Too Human Q&A Feature

It's difficult to think of another franchise that's undergone such a difficult conception. A decade in development across three platform generations, Silicon Knights' Too Human trilogy finally gets out of the starting blocks with the release of the first chapter.

TVG recently sat down with the head of Silicon Knights, Denis Dyack, to discuss the development of the game, the implementation of its somewhat unique camera/combat system, and the current state of the litigation between the studio and Epic Games...

TVG: Too Human is just weeks away from being released in Europe; how does it feel now that the game is out of your hands?

It feels awesome! The game is done, [and] we're really happy with the results. We think it's the best game we've created so far. The results and the largely positive response from the demo - we've had over a million demos - you couldn't ask for any more. It's been really, really good.

TVG: Having had the game in a stuttered development for so long, is there a tinge of sadness?

You know, it's kinda like when you get married. I've been married for a while now, but I don't remember my wedding day that much. I remember the day, but it's kinda like you're in a shock state. I'm in that shock state [with Too Human]; it's not in the shops yet, it's gone gold, and we've been working so hard for so long that we really need this decompression for three or four months - then I'll really know how I feel.

But right now, I'm just really happy - I think! The demo results have been fantastic; the game is coming out on the 19th in North America, the 29th here. You know, when we [Silicon Knights] create a game, we try to make a game that we really like - and I really like it as a game. But when you do that, you know it pleases one person, and now we see how many more people we please.

If the demo is any indication, then it's going to go very well. There's been some people saying they've spent over thirty hours with the demo, which is more than they spend with [full] games. Wait till they get the final game, there's so much depth to the game they'll be really happy.

TVG: With the largely positive response surrounding the demo, do you feel like you've been vindicated after the negativity that's followed the game through development?

I guess a little bit, we'll see when the final game comes out. Really, what we're going through are pretty big paradigm shifts within our industry with technology, the way the press works, and the way our industry works. There are so many issues that you have to overcome.

We've always believed in Too Human, we've always thought it was a really good game. We've got a really strong track record as a game development team from Legacy of Kain, to Eternal Darkness, to Metal Gear [Twin Snakes] - all really strong products. So we were very surprised by the initial negative reaction to Too Human, it was like nobody gave us the benefit of the doubt. But you know, it's out there now in the hands of gamers - and as long as gamers like it, nothing else matters!

TVG: Even though Too Human is out, there's never much of a break before the next title goes into pre-production and production. At the moment, is the focus at Silicon Knights solely on the Too Human trilogy?

No, we have another project that we haven't announced and we're working on others as well. There's a bunch of announcements that will occur in the future, but nothing in the near future.

TVG: So nothing at Leipzig or the rest of 2008?

Nothing that we're willing to talk about right now, I'm not sure when we'll making those announcements. Anything else would be speculation on my part.

TVG: And how is production going on Eternal Darkness 2?

Can't say.

TVG: Can't say 'Eternal Darkness 2' or how the production on Eternal Darkness 2 is going?

Can't say either! Sorry, no comment.

TVG: I need to ask about character migration between the three parts of the trilogy. That would be save game file...

Yeah, it's a save game file, and we'll probably just raise the level cap. So, the level cap in the first game is 50, the second game we'd raise it to 70 or 75. You can take your character over or you can start a new one - you can do whatever you want. Essentially all that hard work you put in for the first game will completely migrate over to the second game. It'll be something that gamers won't have to worry about, starting a new character or anything like that.

TVG: Obviously stats will also migrate, but from a story point of view, will the second instalment stand alone or would players really have had to complete the first one?

It's funny, there's definitely a trilogy story-arc. The theme of the first game is discovery, the theme of the second game is revenge, the theme of the third game is enlightenment. We've got all the arcs built, we know what we've doing with the entire trilogy; it's definitely going to end at three. It doesn't matter how successful it is, three is the end. We may do some other things afterwards that are related to the universe, but this story is going to be done. The story is really going to evolve over the trilogy, but it is what I would 'encompassed'. So if you took the story on its own, then it's encapsulated, but there are a few arcs that don't get resolved because we do have to have them resolved over the trilogy - that's the way it works.

TVG: For anybody that's not familiar with this area of Norse Mythology, Baldur gets betrayed and is killed...

That's a story spoiler, oh you mean in the mythologies! In the mythologies he dies. The interesting thing is that that doesn't give anything away in our story. The funny thing is, we're following the mythologies from a different perspective [so] that if you don't the Norse mythologies, that's ok. If you do know the Norse mythologies, it's a very, very deep rabbit hole. [From] the perspective of how we're telling it and what we're doing, I think gamers are going to find it very interesting.

TVG: At the moment I don't know how Too Human 1 ends...

It'll be surprising...

TVG: It'll be surprising?

It'll be surprising; it'll end in ways that you probably don't expect.

TVG: Looking back to the traditional Norse mythology and how the character of Loki triggers Ragnarok, the end of the world; is this something that's addressed in this instalment?

I don't want to talk about that, it's probably best to explore on your own. It's probably something that most gamers will not predict. Once Too Human 1 ends, it puts up a wild west of where we want to take it; it will be from a different perspective that hasn't been explored before, something that's pretty refreshing we think.

TVG: Some people seem to be struggling with the idea that the right control stick isn't used to control the camera in Too Human; Eternal Darkness favoured the use of static cameras. Why don't you favour what has become the widespread use of the right stick to control the camera, and what do you believe the future will be to resolve this?

Two things on that. In our opinion, it's a really, really innovative control scheme; it's very different to anything else that's out there. And the only way to pull off the control scheme was if we had an automated camera. We looked at camera systems, and when 3D cameras were introduced to the industry in games like Mario 64 - Miyamoto-san created a great game - but it introduced a complexity of having to control the camera as well as the combat. Then suddenly the right stick camera became the definitive answer to how to do it. We feel that's unnecessary actually.

