Hellblade: Senua's Sacrifice (TBA)

Games

[PC] [ONE] [PS4] Hellblade: Senua's Sacrifice

Moderator: JC Denton

[PC] [ONE] [PS4] Hellblade: Senua's Sacrifice

Unread postby Gaius » 13 Aug 2014 07:00

6Zz9gCn.jpg


Debut Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0LVLFvwtHJk

Official website: http://www.hellblade.com/

Hellblade has just been announced to the world at the PlayStation Gamescom Press Conference in Cologne, Germany with the debut showing of the Hellblade teaser trailer:

Ninja Theory is defined by three things: ninja-class melee gameplay, strong character stories and a unique art vision.

On Hellblade, we will double down on what we do best to give you a deeper character in a twisted world with brutal, uncompromising, combat.

We are embracing the creative spirit that comes with independence without letting go of the stunning production values that we are known for. It’s not indie, it’s not AAA. This is a third way. It’s independent AAA.

It’s about making a more focused game experience that isn’t trying to be all things to all people but satisfies a particular gaming itch. It’s about being in command of our creativity so that we can give you what you want from us at a lower price.

It’s very early days in the project but we are opening our doors and inviting you to join us every step of the way. We want to show you how we make this game warts and all so that you can be part of this journey.


HellBlade_Teaser_Screenshot_01.jpg

HellBlade_Teaser_Screenshot_02.jpg

HellBlade_Teaser_Screenshot_03.jpg

HellBlade_Teaser_Screenshot_04.jpg

HellBlade_Teaser_Screenshot_06.jpg


Title image from: http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?t=873110
User avatar
Gaius
 
Joined: 08 Apr 2011 06:17

Unread postby Gaius » 20 Aug 2014 03:26

Hellblade isn't related to Heavenly Sword: http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2014- ... ly-sword-2

Drawing a line between Heavenly Sword and Hellblade is an obvious and easy thing to do. And, let's be honest, Ninja Theory asked for it. At first glance Senua looks like she might be Nariko or her adopted sister Kai. And just look at the name of the games: Heavenly/Hell. Sword/Blade.

So, as we sit down with "production development ninja" Dominic Matthews for a chat about the game, drawing that line seems like an obvious place to start: is Hellblade in any way tied to Heavenly Sword?

"No, it's not," he says. "It's a brand new IP. Senua is a new character. It's not tied to Heavenly Sword at all.

"I saw someone describe the name as someone just putting Heavenly Sword into Thesaurus.com and going, oh it's Hellblade. It's not something where we've gone, yeah, let's make people think it is this. We really like Heavenly Sword. We loved making that game. So it's actually more just we like making female protagonists that look in a certain style. And we like swords. And we like hell. It's more that.

"I know it might appear like we've just gone, let's just stick it in a thesaurus..."

It sure does, but on one hand you can't blame Ninja Theory for trading off of Heavenly Sword, which, despite failing to set tills alight (this was in part to do with the PS3's tough start), enjoyed a positive reception. You still see calls for a sequel pop up every now and then. And if you're going to rekindle memories of Heavenly Sword, now seems like a good time to do it; a CG-animated film version is in production, although it doesn't look... great.

A spiritual successor, then? Nope. Not even a spiritual successor, Matthews says.

"No. I wouldn't say it's the spiritual successor to Heavenly Sword, because that has certain expectations. I think it's safer to say if people enjoyed Heavenly Sword, then the aim is they'll enjoy Hellblade, too. If we said it was the spiritual successor, there would be an expectation there is a story link or a certain type of gameplay or level design. It's a new IP. It's a brand new game. It's brand new characters. It's a brand new world. It's not linked at all. But if you like Heavenly Sword, like Enslaved and like what we did, then the aim is you'll like this, too."
User avatar
Gaius
 
Joined: 08 Apr 2011 06:17

Unread postby shubn » 08 Sep 2014 22:52

http://www.hellblade.com/?p=17419

Development Diary 1: The Announcement

Hellblade was first revealed at Sony’s Gamescom press conference exactly two weeks ago with the debut of the game’s teaser trailer. Our intention with the trailer was to create a teaser that announced the game with a bang, generated intrigue and set our stake in the ground for the game’s tone and quality.

