The prevalence of skateboarding games has
been in steady decline over the past few years.
The untimely demise of EA's Skate series
and the multiple disasters that plagued the Tony Hawk's Pro Skater franchise
has left the gaming landscape wide open for
a new skateboarding game to lead the way.
Session is the debut title from recently established
indie studio Crea-ture Studios. Set to release into early access in May 2018,
Session promises to be a hardcore, simulation-heavy
skateboarding experience, with a dual analog control scheme
not too dissimilar to EA's Skate.
In December 2017, Session celebrated a successful
Kickstarter campaign in, raising over $160,000 from almost 3 and a half thousand backers.
Marc-Andre Houde and Vicent Da Silva are the
co-founders of Crea-ture Studios. They originally met whilst working at WB Montreal, lending
their talents most notably to Batman Arkham Origins.
Marc-Andre is Crea-ture Studios' artist
and animator, while Vincent handles the programming.
Recently I got a chance to talk with the team at Crea-ture studios,
about the success of their recent Kickstarter,
what the future holds for Session, as well as comparisons made between Session,
and the illusive, Skate 4.
Also just a heads up, Marc-Andre and Vincent
both have fairly thick French accents and the audio quality isn't fantastic, so, I've
taken the liberty of creating subtitles, which you can turn on, here.
GAME BRAIN: What's your reaction to your
Kickstarter? You guys were thankful enough to raise $160,000, what was your feeling coming
out of the whole process?
MARC-ANDRE: Super happy, we were really tired
at the end. But yeah we're super happy, I think the reception was really good.
People clearly showed that there's a need
for a new skate game, so it's always good to see such an amount of positive feedback,
so yeah, super cool.
VINCENT: It was pretty much what we expected,
but a little bit more, you know you never really know how things are going to go.
GAME BRAIN: I think just over 3,000 people
contributed to the Kickstarter. If you had to send a message to the backers, what would
you say?
MARC-ANDRE: Massive thanks, I think it's really
cool. We know the project's been in some weird position in the beginning, it was a
really tough start,
but we're really happy to see people stood
by and kept believing in us, and showed really explicitly that they're really down for
this concept, so yeah, big thanks.
GAME BRAIN: How's the money from the Kickstarter
going to impact the project in the short-term and the long-term?
MARC-ANDRE: Well, as we were saying during
the Kickstarter video, making games is something that's really expensive,
so we wanted to make sure that we could bring
a really solid early access version, so that was mostly why we wanted to go to Kickstarter.
We already had some funds, so that allowed
us to make the prototype and make something decent.
But we also felt that the Kickstarter would
help a lot to help make a really solid early access version. So short term, I
think it's going to help us make Session look
way better than we could have for the first early access version,
we hope it's going to have a long term impact
because it's going to start better than what we expected.
GAME BRAIN: You guys are lucky enough to already
have, without even releaseing into early access, a pretty dedicated online community,
there's quite a lot of people playing Session
that are pretty active and vocal online.
What's it like to that trust and reassurance
from players so early in the development process?
VINCENT: It's actually pretty cool, we weren't
expecting that much, sometimes
I'm on YouTube and in the history since
i'm looking at skateboard stuff there'll be like a Session video that pops up and it's
like 'wow that's pretty impressive,'
something that's not even a full game yet
and already there's so many videos popping up. So it's cool, it's a nice feeling.
MARC-ANDRE: It's really cool, it's really
motivating, but it's also really stressful at the same time. Right now we're only two,
expectations are high,
and for those who have been following the
project, this prototype is something that we've made, we've built in less than 8
months.
I think it's going to be a really fun challenge,
it's really cool that people are that excited but it's kind scary at the same time.
GAME BRAIN: It was almost as if the Kickstarter
came a lot later than a lot of people expected. Why was right now the right time for the Kickstarter,
what made it the optimal time to start it?
