Saturday, October 07, 2006

Let's...do...'dis...

Hello blog. It’s been awhile since we last spoke. Things have been hectic as usual; we are less than two weeks away from our alpha date. This would definitely qualify as one of the tougher times on the project to date. We have to have everything that is going to be in the game done to about 50-70% completion. Sounds fairly simple, but it is soooo not. The good thing is we are in a better position at this point (in relation to alpha date) that we were on God of War 1…so we got that going for us. But unfortunately that news does little to ease the pain of the long hours. Actually I may be over dramatizing it a bit…the hours are long but not terrible. It is more the amount of time we have been putting in the hours that wears you down. In the end though it will all be better for the game so it is worth it.

We had a nice early night week last week. Everyone got to go home at a decent hour and recharge for this last push to alpha. This really helped, but it also gives you that taste of normalcy, which really makes it hard to go back to the late nights.

SO let’s see…what is the haps. I got everyone’s emails for the demo and I have a running list. Not sure about all the non-US peeps, but I will see what I can do. I am all about sending them, just got to check with the “man” and make sure I can do that. Anyway…new with the game…we are working on a few bosses simultaneously and getting those into tip top shape. The one cool thing about the last few weeks to alpha is that every single day I am seeing something new get in the game in a close to final form. That is truly what keeps me going through all of this.

I have been doing some fight tuning with Nate the last few days, though I haven’t been able to do as much as I would like due to the numerous interruptions for meetings and last minute documentation and such. But we were working on a fight that would take place late in the game yesterday so I started bringing over people to test it out and make sure it wasn’t too hard. After the first few people we started getting a large group of people stopping by and trying the fight out. Now at this stage it is hard to get the exact tuning of a fight since we don’t have the final tuning on the blades, weapons or magic…but right now I am just trying to get the right vibe for each fight. The vibe for this specific fight was to make it hard, but also to engage you enough to want to go back and beat it if you died. Now it was crude, with several annoying little bugs, but in the end I think we achieved that. It was also great to have a group of people, who have been slaving away on this game for the last year and a half, sitting around and laughing and challenging g each other to finish the fight. It is moments like those that say something about the work we are all doing…that even though we should be tired of this game…we are not. I just hope this will translate to all of you as well.

Another cool thing to see was the further implementation of one of the weapons. Eric (Combat guy) had some great ideas for control mapping on the weapon and I finally got to see how other people would use it while they play. I think this new addition will really add a lot to the weapon.

I have been working with Charlie, our Visual development director, on the box art for the game the last few days. I think we have found a really good direction to go in so now he is going to go in and take the thumbnails to a more finished look.

I have also been working with Ariel (Editor and AP) to fine tune our cinematics and trim out all the unnecessary fat. This is hard. Because when you write the script for the story you think you are only putting in what is absolutely necessary to tell the story properly. So going in and trying to find ways to trim the movies down, after having already trimmed them down like 20 times before, is tough. That is the beauty of having an outside opinion of a good editor. They can look at the material that you are so close to and give you an objective opinion on what is really there and what is needed to convey the point. Though she is not totally an outside opinion since she also did some work on the script with me and the other writers…but hey beggars can’t be choosers right?

I met with Jo (level designer) and Michael (Lead Level Designer) about some last minute tweaks to some puzzles in one of our levels. It was good to finally see these puzzles get worked out. We had designed the areas such a long time ago, at a point where we were creatively drained, so there were a few puzzles that we just said “Ahh…we will figure this out later.” In hindsight I realize it was not the best of ideas, but both of them came through in a pinch and put together a couple of pretty cool puzzles. I also got to see Jeremy’s (Level designer) implementation of a puzzle in his level. It is something that Michael pitched to me a week or two ago and it sounded pretty cool, but with these things it is so hard to tell if something is really going to be fun from just a pitch. Finally getting to see it and play it proved that it is going to be fun. We just need to work out a few details about it and then it is ‘in there like swimwear.’

I saw the first rough sculpt of the action figure and it is coming along really nicely. I can’t wait to see the final product…and for all of you to see it as well. I think you will be pretty psyched…if you like that sort of thing. If you don’t, well we have God of War handguns as well…maybe that’s your thing? Or how about our God of War Flamethrowers? The kids seem to love this one.

Well it is Saturday at 9:20am and I got to start getting ready to head into the office.

34 comments:

Anonymous said...

"Not sure about all the non-US peeps, but I will see what I can do. I am all about sending them, just got to check with the “man” and make sure I can do that."

you made my day man!! :)

keeping my fingers crossed...

Anonymous said...

hey cory

power unlimited the biggest games magazine from holland told people on their website the demo wil come to every store in december is this true??? i fucking hope so man

greetings maickel hekkers

ps. i hope you got my mail with my addres

Anonymous said...

Some interesting happenings I see.

~Though I must admit I would love to see an "IGN countdown" for GoW updates (like they do for WWE games)..I suppose I can tough it out playing God Mode No Update Runs until then (vitali just finished his)

Anonymous said...

aye, I can approve that. ;)

Anonymous said...

Alpha? That's awesome.

Are you keeping the man vs. world epic feel for the box cover art? I hope so. I didn't like the mean grumpy Kratos on the throne image that Gamestop had been running as a placeholder for the Box cover art.

Can't wait to get the demo and see the figurine mold! Drop us some pictures if you have the time and can do so! Thanks for the hard work, Cory.

Anonymous said...

Wow, with every new post I get excited for this game more and more! That fight you mentioned sounds pretty badass! I can't wait to rip my hair out trying to beat it, haha.

