Lucent
Member
Keep asking! I'm going to answer page 2 tonight.
And thanks Nathan
I'm also doing dyad-ish trivia on twitter in 3 mins for 2 free codes. @dyadgame
Adding to the following list. lol
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Dyad (PSN) |OT| - Psychedelic Sensory Overload
- Thread starter kassatsu
- Start date
Adding to the following list. lol
ShawnMcGrath
Dyad Developer
Please don't spoil it for others =)
In all seriousness, your honesty there just sold me on this game. Tipped me off the fence where I was teetering. I was planning on holding out for a Vita version but I won't do it. Maybe it is just me, but I greatly appreciate the honesty in your answers! And... the realness of them?
So excited to play this sir, and while I would hope that all game designers have this kind of pride in their work, it is super exciting to hear just how much this means to you and how much you have put into it. Cannot wait. It feels like I am waiting for a gallery exhibit to open, where the photographer will be showing his/her deepest most sincere work.
So yeah, this is all coming from reading your page one answers. =P Thank you!
twinturbo2
butthurt Heat fan
Bro, there's more to life than extending your e-peacock.
We expect a full review, for example.
Sorry 'bout that! I thought Jeff Cannata was essentially saying the same thing with his impressions.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FuI6kPIFBMA&t=12m31s
I shant reveal any more!
ShawnMcGrath
Dyad Developer
Oh, that wasn't spoiling it =) Just saying anymore might hehe
Sorry 'bout that! I thought Jeff Cannata was essentially saying the same thing with his impressions.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FuI6kPIFBMA&t=12m31s
I shant reveal any more!
ShawnMcGrath
Dyad Developer
thank you! I try to be as honest as possible. I have no desire to trick people into liking my stuff, I'd rather just be open and let people decide for themselves.
When I was first starting getting into this I had friends doing it too who were very open and honest and that *REALLY* helped me, so I try to do the same... even if people aren't interested in making games or whatever, I think it's a good way to live, and there'd be a lot less problems in the world if people weren't going around trying to trick people all the time.
When I was first starting getting into this I had friends doing it too who were very open and honest and that *REALLY* helped me, so I try to do the same... even if people aren't interested in making games or whatever, I think it's a good way to live, and there'd be a lot less problems in the world if people weren't going around trying to trick people all the time.
Item_Screen
Member
Question: What gave you the idea for making 'the machine' chair(aka the coolest thing ever)? Had you built anything like that before? Do you still have it/play it?
jetsetfluken
Member
Crap, all this hype in this thread made me think the game was out this week.
I don't even fully know what the gameplay is like, but I'm buying it just based on the few screens I've seen. Here's hoping the gameplay is something unique akin to Rez for example. If not, these visuals will do justice enough.
I did spot the "Distance" in the screens, if it's anything like SSX 2012's "Survive It" runs where you need to go as far as possible, then it'll be a winner to me alone.
Between PixelJunk 4am, Journey and Datura recently, PSN is really on a roll with these more experimental/unique/artistic games. Dyad looks to be something very special.
I don't even fully know what the gameplay is like, but I'm buying it just based on the few screens I've seen. Here's hoping the gameplay is something unique akin to Rez for example. If not, these visuals will do justice enough.
I did spot the "Distance" in the screens, if it's anything like SSX 2012's "Survive It" runs where you need to go as far as possible, then it'll be a winner to me alone.
Between PixelJunk 4am, Journey and Datura recently, PSN is really on a roll with these more experimental/unique/artistic games. Dyad looks to be something very special.
ShawnMcGrath
Dyad Developer
Writing answers and drinking whiskey... if the typo density increases towards the end you know why...
