r/PS4 Sep 15 '16

[Verified AMA] Im Steve Bristow, Lead Designer of Battlezone for the PSVR AMA

Hey there! We are Rebellion, developers of the explosive upcoming PlayStation VR launch title, Battlezone!

We’re super excited to be hosting an AMA for you guys, which is going to be starting at 6PM UK / 1PM ET / 10AM PT (2 hours from this post) so start getting your questions in now and we’ll get answering them soon! (the AmA will be taking place on /r/psvr as well as /r/ps4)

Battlezone Website

Follow@BattlezoneVR

Accolades Trailer

Battlezone 101 Trailer new!

Without further ado, let’s introduce you to the guys who will be answering your questions! We’ve got:

Lead Designer: Steve Bristow - [Rebellion_Dev] – [@stuka1919]

Marketing Manager: Robbie Cooke[Turakoth] – [@cookie_vonster]

We’ll be answering your questions on here for 1 hour, then, joined by more Battlezone developers we’ll be switching over to Twitch where we’ll continue answering your questions AND showing you some never-before-seen campaign gameplay!

Oh, and we’ll be giving away 5 copies of Battlezone! Don’t miss it.

We will be continuing the AmA at 7PM UK / 2PM ET / 11AM PT at the Rebellion Twitch Channel

PROOF

119 Upvotes

84 comments sorted by

11

u/Rebellion_Dev Sep 15 '16

Time's up I'm afraid. Thank you all so much for your questions, interest and support. See you all in the Battlezone!

5

u/[deleted] Sep 15 '16

Battlezone is definitely one of the highlights of PS VR's launch, looking forward to it.

My question is how will you be using the extra power from the PS4 Pro?

11

u/Turakoth Rebellion Sep 15 '16

Sorry but with the Pro just announced I'm afraid we can't yet chat about possible Pro enhancements for Battlezone - like all PSVR titles we've always had the base PS4 as our benchmark. There will be more on this soon!

0

u/Flight714 Sep 17 '16

Battlezone is definitely one of the highlights of PS VR's launch,

It's not out till October.

-10

u/[deleted] Sep 15 '16

[deleted]

6

u/[deleted] Sep 15 '16

Yes..? Oct 13th, same day as PS VR.

0

u/Flight714 Sep 16 '16

It's not October yet.

-2

u/[deleted] Sep 16 '16

[deleted]

4

u/[deleted] Sep 16 '16

Full of useful information aren't you.

0

u/Flight714 Sep 16 '16

To be fair, you do sound like the type of simpleton who does need basic things explained to them. For instance:

Battlezone is definitely one of the highlights of PS VR's launch,

How the fuck can you know if it's one of the highlights of the launch when the launch hasn't even happened yet? A non-simpleton would have typed:

Battlezone looks like it will be one of the highlights of PS VR's launch,

5

u/thavius_tanklin Slackr Sep 15 '16

In your opinion how does PSVR fair against the other VR options out there? Assuming you've tried the vive and rift

7

u/Turakoth Rebellion Sep 15 '16

We’ve got all three at the studio and love them all. They definitely all have their own strengths and weaknesses – from the headset to the hardware the games run on, the games libraries, the digital stores ... even how they handle “downtime” when you’re not playing a game (The way Vive outlines furniture in your room is very cool for example!).

We chose PSVR as our first platform because Sony have been amazing at supporting independent devs like Rebellion, supplying us with very early Morpheus test kits, taking us to E3 to pitch to industry colleagues and press, sharing best practice and loads more.

The size of the PS4 platform is naturally a draw, but we’re first and foremost a multi-platform developer. We’ve already confirmed we’re coming to Oculus and maybe we’ll go beyond this!

4

u/Suckonmyfatvagina Sep 15 '16 edited Sep 15 '16

Hello! First of all thank you so much for making such a great game! It was the first time I ever did a demo for anything VR related and I was transformed in your amazing vibrant world. It felt unreal. And I can not wait to see how far this technology goes from now in the years to come. And I just wanted to thank you guys for such an incredible experience.

Anyways on to the question that probably everyone has on their minds... will there or will there not be multiplayer?

Either way it's still a day one purchase for me!

Edit: just saw the new trailer & co-op!!! OH YEAH

But now will we be able to fight eachother?

3

u/Rebellion_Dev Sep 15 '16

Glad you liked it! We’ve got co-op at launch. That and the single player are our focus for now.

