If you keep up with our blog and podcasts, you’ve heard about how we throw a lot of work away. Some pitches, like Monster Island, never make it past the documentation stage. Others, like newly-rediscovered RPG/RTS hybrid Dungeon Duel, get more than a handful of assets developed before being ultimately consigned to Irrational’s own dustbin of history.

Dungeon Duel was in development back in 2002, so it took some asking around to find Irrational staffers who still remembered working on it. As it turns out, technical director Chris Kline dug up a folder full of ancient email attachments showing game materials in various stages of completion. A lot of the folks listed in those decade-old CC lists still work here–art director Nate Wells, lead artist Shawn Robertson, concept artist Robb Waters, and creative director Ken Levine–not to mention Kline, of course.

As described in the pitch, “Dungeon Duel combines fast-paced RTS strategy with the addictiveness of card game trading in a unique fantasy setting–a true RTS game built specifically with consoles and their controllers in mind.” You can download the whole document as a PDF, including numerous pieces of artwork and mockups.

The concept art seen above was created by Robb Waters. Here are some more pieces we dug up while researching this forgotten bit of the studio’s past:

Sketched concept of what a built-out scene might look like.

Party and inventory sheet concept.

Fighter class concept and in-game model.

Environment concept created by Nate Wells.

In-game mockup based on Nate’s map concept.

We have to commend Chris Kline for somehow failing to lose track of these materials after nearly a decade. That’s why he makes the big bucks.

JUST TRY IT!

In the latest PC Gamer, you’re going to feel the intense rush of a Sky-Hook to your FACE! Either that, or an awesome six-page feature packed with BioShock Infinite details and interview material from a quartet of Irrational folks: creative director Ken Levine, director of product development Tim Gerritsen, art director Nate Wells, and lead artist Shawn Robertson.

There’s a lot of roundtable discussion about the influences behind Infinite, and the development choices and design evolution that led to the E3 gameplay demonstration. And vigors. There’s a whole sidebar about ‘em. You’ve already seen Murder of Crows–that’s the bird-based crowd control vigor you saw for the first time in last year’s gameplay demo. You send forth a flock of particularly aggressive crows to temporarily incapacitate a group of your foes.

You may not be as familiar with Bucking Bronco. That’s the vigor you saw Booker use in the latest gameplay demo to forcibly eject his enemies out from behind cover with a rolling wave of turbulent force. And after you’ve tossed enemies up with Bucking Bronco, you can extend their forced airborne relaxation session by juggling them. With bullets.

And finally, while it’s common knowledge that dead men tell no tales, it’s a slightly less-well-worn (but equally true) maxim that dead men fire no weapons. With the Weapon Slave vigor, you can put those abandoned arms to good use by turning them into your own personal automated turrets that hunt down those enemies who have not yet discarded their own lives (and guns).

As always in game development, these details are subject to change. And rest assured–there are more vigors to come, but you’ll have to wait for more details. In the meantime, why not pick up the new PC Gamer and check out the BioShock Infinite cover story. If you don’t, you’ll disappoint Shawn and Nate, and do you really want that on your conscience? Just look at those faces.

That’s the crux of this Kotaku interview with Irrational creative director Ken Levine. Kotaku’s Stephen Totilo delves into the inspirations that underpin BioShock Infinite’s city of Columbia and the forces that are tearing it apart. Those disparate inspirations include historical labor conflicts, Sinclair Lewis’ It Can’t Happen Here, Ridley Scott’s film Alien, and…a picture of a dead horse.

Touching on some ground covered during Irrational’s PAX East panel on world creation, Ken described how BioShock Infinite once revolved around “a rift between technologists and Luddites.” That conflict didn’t quite hit home, however, and the “battle of ideas” eventually coalesced into the current factional battle between the city’s nationalist Founders and the insurgent Vox Populi.

The interview is punctuated with historical photography captioned by art director Nate Wells, who explains how the reference material informs BioShock Infinite’s development–both in terms of direct visual inspiration as well as environmental storytelling methods.

Nate’s moustache does not make an appearance.

Ken Levine and Irrational’s senior art team packed the house at PAX East 2011 with an hour-long discussion about the studio’s approach to creating video game worlds. Art director Nate Wells, lead artist Shawn Robertson, and senior effects artist Stephen Alexander joined Ken with moderator Julian Murdoch to show the evolution of BioShock Infinite’s flying city of Columbia–starting from, essentially, Rapture in the sky. Newly-revealed concept art and Sky-Line prototype videos accompanied the presentation.

