Time marches on

Sometimes whole months can pass by without the realization sinking in that yes, another part of your life is gone and there have been many things that you wanted to do, but actually didn’t. I won’t go into the realm of the totally unbelievable by claiming that I didn’t have the time, rather, I was just too stinking lazy to update this blog. So there.

So yeah, uhm, stuff happened.

First of all, something that I knew a while back already, but haven’t deigned to write about (for fear of evil spirits jinxing the whole affair, I’m sure): I am going to be a daddy. Yes that’s right. Mr. Irresponsible is going to get a little diaper-worm of his own. A boy no less (so you all know he’s going to get weaned on an Xbox360 and a Wii of his own).

That’s not to say that I wouldn’t have liked to have a girl. Actually, I might have preferred it because little girls are infinitely cuter than little boys, but let’s just say (in a very politically incorrect way) that I presume a boy means that I’ll have to worry less when he gets older.

I suspect I am going to regret that statement sooner or later.

Check out the shirt I bought for him at Jinx.com: it's totally awesome!

Next, Obscure 2 was released on PC and Playstation in Europe on the 7th of September. People seem to like it, even though the review scores sometimes are a little bit luke-warm, but I’ve heard that it sells well. It was also a nominee at a french game design festival for best game, and the original designer and creator of Alone in the Dark, Frédérick Raynal, who was also a juror on the panel judging the french entries (can you believe that G.R.A.W.2 won the award? In what way is that game french? Never mind, let's not go into that--I know it is made by Ubisoft, yes.) said that "the game has it's flaws but is strangely compelling and forced me to play it to the end". How cool is that? The boys and girls at hydravision were understandably very proud. Frédérick Raynal is something of a hero to them.

I am currently working on the Wii version of Obscure 2, and brainstorming on what we could for for the DS. Nothing specific to mention though.

The release of the Wii version will coincide with the North American release in Q1 2008. I can already tell you that it will have a lot of extra goodies, and I can definitely say that it is the most extensive and complete version of the game.

Obscure 2 Submitted to Sony: French People seen Smiling Fondly

This picture was taken just after I burned a copy of my new Celine Dion CD. I’m just kidding, I absolutely hate Celine Dion. In a good sort of way - the type of aversion that doesn’t mean that I want to see her trampled by enraged Pamplonan bulls or shipped off to Guantanamo Bay (per se), but the type of hate that means that I don’t like the sound she produces on the public stage.

Much like I wouldn’t buy a CD with the mating sounds of the bearded vulture, I would not buy a Celine Dion CD. Well maybe I would buy the vulture CD just because I am kind of curious what sound they produce while mating, but I wouldn’t buy a soundtrack of Celine Dion mating because I imagine that it might be worse than her singing.

But I digress friends, of course the picture displayed is the first Gold Master of Obscure 2, the one that is being shipped off to Liverpool where Sony’s QA Rohirrim are going to try and trample it and test whether it is fit to adorn their banner or whether it has distinct orcish qualities.
I am fucking psyched obviously, and so was Francois, the development producer on the project: you can see his wide “thank-the-gods-that-this-isn’t-a-soundtrack-of-Celine-Dion-mating” type smile.

He is a very cool cat and a talented French person: the type of guy that would work at a company like Hydravision, which – as you understand by now – I hold in very high regard.

Submission time...without yielding to an opponent

Tomorrow something exciting is going to happen: I am going to submit Obscure 2 to SCEE QA in Liverpool for the first time. What that means is that Sony is going to test the game and see if it is fit for publication according to their TRC (Technical Requirements Check). I am so psyched! The game right now is in a really good state: everything is in there (graphics, sounds, voices, music) and it is virtually bugfree.

According to one of my colleagues it is really rare that a PS2 game goes through on the first try. Usually you get the disc back and there is stuff you need to fix, then you submit again: rinse and repeat until someone goes postal or the game is actually accepted.

But I have a really good feeling about this. The boys and girls (yes there are girls in game development) of Hydravision have done such a great job on the game, that I am almost tempted to think that we might make it in one go. We'll see.

Tomorrow I'll drive with Gog to Tourcoing, France, with the submission package for Sony; I'll pick up the Master DVD's, and a courier will whisk them away to the angry depths of the Sony QA bastion, where unfinished PS2 games are tormented for all eternity.

Wish me luck! Not only for the fact that Gog is driving (the last time he did that he ruined the first Ark of Noah: yes, there were two), but also that I've managed to jinx myself utterly by writing this post.

Shout out to the talented folks over at RelQ and Enzyme for the testing of build 188. Good job guys!