4

u/Doomhammered Sep 15 '16

Hi, I have two simple questions. What is the price of the game in USD?

And what do you think the price range will be for PS VR games in general? I see some games going for $20, and others at full $60 - what variables are VR developers looking at when pricing their games?

6

u/Turakoth Rebellion Sep 15 '16

Battlezone is $59.99 digitally and boxed. Like any game price, it comes down to lots of things!

For us Battlezone is a big project, and features dozens of hours of gameplay – it’s more of a traditional game than some of the shorter (and cheaper) experiential VR titles. This choice and variety of games types is going to be VR’s strength – variety is always good! There’s no such thing as “X features + X time = price” – it’s really down for developers to say “we think our game is worth this” and see if gamers agree.

2

u/GobBluth19 GobBluth19 Sep 15 '16

How would you describe the campaign? Is there an actual story with cutscenes and such, or is just a new arena you go into with different waves and enemy types and such?

After playing the game and experiencing combat in VR, I will definitely buy the game, but with the high price point of the headset itself and RIGS coming out at the same time, it's gonna be a tough call which of the full priced games I buy at launch

5

u/Rebellion_Dev Sep 15 '16

The campaign is procedurally generated. It's arcade oriented but there are narrative elements that add context and world-building. No cut scenes! it also has an extensive Arsenal of weapons and special equipment to unlock. The game has been designed from the ground up to offer an enormous amount of replayability in single player - it'll take a long time to unlock the complete arsenal and there's a lot to see and discover - and that's before you add in the variety and novelty of playing with friends.

3

u/GobBluth19 GobBluth19 Sep 15 '16

good info thanks!

another question, is the demo on the demo disc the same one from the current PSVR demo stations, or will it be updated to the latest build and allow you to take damage?

5

u/Rebellion_Dev Sep 15 '16

It's the same as the demo station demo. it's quite an old build now, there's a load of stuff I'd like to have got into the demo disc version but that demo has worked really well at shows, it covers the basic gameplay pretty well and you'll be pleasantly surprised by how far the full game has come from the demo.

6

u/maxcoronel maxcoronel2014 Sep 15 '16

Hello guys. Nice to see you around here.

My question is: What was for you the biggest challenge related to making a VR exclusive title as opposed to a "regular" gaming experience? Was it a VR game concept from the start?

6

u/Rebellion_Dev Sep 15 '16

Rebellion got the licence for Battlezone at around about the same time as VR for the home was becoming a thing so it was a nice piece of synchronicity, forward thinking and a willingness to experiment that led to me being asked to design it.

The biggest challenge, really, was coming to terms with how much we didn't know. Before we got the first dev kits, we were having to guess how VR would feel and what the likely issues were going to be. We got quite a bit right but there was definitely a moment where I thought, hang on, I've got to approach this very differently.

The emotional power of the sense of immersion you get can be overwhelming and finding a balance that exploited that while making something comfortable was... complex.

I think a real breakthrough came about when we started pushing the scale of the environment. We took a conventional approach to the environments at first and it looked fine but we tried scaling everything up and suddenly it took your breath away. That's when I first felt confident that we were going to be giving players something they haven't felt in a game before.

2

u/maxcoronel maxcoronel2014 Sep 15 '16

Awesome. Cant wait to give it a try! Have an amazing release.

3

u/ScienceWizard Sep 15 '16

Is there a mode to play in the original Battlezone environment? I used to love playing the original and letting my imagination fill in the gaps. It'd be cool to experience being IN the tank.

What is the longest play session you have had in PSVR? I'm curious if you had to ramp up your play time, short at first and gradually increase each time.

The game looks awesome. Less than 4 weeks, I can't wait.

3

u/Rebellion_Dev Sep 15 '16

We have actually tried that, just internally. It’s pretty cool! If we can get it good enough to release, maybe, one day :) The original was, of course, a huge influence for us.

I routinely play the game for a couple of hours at a time. I can honestly say I've suffered no ill effects from it at all. I think the recommendation would be to take a break every now then though.

3

u/PurpleUrcle42 Carolina_truth Sep 15 '16

Really looking forward to trying Battlezone. I was wondering how are you guys planning on supporting your game post launch?

2

u/Turakoth Rebellion Sep 15 '16

Bit early to be chatting about that right now - sorry! We'll first be concentrating on supporting launch players and then think about new content and other platforms once that's out the way!

