah. Awesome stuff man, looking forward to all the things.
Brett Geiser
Thanks for the update Danny. One question I did have - are we still getting the Gerstmann podcast? Remember that being mentioned as one of the first but it’s seemed to have dropped off the radar.
Robb Twomey Dunphy
I love Astroneer! I look forward to that eagerly!