MARC-ANDRE: There's actually no particular
optimal time I'd say, it's really difficult. You know the Kickstarter,
I think it went really well, considering the
time it showed up, November, end of November, it was getting really close to Christmas time.
So it probably could've been a better timing
but for us it was so important that we come up with something playable,
something that people can just take time to
download the demo and see if it's a good fit for them to believe in this game,
to follow us, to back us. Lots of people were
expecting Skate 4, or a copy cat of Skate. We love Skate, we've said it many, many
times that it's
a huge inspiration for us, but we're working
to build something different because we felt there was some untouched ground.
GAME BRAIN: And you play around with it as
well, you mention Skate 4 in the tutorial, you're not shy to reference that sentiment.
MARC-ANDRE: Yeah yeah! It's kind of funny
jokes we like to say, we know that people were expecting like Skate 4,
we've been really vocal that we're making
something realistic, we're getting close to simulation, we have those stick,
control sticks concept, so for sure there
has to be some links to the EA Skate franchise. But at the same time yeah,
I think Session is this kind of cool game
that deserves it's own identity and can definitely have it's place in the skateboarding games
history.
GAME BRAIN: There's a pretty long history
of some very successful skateboarding games out there, do you guys have a favourite skateboarding
game in particular?
MARC-ANDRE: : For me, for sure I've played
Tony Hawk a lot when I was young, I think I was something like 16 or 17 when the first
one came out.
But I must admit that as soon as EA's Skate
came into play, it really shifted the whole thing, it was like for the first time
time I was able to enjoy doing some more realistic
stuff. I would say that probably Skate 1 was probably my favourite one,
even though you couldn't get off the board,
I felt the whole city was feeling more natural and making more sense to me.
VINCENT: On my part I wasn't, as you saw
from the video, I'm not a skater of the group, I played some Tony Hawk when I was
younger also,
the Skate series a little bit. I'm noway
near, I can't tell you which ones my favourite, really. I havent played enough of them to
say 'oh this is the one, this my favourite'.
I do definitely prefer the more realistic
aspect of the Skate series than with Tony Hawk, but out of all them I'd say Session
is my favourite, that's a little bit bias.
GAME BRAIN: All good, that's fine, you can
say your own game, there's no rules!
I wanted to say, there's an interesting part
in the tutorial in Session. Starting in a prison, its a really distinct starting location
with your orange jumpsuit and everything.
And the tutorial is delivered by a security
guard, or a prison guard. Is that relationship with authority figures and rebelling against
the system
something that's important to the fabric of
Session?
MARC-ANDRE: Yeah it's a really good point
you bring there. For sure this is something that I always enjoyed about skateboarding,
it's not always because you have to go against
the rules or something, take time to think about what is prohibited, does it make sense?
Having your own way of thinking.
And usually when you end up going against
those rules or having your own way of thinking, you end up in trouble. So I think that works
with the skateboarding culture,
you're expressing some other things, you're
destroying stuff, you're breaking the law because its written somewhere that skateboarding
is illegal, that doesnt make sense.
But this whole prison thing is kind of a mix
of how we wanted the people to see Session as more than just a park, indoor park game,
it's something that we wanted to reflect the
skateboarding culture.
GAME BRAIN: The trick menu in Session very
brazenly states that this is the first 'true hardcore' skating game,
why did you want to make the simulation element
so prominent in the gameplay?
MARC-ANDRE: I think is what�s fun about
skateboarding, to us it's not necessary, you don't have to jump like a 50 stair set to
feel like you've accomplished something,
it's more that you think about what you want
to do, you put in the effort. And we also wanted to, with what we kind of call the
'Real Stance Concept', since you have
the left foot and right foot on stick, when you go switch,
the whole control scheme changes. And yeah
we could have avoided and stick to the more simplified version,
but we also wanted to create this kind of
thing that exists within the skating culture. Skateboarding is not only several tricks in
a row, it's really something that you think first,
you plan and you try. So yeah, that's why
we we're making sure people are aware of this, this is how far we want to go with the simulation.