Our first development diary tells the story of how we created that trailer:

Hellblade Development Diary 1: The Announcement: http://vimeo.com/104417753

Here is a version of the trailer from very early in its development, with some of the blocked out environment and selected shots from the mo-cap shoot:

Hellblade Teaser Blockout: http://vimeo.com/104395092

These are hi-res screenshots taken from the engine of the environment, environmental objects and sword featured in the teaser:


HighresScreenshot00014.jpg

HighresScreenshot00012.jpg

HighresScreenshot00011.jpg

HighresScreenshot00010.jpg

HighresScreenshot00009.jpg

HighresScreenshot00008.jpg

HighresScreenshot00007.jpg

HighresScreenshot00006.jpg

HighresScreenshot00004.jpg

HighresScreenshot000001.jpg


These are some of the pieces of concept art created for the teaser:


HellBlade__BloodEagle_01.jpg

HellBlade__MagicCircle_Topdown_02b.jpg

HellBlade_Animal_Skin_Props_01.jpg

HellBlade_Senua_Hand_01.jpg

HellBlade_Teaser_OpeningScene_01.jpg


Something that we do throughout the development of a trailer is paint-over frames in photoshop to steer the direction of lighting. These set of images show some of the video’s frames pre and post this paint-over process:


image_kr.png

hellblade_grading_art.jpg
User avatar
shubn
 
Joined: 10 Jan 2012 03:17
Location: France

Unread postby earthboundtrev » 15 Oct 2014 06:31

citadel_concept_web-1024x656.jpg

HellBlade_realworld_mood_03-1024x703.jpg

HellBlade_realworld_mood_02-1024x703.jpg


Development Diary 2 'Art Inspiration': http://www.hellblade.com/?portfolio_pag ... nspiration

Development Diary 3 'Senua': http://www.hellblade.com/?portfolio_pag ... ry-3-senua

Development Diary 4 'Creating The World': http://www.hellblade.com/?portfolio_pag ... -the-world
User avatar
earthboundtrev
 
Joined: 11 Nov 2013 02:30
Location: Virginia, USA

Unread postby CTF » 13 Dec 2014 20:01

http://www.siliconera.com/2014/12/12/he ... l-attacks/

Earlier this week, Ninja Theory conducted a Hellblade Q&A via Twitch, where the studio answered questions from fans about the game’s development. While Hellblade is still early in development and a lot of different facets of the game haven’t been finalized yet, Ninja Theory were able to answer a few questions about their plans.

Here’s a brief overview of what was said:

No 2-player co-op. The focus of Hellblade will be on telling a single-player story. There are two aspects of the story—the Senua (Celtic) side, and what she perceives to be the hellish, Viking side.

No QTEs in the game.

Cancelling out of one move into another will be present. This is already a feature in the prototype.

What kind of music will be used for Hellblade is currently being figured out. Electronic music being considered, but Ninja Theory don’t want one specific genre.

Gameplay will be shown off in full sometime in Spring 2015.

Fans will be involved with alpha/beta-testing and providing feedback on the game’s combat.

No big ensemble cast of characters, but there will be characters important to Senua involved with the game’s story.

Ninja Theory won’t be relying on cutscenes to tell Hellblade’s story. Characters and story information will be incorporated into the game’s stages.

Part of the reason for this is budget constraints. When you have a large development team and plentiful resources, cutscenes tend to be the easiest way to convey story information. However, there’s only one person assigned to cutscenes for Hellblade, and this member of staff is also responsible for animation and mocap, so this is forcing the team to find creative solutions to storytelling.
User avatar
CTF
 
Joined: 08 Sep 2014 04:37
Location: Israel

Unread postby shubn » 26 Jan 2015 23:17

http://www.hellblade.com/?p=17647

New concept art


01-body-land-final_web.jpg

02-body-land-sea-queen-web1.jpg

03-HellBlade_hell_abstract_mood_20_canyonofhands.jpg


http://www.hellblade.com/?p=17653

Hellblade Wallpapers


04-Hellblade_Wallpaper_1920x1080.jpg

05-HellBlade-SyanArt-Wallpaper-1.jpg

06-hellblade-fanart-3.jpg


http://www.hellblade.com/?p=17694

Concept Art drop


07-HellBlade_hell_abstract_mood_18_web.jpg

08-HellBlade_zombie_army_13b_web.jpg

09-gate1b1.jpg


http://www.hellblade.com/?p=17730

What’s in a Pose?