Lucent
Member
It's cuz you're drunk! I win! =P
ShawnMcGrath
Dyad Developer
I honestly don't know. I can't empathize with that situation, so I can't honestly answer. I will say that at events I've shown it at kids LOVED it, (more than adults), but there was often a giantic motorized arcade machine with it: http://www.dyadgame.com/index2.php?page=TheMachine
I would think it would have that effect on me when I was a kid, but I'd feel bad if I said that and you found it to be completely inappropriate, so... no real answer =(
There's a big one that is a complete rip-off (homage??) of the 2001 error messages. There's no legal requirement for them in North America at all, and Sony didn't require it either. I added it because:
1. I think it's probably a good idea
2. I could use futura and impact on the same screen
3. I'm loading at that time, what else would I show? a corporate logo? (You'll notice there's no corporate branding at all, no logos on start up, nothing in the credits, nothing!)
There's plans for a vita version, but it's entirely possible that I made it and say it's not good enough because the game doesn't work on a small screen and I won't release it. If I do release it it will be free for ps3 users, (if that's not possible I won't release it). I'm not allowed to talk about other plans, if they even exist, for other platforms right now, sorry =(.
I took a lot of care to make sure I didn't waste any players' time... every minute should feel fresh and exciting. I worked hard to make the game as short possible while still presenting every idea I wanted it to... that said, I think it's easily a 20 hour game just to beat all the levels, (the trophy levels are levels too).
Nabokov
It's *COMPLETELY* different... it doesn't play anything like Rez... I actually don't know any game that's mechanically similar to Dyad tbh. Visually there's a lot more variety in Dyad on account of having more levels, but Rez uses 3D shapes and animations better than Dyad... Dyad uses a lot more abstract colour effects than Rez.
Musically Dyad's levels have no background track, all the music is generated by how you play, and nothing is quantized. Rez is rigidly quantized and has a background track that you can add to.
Rez has 5 levels, Dyad has 27.
I don't really want to explain the game mechanics and game design differences because there's no similarities really, it's just something completely different.
I'm not a huge wine drinker, so iono, Pinot Noir is good, or a deep red. I do recommend Lagavulin or Talisker scotch though.
That isn't a question, just an (incorrect) statement
I rarely finish modern games. I think the only games I've finished this generation are Dark Souls (over 10 times), Demon's Souls and Modern Warfare 1... yeah that's it I think. I do enjoy a lot of games tho, Far Cry 2 is really good game.
I don't finish them because at some point they just repeat themselves, and I get bored and move on to something else. I don't have a ton of time to play games, so I always wnat to play something that's fresh.
I wanted to make a game that I wanted to play. I think it should be new as often as possible and not waste any of the player's time. By constantly augmenting the mechanics you're always getting something new.
Jonathan Blow did a talk a while back that explained "fun" as a natural response to learning new things for evolutionary reason, (I didn't do enough scientific research to know if this is true or not, but I liked the idea regardless). Basically he said that bordem is a natural response to not learning new things and fun is the response to learning new things. Games often try to bypass your bordem response by giving you rewards, leveling you up, telling you you're great, whatever! In reality bordem is a healthy response to an activity; it's your body telling you that you shouldn't be doing that activity anymore because it's bad for you. I took a lot of care to make sure that all "fun" was intrinsic to the game, and it didn't reward for doing things you didn't earn. A central part of achieving that goal was constantly changing the mechanics so you're always learning, and having fun by learning, not by any trickery.
Nope!
Eye of the Duck -- just ask those who've already played it =)
My best advice to you is just go and make a game. It will suck, but make it. Then delete it. And make another one. It will suck too so delete it. Then make another one... keep doing this until you have a good game - it could take 10 years.
I listed my favourite books, movies and games in the first page answers.
There were certain "feelings" (shitty word, but it'll do I guess), that I was trying to go for from certain games.
In Tetris Attack there's constant action: you're always moving pieces; no waiting. You're also always thinking several moves ahead and planning your future. You're also always cashing in your actions and trying frantically to add on to an active "combo." The value of what's good and bad at any given moment is never black and white and always vague. I tried to go for this exactly feeling. Dyad does it with completely mechanics; the two games couldn't be superficially more dissimilar but the way the action works, and the way choices work in Tetris Attack was something I tried to emulate, and improve on.
