ONE/PC D4 - Dark Dreams Don't Die

With the advent of next-generation consoles, the experiences video games can provide have become even more diversified. Graphics keep improving, along with sound effects and dynamic expressions. New services are also possible with cloud technology. Midst all these changes, D4 has been developed with a strong focus on "recreating sensory experiences," and empathy, one of the cornerstones of game design.In this session, the creator of the mysteriously-titled D4 will explain his unique approaches as professionally as possible, while occasionally digressing into personal anecdotes from the process.

Things to be careful of when designing games with physical computing devices (and especially the new Kinect).A review of simple, but often overlooked approaches to game design.

Zum Vergrößern anklicken....

Patrick Miller: What was it like working with the new Kinect? Was there a significant gap between the kind of gestures you wanted to design, and what the new Kinect could handle?

Hidetaka "SWERY" Suehiro: The new Kinect worked very well in replicating “realistic senses and feelings”, one of the core concepts of D4. It works more precise and responsive, and it allows you to play in a more relaxed state. And regarding your question about gestures… Gestures? D4 isn’t a game that revolves around the use of gestures, but rather is a game with a new, simpler design. If I had to summarize it in one word, I might call it “symbolization.” I plan on talking about this in more detail at GDC Next along with an actual demo.

PM: Were there any motions or poses you saw in other games (or movies, TV shows, etc.) that inspired parts of D4?

HS: D4 was not designed mainly around gestures. [Laughs] The main character David Young does, however, have a signature pose. Just as York would touch two fingers to his forehead in Deadly Premonition, Young will make this pose at crucial points in the game as well. I’d be delighted to see players imitate this gesture.

PM: From Deadly Premonition and early impressions of D4, you've developed a reputation for making "weird" games. What inspires your design direction? What games, books, movies, etc. have changed the way you make games?

HS: Thanks, I’ll take that as a compliment. (It is a compliment, isn’t it?) I think my own life, the people around me and my relationships with them have an influence on my creative process. Of course all sorts of creative works stimulate the process as well, but they’re not nearly as influential as actual interpersonal relationships (be they good ones, bad ones, happy ones or sad ones).

Things like the conversations with the staff members I’m around every day, people watching around town or interacting with everyone on Twitter or Facebook. Not to mention actually travelling around various countries. I think you could say that all of these things are influences.

PM: If you could ask anyone in the world to make a game using motion controls, who would it be?

HS: It would be myself. Because I still want to make many more games. I hope you’re all looking forward to D4 being completed. That’s all, I love you all!

Zum Vergrößern anklicken....