Tameem Antoniades

Introduction

Sometimes, it’s the seemingly little decisions that are the tricky ones. I came across one this week when deciding on a combat pose for Senua. Surely a simple combat pose shouldn’t be a tricky decision?

Striking a Pose

Now that we know the approximate camera framing for combat, we just needed to find a cool pose to frame Senua and the enemy. I asked Jitaik to come up with a bunch of poses that might look good. He set up a few in Maya for me to look at. Here I talk through the poses:

http://vimeo.com/112070497

This is the one that we liked the most:

Senua_Combat_Idle_02.jpg


We liked that it was unconventional and loose. We liked the 3D effect of the sword coming towards the camera and how it framed the enemy. But it was at about this point that I started to worry.

Posing is a Big Deal

The default combat pose is an important one. All combat animations need to take the pose into account and be able to return to it. I remember a time on a previous game where the publisher asked us late in development to change the default combat pose. This involved changing dozens of animations, nearing a hundred, in fact. It took weeks and everyone was groaning and moaning throughout.

Another reason you have think about this carefully is the unfortunate reality of striving for responsiveness: animation snapping. The more responsive you make your game, the more you will have to deal with animation snapping as the character switches from one animation to another as fast as possible.

Response vs Fidelity

Many games over the years have tried to avoid animation snapping at the cost of responsiveness. The first example of this I can remember was stunning. It was Prince of Persia on the Amiga:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IuZZaGGx0Xc

Despite the lethargic response times, understanding the rhythm and motion of the character was in some ways part of the gameplay challenge. This influenced the controls and animation style of various games going forward including the very first Tomb Raider, the Prince of Persia remake and Assassins Creed.

It was in this spirit, that we had accurate foot placement and animation blending in our own Heavenly Sword and in Enslaved. We got some stick for that.

With DmC, Capcom was not interested in making the character animation blend smoothly. All they cared about was the responsiveness and so we let the animations instantly snap rather than blend. I worried that people would complain about this but, in fact, there was near universal praise at how responsive the combat in DmC was.

It is a hallmark of Japanese games to put responsiveness over visual fidelity of animation blending especially when compared to western developed games. I believe that prioritising response is absolutely the right way to go and that, given a choice between response and fidelity, you should always pick the former.

Feedback Forgiveness

If you saw the level of snapping you get in games in a CG movie, it would look obviously glitchy but not so in games. Why is that? There is a curious psychological effect, which I arbitrarily call Feedback Forgiveness that happens when you push a button or push the control stick. As long as you get an immediate response, all else is forgiven, and the glitches do not even register in the players mind. But there is a limit to this forgiveness. If the poses you are snapping between are too extreme then it stands out and takes you out of the Feedback Forgiveness zone.

Mitigating Snapping

To help stay in the zone, there are a few things you can do. Number one, choose a default pose that can easily transition to all of the most common animations. So for combat, all initial attacks, hit reactions, blocking, evading and so on must all start with the default pose in mind. This is why it is so important to pick the right pose.

Beyond this, you can help hide snapping with secondary animations on the character. Physics-driven animation like hair and cloth can help hide the extreme animation snapping quite effectively. But if you can make snapping feel ok without relying on this, then it will look silky once you do have these elements in place.

Reality vs Fantasy

There is another factor in play: how real vs cool do you make the pose. I do not know how the Pictish Orkney Celts posed for combat. So we have to invent one that feels right for the character we want to portray.

Now combat in movies and games has nothing to do with the reality of combat. Take this video that purports to show a realistic recreation of Viking combat:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xFiIDl_mt2c

It’s certainly very interesting and it feels real enough but it is a stark reminder that reality is seldom attractive. That’s why magazine covers are photoshopped to hell and back. Now compare it, on the other end of the scale, to this fight in Hero between Jet Li and Donnie Yen:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AeeoEpmyb2Y

Clearly, that wasn’t how people fought but it has a very specific style and feeling that is totally in keeping with the fantasy of the movie. Again, that isn’t where we want to take Hellblade.

With Hellblade, we want our combat pose to feel like it could have been real while retaining the style of fantasy we were pursuing. Too real and it wouldn’t be exciting. Too fantasy, and it would be less immersive.

