E Three Two Thousand Fourteen

[Jermungandr]

In case you missed the Project: STEAM roundtable:

Spoiler

3DS Game Developer Discussion

Wednesday June 11, 2014
5:38


Neal Ronaghan:
Queuing up for the 3DS developer discussion. no word on what the game is yet
5:47


Neal Ronaghan:
Entering now!
5:53


Neal Ronaghan:
It seems to be a new IP according to Reggie. 3DS systems are on stage
5:54


Neal Ronaghan:
Same as yesterday. No streaming.
5:59


Michael "TYP" Cole:
One minute to go....
6:00


Neal Ronaghan:
Final guesses! I think it will be a new take on an old IP. gonna say Metroid.
6:02


Neal Ronaghan:
They are late. :(
6:04


Neal Ronaghan:
Jonny Metts thinks it is an Eguchi game
6:05


Neal Ronaghan:
starting!
6:05


Neal Ronaghan:
new game property releasing in 2015
6:05


Neal Ronaghan:
video revealing codename steam
6:06


Neal Ronaghan:
takes place in london
6:06


Neal Ronaghan:
Steampunky
6:07


Neal Ronaghan:
dude on steam powered motorcycle
6:07


Neal Ronaghan:
goofy old timey voiceover explaining a steam bridge crossing the river thames
6:08


Neal Ronaghan:
main character seems to be a super steam powered captain of some sort
6:08


Michael "TYP" Cole:
Comic book style looks like EBA to me.
6:08


Neal Ronaghan:
So steampunk it is ridiculous
6:08


Michael "TYP" Cole:
Project STEAM! Clock tower in London
6:09


Neal Ronaghan:
Some attack happened. aliens, I presume.
6:09


Neal Ronaghan:
Looks like you are a steampunk guy fighting aliens. no gameplay shown yet
6:10


Neal Ronaghan:
Trailer over. Code Name: STEAM is it
6:10


Neal Ronaghan:
on the stage is Hiroshi yamagami. producer at NCL
6:10


Neal Ronaghan:
worked in Fire Emblem and Advance Wars. as well as Style Savvy and Xenoblade
6:11


Neal Ronaghan:
Hitoshi. not Hiroshi. (autocorrect fail)
6:11


Michael "TYP" Cole:
Comic book style looks like EBA to me.
6:12


Neal Ronaghan:
Action game. Code Name: STEAM is the official title
6:12


Neal Ronaghan:
turn based strategy game with action elements made my Intelligent Systems
6:13


Neal Ronaghan:
Two folks from IS: Paul Patrashcu (director) and Takako Sakai (art director)
6:13


Neal Ronaghan:
action elements are taken from third person shooters
6:14


Neal Ronaghan:
Lincoln created a department to fight against aliens.
6:14


Neal Ronaghan:
Art style is from American comic books.
6:15


Neal Ronaghan:
Time for gameplay
6:15


Neal Ronaghan:
three save files on it
6:16


Neal Ronaghan:
third person perspective. you move during turns it seems
6:16


Neal Ronaghan:
Uses the stylus on bottom screen
6:17


Neal Ronaghan:
cites abstraction in strategy games eg you enter a battle screen in Fire Emblem
6:18


Neal Ronaghan:
this game has a third person perspective. seems like Valkyria Chronicles a bit
6:19


Neal Ronaghan:
use touch screen to aim guns it seems.
6:20


Neal Ronaghan:
they tried using a map on the screen but decided against it. wanted immersion with third person pov
6:20


Neal Ronaghan:
This demo has two playable characters. you can have a team of four total.
6:21


Neal Ronaghan:
Use different character's pov to get the full view of the map
6:21


Michael "TYP" Cole:
The game presentation reminds me of Valkyre Chronicles
6:21


Michael "TYP" Cole:
The game presentation reminds me of Valkyre Chronicles
6:22


Neal Ronaghan:
it seems like your movement is limited by a meter represented by steam
6:22


Michael "TYP" Cole:
Steampunk was introduces to help the player visually in a stylistic manner. A red pipe guides the player through the level on display
6:23


