Stories from a Digital Penitentiary



DigiPen students seem to regularly pump out a variety of interesting game concepts each year. Empyreal Nocturne is one of the most eye-catching so far. For those not in the know, it is a non-mindless shmup, played across a 3D skyscape, in which you control a group of birds out to defeat the ‘Hydra.’ The game caught the attention of the indie community because of its beautiful appearance and unique gameplay mechanics. Two DigiPen students were responsible for its development and I just so happened to have a chance to shoot of a few questions to them. Enjoy..

Give us some background about yourselves..

My name is Chad Taylor. I am a 25 year old game programmer from the Seattle area. I enjoy writing graphics, animation and cool emergent behaviors.

I'm Reed Gonsalves, and I'm also a 25 year old game programmer. I enjoy playing and making games, cooking hotwings and long walks on the beach.

How did you meet?

CT: We met during our freshmen year at DigiPen and worked on some of our first school projects together. Neither Reed nor I knew what the hell we were doing; I'm a little surprised we ended up doing so well.

RG: I was the high strung kind of guy that worried about everything and Chad was the guy who was a little too confident that everything would fall into place. We really ended up balancing ourselves out quite well.

What was the atmosphere at DigiPen like? Is it high pressure and how much freedom are you given?

CT: I heard a student once call DigiPen the digital penitentiary: that name seemed to fit it like a glove so it became my mantra. Living through a semester was like holding your breath for four months because you literally had no time for anything other than school work. It was class, homework, game, sleep, class, etc. The scary thing is that you are given as much freedom as you want, which is why so many students end up dropping out or flunking.

It probably sounds like a terrible place but it was a love hate relationship with DigiPen. I mean we were out there doing what we dreamt of doing since we were little kids, making games. I felt like we were a couple of bad ass programming cowboys that were there to lay down the law and that was cool. Waking up and going to DigiPen was cool.

RG: It's really unfortunate that a lot of the kids that get into DigiPen have a mistaken impression of what making games is all about. They don't take it serious enough and end up getting completely owned. It takes a lot of restraint and self control to succeed at DP.

You constantly have to make tough decisions such as doing homework or spending time with your significant other. It's unfortunate that I had to basically ignore the ones I loved in order to succeed.

How long were you there?

RG: We both got a degree in Real-Time Interactive Simulation, which is a Bachelor's Degree in Computer Science. So we were at DigiPen for 4 years.

Do you think Digipen prepared you for a professional career in the videogame industry? Is there anything that Digipen doesn't teach you?

RG: I think DigiPen did a good job of teaching the fundamentals of both computer science and game development. There are some topics that are still lacking. We don't really get any instruction or lectures about tool creation. Also, there is a single network programming class that doesn't really prepare you enough. I know the school has identified these and will probably teach new classes to fill these holes. But overall, I can't really complain about the school. It was a wonderful experience and it helped me become who I am today.

CT: What I do at work is almost exactly what I did while at DigiPen, so yeah I was prepared very well. The curriculum is very narrow, although very well planned, and I think a lot of that has to do with the school being fairly small. The biggest thing I have learned that DigiPen doesn't teach you is how to work with an existing code base. “Empyreal Nocturne” was roughly 25,000 lines of code when we neared completion, and when I started work at ArenaNet I was dealing with a code base with millions lines of code! Talk about jumping into the deep end.

You both have full-time jobs now - where do you guys work?

CT: I am an engine programmer at ArenaNet and am currently working on graphics and effects for Guild Wars 2.

RG: I am a game programmer at Nightlight Studios, and am working on an unannounced PC title.

How did you come up with the concept for Empyreal Nocturne and what were your influences?

CT: The original concept was kind of simple. Capture the gracefulness of birds in flight. From that original concept we deviated a bit but that original concept always felt close to my heart. Deriving the game play is probably what steered it from that too simple concept. At the time we were really into “Shadow of the Colossus.” We wanted something that captured that feeling when you would first come across a wandering colossus. You would just sit there in awe and take it in. There were also a lot of influences from “Rez”, it had a kind of beauty through simplicity that we thought we could capture through programming rather than art. After all it was just the two of us programmers working on the game, we didn't really know how to make art.

RG: As Chad said, “Shadow of the Colossus” was a major influence in terms of gameplay and the idea that atmosphere could be a large part of the experience. The game mechanics stemmed from my insatiable desire to control a hoard of minions to do my bidding.