Revisiting the Pose

Ninja Theory’s lead animator, Guy Midgley, happens to be a black belt in Ninjutsu so I asked him to take a look at the pose I picked. He immediately felt it was not practical: too exposed to be functional, and difficult to attack or block rapidly. He took me through a few more poses:

IMG_3069.jpg

IMG_3065.jpg

IMG_30681.jpg

IMG_3060.jpg

IMG_3073.jpg

IMG_3062.jpg


This pose, which was more closed, felt cool to me:

IMG_3046.jpg

IMG_3061.jpg


But when you look at it from a game camera perspective it looks like this:

Pose008.png


It doesn’t frame the action nearly as well as the impractical pose.

Nevertheless I did a straw poll with the team to see which of the two people preferred. The results were evenly split and a big old open ended discussion ensued without a clear conclusion. Some liked the open pose simply because it looked cool, others liked the closed one because it looked more practical. Melina captured some of the discussion in progress:

http://vimeo.com/112057610

Conclusion

I enjoyed this debate very much, it’s the kind of thing that makes game development fun but it’s time to move on. In the end, it doesn’t matter too much which we pick as long as we are moving forward.

Jitaik offered a pose last thing on Friday for me to look at. It was the closed pose but with a tweak. Instead of resting the blade on the forearm, it was raised above the head:

Senua_Combat_Idle_03.jpg


This is clearly a “movie-pose” but it was closer to a real pose. Perhaps it isn’t as cool as the open pose but from it you can attack and block with minimal movement which will help avoid jarring snapping and stay in the Feedback Forgiveness zone.

It perhaps looks a little Ninjutsu in nature but I feel that Senua needs to have a technical edge over the barbaric Vikings she is fighting. The pose helps emphasise that she has mastery over technique that the Vikings lack.

And as for the open pose, perhaps we can still use it. We intend to have charge attacks in the game that do leave you exposed and this is perhaps an ideal pose for it. So we’ll push ahead with this pose but I’d be interested to hear what you think in the comments below.

Till next time


http://www.hellblade.com/?p=17776

Development Diary 7: Creating Cover Art

We’ve made a habit of releasing our Development Diary videos on a Monday, but this week we’re making an exception to that rule and sharing our new video with you a few days early. The reason for this being that the focus of the new video is on creating cover art, and in particular the cover art for the new issue of Official PlayStation Magazine UK which hits shelves today.

This diary tells the story of how the cover art was created and includes a time-lapse of the render paintover, which was completed in just a day:

http://vimeo.com/112287642

Issue 104 of Official PlayStation Magazine has a full Hellblade feature inside and our leading lady Senua on the cover:

opm104wallet_rgb.jpg


And if you’re an Official PlayStation Magazine UK subscriber you’ll be receiving a copy of the magazine with a limited edition cover, featuring bespoke Senua artwork created just for the magazine:

opm104cover_subs.jpg


Thanks for reading and watching. We’re always thinking about new subject areas to cover in our Development Diaries, so if there is something that you’d love to see in a diary please do let us know in the comments.

Issue 104 of Official PlayStation Magazine is available here: http://www.myfavouritemagazines.co.uk/g ... issue-104/

Or, alternatively, the digital version is available on the global iTunes Apple Newsstand and Google Play stores for iOS/Android devices


http://www.hellblade.com/?p=17798

Goals and Milestones

Tameem Antoniades

Goals & Milestones

We have about 3 working weeks left this side of 2014 so it was a good time to set some goals for the team to achieve. This got me thinking about milestones and the purpose they serve in development.

What is a Milestone?

A publisher usually advances money to a developer as long as the milestones are satisfactorily achieved. As long as the developer is hitting their milestones, progress is deemed on-track, the developer gets paid and all is well. As far as I can tell, all developer-publisher relationships work this way.

In a typical publisher/developer relationship, milestones are the backbone of development progress. When you sign a deal with a publisher, a milestone schedule is drawn up and this becomes a contractual obligation.