Neal Ronaghan:
you can use steam pipes on the map to guide you to the objective.
6:23


Neal Ronaghan:
screens on the map give hints
6:24


Michael "TYP" Cole:
Coins are scattered about the level...shops to upgrade and buy equipment, maybe?
6:25


Michael "TYP" Cole:
The developers thing third person shooting and traditional strategy games require similar planning to solve problems.
6:25


Neal Ronaghan:
all about using the different viewpoints to plan your strategy. About solving problems nonlinearly. similar but different to FE/AW
6:25


Michael "TYP" Cole:
Time units quantify how much and speed of units' actions.
6:26


Neal Ronaghan:
This looks really interesting. it looks vaguely like a third person steampunk FE/AW
6:26


Michael "TYP" Cole:
Time units are essentiallly fuel: hence, steam
6:27


Neal Ronaghan:
Action points (movement and attacks) are represented by steam units.
6:28


Neal Ronaghan:
Steampunk started as a setting. later became more integral to gameplay
6:29


Neal Ronaghan:
AW = Advance Wars. sorry for confusion.
6:29


Michael "TYP" Cole:
Steam consumed by attacks. There is a tradeoff of movement vs atracking.
6:30


Michael "TYP" Cole:
If you are spotted while exploring, your move (steam consumed) is locked in.
6:31


Neal Ronaghan:
Showing a different level
6:31


Michael "TYP" Cole:
They started with an undo button but it got cumbersome, so the lock-in of steam consumed was introduced to allow for flexibility when exploring.
6:31


Michael "TYP" Cole:
Talking more about art design
6:32


Michael "TYP" Cole:
4 char max per map/team
6:33


Michael "TYP" Cole:
Char powers should be obvious based on the characters' appearance. Less emphasis on stats and grinding individual characters
6:33


Neal Ronaghan:
"Even if you aren't good at math, you can enjoy this game immensely " You get new characters, weapons and more. lots of upgrading. no grinding or all powerful weapon
6:33


Michael "TYP" Cole:
You will collect items and weapons. You cannot just grind to get a powerful enemy. Must build a balanced team
6:34


Neal Ronaghan:
Inspiration from Silver Age comics on art design. Jack Kirby, Mike Mignola were inspirations
6:35


Neal Ronaghan:
likes the "raw power" and refinement of Kirby and similar artists
6:35


Michael "TYP" Cole:
Jack Kirby and other comic artists were large influences. Their powerful imagery and use of curves and straight lines were inspiration.
6:35


Michael "TYP" Cole:
There are main and subweapons
6:36


Neal Ronaghan:
To me, it seems like a Japanese take on Jack Kirby which, well, makes perfect sense.
6:36


Neal Ronaghan:
Main character is Henry
6:37


Michael "TYP" Cole:
Artwork shows off weapons with animal motifs for main weapons. Subweapons are more visually subtle.
6:38


Michael "TYP" Cole:
Pointing out the verticality of the map being demoed. On a high perch a character can have a tactical advantage
6:39


Neal Ronaghan:
Playable characters include Henry (white male), a black male in a bucket hat/helmet, a lion, and a white female
6:39


Michael "TYP" Cole:
The aliens are inspired by HP Lovecraft.
6:40


Michael "TYP" Cole:
The aliens have a theme of ice creature.
6:40


Michael "TYP" Cole:
The aliens can use weapons and machines, just like the heroes.
6:44


Neal Ronaghan:
I don't know if we will get names for everyone. just judging from characters in gameplay demo
6:44


Neal Ronaghan:
The lion just used a special attack. his name is Lion.
6:44


Neal Ronaghan:
Female is called The Fox.
6:44


Neal Ronaghan:
Other character is John.
6:45


Neal Ronaghan:
Features Overwatch attacks that do major damage on enemy. can stack Overwatch attacks
6:45


Michael "TYP" Cole:
"Overwatch attacks" allow you attack during the enemy's turn. You can stun the enemy unit by using some steam (if you are lucky). There is also a delay in overwatch attacks, so the targetted unit can avoid the attack if they are careful.
6:46