By automating the camera you allow people to concentrate on the gameplay, and the right analogue stick control - especially to shooting - is really analogous to Geometry Wars. You can fire and rotate and move and shoot, and for melee combat it's the same thing when you're letting go of the triggers. It is quite complex; it seems simple at first. I really think that simple but deep is the way we should go. The really interesting thing about Too Human is that I think it's really analogous of society and us all being 'too human' in that everyone often craves innovation and they want something new. But when you present something so radically new, people don't know how to react, they're like "What is this?" That reaction itself has almost been rewarding to see. At first, you see the reactions like "What is this, I can't even explain this, I don't understand it!" But then someone will play the demo three or four times, and they'll be like, "This is fantastic!" And they'll tell all of their friends, and they'll ten more of their friends, and it's [because of] that kind of ground movement that we thought we had to do a demo. It's because it's so different that it's not just something that you can just watch a video and understand. So that's the reason for the combat and camera systems.

TVG: So I guess that going forward it'll be the evolution and refinement of AI camera systems that you guys will be pursuing?

Yeah, well in Eternal Darkness we didn't give camera control either. It wasn't as dynamic it is in Too Human. The camera in Too Human is a lot like a radar system; it always keeps the biggest threats on camera. You hear a lot of people talking about how the camera didn't go where they wanted it to go - it's probably because they didn't understand who the biggest threat was. Generally, once you understand the gameplay and how the game works - we've done a lot of focus testing - it actually works really, really well.

It's like film. When film was first introduced, they didn't ever want to have cuts that went from one scene to another, because they didn't think people would understand it. Once people get used to the camera system, we think people will understand it and really appreciate it for what it is: it allows you to play the game, not worry about the camera and play the game. We understand that there's always going to be the hardcore user that wants to define everytig themselves, but we really want to branch out to the mainstream as much as we can to introduce the game. It's accessible but deep, and that's the best way I can describe what we're trying to do with it.

TVG: Has there been any talk of Too Human heading to PC?

There hasn't. I know there's a rumour flying around, but the control scheme itself has been built up from the Xbox 360 controller. This analogy of pointing this way is almost like taking the mouse pointer and saying 'attack this enemy', except we're in 3D space, we have an automated camera. Translating this to the PC, I don't even know where to begin. We'd almost have to take it back to a mouse pointer, which I don't we want to do. So there's been no plans, it's just a rumour.

TVG: I'm also assuming too that the completion of the trilogy has been green-lit, there's no target that you guys have to meet?

Well yeah, we're moving forward on the trilogy. But let's be clear, if the first one is a horrible, dismal failure, then no-one's going to want a second or a third one, and nor would we want to development on something that no-one is going to play. If the demo is anything to go by, that's not going to be problem. The trilogy is planned and we're underway. We're excited, Microsoft is excited, so we're looking forward to seeing how people react to the first one - we can't wait to unleash the second and third.

TVG: It must also be quite rewarding for Microsoft to see that they're faith is paying off.

Yeah, absolutely. Too Human has been a tough road. We've had a lot of obstacles to over-come; we've had to re-write the engine. We had to hit some obstacles that no-one ever thought we'd have to face. But despite that hardship, we've got something that we're extremely happy with, it's exceeded our expectations, and I think it's our best game to date.

So we're excited. Microsoft is excited. It's pretty funny when I talk to everyone at Microsoft and seeing the reception of the demo. It's really starting to build now where people can't wait. I've just had the head of the division at Microsoft [complete] his first play through to get to level 50. It's really great to see that, because when you make a game and spend so much time on it, is an achievement in itself. Even people at Silicon Knights - when we were doing some of the testing, we'd have to invalidate the save games to avoid bugs that couldn't be duplicated - some of the guys internally didn't want to upgrade because they didn't want to lose their characters. That's a good sign that the game is fun. It's been rewarding, it's been nice.

TVG: You mentioned the engine re-write there. Has a date been set for when the litigation between Silicon Knights and Epic Games can be resolved?

It's moving forward. We feel really strongly that we were defrauded, and that a large portion of the industry was. That kind of unethical business behaviour has to stop, and we're going to stand up and do something about it. In the end, we feel really strongly about the complaint and that it's going to move in a very positive way for us, and it continues to do so.

We're not talking about it to the press, we don't want to make a big thing about it. We want to make games and let the courts take care of that.

TVG: It's obviously something that, by its very nature as the most licensed engine of this generation, that when everything came up...

We were the first to jump up and say that the emperor has no clothes, that's for sure. We feel really strongly about it.

It didn't help development having to re-write the engine, that's for sure. It hurt us a lot. It would have been great to come out in 2006 when we planned to, but it wasn't possible with the engine re-write.

TVG: Can we expect visual improvements in the follow ups?

Our engine will get better and better as we go. We already have massive technology improvements forthcoming that we hadn't introduced yet that you'll see in the future. We're really excited, there's a lot of potential in the future. The engine is really strong, we're excited about it.

TVG: With the current trend for two year cycles for franchise instalments, we're assuming that it'll be 2010 before we see Too Human 2. You won't be rushing to release it next year, will you?

We're going to make sure the quality is there first, it's quality over quantity. It certainly won't take as long as the first one to come out that's for sure! I think people will be happy with the pacing of the second and third games.

TVG: As for your other projects, they've all been signed for the Xbox 360?

We haven't announced anything on them yet, but when we make some announcements, the world will know. But there's nothing on them yet.

Thanks Denis.

TVG would like to thank Denis Dyack of Silicon Knights for taking our questions. Too Human is currently available across North America from today, with a release date of August 29th here in the UK.