Video of the panel is available from GameSpot and G4. The GameSpot version includes the Q&A section at the end.

One image that appeared several times throughout the panel was this simple guide, created by BioShock art director Scott Sinclair and given to Nate as he took over art director duties for Infinite:

The image pokes fun at the notion that creating the game would be as easy as moving the city up to the clouds, but it also serves as a reminder that at one point Columbia really was a lot like Rapture. This concept image shows a scene that’s so dark and constrained by clouds that it might as well be underwater. Even the Art Nouveau architecture is reminiscent of Rapture’s Art Deco:

“This is a lie we tell ourselves every time we start a game,” Nate said, referring to early assumptions about the straightforward BioShock-in-the-sky approach. “I think it’s evolutionary. If you go to the dawn of man, there’s a cave with elders sitting around going, ‘Today we’re going to hunt a buffalo. It’s pretty much a big raccoon. We’re just going to do what we do in raccoon hunting, like, more.’”

Of course, he added, “if it really was like this, we’d be so fucking bored that we wouldn’t know what to do.”

The bright Fourth of July Americana look that Infinite had adopted by the time it was announced came later–but once it did, it became obvious to the team that it was the right approach.

Throughout the panel, the crew showed pieces of period reference photography, much of which was drawn from the excellent Shorpy Historical Photo Archive. It’s an invaluable source for those interested in past eras (including Ken, who describes himself as a big documentary nerd). Nate also called out Erik Larson’s The Devil in the White City, which simultaneously chronicles the creation of Chicago’s 1893 World’s Fair and recounts the story of Dr. H.H. Holmes, America’s first serial killer. Many Irrational team members read the book while developing Infinite’s setting and concept, and it helped to crystallize the optimism, ambition–and darkness–that characterized the era.

Later, the panel audience was shown a proof-of-concept video showing a player leap from Sky-Line to Sky-Line armed with a rocket launcher. While visually primitive, the footage was an important step in development, as it gave the team a glimpse at the kinds of gameplay Sky-Lines could support. That video was followed up with a test from the art team showing how audiovisual presentation could help sell the experience to players. Both videos can be seen in the GameSpot and G4 footage.

Ken summed up the ultimate goal for Sky-Lines in BioShock Infinite: “It’s like being on a rollercoaster, but you’re hanging in the air and you have a fucking gun.”

Finally, during our PAX fan event, we were presented with an unexpected mashup of the Art Director image and Robb Waters’ take on Dog in a Wheelchair. Apparently, community member Japester sketched this remarkable Dog in a Balloon Harness during the panel:

Key Irrational developers will answer that question during an in-depth panel at PAX East in Boston this March, with BioShock Infinite materials ranging from concept sketches to fully formed scenes. Creative director Ken Levine, art director Nate Wells, lead artist Shawn Robertson, and senior effects artist Stephen Alexander will show not just how Columbia was created from a technical standpoint, but how it was originally conceived and how it became a key character at the heart of BioShock Infinite.

“From Background To Center Stage: Building Game Worlds As Main Characters” will be held at 5:00pm in the Manticore Theater on Friday, March 11.

Plan the rest of your PAX East schedule with the official show schedule, and check out how you can pick up some free swag courtesy of Irrational Games!

Does Irrational Games have a mission? Can there possibly be any methods to its well-documented madness? We’re ringing in the new year with an attempt to answer those questions, viewed through the lens of an employee who joined Irrational just four months ago. Discussions with studio members of all stripes–ranging from other relative newcomers all the way to co-founder Ken Levine–reveal that nothing is certain in the world of game development. And that’s just fine.

• Part 1: The Co-Founder – Ken Levine
• Part 2: Immigrants – Don Norbury, Jeff Seamster, Josh Davis, Murray Kraft
• Part 3: Gatekeepers – Bill Gardner, Shawn Robertson, Robert Tzong, Chris Kline
• Part 4: Natives – Alexx Kay, Nate Wells, Scott Sinclair, Shawn Robertson

Going forward, Irrational podcasts will continue to release once a month, but our plan is to alternate Irrational Behavior with Irrational Interviews. If you already subscribe to the individual podcast RSS feeds, please replace them with this new combined feed that incorporates both Behavior and Interviews.