The Annoying Interview

While I was in Germany, I got asked the strangest questions. Most of them revolved around my name and why I was able to understand german but not speak it. In most of the latter cases they would - by way of experiment - try to discover whether it was true. Apparently it was a source of some scepticism - that I would be able to understand them, but not communicate that understanding back to them in their own language.
No, don't worry, I am not going to make geeky software protocol references.
At any rate, the people from geemag.de asked me all kinds of questions about Obscure 2, but promised me that I would be receiving some additional "annoying" queries to spice the article up. Now I am not sure whether the questions below constitute any kind of unpleasant interrogation. Rather than that, I think they are a way for me to be even more vapid and tiresome than I usually am.

For non-german speakers, here's the interview (that was done in english):

Q: Thank you for taking the time to answer our questions. They are not meant to be taken too seriously. Don’t feel offended. Have fun answering them. Please introduce yourself.
A: My name is Jesse America, I am the Producer for Playlogic on the teenage survival horror title Obscure 2.

Q: In the game we will experience a hangover of one the characters. Please let us know about your personal worst hangover ever (and of course what happened in the night before) and – even more important – what’s the best cure for such a hangover.
A: My worst hangover was after I drank 7 Purple Leprechauns (really, it is a drink) in an irish pub in Calella, Spain. I blacked out and people claimed to have seen me wandering around the town and it’s beaches for 2 consecutive hours – which I can’t remember anymore. The day after was absolute hell. My head felt like part of my brain had been removed with an egg-scrambler, and without an anaesthetic at that. The best cure for that turned out to be a few beers – at 10 ‘o clock in the morning.

Q: There will be some minor drug use in the game and one of the students will experience a bad trip. Please let us know about your worst drug experience so far. And what about the best?
A: My worst drug experience would probably be that while under the influence of something I kissed a girl that looked pretty hot, but in reality – wasn’t. Quite the opposite actually. I actually never had a good drug experience (but mine are limited) and I guess this should be the part
where I say that kids shouldn’t do drugs. Don’t do drugs kids, seriously. It’ll get you killed. Just play Obscure 2 and you’ll see.

Q: Although Obscure 2 will be vanilla flavoured mainstream horror rather than disturbing hardcore horror à la Silent Hill it will scare some people. What are you personally afraid of?
A: Camels. They are terrifying. I am thinking of doing a horror game that features zombie-camels.

Q: Having sex in a teenage horror movie typically leads to death. Lucky us it’s different in real life (if you take the proper precautions). Still it can be a sensible topic – let us know about your most embarrassing sex experience ever. If you don’t want to talk about that you can revive the memories of your first time and share them with us instead.
A: For that I have to go back some 18 years. I vaguely remember a dark alley behind a discotheque, too much beer and a girl I hardly knew that wore the world’s most securely clasped bra. It’s all a big blur because of the alcohol, but what stands out in my mind was her sighing: not of passion or ecstasy, but of utter boredom.

Q: All the main characters in the game are stereotypes of American teenagers and their angst. What kind of teenager were you and do you have good or bad memories about that time? Which?
A: I was a total and utter dork. I played D&D, read and drew comic books and listened to hard rock. So I guess you could say that I was the nerd. My best memories of that time are that I didn’t care I was a nerd: I had fun anyway. The bad times were that I had a friend whose grandma continually sat on my glasses when I was over at his house and destroyed them utterly with her weight.

Q: In the game we will see monsters and supernatural phenomena. Do you believe in these things yourself?
A: Monsters, yes. I absolutely believe in monsters. They are all around us: just open the newspapers and you’ll see them. Serial killers, rapists, dictators, lawyers, CEO’s of big companies... Supernatural phenomena...hmm...I can think of the election of a certain US president that fits that description.

Obscure 2 PS2 Demo

Last week we learned from SCEE that the Obscure 2 PS2 Demo would be included in the August edition of Official Playstation Magazine. It passed the first submission round effortlessly! Now, for those of you who aren't in the know about these things, all products released through official Sony channels (which OPSM is), needs to go through a quality check. If the product isn't up to Sony's standards, then they will send it back to you and you will have to fix whatever is wrong with it.

Imagine my surprise that, yesterday, when I went out to buy groceries, I found the Obscure 2 demo attached to the June edition of Dutch version of OPSM! Yay! (see image)

It isn't totally unheard of for a PS2 Demo to pass the first submission round, but it is pretty special. My hat is off to Hydravision, who are such expert developers. Cheers guys!

Now remember people, if you happen to check the demo out: it is still a Work In Progress. It was actually submitted to Sony mid-april, and since then a lot of things have been polished on Obscure 2; graphics, sound, voice-art, gameplay, balance, etc.