And it's not even as far as we want to go,
we want to have the catching mechanics and flipping speed and all these things to be
in the game later on.
GAME BRAIN: Great, so Vincent, for you as
well, what was the development process of the boarding like? On the gameplay front you're
on the front line.
What were some of the main challenges in bringing
the skating system to life?
VINCENT: I'd say one of my biggest challenges
is that I'm not a skater myself. So im often playing Skate, I actually have Skate 2, Skate
3, Skate 1,
it's actually up there, next to my desk, and
I pop it in sometimes when I just want to get a feel for things, how they go, so thats
definitely a challenge,
since we're working with a lot of physics
and getting that realistic feel to it. We don't believe that we're at the point where
we want it to be yet, so we still want to push it way more than it is now,
you've got to find that perfect balance
where 'okay, this is nice it feels realistic enough and it feels fun enough'. We've
learnt a lot already, we've got a lot more to learn as we go along.
It's been a challenge, converting that real
aspect of the skating for me, which I don't particularly know, to that game. So Marc-Andre
is kind of my guinea pig,
I make a feature and 'Hey, can I get your
feedback, if this feels right or not,' and we keep going with it you know.
It's going to be an iterative process, hence
why we're also doing the early access, because we want community feedback.
GAME BRAIN: Early access is only a few months
away now, where do you want the gameplay to be a few months from now, what are you hoping
the gameplay looks like at the stage of early access?
MARC-ANDRE: I think what matters most is making
sure that the experience is as tight as we can. We'd like to make sure that tricks
feel better, grinds as well, as much as we go simulation sometimes it still
feels arcade-y
and when you do grinds and locks thats pretty
much it. There's no balance, theres no friction or anything, so we're probably putting most
of our energy into these things, experience is the key.
It's a skill based game, so i think people
will be really disappointed if we come up with a huge city and no progress into the
skating experience.
GAME BRAIN: Great, can you give me any idea
of how that's going to work? Unlocking new tricks, customization options, how will the
progession system work?
MARC-ANDRE: The progression system is something
that's going to come on a little bit later, right now every trick is available right away.
Once we've set all the key features, like
catching mechanics, which is something really important. I would say first step, is going
to be making sure that grinding feels a lot better,
I think this is even more important than progression
at the moment.
GAME BRAIN: I think one of the most eyecatching
things about Session's gameplay is the lack of a scoring system. And that's something
that's really new for a skating game,
it's like a foreign concept almost, was that
really important for you guys to implement? What was the thinking behind not having a
scoring system?
MARC-ANDRE: The main and major thinking of
it is, I'm taking the question because I'm the skater guy in between Vince and I.
The main and almost only reason why there's
no scoring system is simply because, to me, as a skater, it doesn't make sense
that you are putting points into something
that is so subjective. So having points in the game was destroying this, and I think
this is really important for skateboarding you know.
Just doing what you want, what you feel like
doing.
GAME BRAIN: I actually headed over the Session
subreddit, and asked some of the fans of Session if they want to ask you guys any questions
in particular.
So here are some community questions, from
the fans. So, some of these user names, I'm not going to pronounce them right, so bare
with me.
User NoohShab asked: In the kickstarter the
multiplayer online and customization goals weren't reached, does that mean those two
things are not included in the game completely or only in the early access?
MARC-ANDRE: Actually, no, all those stretch
goals that we didn't reach are just not secure, so depending on how well the game will sell,
we'll be able to end up making those features.
The only issue is it's going to take a lot
more time than expected depending on how well the project goes, pretty much.
GAME BRAIN: User Donwea essentially asks:
What's the difference between developing in an open, indie environment where the consumer's
feedback has a bigamount of impact in the game v/s working for a big company with
publishers, deadlines and not too many creative decisions.