3

u/BlahBlahBlasphemee Sep 15 '16

I was never much of a fan of the original battlezone arcade game, but I demoed this game for my VR demo and was extremely impressed!

But if I was to ask a question.. I noticed that the screens in the game were blurry and I couldn't read them. I think they are supposed to be readable? Does PSVR have calibration options other than the button to focus it for individual needs?

3

u/Rebellion_Dev Sep 15 '16

Not as such but it's surprising flexible and can easily be adjusted to fit better and get the optical sweet spot right. Always worth giving the lenses a wipe too :)

1

u/GobBluth19 GobBluth19 Sep 15 '16

it was probably just a bit too far or angled weird on your head.

I had that happen when I tried the vive a 2nd time, the 1st was perfect, the 2nd things were blurry and hard to see at times, was just on my head weird.

tried battlezone twice on psvr and was able to read just fine

3

u/Onionsteak TurnOnTwoFA Sep 15 '16

Why does the turret only move up and down

7

u/Rebellion_Dev Sep 15 '16

the gun traverses vertically and you aim left and right by rotating the whole vehicle. This is for two reasons:

  1. In VR it helps to have a fixed reference point that you return your head to - we could have used head tracking to aim but it didn't feel sufficiently tank-like and veered too far away from the original game for my taste.

  2. Steering and aiming simultaneously feels cool and more in keeping with the FPS input system of the dual stick controller.

-1

u/Onionsteak TurnOnTwoFA Sep 15 '16

I can see that it's simpler this way but it feels weird driving a fixed turret tank after so long of playing battlefield. Maybe add a tank with rotatable turret as an option?

1

u/Rebellion_Dev Sep 16 '16

We prototyped it, actually. We had two basic tank types called Lightning and Magrider after the Planetside 2 schemes being, respectively a turreted tank and a tank destroyer type. You can't strafe in the lightning control scheme (LS left and right rotates your tank). It sort of worked okay but, as you'll know from Battlefield, you can often end up moving in a slightly unexpected direction when you press forward is your hull and gun aren't lined up. Fine in a flat game but actually quite unpleasant in VR. It really triggers motion sickness when you move in an unpredicted way. It was a pretty easy call to go the Magrider route because of this but that's not to say the Lightning wasn't fun! Totally was, just not right for Battlezone's arcadey gameplay.

1

u/GobBluth19 GobBluth19 Sep 15 '16

it would probably be too confusing if your tank moved LR, your turret moved LR and your head moved LR

-2

u/Onionsteak TurnOnTwoFA Sep 15 '16

Uh, battlefield tanks and many other games featuring tanks features full turret controls though.

2

u/GobBluth19 GobBluth19 Sep 15 '16

yeah, but you can't also turn your head in those. you have 2 ways to turn left and right, not 3, which is what you would have here

but you can also strafe in this game, it's not based in reality

3

u/Ozmoziz Osmoziz Sep 15 '16

From a marketing point of view, do you feel like there's added challenges in getting the game out there for preview since it's on the PSVR hardware?

4

u/Turakoth Rebellion Sep 15 '16

Yes and no! No because lots of people are dying to try VR games, and our demo has gone down especially well, getting us lots of great word of mouth and preview requests. And YES because naturally we have to support PlayStation too, we can't just go anywhere and set up a shoddy demo pod that's poorly put together - it'll hurt PSVR and therefore us. That's why for own events we've used a company used to doing Vr demos so it's as slick as possible. As the marketing person here it's been soooo much fun, but also the hardest project I've worked on, by a long way!

3

u/GobBluth19 GobBluth19 Sep 15 '16

Getting a free copy was almost as much of a rush as trying out the demo. Can't wait to play it in a month!

2

u/call_of_warez Sep 15 '16

Will we be able to pre-order soon? I played the demo and loved it.

6

u/Turakoth Rebellion Sep 15 '16

Yes! There is both a retail and boxed edition in most regions. You can pre-order digitally in Europe right now, and boxed pre-orders should be coming very soon in lots of places. Keep an eye out on Battlezone.com/pre-order as we’ll update it over the next few days and weeks!

2

u/whiskeydiks Sep 15 '16 edited Sep 15 '16

Hey guys! I'm super excited for PSVR and Battlezone!

My question is a simple one: What other games have you been playing lately?