Milestones are typically 4 or 6 weeks apart and have specific goals to hit. For example a typical milestone may say something like this:

Milestone 5: Interim (Pre-Production) – 8th November 2011

Characters

- Character A In Game Model & Texture
- Character B High Res model
- Character C Cage Model (& base rig)
- Ranged Enemy Base Cage Model (& base rig)
- Melee Enemy Concept
- Melee Enemy Base Model (& base rig)

Environments

- Warehouse level grey box level
- Caves 1st pass playable

Documentation

- Updated Risk Log
- Updated Project Development Schedule
- Updated Game Design Document (including change log)
- Technical Design Document (including change log)
- Updated Design Workflow document (to include timescales)
- Full Game: Story Mission Breakdown (progression of story synopsis to include individual missions)
- Updated Story Treatment (Story Beats iteration)
- 1st pass Vertical Slice script

Demonstrable in Engine (Console / Networked)

- Traversal mechanics 1st Pass including:
- Wall (run up and grab)
- Drop down to Ledge
- Low Cover Vault
- High Cover Vault
- 1st pass Vertical Slice mission setup (Phase B – Geometry Blockout)
- 1st pass AI Enemy Behaviours: Patrol, Cover, Alarm, Investigate, Distract

If you find the above milestone list a little cryptic or uninspiring, you are not alone. There are reasons behind this.

THE MONTHLY MILLSTONE?

There are a few problems with milestones. The first problem is that the milestones for a game have to be fully fleshed out before a contract can be signed. So you have to know two years in advance, what the contents of your game deliverables are going to be month-by-month.

The Nostradamus Issue

Unless you are making a clearly defined sequel to a sports game where the only variable is the team roster, you would need Nostradamus-levels of insight to come up with a sensible milestone plan. So inevitably you have to do your best, stay as high level as possible in the descriptions of the milestone and agree to adjust the definitions along the way with the publisher’s consent.

The Contractual Issue

So that’s workable right? Clearly yes, as most games are made this way. However, once you have the list of milestones agreed and in the contract, changing them requires quite a bit of discussion and amendment to the contract. Major changes raise alarm bells so everyone agrees that we should only change milestones under exceptional circumstances as it could lead to loss of trust or breaches of contract in extreme cases.

The Ambition Problem

So devs end up defining milestones that offer flexibility for development without putting contracts at risk. Inevitably, the goals of each milestone become unambitious. You can get around that by setting your own internal milestones that are far more ambitious than the contractual ones but it can be a confusing thing for the team members to work to. And really you have to ask yourself why you are having to bypass a system that is supposed to help you, not hinder you.

The Tunnel Vision Problem

So you have a list of items that cover modelling, animation, texturing, be it a character model or level layout. Team members check off their work against the milestone definition and the build goes out with everything done.

The problem is that your character, vehicle or level is bland. Yes all aspects of it are technically done but it doesn’t mean it is any good. And while you may want to revisit it, everyone on the team has to move onto the next milestone items because that is what the contract says we should be working on. And so it goes on.

The Predictability Bias

These issues bias production towards being predictable and safe. To make milestones work, they have to be conservative and predictable which means the game design has to be predictable and achievable. If you are wondering why so many games seem to be facsimiles of others, this is one of the major reasons.

Everyone I know of in development is creating games because they have a love of games. The thrill of development comes not from knowing all the answers up front but from discovering them through a mix of creative thinking, science and craft. Strip that out, and development becomes a grinding millstone and no one wants that.

The Threat of Mediocrity

You may hit all of your milestones, deliver the game on time and on budget and feel like everything is sailing smoothly. But the ultimate judge and jury are the players and the critics and they have no investment in the process, contracts or milestones. They will gladly rip you a new one if your game is not up to par. You might have appeased your publisher’s lawyer and accountant along the way but you’ve just delivered a soul-less game and everyone knows it.

Your best and most ambitious people know it and start looking elsewhere, your publisher knows it and walks away, your customers know it and avoid your games, and your critics ignore your games next time around. In that context, the importance that you placed on hitting your milestones is little consolation and rightly so.

Now as a developer you do not control nearly as much as players and critics assume you do. You have to work within the constraints you have: budget, timeframes, and resources being the obvious ones. But you also have to respond to all creative input and changes of directions from the publisher, deal with milestone definitions that can sometimes work against you and you have no control over marketing strategy and budgets. The market is littered with games and developers that are highly rated, widely loved but sank into obscurity.

There is no silver bullet, no fairytale ending, but you can improve your chances of survival and success by making the very best game experiences you can and driving this are the values that you hold as an individual and those that you nurture in your company.

WHAT MATTERS MOST?

Your Team’s Values

We don’t have a nice neat alternative to the milestone millstone but we do always protect our values as a company and these come above everything else we do.