In bullet hell shmups you're always riding very fine lines, always close to danger. You're reading the playfield and planning ahead and making choices that are good not only now, but good in a few seconds - the choice/action cycle is very short in shmups. I tried to do this.
In burnout you smash into shit and it's fun. I wanted Dyad to have fun shit smashing too.
There's *A LOT* of games that I looked at when trying to come up with solutions to problems in Dyad... sports too. Check this shit: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BkkTSVVrPYk How is this not the coolest sport ever? When I was thinking about different goals for Dyad, seeing this really opened my eyes... I could be much more wild with goals and just do whatever the fuck seemed cool.
--- at this point windows decided to update itself on my wife's laptop (I don't have a laptop), and I lost two answers... the next two answers may not be as good because I'm much less motivated to re-write answers than I would be to write new ones, sorry ---
What are the the major gameplay challenges (regarding the perspective of a player) to hook up to a game like Dyad? So what keeps the player hooked to finishing the game, also regarding trophies; did you implemented any special means to ensure a nice "flow" of the game?
And have you thought about an import functionality for the player's own music à la Audiosurf? Perhaps as an expansion in the fufure? Would be pretty cool to play to one's own music. Of course it's difficult to make such a functionality too generic, but even if it's not that of a good experience as your own songs, it would bring some huge lasting appeal to the game.
-- argh, this was a long answer too, I'll try again, and I'll give you a code because I'm probably not answering it as well as I already did, and it's a good question anyway --
1. I tried to challenge players in every way native to video games. There's reflex stuff, tactical stuff, information processing stuff, quick decision stuff, risk/reward balance stuff, etc... I tried to explore everything as deeply as I knew how. The game constantly changes the rules, you don't do anything twice, it's as short and dense as possible. There's nothing special to keep you hooked. I just tried to make it as good as possible, not trick people into playing for a long time... I think almost everyone will finish the last level... there's a ton of other stuff to do after you beat the last level to keep people who want a challenge playing, (beating everything is very hard), but beating the last level isn't that hard.
2. no. I answered why in the page 1 answers. The short answer is it's impossible.
It fucking better!
The game is very confusing to watch, read about it, parse screenshots of, etc. It's very easy to play and understand. This is something I'm actually very proud of, (despite its obvious negative effects on sales). I wanted to make something that could only be represented in the videogame medium. Transfering it to any other medium has such a large information loss that it just seems like an incomprehensible mess. I don't know what else to say other than trust me, and everyone else who's played it, it's not difficult to understand what's happening when you're actually playing.
1. There aren't any that I know of.
2. Yes, but they will be something separate from the game, at least as they are in my head right now. There's nothing I can think of to add or subtract from the game, (most of the dev time was subtracting). This may change after I've stepped away from it for a while. I've already started working on the tech for my new game, and there's some stuff I'd like to try out in Dyad, so I will do DLC related to that -- it'll all be free. I won't charge for DLC unless it's new levels -- a lot of new levels, and I can't think of any new levels right now =) And the only reason I'd charge for new levels is because it takes several months to make a level: the graphics and music are actually the easiest parts by far... coming up with new mechanics, balancing them, making sure they feel really good and maximizing the competitiveness and depth takes a lot of time... a 4 level pack DLC could take a year to make.
--
Thanks! I'll answer page 3 tomrorow! I didn't answer duplicate questions here, so if you didn't get a reponse, (to questions other than 'can I have a code?'), it's because someone else already asked it.
I gave codes to Traumnovelle, tch and softie
Thank you so much for answering so many questions and even giving out codes for free. It's a real honor to have the attention of such a committed and talented developer and everyone including myself really really really appreciates your passion for the game and especially for the community.
I also guarantee you that I will reward such dedication with buying the game on release day, although you gave me the chance to play it for free.