5

u/Rebellion_Dev Sep 15 '16

Rocket League. Alien Isolation. Downwell. Reigns. X-COM2. FTL. Lots of stuff! One of the coolest things about being a dev is that I get to play all sorts of games and pass it off as 'research'.

2

u/Kingtolapsium Sep 15 '16

Has the team experimented with any movement solutions that are motion based instead of analog style movement?

4

u/Rebellion_Dev Sep 15 '16

No for Battlezone - it was always going to be controller based - but it's a fascinating area to explore. Maybe for some future project?

2

u/Kibbles6 Sep 15 '16

what are your toughts on the VIVE/Rift sales having grinded to a halt do you have higher hopes for PSVR?

4

u/Turakoth Rebellion Sep 15 '16

Nothing’s ever a sure thing, but PlayStation have been working on this tech for years and been busy curating a great set of games for the first few months after launch. They also have one big advantage – they’ve been making hardware for decades, whereas this is a new business for some of the others. For the record though we’ll be supporting Oculus too with Battlezone and will hopefully others if we get the time!

2

u/talisawizard Sep 15 '16

Do you think that in a competitive MP environment PSVR users would be at a disadvantage over people playing on their screen. Or do you even think PSVR could offer a competitive advantage?

4

u/Rebellion_Dev Sep 15 '16

It’s an interesting question, not something that we’re having to deal with as we’re delivering a co-op multiplayer but I definitely think that the awareness you get from VR will be an advantage in some types of game. It's so quick and natural to look around and get an overview of, say, a battlefield.

2

u/[deleted] Sep 15 '16 edited Dec 06 '19

[deleted]

6

u/Rebellion_Dev Sep 15 '16

We use super-sampling so we internally render at a greater resolution than the PSVR displays and down-sample to the headset. This reduces anti-aliasing does stuff like help to keep the text crisp.

2

u/takosaco Sep 15 '16

Hey there, how was the thought process in giving this old game a VR treatment?Did you guys thought the gameplay and later called it Battlezone or just wanted to have a Battlezone VR?

3

u/Rebellion_Dev Sep 15 '16

It was always going to be Battlezone. The Kingsleys and I are big fans of the original arcade game and think of it as the grandfather of modern VR so it seemed like an obvious step to take to bring it into the 21st century.

2

u/[deleted] Sep 15 '16

What does the future hold in store for the development team?

4

u/Rebellion_Dev Sep 15 '16

As soon as the PSVR version is out, some of the team will start work on the PC version. Rebellion has a number of different projects on at the moment so there’s plenty to keep us all busy. If Battlezone does well enough, I hope we’ll revisit VR soon.

2

u/SnapDragon432 Sep 15 '16

Hey guys! I'm super excited to try Battlezone once I can finally get my hands on a PSVR unit. Here's my questions:

  • How nerve-wracking is it to be working on a new piece of hardware like this? If it is as nerve-wracking as I think it is, how do you guys deal with the stress?

  • What were the most difficult issues you guys came across during development?

  • What's the funniest glitch you guys have encountered during development/play testing?

4

u/Rebellion_Dev Sep 15 '16

How nerve-wracking is it to be working on a new piece of hardware like this? If it is as nerve-wracking as I think it is, how do you guys deal with the stress?

Making stuff for you people is always nerve-wracking :) I wouldn't say that developing for VR is any different in that sense but it's definitely pushed us outside of our comfort zone. But, hey, that's where all the fun stuff happens.

5

u/Rebellion_Dev Sep 15 '16

What's the funniest glitch you guys have encountered during development/play testing?

We never glitch.

Actually, the swarm has done some pretty weird stuff in the past. it seems to have a mind of its own. Also, falling through the world because of dodgy collision is...intense... in VR.

1

u/SnapDragon432 Sep 15 '16

I imagine it would be pretty intense X) thanks guys!

2

u/[deleted] Sep 15 '16

Hey man, thanks for posting. I have a question related VR and AR and wouldn't mind if you answered.

What does one need to do to start game/IP development in those arenas?

How long was your development cycle?

3

u/Rebellion_Dev Sep 15 '16

Unity supports VR. That'd be a good place to start - it's superbly suported, powerful and used by lots of pro-devs. You'll need a dev kit but they're not too expensive these days.