There was a point in our past where we were in serious trouble as a company and there was a very real chance we would stop trading. It was at this point that the values that we strived for were tested fully and we came through, bruised and battered, but ultimately stronger than before.

These aren’t values that are written down in a manifesto. They are held by us and spread through example and reinforced by more experienced team members. Perhaps they should be written down but I think they come across pretty well in our dev-diaries.

So for me there is no doubt that the values we hold inform everything we do and how we do it. On occasion this causes friction with publisher as we end up working against or outside of the milestones process but it always comes from a good place.

Experiential Goals

On AAA publisher projects, most developers hate doing demos for events like E3. It puts your comfortable milestone grind at risk as you now have to do something that is intangible: you have to make it fun and amazing.

Making something fun and exciting often means tearing up the carefully laid plans to focus on the user experience. So while the perception is that making demos takes development off track, you can argue that it actually focuses development on what really matters.

That intangible goal of making it “fun”, “thrilling”, “exciting” has such a powerful draw on the team and the game so why do we eschews such goals for milestone checklists that must be completed or else….?

Stating Goals for Hellblade

On Hellblade, we don’t have a publisher so the attitude is different. When we set goals, we set goals we think is just about achievable but ambitious enough for us to think we may miss it.

A goal has to be ambitious because it will help make a better game. If we miss a goal, we don’t worry about not getting paid. There is no publisher there to pay us so it has to be about what we want to achieve.

No one gets punished for failing their goals so there is no threat. We want to build a team where you are rewarded for ambition and excellence, even if that includes failure along the way.

So when I set the goals, I’m setting expectations from an experiential point of view and I will work with the team to hit them. They are goals, guidance and notes to strive for and not binary checklist of items.

I’ve set goals for all areas of the game but here I will share our Christmas goals for combat:

COMBAT

Combat Movement Feeling Good

Default combat poses and locking on and moving around enemy feeling good where all combat moves, evades, blocks etc respect these poses. All hero movement around an enemy should support combat stance, blocking, charging etc, and preferably working with partial animations to reduce animation work and complexity.

One Satisfying Combo

Hitting a static enemy with a combo should be responsive and satisfying. Animation for attacks and reactions should be kick-ass. Sound, Visual, Camera Rumble effects are placeholder but give good feedback. There should be scope for the player to experiment with cancelling techniques.

Core Combat Loop Playable

The core combat functionality playable, tactical and fun between Senua and a copy of Senua (Evil Senua). We can use split screen, dual pad functionality to simulate an advanced AI and it should be compelling to play in this manner. To get a rounded combat loop, we will need to implement all core attacks, blocks, evades, and experiment with additional input methods (dual buttons, hold button, stick+button) to create new attacks.

Hellblade is proving to be a testing ground for a great many ideas for us and genuinely a chance to try out different ways of working outside of what is considered convention. I feel that goals such as these places more trust in the team to make things that we can be proud of rather than the conventional milestones that come from a very different place.

Till next time


http://www.hellblade.com/?p=17852

Hellblade is coming to PC

Today we are happy to announce that Hellblade will be coming to PC, alongside the previously announced PlayStation 4 version. We’re excited to be bringing Hellblade to PC gamers and welcoming them into the Hellblade development journey. PC offers us fantastic opportunities to engage players in playtesting, usability testing and modding. We plan on grasping these opportunities with both hands to make Hellblade as good as it possibly can be for our fans.


http://www.hellblade.com/?p=17863

Video Insight: Combat Review Meeting

We want to give you some more informal video updates outside of the video diaries so here is one on combat.

Hellblade Combat Review Meeting: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ovov5djvEdc

Yesterday we held a review meeting with Rahni who is a Creative Director at Ninja Theory working on another project. Also at the meeting is Alexander, our combat designer, and Mel who is implementing the combat engine.

It’s obviously good practice to conduct regular peer reviews and critique each other’s work but especially so with Rahni. Rahni was the only designer on combat in DmC and her expertise is invaluable.

What we are reviewing is the kernel of the combat system, the basic moves without all the fancy stuff that we plan to layer on top. As we don’t have resources to create AI and enemy characters just yet, we set up a split screen mode that is there purely for testing purposes. It will allow a human to play as AI and see if our combat system will cope.