Direct Download Episode 8

Irrational Podcasts RSS Feed

Irrational Podcasts iTunes Page

Podcast music provided by:

• George Glass (Theme music)
• Spirit Kid (Part 1 intro)
• Permafav (Part 2 intro)
• Patrick Balthrop (Part 3 intro)
• Walking Sleep (Part 4 intro)
• The Monolators (Ending music)

In this episode of Irrational Behavior we let you look behind the scenes of the creation at the BioShock Infinite trailer.  Some of the people responsible for directing and creating the trailer discuss the constant evolution of the material as well as the hurdles that had to be overcome along the way in order to get to what you see released.

WARNING: This episode of Irrational Behavior is filled with spoilers.  Watch the trailer at http://www.BioshockInfinite.com before listening to the podcast.

• Part 1: The Creative Vita-Chamber
• Part 2: Infinite’s Horizon
• Part 3: Listen Up!
• Part 4: Days in the Dark

This completes the first season of Irrational Behavior.  The show will be going on a break but stay tuned to IrrationalGames.com for the latest news and content on BioShock Infinite as well as the return of Irrational Interviews starting September 1st.  Continue to discuss this episode of Irrational Behavior and BioShock Infinite in our forums.

iTunes Link

Direct Download Episode 7: Part 2

Irrational Podcasts RSS Feed

Podcast music provided by:

• Signal Hill
• Taxpayer
• Cathode Rays

Do game makers game differently?  In this episode of Irrational Behavior we ask the team if they are able to turn off their critical filters and play the part of consumer.  From the untold developer chatter during lobby sessions in the latest multiplayer games to conquering  great single player experiences, how do we play and what do we think.  We also ask the team on games that influenced them in their roles and impacted the games they helped create.

• Part 1: Team Deathmatch
• Part 2: Appetite for Deconstruction

Stay tuned to IrrationalGames.com for more content related to this month’s podcast.

Discuss this episode of Irrational Behavior over in the forum.

iTunes Link

Direct Download Episode 6

Irrational Podcasts RSS Feed

Podcast music provided by:

• Signal Hill
• Patrick Balthrop
• Rich Vreeland
• Razors in the Night

Additional Production provided by:

• Tim Franklin

Sharks, spiders, the dark, and chemistry exams.  These are just a couple of the things that we are scared of.  In this episode of Irrational Behavior we look at the things we are scared of and how it affects the way we make games.  Guest Andrew Weaver of Indiana University explains why we enjoy fun and the staff shed light on the challenges of making a game scary.

• Part 1: What Are We Afraid Of
• Part 2: Why Fear is Fun
• Part 3: The Art of Fear
• Part 4: The Feel of Fear
• Part 5: The Sound of Fear

Stay tuned to IrrationalGames.com for more content related to this month’s podcast.

Discuss this episode of Irrational Behavior over in the forum.

iTunes Link

Direct Download Episode 5

Irrational Podcasts RSS Feed

Podcast music provided by:

• Signal Hill
• Walking Sleep
• Geoff Graves
• The Happy Hollows

What do the dorky things that we do say about ourselves? More importantly, do they give game developers an edge? This month’s episode of Irrational Behavior explores some of our secret pastimes: dollhouse construction, action figure hoarding, cosplay, and live-action role-playing included.

• Part 1: Guys and Dolls
• Part 2: Tired of Sleep
• Part 3: Off Kilter
• Part 4: Cosplay Confession
• Part 5: WE LOVE LARPING
• Part 6: Roasted

Stay tuned to IrrationalGames.com for more content related to this month’s podcast.

Discuss this episode of Irrational Behavior over in the forum.

iTunes Link

Direct Download Episode 4

Irrational Podcasts RSS Feed

Podcast music provided by:

• Signal Hill
• Frederik Kaupang
• Geoff Graves
• Filippo Beck Peccoz
• Rich Vreeland/DisasterPeace
• Justin Schwenk

Telemarketer Ken Levine. Playboy illustrator Scott Sinclair.  This month’s episode of Irrational Behavior explores what we did before we began developing videogames.  This months episode highlights include the commiserations of former game store clerks, an artist who accidentally concealed a Satanic message in a Christian comic for children, and a confession from the man who claims to have created the deer in Golden Tee Golf.