I was working on some AI demos in my spare time when Chad had his idea for a bird game. I thought it would be cool to have a bunch of little birds that you could sacrifice in different ways to help you defeat the Hydra.

You had certain goals that you wanted to achieve with the game - what were they and have you achieved them all?

CT: I think the goals varied throughout the game's development. Reed and I had talked about making a game that would get us a job and win us an award before we had even started talking about game ideas. At one point the biggest goal was to have something that we could showoff and be proud of at DigiPen's annual career day. You just don't want to show something to a potential employer that doesn't represent what you are about. In the end though, the actual development of the game itself was the main goal and man, we sure had a lot of fun.

RG: As Chad said, we wanted to get jobs, make a fun and innovative game, and win some sort of award. We feel that we have accomplished all those things and even more. It was amazing to actually see my game in the magazine “Games for Windows”. Also, I never thought we would be awarded prizes for the game, but then we got 2nd place in the Intel Game Demo Contest and made Student Showcase at the Independent Game Festival.

Did you both play separate roles in its development?

CT: This was Reed and I's 4th game together, so we were super laid back about it. I was always into the graphics and architecture side of things so I naturally took on tasks based on what I liked and wanted to do. If something needed to be done first or had priority then there were exceptions made but for the most part it was like playing. We chose not to use roles like programmer and designer but instead used the titles of ninja and pirate; it seemed to fit our work styles better.

RG: We are both designers and engineers on this project. Although we both did core engine work, I focused my efforts on things that were related more to the gameplay experience. That included, AI, interface, controls and game flow.

How long did it take to develop and what was the development process like?

RG: The actual development time is little convoluted. Chad had an initial idea for a bird game in March of 2007. We were still working on our junior-year game “Kannonwagens” at the time, so nothing more came of it. But over the summer we started talking more about the idea and in July I think we committed our ideas to paper. So it was probably about 3 months of design and 6 months of development. All of which was during 2 full-load semesters and DigiPen.

CT: The first line of code was written in October of 2007. The schedule was very hectic because we had so much work just in the way of going to class and working on homework and projects that it was a struggle just to find time to work on the game. We usually would rush to get other assignments done and out of the way so that we could focus work on the game between classes and on the weekends. The development ended pretty much when we graduated at the end of April, although we did spend some time over the summer to spruce the game up a bit for submitting to game contests.

RG: I added some laptop-related HUD elements in order to qualify for the Intel Game Demo contest, Chad did some graphics optimization for that as well. Later, we also cleaned up the tutorial and removed the health bar in lieu of the world darkening for the IGF submission.

What sortof challenges did you face in developing a project like this?

CT: There was so much learning going on and we did so many things the wrong way it seems, which is pretty much what we were expecting going into the project. There were a lot of things we had never done before that we wanted to do like trying to use physics based animation for everything or trying to convey a specific feeling or emotion in the game.

RG: It was good and bad having only two people work on the project. We could discuss and implement random ideas really quickly, but there just wasn't enough time and manpower to have a game of a larger scope. For any given feature, if Chad didn't have the time to do it and neither did I, then it was cut or put in at the last minute. Such is the case with the music and sound effects.

How much before-hand planning was involved and how much did the project evolve after you started development?

CT: We had the whole game designed before we laid down a single line of code and it was fashioned to take advantage of our strengths as a team and what we wanted out of the game. We designed two aspects of the game almost separately. One of them was what we called the short game and consisted of you flying around fighting the Hydrae. The second aspect was the long game: that was the over arching world that all of the encounters take place in and was something we considered, time permitting.

This design allowed us to be very flexible with our development schedule because we knew we could create the short game and could possibly include some elements of the long game. By the time we finished development the only feature from the long game that was used was the idea of gaining more birds from each encounter which was required if we wanted to pit you against bigger and badder hydra. The long game included many things such as a hub world of floating island shrines that the Hydrae guarded, a story and weather effects like storms to convey mood and tone. We also had ideas about art and music that we knew we had a fat chance of getting.

RG: The original game idea had an “Empire Strikes Back” Hoth-like game mechanic. You would use basically a tow line to lop off pieces of the Hydra. After I came up with the idea of using the flock as a resource that idea was quickly scrapped.

We also had a handful of weapon node ideas for the Hydra. Some of which were partially implemented. If we had more time, they probably would have made it in. The biggest thing that was left out was the Hydra editor, which was simply not user-friendly enough for public consumption. That one really hurts because it would have been cool to see what crazy Hydrae people could create.