The way we work is to keep all visuals and sound as placeholder until we feel the mechanics are solid. This allows us to get things up and running and make changes quicker, so please excuse that aspect of it.

From the meeting a big list of items, small and big came about and this feeds into the development tasks for the next review. A lot of the discussion in this review was focused on directional charge attacks. It was a feature Alexander thought could work well given our camera view. It seems to have potential and suggests directional blocking could be a feature of the game, adding an extra layer of skill to blocking.

Creating a combat engine is a big and lengthy design undertaking, most of which is driven by touch, feel and iteration. We take a small steps forward regularly and often.

When we get to a point where we think the core of our combat is solid, we will layer on top additional features, each time making sure it complements the core system. Along the way, we will share this with you so that you too can offer comments and suggestions. When we feel we have something we are happy with we intend to do small discrete beta tests with you online. These will initially focus on simple set ups like the one shown in the video.

This isn’t design by committee by any means, but we are convinced that being open with you guys will help us to make a better game in the end.

So have a look and let us know if you have any ideas that you think we should consider in the comments.

Till next time.


Development Diary 5: Business of Creation: http://vimeo.com/110154431

Development Diary 6: Camera, Controls & Combat: http://vimeo.com/111425730

Development Diary 7: Creating Cover Art: http://vimeo.com/112287642

Hellblade Twitch Q&A December 8th 2014: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nvym4gyXuzI
User avatar
shubn
 
Joined: 10 Jan 2012 03:17
Location: France

Unread postby Bread » 10 Jun 2015 21:14

Hellblade E3 2015 Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yii3vASYYLs

Hellblade Development Diary 12: The Mind of Senua: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zS6wHzwUDI4

Hellblade_E3_04.jpg


http://www.hellblade.com/?p=18127

Today we’re happy to be sharing our new Hellblade trailer with you, as well as the latest in our series of development diary videos. In both of these we share Hellblade gameplay for the first time as well as give a deeper insight into the game’s story and world than we ever have before.

Hellblade will be released for PlayStation 4 and PC in 2016 and tells the story of Celtic Warrior Senua and her journey into Hell. The Hell in question is no ordinary Hell, but is in fact a Hell that is the manifestation of Senua’s mental illness. Senua experiences psychosis, including hallucinations and delusions, as well as suffering from anxiety and depression. As a player you will witness Senua’s living nightmare through her own eyes.

From George Orwell’s 1984, to George Romero’s Dawn of the Dead, the best fantasy breaks down barriers and lets us see the world without prejudice. This is what we want to do with Hellblade. To see the world through Senua’s eyes, and in doing so, address a subject that is still considered taboo.

Developing Hellblade independently gives us the freedom to tackle a subject as challenging as mental health. It is a subject that we are handling with all the respect it deserves, ensuring that our portrayal of Senua’s condition is both accurate and sensitive. To help us with this we are working closely with Professor Paul Fletcher, a professor of Health Neuroscience at the University of Cambridge, as well as arranging to consult directly with people who have experience of mental health difficulties. We are also very proud to say that Hellblade is being supported by Wellcome Trust, which is a global charitable foundation which aims to build a greater public understanding of science and in particular health.

In our new development diary we talk more about the mental health theme in Hellblade and our approach to handling it.


Here are the previous development diary videos:

8: Prototyping Phase: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GvpD3eM9rJo

9: The Music: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kSkbpxaE21c

10: Capturing Performance: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YBprDIzcXxw

11: First Playable: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rpf7ygDaCzM

Other previous videos:

Hellblade Combat Review Meeting: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ovov5djvEdc

Hellblade Soundtrack: Battle March: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ONbsa01-FJU

Q&A: Your Game Development Questions: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nTDfEYQwh6g

Tameem and Alexander talk Hellblade Combat (Periscope): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nc6oLNuoakk
Image
User avatar
Bread
 
Joined: 28 Nov 2009 03:26
Location: London, UK

Unread postby icycalm » 06 Mar 2017 01:41

Added to Most Wanted section, replacing Zelda no Densetsu: Breath of the Wild, which has now been released.

