The Too Human Hype Thread

[Manny Calavera]

The E3 demo was pittifull. Hopefully it is nothing like that.

What does the ****ing FIRST post say?


So the next person who whines about the E3 showing despite having been told a million times what REALLY happened will see your foot crash through their monitor and hit them in the teeth?
Yes.


I mean, seriously, how are there people out there who follow this game and DON'T know the deal with the demo, which wasn't nearly as bad as idiots who didn't play it make it out to be.

 

[Lactophiliac]

Defining a Cybernetic God - Blog #15

http://blogs.ign.com/silicon-knights/2006/08/10/

Carman Dix,
Art Director

Who is Baldur? What motivates him? How is he different than the other characters in the game? Will gamers identify with him? The world knows Thor as the quintessential Viking hero of Norse mythology, but very few of us know the story of Baldur. Baldur is a Viking hero, known as the shining god, the bleeding god and the god of innocence and peace.

In the Too Human trilogy, Baldur’s “god” status is achieved through cybernetic upgrades – through advanced technology, not magic. As we decided to build Baldur with an unlimited modularity of armour sets we established an underlining thermal suit as a base and started defining a myriad of armour classes and cybernetic upgrades.

But this alone wouldn’t “make” Baldur. Baldur is a revered god, a respected warrior with morals and purpose and it was essential for us to communicate all of these things through his appearance and his emotions. And, in order to give him emotional depth as well as heroic cachet, we also had to make sure that players could get a sense of his past, his present life and even his loves from just his presence. And, because the game’s story calls for Baldur to express concern, loss, anger, confusion, hatred and love we needed his face to convey each one accurately. More importantly, to help players identify and empathize with him as well as to set him apart from the other characters in the game, we needed his expressions to be believable.

A character with these realistic emotions demands realistic attention and nuance from the animators if he is to be a successful lead character. As the concepts and our understanding of the character evolved, we experimented with many looks and styles – hair, no hair, heavy features, slight features, strong Nordic handsomeness, modern trends, scars, broken noses, etc. – until we finally had created the look for Baldur we have today.

In addition to his physical appearance, Baldur’s sword, his guns and armour, in particular, play an important role in telling the audience about the kind of character he is. While these artifacts don’t necessarily define Baldur’s personality, they act as a foil or focus for it. Baldur’s relationship to these items and how he uses them help to further build his character. Would Dirty Harry be the same without his .44 Magnum? Or Darth Vader without his black samurai style helmet?

Baldur’s sword, Fenrir, is a sentient sword that can fight by itself. More than just a weapon, Fenrir represents a deep-seated part of his personality and helps drive the story and the gameplay. In order to represent the bestial nature of the sword and its fearsome reputation we looked to the history of swords and their meaning within the Viking culture. Swords were precious heirlooms and status symbols and they were often named kennings such as “Leg Biter” and “Helmet Reddener”. Even more interestingly, it has been recorded that some swords had perhaps more personality than those who wielded them.

The “Glass Guns” are perhaps more iconic in today’s world than swords. Oftentimes in movies and games guns summarize their owner’s personality. Han Solo’s Blastech DL-44 emphasizes his blunt approach to life, whereas James Bond’s Walter PPK has a level of concealed sophistication that nails his character immediately.

Baldur’s guns were inspired by a recently developed weapons technology called “Metalstorm” that uses electrostatic charges to trigger bullets stored in the gun’s barrels, resulting in an extremely high rate of fire. We envisioned Baldur unleashing a torrent of polymer glass shards at his targets, shredding them mercilessly. Baldur’s guns, Gungnir, are the gifts of ODIN and are a manifestation of the demands of his war-torn world. Giving Baldur one gun just wouldn’t have been enough, especially since he’s constantly surrounded by merciless opponents on all sides. Our cybernetic god is fully able to shoot in opposite directions accurately, even while vaulting over obstacles. I think a quote in John Woo’s “Hardboiled” sums it up succinctly: “Give a guy a gun, he thinks he's Superman. Give him two and he thinks he's god.”

Finally, being one of the Aesir, a god to human beings, Baldur has to dress the part. Baldur has to be seen in a variety of situations – in battle, at formal presentations, even at dinner – so our designs had to reflect all of this. Not only that, but it was paramount that his armour change – as do his weapons - as the player progresses through the game.

His armour reflects the choice of gamestyle and strategy. Whether the player chooses to refine their marksmanship or swordsmanship, there is a style of amour to suite their gameplay styles. The styles of armour vary greatly and our need to remain consistent with an established art style proved to be very challenging; However, we are pleased to say that all the armour choices are undeniably Baldur and truly worthy of the Aesir gods.