You mentioned in your forums that you might take on another project together - any concrete ideas or concepts yet or is it just a maybe?

CT: We have talked about projects and tossed ideas around for a future project. There are so many ideas I would like to explore in a game that it makes choosing the next one kind of difficult.

RG: I'm sure at some point Chad and I will work on something again. There is no point in rushing into another project until we find that concept that we are both passionately dedicated to, like “Empyreal Nocturne.”

What were the other games you worked on together?

RG: Chad and I have worked a few other games together. All of which are in the DigiPen gallery. As sophomores we made "Releveled" which is a puzzle/platformer similar to "Lemmings". And our junior year game was "Kannonwagens" which is a 3D cel-shaded tank game. I especially love KW because I feel we really nailed the look and the control of that game. Unfortunately, we didn't have much time for actual gameplay and content.

Did you get more confident and ambitious with each new game?

CT: I wouldn't go so far as to say we were more ambitious with each game but I would definitely say we became more confident with each successful project. Every project that we started we were confronted with things we didn't know how to do yet and when you have a deadline it can bet a bit scary. So having something successful under your belt is a very good reminder that anything can be done and your imagination then becomes the biggest limitation.

Congratulations on getting into the IGF finals. What made you decide to enter Empyreal Nocturne? Was it the first game that you felt was 'up to scratch' to compete or had you entered previously?

RG: Well, both "Releveled" and "Kannonwagens" were entered into IGF in their respective years. It was just for fun. RL was far too rough and KW didn't have enough content, not to mention it wasn't very innovative. "Empyreal Nocturne" was the first game project that I felt had a chance to compete.

CT: There was a very positive feeling that we got from seeing people play and test “Empyreal Nocturne” for the first time that we never really got from our other games. People would be awe struck or excited about some element of the game and that in turn would make us really excited. I really felt that we had a good shot with this one.

Have you played any of your competition? Thoughts? Opinions?

RG: I've played a few of the games. The other DigiPen game "Synaesthete" is very good. They have a really polished game that innovates on the music/rhythm genre. "Flipside" is pretty much awesome: I love the sharp dichotomy between the two perspectives. The game that I think will beat us all is "Crayon Physics Deluxe". I played the demo that was released a while back. It's one of those games like "Portal", where you slap yourself in the head because the game mechanic is so simple but brilliant. I'm excited to play that at GDC.

CT: I haven't really had time to play any of the other games, which makes me a bit sad. I'm happy that I'll be able to play the games at GDC though, those games deserve so much attention.

Empyreal Nocturne has very beautiful visuals. Do you think videogames are (or can be) art?

RG: Thank you! I think in terms of art, videogames are the same as every other medium. Every medium has pieces that are very thought-provoking and artistic, as well as simplistic but enjoyable works. There are some films that are definitely art like "Citizen Kane" or "The Godfather". But for every artistic movie there are a least a dozen romantic comedies.

As for videogames, there is "Shadow of the Colossus" which I feel is a masterful piece of art but we also have a new "Madden" title every year, which is the equivalent of mental masturbation. Unfortunately, a game that is an example of art in our medium doesn't always relate to how well it sells.

CT: That's kind of a funny question. I work with artists who produce art for games every day so there is no doubt that games can contain art but are they art in and of themselves? Half of a hole is still just a hole I would say. Hell, just by asking that question makes them art, I would say.

Do you feel that Empyreal Nocturne was your first innovative game? How important do you think innovation is vs. making a playable, polished, fun game?

RG: I think that "Releveled" had some innovative aspects to it.

As for making an innovative game versus a simple but fun game, that's a tough question. In my opinion, I won't work on anything in my free time that isn't innovative in some way. I want to make games that bring something new to the conversation of game design.

But there are times that I've wanted to work on something that isn't innovative, just to fulfill a dream. For example, I've always wanted to make an old-school 2D RPG.

CT: I like to think about what would be really cool to play and not about what new game mechanic could be created. Often times that can lead to innovations like it did with “Empyreal Nocturne” but I have played games like “Cave Story” that are massively fun and they don't really stray too far from the beaten path. It just depends on the game I guess.

Innovation is usually fun because it's refreshing to try something new but it's also to fun to play a game with loads of style or with an amazing setting and story. Innovation can also give a game its identity and it's important for a game to have an identity if it's going to be fun. That's why games that try to be other games are never fun, no identity.