Development Info Ken Levine talks about BioShock on TTLG + video

[DarkUnderlord]

Tags: BioShock; Irrational Games; Ken Levine

Ken Levine, the Lead Designer at <a href="http://www.irrationalgames.com/">Irrational Games</a>, developers of BioShock, has made a post on <a href="http://www.ttlg.com/">Through the Looking Glass</a>, an old fan-site for the long defunct Looking Glass Studios. In it, <a href="http://www.ttlg.com/forums/showthread.php?t=108943">Levine defines accessibilty as it pertains to BioShock</a> or at least, so he says:<blockquote>Here's what Irrational is doing to make BioShock accessible.
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1) Dynamic Training. This is the big investment we're making, and we believe it's a key element to bringing deeper games to non-core gamers. And for the rest of you, it's our stake to the heart to tutorial-itis. It's a system that watches how you play and dynamically genereates advice to point you towards game play options you might be missing ("hey, ever thought of hacking?"), systems you might be using wrong ("hey, how about some armor piercing rounds on that bot!", or even game systems you just don't get ("hey that's 12 security cameras you've been spotted by in a row. want to learn more about the security system?"). <b>You can, of course, turn this system off if you don't like it.</b>
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2) It's going to be pretty! Guess what: Shock 2 having ugly character models and no translucency in our sprites was not a design choice!
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3) People who play the game guns blazing will have a AAA experience as well. In Shock 2, we don't think we really were fair to the guns guys. Without compromising all of the systems I described above (hacking, crafting, research, etc), we're going to make things blow up nice.
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4) Performance. I think a big barrier of entry on Shock 2 (for the mass market, not TTLGers) was the long load times and mediocre performance. One of our core goals with BioShock was making sure frame rates and load times were competitive.
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If anything, BioShock is the deepest game we've ever made. Having real time and money to make it also means it will be the most accessible.</blockquote>
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<a href="http://www.ign.com/">IGN</a> also has a 15 minute <a href="http://media.pc.ign.com/media/707/707640/vids_1.html">video of BioShock you can check out</a>. The first 2 minutes of the video is Ken talking about their plans to "redefine what it means to be a first person shooter". Hrmm.. I guess that means we won't be covering it anymore then? Anyway, you see a girl and... It's pretty boring actually. Like watching someone play Half-Life but with spells and more puzzles.
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Thanks <b>babyarm</b>!

 

[NoisyKillerHPB]

Nothing I didn't know before...kinda cool to see the game in action though.

 

[Elwro]

Was this supposed to be an RPG or what?

 

[Ryuken]

It's a bit painful to hear him talk about the stunning water effects while it doesn't have any effect on the game at all, except for "achieving it emotionally". You see loads of water squashing into several rooms, but it doesn't fill up at all.

As for the unoriginal monsters comment; can it get more generic than a "Splicer"? Could have easily been an opponent in Quake 4 if you ask me. The rest seems interesting but too dense for my liking.

 

[DarkUnderlord]

Was this supposed to be an RPG or what?

I don't know but Saint posted news about it sooo... Blame him. I know I do.

 

[RadioGnome Invisible]

The game's interface looks too consolish. Reminds me of Oblivion's, actually. Not much hope they're going to change it, i guess.

 

[NoisyKillerHPB]

The game's interface looks too consolish. Reminds me of Oblivion's, actually. Not much hope they're going to change it, i guess.

Well the demo was on a 360 (you could see X's and Y's pop up). Hopefully it's different for pc ;x

 

[Grifman]

Was this supposed to be an RPG or what?

And what makes you think it's not? Did you read the post he made at TTLG forums?

 

[Zomg]

That's some insanely good art design, aside from the stupid looking gun, anyway. It's really jarring to see stuff that I'd be able to imagine away as abstract or symbolic in a lower-res game, like seeing monsters do exactly cloned animations over and over. I don't see how the intended-to-disturb little girl animations could have any impact at all after you've seen it once, and they'll eventually grow parodic.

 

[Claw]

Deus Ex 3?

I have to admit that somehow Bioshock didn't catch my interest before. But when I watched this video, it reminded me alot of Deus Ex, in a wacky scenario I find interesting. I know, System Shock is what it should be striving for, but I missed that when it came out and still didn't manage to play it, so I stick with what I know.
I understand some people may be disappointed by the "redefine first person shooter" angle, but if the game turns out being an "FPS with RPG elements" or "Action Adventure" like Deus Ex, that wouldn't be too bad from my point of view.

One thing I noticed was that the "Big Daddy" we see in the beginning doesn't seem to be doing a great job as body guard. As they head back, he's leading, leaving her totally exposed.
And what about this "Adam" and "Eve" angle?

..even the size of your sexual organs..

Oh, really cool. Hua Hua Hua.

Oh my.