Michael "TYP" Cole:
Eagle strike special move is super American themed and looks absurd.
6:46


Neal Ronaghan:
Henry just used an attack that involved using a steampunk eagle. So goofy and cool.
6:47


Michael "TYP" Cole:
One hero character has what looks like a lion's tail. Interesting....
6:48


Michael "TYP" Cole:
You save games at save points in the level. Can also spend "medals" to restore health and steam. But that is also currency for weapons and items
6:48


Neal Ronaghan:
You can save at checkpoints mid mission. Save points can heal team if you collect medals on the battlefield. Medals are also used to buy items off the battlefield.
6:49


Michael "TYP" Cole:
The lion character punces forward on her enemies--attacking and moving.
6:50


Michael "TYP" Cole:
You cannot buy medals on the eShop, in case you were curious.
6:50


Neal Ronaghan:
You cannot buy medals on the eShop. Random but nice I suppose.
6:50


Michael "TYP" Cole:
Q&A time
6:52


Neal Ronaghan:
Q: Does the game take place in London? But there is Abraham Lincoln?
6:52


Michael "TYP" Cole:
London is the starting point of the game. At that time Britain was the greatest Empire and thus the alien's first target.
6:53


Michael "TYP" Cole:
Steampunk also fits with London. Sounds like the game will have other locales.
6:53


Neal Ronaghan:
Steampunk aesthetic fit well there so it was the starting point. you do go to the US though
6:54


Michael "TYP" Cole:
Q: this and Splatoon are shooters. Is this a concious shift in Nintendo's strategy / portfolio
6:54


Neal Ronaghan:
(one of the demo levels was in Boston, I believe)
6:55


Michael "TYP" Cole:
A: "Not really". They prototyped an idea, and it felt good. NOA notes that the shooter style of game is very approachable with constant player feedback
6:56


Michael "TYP" Cole:
Q: Japan has a history of making Japanese historical figures larger than life. Why pull from western history?
6:57


Michael "TYP" Cole:
A: there were several settings pitched. One was "steam punk civil war". Eveyone had lots of ideas to riff on within the team. Felt it was a rich context choice.
6:58


Michael "TYP" Cole:
Q: Q on the rock music. Can you talk about the composer/style?
7:00


Michael "TYP" Cole:
A: advance wars composer hirano is working on this. Similar to days of ruin in style. Music has both 19th century string-type instruments and rock music for the steam punk. Music is dynamic, to reflect enemy awareness of danger, etc.
7:00


Michael "TYP" Cole:
Q: how is death treated? Is there permadearh?
7:01


Michael "TYP" Cole:
A: There is not permadeath. It is not a game that relies on individuals--it relies on teams of chars. Would not work if you could lose characters. You can revive them on the map by using medals
7:02


Michael "TYP" Cole:
Q: will there be online play? A: yes there will be multiplayer and there will be online supported, but details ate pending
7:03


Michael "TYP" Cole:
Q: how large is the cast. A: not talking now. Stay tuned.
7:04


Michael "TYP" Cole:
Q: will there be amiibo integration, since this is a 2015 game? A: not a bad idea. We'll think about it.
7:04


Michael "TYP" Cole:
Q: similarities to valk. Chronicles. Was the team influenced by that game?
7:06


Michael "TYP" Cole:
A: yes, the lead developer likes that game. But it wasn't an inspiration. That game is a trafitional strategy game, and players rely on the overhead map/view. Not really a shooter. Nintendo & IS wanted the shooter like gameplay to be integral and not a facade.
7:08


Michael "TYP" Cole:
Q: Is code name steam why we haven't gotten a new advance wars? A: nonononono. We are always thinking about the next iteration of AW and FE. Teasing they will reveal info on those later when they are ready
7:09


Michael "TYP" Cole:
Q: Has this impacted development on the FExSMT game.
A: nonononono. They are on schedule.
7:09


Michael "TYP" Cole:
They thank everyone. Showing one last cinematic
7:09


Michael "TYP" Cole:
More comix book goodness.
7:10


Michael "TYP" Cole:
Thanks everyone! The presentation is over!