It's nice to know that they're going to great lengths to get the character right. No doubt the story for the game is going to be good at the very least.

 

[WhatsHisFace]

This game is brilliant!

 

[Lactophiliac]

I actually applied for a job and Silicon Knights, but they wanted someone with talent, which gives me faith in their game.

 

[Manny Calavera]

I would love to get a job at a studio like this, so much

 

[WhatsHisFace]

I want to work at Epic, because they have the best benefits ever. But I'd be happy at Irrational, Rare, or anything but EA Sports.

 

[Lactophiliac]

http://xbox360.ign.com/articles/725/725753p1.html

Late last week rumors arose that Too Human developer Silicon Knights had ditched Unreal Engine 3, opting to create its own engine to power the sci-fi adventure. According to the scuttlebutt, the studio found Epic's Unreal Engine 3 too problematic for Xbox 360 development.
Today, Silicon Knights officially commented on the rumors, dismissing their harshest interpretations.

"Rumors of Too Human experiencing production challenges that will cause massive delays are false," said Silicon Knights president Denis Dyack. "Too Human is progressing very well and we expect that gamers will be very extremely excited with Too Human when we next show it.

"Silicon Knights continues to build Too Human using the Unreal Engine 3, tailoring it to fit the needs of the game and ensure the most efficient use of the technology."

Developers often tailor licensed engines to accommodate particular games -- sometimes making extensive changes to the original technology. As to just how much original code will be kept as the developer modifies the engine, though, is a subject still very much open to speculation.

Well that’s good to hear, not that I don’t think they could’ve made something good themselves it just would’ve taken some time.

 

[Lactophiliac]

http://xbox360.ign.com/articles/725/725753p1.html

Late last week rumors arose that Too Human developer Silicon Knights had ditched Unreal Engine 3, opting to create its own engine to power the sci-fi adventure. According to the scuttlebutt, the studio found Epic's Unreal Engine 3 too problematic for Xbox 360 development.
Today, Silicon Knights officially commented on the rumors, dismissing their harshest interpretations.

"Rumors of Too Human experiencing production challenges that will cause massive delays are false," said Silicon Knights president Denis Dyack. "Too Human is progressing very well and we expect that gamers will be very extremely excited with Too Human when we next show it.

"Silicon Knights continues to build Too Human using the Unreal Engine 3, tailoring it to fit the needs of the game and ensure the most efficient use of the technology."

Developers often tailor licensed engines to accommodate particular games -- sometimes making extensive changes to the original technology. As to just how much original code will be kept as the developer modifies the engine, though, is a subject still very much open to speculation.

Well that’s good to hear, not that I don’t think they could’ve made something good themselves it just would’ve taken some time.

 

[Manny Calavera]

So much for 1UPs "independent sources" confirming this garbage

 

[Lactophiliac]

So much for 1UPs "independent sources" confirming this garbage

Any source that doesn’t give their name is probably full of ****, but most reporters looking for a story will believe it anyway.

 

[Manny Calavera]

I really hope they use that song as the main title for Too Human, I like it


And I don't know if I've posted this yet or not, but this -

Looks really cool, it's nice to see that amidst the ancient lore and stuff they haven't dropped the interesting cyberpunk aspects of the game, there aren't enough good cyberpunk games out there.

 

[Manny Calavera]

Xbox.com Hand's On


Denis Dyack Interview

 

[Manny Calavera]

A lot of info on the myths Too Human is based on


"The Death of Balder" is pretty interesting, I wonder if they'll actually do that here

 

[Manny Calavera]

The Viking Funeral - Blog #16
Mike Seto,
Technical Art Director

Every design in Too Human has been based on Norse mythos and culture. We believe this helps bring the world alive. Much like the boat themes I spoke about in my last blog, here is another that focuses on the Viking funerals.

When one is talking about a Viking funeral there is this prevailing image of a dead Warrior or King pushed out to sea in a vessel that has been set a blaze to go on a journey into the next world known as “Valhalla”. (This place would welcome only the bravest warriors who had died in glorious battle. Here they would spend eternity, sparring during the day and drinking mead all night, until they are called upon to help Odin fight the final great battle of Ragnarok.) The funeral ship itself was a wooden Viking long boat that would be loaded with weapons, treasures and sacrifices to accompany the privileged voyager on his journey to the afterlife. The first level in Too Human alludes to this Viking funeral rite - a vast complex known as the “Hall of Heroes.”