I'm hoping that you'll gain huge success with the game and get enough financial support to concentrate on developing more awesome game experiences in the future.
man are you guys speaking my language
going to get fucked up and play the shit out of this game.
Canis lupus
Member
Never been so excited for a game lol, watched some gameplay with my headphones, amazing. My 5.1 setup is gonna love this!
Man, everything I hear how about this game sounds right up my alley. It really sucks about the Euro release. Perhaps I will purchase & download the NA version instead, seeing as I'm not one for patience. Either that or hope to catch a code from @DyadGame to play it before the official Euro release, and purchase it later.
Also really awesome that you're doing an Q&A here Shawn!
Also really awesome that you're doing an Q&A here Shawn!
Kenshin001
Member
Where are the reviews?
I have to say, as an aspiring game developer, what you've managed to do (I don't have the game yet, but I've played it at two PAX Easts and know that it's amazing) as essentially a one-man-show is very inspiring.
1. I've been interested in procedural music design for a while. In your game, the most interesting parts are the chord changes. Does the music ever have a change in mood/tonality depending on how you're doing? For instance, "you're doing awesome, major key" or "you're starting to suck, minor key and/or dissonance!"? Or are the chord changes more or less scripted(e.g., after x measures change to the next chord)/random?
2. Do the enemy colors change much? I see blue and purple for the most part, with some yellow which I think is the result of certain game events. Are they blue and purple throughout the game to build familiarity, or do they change from level to level to better contrast with the background? I ask because the speed of the game seems to dictate that those enemies pop out as quickly as possible so we at least have a fighting chance of reacting. So I'm wondering how much thought went into picking these colors.
3. You've mentioned that Sony didn't publish the game, and I'm assuming that this also means that it's not a Pub Fund game. How did you finance development? I don't mean to ask specifics about your personal finances, but I'm interested in how microdevelopers without traditional publishers pay the bills if they work on their game full time. Did you have investors at all? Did you do some portion of the project part-time while keeping up another job? Or just some other personal reason (savings, other family income) that enabled you to work full-time?
1. I've been interested in procedural music design for a while. In your game, the most interesting parts are the chord changes. Does the music ever have a change in mood/tonality depending on how you're doing? For instance, "you're doing awesome, major key" or "you're starting to suck, minor key and/or dissonance!"? Or are the chord changes more or less scripted(e.g., after x measures change to the next chord)/random?
2. Do the enemy colors change much? I see blue and purple for the most part, with some yellow which I think is the result of certain game events. Are they blue and purple throughout the game to build familiarity, or do they change from level to level to better contrast with the background? I ask because the speed of the game seems to dictate that those enemies pop out as quickly as possible so we at least have a fighting chance of reacting. So I'm wondering how much thought went into picking these colors.
3. You've mentioned that Sony didn't publish the game, and I'm assuming that this also means that it's not a Pub Fund game. How did you finance development? I don't mean to ask specifics about your personal finances, but I'm interested in how microdevelopers without traditional publishers pay the bills if they work on their game full time. Did you have investors at all? Did you do some portion of the project part-time while keeping up another job? Or just some other personal reason (savings, other family income) that enabled you to work full-time?
LiquidSwords
Member
3. You've mentioned that Sony didn't publish the game, and I'm assuming that this also means that it's not a Pub Fund game. How did you finance development? I don't mean to ask specifics about your personal finances, but I'm interested in how microdevelopers without traditional publishers pay the bills if they work on their game full time. Did you have investors at all? Did you do some portion of the project part-time while keeping up another job? Or just some other personal reason (savings, other family income) that enabled you to work full-time?[/QUOTE]
Shawn's busy rocking ComicCon, so I'll jump in: DYAD is a Sony Pub Fund title, but it was also funded by a grant from the Ontario Provincial government.
Shawn's busy rocking ComicCon, so I'll jump in: DYAD is a Sony Pub Fund title, but it was also funded by a grant from the Ontario Provincial government.
Thanks!