VINCENT: we do have a lot more creative freedom
as opposed to when you're working for a big company or publisher, especially they
want to make the big bucks, so there calls might not be in line with the
creative aspect of it.
and more so, is it more accessible as opposed
to more niche, that's definitely different, the challenges of the indie space is you're
independent, you need to find money to keep going and
you need to find money to keep going, and
you need to try and make the best game you can, so it's he challenge of balancing.
MARC-ANDRE: The biggest different, and it
might be our biggest problem or challenge I would say, is since we have entire creative
control, things can grow really easily and we always have to make sure that
we keep a cool head regarding what we want
to do with the game. We're getting lots of feedback, sometimes there's some really
cool ideas that come up, but in reality making a game with such a limited budget,
there's a lot of things I would love to
do that we cannot do, and we have say, no, well, sorry, I can't.
VINCENT: Don't get me wrong, you learn, we
went there and learned a lot, what to do, what not to do, so it was worth it in the
end, you get to gain some experience, but i prefer ten fold the indie space.
MARC-ANDRE: Yeah the same for me, by far.
GAME BRAIN: mmm_vernors asks: Modding was
listed as a really high tier stretch goal, but people are already making mods. Will they
actively restrict mods or just not release official tools?
MARC-ANDRE: Okay, yeah this is a good one,
I think there's a lot of things going around mods. I think I can speak for both of us,
we love the fact that people want to mod the game and be involved in creating content and
really cool stuff.
Where we get, i wouldn't say concerned but,
it's a really thin line because it's so early in the game, so many things are going to change
that modding at the moment feels really really early.
But right now the reality is we're just
the two of us, and we don't have tools, we're using Unreal and we cannot invest too much
time and money into tools for the money because we need to make the game,
and right now there's not really any game,
it's just a prototype, a cool control, bunch of animations, and broken Brooklyn maps, so
thats pretty much it.
GAME BRAIN: And broken maps...And another
one, and I think this one is really important because I feel like the community should know
about this.
This is from LurkerLew, the question is: Are
you still holding true to your statement about allowing people who missed the kickstarter
to back the project via paypal, granting them access to the Indoor Park v2
and other prototype content?
There are many of us out there who simply
didnt realize we missed the end date and would like to contribute. So obviously so fans out
there are hoping to fund the game. Are you guys helping support that?
MARC-ANDRE: Yeah this is something that is
on our list right, that we want to look at, we just want to make sure because, for example,
you know someone is sending a message, 'Oh i'd like to back the game, will we
have access to paypal and everything?'
And we say 'yeh sure', and then seconding
question is 'yeah but will i just have the indoor park? Will i be able to take some bigger
pledges and tshirts and everything. This is something that we care about
making sure that people are happy with the
interaction they have with us. We're definitely not close with this paypal idea for sure.
We just need to make sure it's efficient, that it doesn't become counter-productive.
VINCENT: The long answer short: We're looking
in it.
MARC-ANDRE: I'm the long answer guy.
GAME BRAIN: Yeah great. I guess like you're
Kickstarter you want to make sure it's the right time, and that it's done right it seems.
Last question, and I like it, it's short and sweet.
SameJones782 asked: Is it coming to PS4?
MARC-ANDRE: *laughs* Is it coming to PS4.
There's no early access for PS4, unfortunately, I'm going to have to answer and this is
the same answer we give to everyone but we're definitely not closed off
to other platforms,
So as soon as V1 will be out, the first thing
we'll do is look at porting the game to other platforms.
GAME BRAIN: Hey guys! Thank you so much for
watching this video. Subscribe to the channel if you're enjoying my content and please,
don't hesitate to leave a comment below. I try and respond to as many as I can,
and I always enjoy hearing your thoughts.
You can also follow me on twitter @thegamebrain. I always upload little segments that don't
make it into my final videos, so stay tuned there if you want to see more
behind the scenes content. A huge thanks to
the Session community for providing questions and footage for this video, you can find links
to their channels in the description below. I'll see you next time.
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