Stay tuned to IrrationalGames.com for more content related to this month’s podcast.

Discuss this episode of Irrational Behavior over in the forum.

iTunes Link

Direct Download Episode 3

Irrational Podcasts RSS Feed

Podcast music provided by:

• Signal Hill
• Josh Rathbun
• Patrick Balthrop
• Justin Schwenk
• Fillipo Beck Peccoz
• Giancarlo Feltrin

Irrational was once a tiny team that made games on miniscule budgets. Today we’re much, much bigger and the budget’s grown along with the ambition of the group’s games. This month’s episode of Irrational Behavior explores what these changes have meant for the studio’s culture and the individuals who’ve been on board as the industry itself has had to adopt the professional practices of big business. Episode highlights include an insider take on the making of Thief, designers Dorian Hart and Alexx Kay waxing nostalgic on the days when they were allowed to do voice over work for Freedom Force, as well as the story of a mysterious onanist who secretly used artist Shawn Robertson’s office for forbidden self-pleasures.

Stay tuned to IrrationalGames.com for more content related to this months podcast.

Discuss this episode of Irrational Behavior over in the forum.

iTunes Link

Direct Download Episode 2

Irrational Podcasts RSS Feed

Podcast music provided by:

• Josh Rathbun
• Matt Grimm
• Geoff Graves
• Rich Vreeland/DisasterPeace
• Signal Hill

Apocalypse Shock?

“The original story had the player going to a spaceship to assassinate a character similar to Colonel Walter Kurtz from Apocalypse Now,” says Creative Director Ken Levine. “We pitched the game to Paul Neurath at Looking Glass Studios based on a story outline I wrote and they gave us access to the Dark Engine which was used to make Thief.”

“We took the concept around to all the major publishers of the day and we ended up talking to Electronic Arts, who held the rights to System Shock,” Levine adds.  EA eventually did sign the project and the original story outline quickly emerged. As Levine puts it, “you can’t have a System Shock game without SHODAN, so I wanted to rewrite everything.  I was such a System Shock fanboy that it was a dream come true to create the sequel.”

Zero-G vs. Technology

“Originally, the level that would become The Many had the player traverse from the Von Braun to The Rickenbacker on the outside of the hull,” says Levine. “We thought it would be a really cool mission because it would change everything the player was used to by introducing a zero gravity environment as well as changing the behavior of all the monsters.”  The technology in 1998, when System Shock 2 was in development, really didn’t allow for such grandiose ideas unless it was a major feature in the game.  Levine remembers chatting with Lead Programmer Robert Fermier to discuss the level and being told, “Dude that is going to be a huge amount of work for it to work properly.”  A feature specific to only a single mission of the game didn’t fit into the schedule. Levine adds, “It was good that it got cut. If you don’t have the resources for it, you can’t make it that good.”

F’ing with the Player

“To fuck with the audience was a new concept in video games,” says Levine on creating the plot twists in System Shock 2.  “It was a bit of an experiment and it had some resistance from the team, but once I had the idea I really wanted to run with it.”  With the help of Randy Smith, who was on loan from Looking Glass Studios, the script that Levine wrote was built into the sequence in DromED (the tool used to create levels in System Shock 2). Levine remembers, “That was a very challenging task and ended up being the most complex sequence in the game to script, with the multimedia presentation where the player finds out that Shodan has been posing as Polito the entire time.”

The End?  Rewrite.

“Due to miscommunications or differing ideas, a different cinematic video was created from the one that I originally scripted,” says Levine. “It had this elaborate sequence where Shodan would attempt to kill you in a double-cross, as this ‘cyber stinger’ that was in view provided tension of your impending doom.”  Upon getting his hands on the video for the ending sequence, Levine didn’t see anything that he wrote in the script.  “We didn’t have much to work with.  It was like when you look in the cupboard and you’re trying to make soup, and you have a bag of salt and couple of pinto beans.”  Working with fixed assets can be extremely challenging especially with limited time and resources as well as fighting the technology back then.  Levine remembers, “We had to write to the assets we had at that point, and all we could do was edit it.  We completely ran out of time and that cut scene wasn’t the right ending for the game.”