P.S. I hope the "man" approves of sending out the demos. I can't friggin' wait to get my hands on some new God of War.

Anonymous said...

Question: If you are less than two weeks away from the alpha date and the game is still months away, what will the three+ months after be used for?

Cory Barlog said...

Hey Jag,
Alpha is just getting all the elements that need to be in the game...in the game. After alpha you go through Beta and Gold...basically we are bug fixing, doing the final tuning, and putting all the polish on the game to make it super sweet!

So the alpha version is still dramatically different from what you will end up playing when you buy the game.

cory

Cory Barlog said...

elassar...unfortunatly no ps3 love for us. Thatwould be so sweet to get free ps3's...but I am not holding my breath for that one.

Eric...the stuff you are seeing is all our teaser art, our box cover is going to be totally different, for sure capturing that epic feel of Kratos taking on the world.

Zodiak said...

awesome stuff once again Cory. Glad you got all the email, hoping we can get to playing soon...fingers crossed and feet too.

I vote for a Blades of Chaos weapon set...killing people just like Kratos! And it could be available at Wal-Mart for like 20 bucks.

Anonymous said...

Cool, thanks a lot. I have always been confused about that.

Good luck with the rest of development and I look forward to playing your game. :)

Anonymous said...

Awesome post Cory! Glad to hear about the demos being sent out and that the game is almost in Alpha!

You better believe I'm going to get that Kratos figure. I hope its detailed like the McFarlane action figures.

Tapion440 said...

Hopefully my question doesn't start a chain reaction...but...would you sign my demo? :)

*should have gone to bed hours ago*

- tapion440

Anonymous said...

That's a great idea tapion!!

Could you Cory??? PLEASE?

Sadeq said...
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
Sadeq said...
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
Sadeq said...

Hell yeah, Cory would probably sign all the demos (if he has time).

Can't wait to have some hand-on time with GoW2.

I got 2 questions:
1. Do you plan to take GoW to the next-gen anytime soon? say 2008?

2. Is GoW planned to be a trilogy? (i.e. no GoW4)

I'm waiting for the second game yet thinking about the 4th already.

Sadeq said...

That is exactly what I'm saying: Three games only? No way!

Ok, I believe that the trilogy is meant to be the story of 'God of War.' Meaning that there's still space to explore the character, Kratos, and the world (e.g. older stories like the one in the special movies in the first game with Kratos and his brothr, can't remember his name).

Anonymous said...

hey cory...sounds like the game is goin platinum...i love that you guys aren't making the game too easy, i hate games like that...hope to be gettin that demo soon, i need my fix...quick question, are you guys going to put all the concept art in the strategy guide again? i thought that was fucking awesome. even the stuff that didn't make it in the game.

Cory Barlog said...

While I personally can't imagine why you would want my signature on the demo...I will totally do that.

Not sure exactly when the demo is coming out, so you guys will have to check in here for more info on it. I will probably announce here when the exact date for the demo is...this way you will all know when it should arrive to you.

Basically anyone who sent an email (of which I got them all) will be getting one. I will most likely be taking emails for the next month or so, but after that I probably got to cut it off or the "man" is gonna kill me for giving all the demo's away :)

cory

Anonymous said...

Well, you're responsible for the sequel to the best game of last year. You are the Director, who wouldn't want it signed by the Director?

Thanks, by the way!!

Barry said...

Hey Cory, thanks for all the great updates. I know how crazy it can get during that crunch to Alpha, so kudos to you for still taking a few minutes out of your day to keep us up to date on how everything is going.

Also, is the demo going to be the same one from e3? or perhaps something new? Good Luck on finishing the game!

Anonymous said...

OMG, the demo will be signed ?!You can't imagine what would this mean to us, Cory!This disc will have more value for me than some complete game for my console, bought from the store...

Zodiak said...

omg tapion, I knew I was frogetting something! lol. cool idea!

Yeah Cory sign my demo too!! =D

And the only prob would be ebay unless we all take a blood oath and not sell it there...

Tapion440 said...

I really respect people in the gaming industry that actually enjoy what they do. And I want a signed demo so that after I play whatever level I get to play until the actual game comes out, I can frame the demo and place it on the wall so when guess come over I can tell them about one of the coolest, off-beat, and nicest game directors in the industry.

*possibly earning brownie points*

- tapion440

Anonymous said...

"Basically anyone who sent an email (of which I got them all) will be getting one."

does this mean me too? (non-US) the "man" approved?

please please please please!

Unknown said...

kcLet's just hope the demos will reach every one of us.And if they are signed, that would make them even more special.Because this game is being made by people who really are giving their creation everything they can.And when the director and every single person on the team work as one creative soul to realize their vision, that's when a game is great.When there are pieces from the developers' dream in the game, it can be called art.That's why a signed game is so priceless...
And if the demos do come to us, no one should sell them, in any case !

Anonymous said...

"That's like... a dollar an hour!"

Mmmm, crunchy.

Zodiak said...

I pitty da foo who gets his brownie points!

Actually, you stole all my brownie points from that post=p

Devin Greer said...

I'm glad I'm in the Us, at least that way I know I have a sure way of getting my hands on a demo... That is, if it's okay with "the man". God Of War flamethrower? Hm, sounds nice... Lol, but seriously that action figures will be great. Being a God Of War fanatic as I am, I'll have to be buying any and all of them. You should make one of my cat, after all, his name IS Kratos, just joking... Can't wait till next year, around February...

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