Oh, that's a shame.
Every. Time. Like a force field.
Damn dude, you beat me by 4 milliseconds!
Please, someone buy a pair of these and wear while playing (plus take a video!)
http://www.neurosky.com/necomimi/
http://www.neurosky.com/necomimi/
ShawnMcGrath
Dyad Developer
I'm *REALLY* drunk. writing page 3 responses. I see a degenerating pattern of soberness while responding.... this is going to end in a hospital visit by page 8
beanman25
Member
Holy cow, game is addicting. Took me 3-4 tries to get the first trophy level. So awesome!
EDIT: Went with infinite play for about 5 minutes and my eyes are watering like I've been crying for an hour! I love it!
Double Edit: Here is some gameplay! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d4S7XGIMPvw&feature=youtu.be
EDIT: Went with infinite play for about 5 minutes and my eyes are watering like I've been crying for an hour! I love it!
Double Edit: Here is some gameplay! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d4S7XGIMPvw&feature=youtu.be
Very few games get close to this feeling.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TBzVPXr8SNY&t=1m19s
I think DYAD does a good job of nearly making that a reality. In its current state DYAD meshes so many different gameplay elements together, it's terrific, a smorgasbord of gaming perfection if you will.
The fact that Shawn brought up DLC being free, even after it's clear that no extra content was pre-made warrants major points from me. (And here I thought developers with Criterion-style ideals were going extinct.)
I don't want to look forward to DLC just yet, as I want people to focus on the game at hand, but it would be interesting if the DLC pack(s) was broken into "themes of life", might be pretty cool considering the degree of stimulation one can get from this game. But again, the complex recipe for DYAD is what makes it great, so perhaps splitting some of those things up may not be ideal, and confining that style of gameplay to any one theme could potentially do more harm than good. Maybe, maybe not. Just though it might be interesting.
But yeah, I'm considering compiling a bunch of links from YouTube to visually represent how I've felt regarding this title.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TBzVPXr8SNY&t=1m19s
I think DYAD does a good job of nearly making that a reality. In its current state DYAD meshes so many different gameplay elements together, it's terrific, a smorgasbord of gaming perfection if you will.
The fact that Shawn brought up DLC being free, even after it's clear that no extra content was pre-made warrants major points from me. (And here I thought developers with Criterion-style ideals were going extinct.)
I don't want to look forward to DLC just yet, as I want people to focus on the game at hand, but it would be interesting if the DLC pack(s) was broken into "themes of life", might be pretty cool considering the degree of stimulation one can get from this game. But again, the complex recipe for DYAD is what makes it great, so perhaps splitting some of those things up may not be ideal, and confining that style of gameplay to any one theme could potentially do more harm than good. Maybe, maybe not. Just though it might be interesting.
But yeah, I'm considering compiling a bunch of links from YouTube to visually represent how I've felt regarding this title.
Kenshin001
Member
Nice! Was hoping there'd be more reviews out before release though. Pretty sure Shawn sent review codes out a couple of days ago.
I thought it strange, too. Usually outlets are falling all over themselves to try and get a review out for something that's not embargoed. The exception being an outlet like EDGE, that reviews most anything but AAA games When They Get Around To It.
I've been trying the Trophy challenge on stage 3 for like two hours. You need to hook 25 pairs without running into something. I've hit 24 a few times but one guy on the leaderboard has 33! How can you do that without being a mentat!
edit: and only fifteen people are on that leaderboard. I'm scared of what kind of crazy scores people are going to put up once it's available.
edit 2: haha god damn it I just got 33.
edit: and only fifteen people are on that leaderboard. I'm scared of what kind of crazy scores people are going to put up once it's available.
edit 2: haha god damn it I just got 33.
ShawnMcGrath
Dyad Developer
I don't find that one to be very difficult tbh. I can get it 100% of the time.
There are harder ones for me: Perpetuation and Becoming Purple for sure. Even Danger's harder than that one for me.