900 Square Feet of Amateurs

“System Shock 2 was made in single room, which was around 900 square feet,” Levine recalls of the original office space that Irrational Games called home.  “We didn’t have any money and didn’t have a lot of experience shipping games at that point.  We lucked out by hiring some newcomers like Nate Wells, Ian Vogel, Michael Swiderek, and Mauricio Tejerina, as well as being loaned some guys from Looking Glass, including Dorian Hart, Alexx Kay, and Randy Smith.” Working in such conditions on a project that lasted 11 months lead to many sleepless nights and likely some foul body odor.  “If we knew then what we know now, we probably would have just stopped in our tracks petrified, and not have been successful because we wouldn’t have thought we could pull it off,” remembers Levine.  While conditions were cramped, there was a great deal of optimism while working on System Shock 2. “I remember getting that first milestone check for around $75,000 from Looking Glass and thinking, ‘OH MY GOD! WE CAN DO ANYTHING!’ We made it happen.”

Dog in a Wheelchair

Before BioShock’s “gatherers” became Little Sisters in an artistic process characterized by false starts and filled garbage bins, they were sea slugs. Nobody empathized with the creatures enough to care whether they lived or died. When the call went out to come up with a character that players would pity, Lead Artist Shawn Robertson submitted this insipid image of a Doberman in a wheelchair. The illustration is now infamous at the studio, although Shawn insists that fellow artist Scott Sinclair’s “frog with the funnel in its anus” is more embarrassing by far.

Frog with a Funnel in its Anus

Before BioShock’s “gatherers” became Little Sisters in an artistic process characterized by false starts and filled garbage bins, they were sea slugs. Nobody empathized with the creatures enough to care whether they lived or died. When the call went out to come up with a character that players would pity, Art Principal Scott Sinclair submitted this insipid image of a toad with a funnel and sun tea jug attached to its anus. Scott insists that fellow artist Shawn Robertson’s “dog in a wheelchair” is more embarrassing by far.

Gatherer

The original BioShock “gatherer” — based on a sea slug — was later replaced by the Little Sister.

SloProFum

SloProFum, the studio’s internal name for this prototype Big Daddy variant that mauled players with an enormous hook and fired iron bearings from a barrel, stands for “slow projectile/fucked-up melee.” Hear how the design didn’t work on this month’s Irrational Behavior podcast.

Stay Puft Bouncer

Initially reluctant to add a drill arm to the Bouncer Big Daddy variant at Creative Director Ken Levine’s insistence, artists Nate Wells and Robb Waters started exchanging a series of images in which they attached marshmallows, human butts, and other items to the character’s hand.

]]> http://irrationalgames.com/insider/january-from-the-vault/feed/ 75 http://irrationalgames.com/insider/irrational-behavior/introducing-irrational-behavior/ http://irrationalgames.com/insider/irrational-behavior/introducing-irrational-behavior/#comments Tue, 12 Jan 2010 05:10:00 +0000 IG.ShawnElliott http://irrationalgames.com/?p=5

In any game development studio, you’ll find a bunch of inspired and imaginative people who have a lot to get off their chests. To save on counseling fees, we decided to sublimate these repressed feelings about their gaming lives by sticking a microphone in their faces and creating a series of podcasts that offer an insight into what makes us – and our games – tick.

Each podcast will explore a particular theme in what we hope is an entertaining and insightful way, and this theme will also evolve throughout the month on the Irrational Games website itself. Visit regularly and you’ll find content on the site that helps illustrate what we’re trying to describe in the podcast, or expands and explores the theme further.

Please contribute to the discussions about the podcasts in the forums and if you have a great idea for a future theme then let us know! We might even send you something to say thanks. But don’t hold us to it.

So to kick off, we chose a brutal theme – “ideas that died”. We explore what happens when creativity runs into technical restrictions, a lack of clear consensus, and – at times – its own convolution. You’ll glimpse abandoned BioShock tidbits, as well as an as yet unrevealed game from four years ago when Irrational Games backed away from a zombie invasion. And much, much more.

Oh, and you’ll understand why ‘dog in a wheelchair’ is the answer to just about any question…

Irrational Behavior podcasts act as tables of contents for stories that appear here on IrrationalGames.com each month. January’s content continues to explore dead ideas with the following features:

Discuss this episode of Irrational Behavior over in the forum.

iTunes Link

Direct Download Episode 1

Irrational Podcasts RSS Feed

Podcast theme song, “Luna Park”, provided by Signal Hill from the album, “More After We’re Gone”.