 

[Greatatlantic]

When I say accessible an interview, here are some things some of you might think I mean:

No ammo types.
No character growth.
No hacking.
No logs.
No open-ended level layouts.
No difficulty.
No weapon mods.
No research system.
No limited resources.
No ghosts.
No dozens and dozens of plasmids.
No radically different play styles.

Yep, thats a pretty good list of Red Flags for the dumbing down and "mainstreaming" of a unique series. By mainstreaming, I mean making a game identical to almost every other FPS out there.

This is, of course, a filthy, filthy lie.

I hope that means all these things are still in. Not sure what a plasmid is though. I pray it isn't a biomod cannister.

 

[Nicolai]

Hm, can't really say that I care much for how they've decided to play this one. The level design looked half-decent, but what was up with the retarded weapon model, the sluggish movement and combat, the consolized interface, the terrible voice acting (was that girl supposed to sound creepy?), and the tepid monster design (ho ho, "Slicer!")? Deus Ex 2 all over again.

 

[Jason]

The game's interface looks too consolish. Reminds me of Oblivion's, actually. Not much hope they're going to change it, i guess.

Actually, he said (at QT3, I think) that they already have changed it since that demo.

 

[Claw]

I hope that means all these things are still in. Not sure what a plasmid is though. I pray it isn't a biomod cannister.

Well, did you watch the video? He specifically points out different ammo types. I didn't really see any hacking though, he just seemed to "use" a security console and the guard drones were disabled.

 

[Twinfalls]

Wow, got a real Bladerunner flashback when the 'splicer' chick did her gymnastic attacks (with the 40s radio singer warbling in the background) a la the Daryl Hannah character (Kris?). Then Firefox crashed, taking my PC with it.

Don't see what the big problem with animation or the gun model is (btw Nicolai it's 'Splicer', as in gene splicing or somesuch, not slicer).

Production design is amazing, looks like atmosphere up the wazoo. I just fear it'll get repetitive unless level design is top notch. Also potentially claustrophibic. Doesn't look like much of an RPG, just lots of tactical options in a very unusually set shooter.

 

[Elwro]

Was this supposed to be an RPG or what?

And what makes you think it's not?

"The whole game is designed with a single principle: To make a first person shooter where there are literally dozens of ways to do anything. Hack machinery. Craft new power ups. Modify your weapons. Experiment with insane genetic powers. Lay traps for your foes. Take over security systems. The list really doesn’t end." From the Shacknews interview. Doesn't sound like an RPG to me, but heck, if it's a good FPS with a unique twist, the better for it.

Did you read the post he made at TTLG forums?

Yeah. Apart from the list at the beginning, it says that:
1. You can turn the tutorial off!
2. The game will look great!
3. People who just want to shoot stuff will feel right at home!
4. The game will run fast!

 

[Micmu]

They replaced "Score" with "xp to level up" and it's an RPG, duh.

 

[Nicolai]

(btw Nicolai it's 'Splicer', as in gene splicing or somesuch, not slicer).

Missed a 'p'. All that hard-earned respect straight down the shitter.

 

[Inziladun]

Dare I say it looks like a decent game. Although I can already see those 'Splicers' being overused and becoming extremely annoying.

 

[Major_Blackhart]

Interesting. My interest has been peaked a bit by this game which interests me.

 

[Zlaja]

Shoot the plumber.

 

[Data4]

Did that Little Sister call the Big Daddy.... erm.... Mr. Bubbles? Hell, I'm sold. Seriously though, it looks interesting. I'm really liking the atmosphere.

Twinfalls- I got the exact same impression, re: Bladerunner. Oh, and it's Pris. (Nicolai, your honor is restored. )

-D4

 

[vazquez595654]

Wow. That was the worse marketing ploy I have seen yet. Why the fuck was Ken talking all gay? And why the fuck was he talking to the character on the screen as if he wasn't actually controlling him? And shut the fuck up about the big daddies and little sisters already.

The game may end up being good, but this video was so retarded that I've actually lost some interest in the game.

 

[Cycloptis]

Well, the visual design looks fantastic. It's really difficult to complain about. The shooting appears to pack some punch this time around, whereas SS2's shooting sounds felt just a little too low quality to really get a feel for them.

On the other hand, the plasmids they showed seemed...dare I say...underwhelming and overly specific. It was just a 15 minute video, but there was pretty much nothing there that wasn't done in a game like Mysteries of the Sith or Jedi Outcast. Tricking enemies into thinking they're you, and super speed aren't exactly inventive. I hope they show us more very soon, because that's not really enticing.

Furthermore, did anybody hear mention of a skillset? SS2 had attributes, skills, psi-powers, OS upgrades, and even implants. This has...plasmids and.....weapon customization?

I'm overreacting of course, I just hope I won't have to six months from now when the game is nearing release.

 

[Jon]

I just fear it'll get repetitive unless level design is top notch.

This pretty much sums up my feelings having watched the video. Worth watching though, not many games I can say that about atm.