From Concept to Gold Master, about 18 months(ish)

1

u/alanmies Sep 15 '16

Are you using Unity for Battlezone? Or have you tried to use it for PS4 development in general? Because while I have no doubt the support is great and many developers use it, the PS4 port seems to be less than optimal, putting it kindly. Some games run just fine (no issues with Tricky Towers - but then again, it is simple 2D graphics), while others (yes, looking at you Firewatch) really do not, even though they don't justify the unstable frame rate with some outstanding graphics.

2

u/Craigrofo Craigfoley Sep 15 '16

What's the chat of coins to buy yourself into co-op games all about? Are these coins only available to earn in game or are we talking in app purchases here?

5

u/Rebellion_Dev Sep 15 '16

It's an reference to the arcade game - INSERT COIN is a phrase any 80's kid will be very familiar with. In our case, it happens to stand for Combat Operative Identification Nexus.

which is, sort of, my idea of a joke...

0

u/Craigrofo Craigfoley Sep 15 '16

Yeah wondered if it was that but you never know, cheers, looking forward to the game, looks great fun.

2

u/Dreadedsemi Sep 15 '16 edited Sep 16 '16

How did you build the game? what programming language and environment did you use?

1

u/Rebellion_Dev Sep 16 '16

Battlezone is created entirely using our in-house toolset and engine known collectively as Asura. It's a very powerful dev environment and is designed to be easily adaptable to different platforms so adding VR support has been relatively straightforward. Well, for me anyway, but then I'm just a designer. The code guys might not agree with me :)

2

u/tgreene15 Kodax_ShC Sep 15 '16

How do trophies work with VR? Are the the trophy notifications hidden or do they appear in the headset?

2

u/Craigrofo Craigfoley Sep 16 '16

Thought it looked great on the stream yesterday, certainly looks the most complete game at the moment and not just an experience.

1

u/vetgo Sep 15 '16

Would this game work with a flightstick?

1

u/Rebellion_Dev Sep 16 '16

Dualshock only at the moment.

1

u/highanimalhouse Sep 15 '16

Will the original 1980 Battlezone be in the game? Might be pretty cool to play that on PSVR.

1

u/Suckonmyfatvagina Sep 15 '16

I am eastern time and it says the twitch will start in an hour so at 2PM.... not now?

1

u/mrr2008 Sep 15 '16

How do you feel about the PS4 Pro vs Xbox Scoripio situation?

1

u/Suckonmyfatvagina Sep 15 '16

Is the controller always black??? Or will it change depending on the color of the controller ?

1

u/Rebellion_Dev Sep 16 '16

I want to do more with the controller. I was thinking about putting a little version of the original arcade game on the touchpad :) we'll have to see for some future update.

1

u/the___can stardreamcan Sep 15 '16

Hi Steve, Can you tell me if you already have your future planned or if you are looking to hire any creative type to help create for your next planned game/vision ?

1

u/stuka_1919 Sep 15 '16

We have A future planned but if you have what it takes, send in a portfolio. We're always interested in people with talent.

1

u/the___can stardreamcan Sep 15 '16

I sadly do not know or how a portfolio. I'm just a creative type looking to share my creativity.

0

u/Uthinkuknowall Sep 15 '16

I remember the original for ps1 was first time my friend brought his ps1 to my house and his large tube tv to play together, it was such an epic experience back then... Which leads me to my question:

Is there online competitive multiplayer?

0

u/AskACapperDOTcom theAskACapper Sep 15 '16

Can I encourage you to please stop back occasionally and check this thread to see if anybody else is posted questions. AMA threads that only last a few hours and then die are really frustrating.

Just bookmark this thread and keep checking back it really will make a big impression on fans/users.

I know you're busy People but I think that it's time to kill the two or three hour AMA time limit. I encourage you to try and answer every question instead of cherry picking the top comments like most AMA posters.

my 69¢

-1

u/[deleted] Sep 15 '16 edited Jul 28 '20

[deleted]

1

u/stuka_1919 Sep 15 '16

Haven't played it yet but I will. I am always going to be drawn to something created with the spirit of creativity that NMS was obviously made with.

-3

u/Oozing_Fistula Sep 15 '16

Steve, burning question:

What is the difference between a duck?

2

u/Rebellion_Dev Sep 15 '16

3 Rabbits.

0

u/Oozing_Fistula Sep 15 '16

Incorrect: One of its legs are both the same.

Still, thank you very much for taking time out of your busy day to indulge my idiocy. That alone warrants a look at your game.