This sacred place in the game is a long abandoned temple and crematorium complex that Baldur and his men have been sent to investigate. The spaces are eerily quiet with the only illumination coming from skylights adorned with architectural tracery and form a mysterious presence that has set up home in this stone structure. Snow is constantly drifting in since parts of this temple are collapsed and has lain in ruins for a long time. The spaces are expansive, symmetrical and adorned with statues of ancient warriors, each one dressed in battle armor. These monuments line the hallways and guard the entrances.

In preparation for each of our levels, we brainstormed on how the complex would have been used. From there we created details to convey this to the player, providing them with a sense of reason and logic to our fantasy world.

This giant stone sarcophagus contains the bodies of fallen soldiers, each individually housed in smaller coffins inserted in rows along its hull. This coffin ship is used as a narrative and design element to help guide the player through the level. In addition, there are places of ritual for people to gather and pay their respects to these soldiers before they are “processed” and moved through the complex for cremation. As a player you will travel through the level and uncover glimpses of how this temple functioned - from the great halls in which the heroes are revered to the more clinical aspects of how the coffin ship is prepared for cremation.

link

This game gets better every time they bring it up

 

[Hannar]

Glad you guys are enjoying it so far... I'm really excited about seeing more too. Thanks for the links to TooHuman.net. We're trying to provide the best coverage as possible for the game and all of the great ideas that are behind it. The Norse Myths are a great background for a game like this.

 

[Manny Calavera]

Personally, I just believe that there have been a greater number of alterations to the UE3 than originally planned, and that many of them took place at a time between the last press event (March) and E3 (May). I know the build that our site had access to during March was far more smooth than what was seen at E3.

I know it's kinda weird to be quoting a forum post from another site, but I prefer posting here, so sorry. Anyways, you guys got to play it in March? Did you play/ask any questions about the online mode? I'm curious if they're going to just do a "two people play through a single player campaign" thing, or if Silicon Knights will do a completly seperate co-op campaign.

 

[Fenrir]

This game already takes the 2006 awards for Best Art Direction and Greatest Attention To Detail.

 

[Substance D]

This game already takes the 2006 awards for Best Art Direction and Greatest Attention To Detail.

seriously? ff13 or mass effect look 10x better than this.

 

[Hannar]

I know it's kinda weird to be quoting a forum post from another site, but I prefer posting here, so sorry. Anyways, you guys got to play it in March? Did you play/ask any questions about the online mode? I'm curious if they're going to just do a "two people play through a single player campaign" thing, or if Silicon Knights will do a completly seperate co-op campaign.

Not a problem .

The online mode has not been implemented, but it is a subject of frequent conversation between Mocheeze, Denis, and I. It's one of the things we are looking the most forward to. The online co-op will be up to 4 players, not just 2. It will be a progression through the entire single player game story, with alterations for the multiplayer setting... for instance, certain combos are available only when playing with multiple friends.

Much of what we know of the online mode is very broad and generalized at this point.

 

[Fenrir]

seriously? ff13 or mass effect look 10x better than this.

Mass Effect looks great but really man, you should read Too Human's IGN blog and then you'll start to appreciate it. Not only does this game look freakin' amazing, but it looks amazing with a reason and just about everything you see is soaked in Norse Myths. I, for one, haven't seen anything that even comes close. Heck, you can see my username and figure out why I love this game so much already.

Oh and FFXIII look nice too, but in my estimation, it doesn't particularly look as original as Too Human does.

 

[Manny Calavera]

seriously? ff13 or mass effect look 10x better than this.

FF13, as far as I know, hasn't been shown as anything but a CG movie, which will probably represent at least half the game, so that's not really a valid comparison. As for Mass Effect, I agree that it looks much better graphically, but it's not really a slam dunk or a "10x" type difference. Both games are some of the most beautiful games we've seen from 'next gen'.

Not a problem .

The online mode has not been implemented, but it is a subject of frequent conversation between Mocheeze, Denis, and I. It's one of the things we are looking the most forward to. The online co-op will be up to 4 players, not just 2. It will be a progression through the entire single player game story, with alterations for the multiplayer setting... for instance, certain combos are available only when playing with multiple friends.

Much of what we know of the online mode is very broad and generalized at this point.

Thanks for the info. Have you heard any talk of an online versus mode, or is that beyond their plans for this game? The combat sounds interesting enough to support a DOA4 type game online.

 

[블라스]

This game is to the max.

 

[Manny Calavera]

This game is to the max.

We should play it on live sometime

 

[블라스]

We should play it on live sometime

This is going to have co-op and/or deathmatch??

 

[Manny Calavera]

4 player co-op, I doubt the versus mode will be there, but who knows.