I am not a fan of this studio, but I liked what I played of the DMC reboot, and this game has more character than any other they have made. The girl is really cute and likeable and I would love to play as her. All their previous characters and settings were generic except DmC's, and that they took from Capcom. Even then, though their Dante was not generic, he was not particularly attractive either. So I have some hopes for this title, because they seem to be getting less generic with every game they make. On the other hand, I haven't seen any exciting play footage either, and the game is apparently close to release (it was a 2016 title that has been pushed back to 2017), so we'll see.


http://www.psu.com/news/32110/Ninja-The ... 17-release

Michael Harradence wrote:Ninja Theory announces Hellblade 2017 release
Ninja Theory reassures gamers that Hellblade will indeed be released in 2017 for PS4 and PC.

Ninja Theory has reiterated that the long-delayed Hellblade: Senua’s Sacrifice will be released in 2017.

Originally announced in 2014, Hellblade was pencilled in for a 2016 launch although that obviously failed to happen. Fortunately, Ninja Theory commented on Twitter that the hotly anticipated PlayStation 4 and PC actioner will ship at some point this year, although an exact release date has yet to be announced.

“Yes! We’re really looking forward to sharing #Hellblade with you all. The support has been amazing,” said the company, in response to whether the game was coming out this year.

Hellblade’s story is based on Celtic mythology, and follows the exploits of Senua as she ventures into a hellish underworld concocted from the psychotic manifestations of her own reality and mind. Ninja Theory has described the game as an ‘independent AAA game’ in the sense that it is being developed and published independently, but still maintains the quality and production values of other major video game releases on the market.

Ninja Theory is perhaps best known to PlayStation gamers as the studio behind the PS3-exclusive Heavenly Sword, which was released back in 2007. In addition, the company was also responsible for rebooting Capcom’s Devil May Cry franchise back in 2013, with the game later being remastered for current-generation systems.


I didn't include the image in this blog post because it has already been posted above, several times even.
User avatar
icycalm
Hyperborean
 
Joined: 28 Mar 2006 00:08
Location: Tenerife, Canary Islands

Unread postby ExiledOne » 09 Jun 2017 13:10

Image
User avatar
ExiledOne
 
Joined: 14 Jun 2008 10:43
Location: Maryland, USA


Unread postby ExiledOne » 30 Jul 2017 12:56

Image
User avatar
ExiledOne
 
Joined: 14 Jun 2008 10:43
Location: Maryland, USA

Unread postby earthboundtrev » 08 Aug 2017 15:01

Hellblade deletes your save file from dying too often
http://www.pcgamer.com/amp/hellblade-se ... too-often/

Joe Donnelly wrote:In his warm review, Leif praised Ninja Theory's Hellblade: Senua's Sacrifice as a "powerful portrait of the strength of will over personal demons." He did reckon it could benefit from more in the way of exploration and enemy variety, however one feature that appears to have ruffled a number of people's feathers is the game's approach to permadeath. Dying too many times in Hellblade results in having your save file wiped entirely.

Speaking to this point, here's Leif's words:

"The trouble is that mistakes mean something here. Senua doesn't have many opportunities to screw up. Hela infected her arm with rot, and the tendrils of decay creep further up her limb with each death. And when they reach her head? Game Over. Progress erased. It's a possibly contentious element that helps make Senua's plight relatable. When she hesitates, I hesitate. When she's scared, I'm wary. I have something at stake, too, however minor.

"The approach explains the relatively short eight or nine-hour running time. It's not as harsh as it could be. I died maybe six times in my playthrough, and by the end the rot had only snaked up around three-quarters of her arm. Good thing, too. Sometimes I failed for the dumbest reasons, as in a sequence when, in panic, I neglected to pick up a torch that would have chased off a beast hunting me in the darkness. I let my fear overpower my logic. Senua wouldn't have done that."
Image
User avatar
earthboundtrev
 
Joined: 11 Nov 2013 02:30
Location: Virginia, USA

Unread postby icycalm » 03 Mar 2018 00:34

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FeNF2aB ... Ca54AaABAg

Ahmar Camacho wrote:The way she drew her blade with that blue glow, filled with so much determination, so much fearlessness, perseverance and tenacity. As the lightening flashed over hela and the black figures appeared as though the Gods themselves had come to judge her, Senua charged in nontheless and when the music drops......... never had I experienced something so magnificent. I still get goosebumps everytime I think about it
User avatar
icycalm
Hyperborean
 
Joined: 28 Mar 2006 00:08
Location: Tenerife, Canary Islands



Return to Games

cron