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Ori and the Blind Forest Making Of Material

T

thomasmahler

Member
Hey guys,

Since we're putting finishing touches on the Definitive Edition of Ori and the Blind Forest (which is coming along brilliantly, love it! :)), we're also entertaining the idea of putting some Making Of Material together.

And jesus, we have so much old footage, tests, prototypes, animatics, etc. - So what I want to figure out is, how interested are you guys in this kinda stuff when it's in the game? Are you watching it?

For example, here's a concept video our animator James Benson made when we were trying to figure out how to best start the game after the prologue:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uccFFp7PWjk&feature=youtu.be

Everyone had their own way of expressing ideas... James made little prototype animations, our artists often made storyboards / animatics, the designers designed levels and recorded playthroughs, etc. etc. - We worked for 4 years on Ori and the Blind Forest, so there's a whole lot of material we've never shown publically and I'm just trying to figure out if you guys are interested in seeing more of how our process worked :)
 
K

Kralamoonard

Member
Wow this is some really impressive stuff; Ori was a fantastic game and it'd be great if we could see more 'Making of' videos!

It's interesting how the backdrop looks in development compared to the final game yet it still retains its familiarity and art direction.
 
D

Dio

Banned
I'd be super interested as a game artist. I just did a project last year, a two-man job together with a programmer - and we used a hacked-together Vita-based framework for our 2D platformer project. I'd never animated in Photoshop with a tablet before. I'd love to see how you guys did your work.

The kind of stuff I'd personally be interested in would be workflow related rather than programmer art test footage, though. To each their own.
 
B

Bits N Pieces

Member
Cant watch the video as I'm in work but I would always be interested in seeing anything you guys have done / produced Thomas.

Would love to see a video about how Moon actually functions as a studio considering you are all based in different parts of the world, it just seems like a really unique way of making a game (don't know if it actually is really?)

A (Halo) Sprint like series or episode would be great :)
 
D

Doffen

Member
Ori is GOTY.

ON545jF.gif
 
T

thomasmahler

Member
Bits N Pieces said:
Cant watch the video as I'm in work but I would always be interested in seeing anything you guys have done / produced Thomas.

Would love to see a video about how Moon actually functions as a studio considering you are all based in different parts of the world, it just seems like a really unique way of making a game (don't know if it actually is really?)

A (Halo) Sprint like series or episode would be great :)
Click to expand...

Exactly because we're distributed and we're still basically making games from our bedrooms, it's actually quite difficult for us to put a 'Here's how Moon Studios works!' clip together ;)

I guess Moon works a bit differently than most other game studios... we rely on people working very autonomously, people that are super passionate, that understand the vision and are pushing super hard to make it all work - and all the while, a lot of us have never even seen each other in real life. It's a bit crazy, I guess.
 
G

gdt

Member
thomasmahler said:
Exactly because we're distributed and we're still basically making games from our bedrooms, it's actually quite difficult for us to put a 'Here's how Moon Studios works!' clip together ;)

I guess Moon works a bit differently than most other game studios... we rely on people working very autonomously, people that are super passionate, that understand the vision and are pushing super hard to make it all work - and all the while, a lot of us have never even seen each other in real life. It's a bit crazy, I guess.
Click to expand...

Not to intrude into personal finances and stuff.....but are all of you full time game devs? Because if not I can't even imagine how that kind of autonomy from each other doesn't let the schedule spiral out of control. If you guys aren't in an office setting and people have other jobs....

Yeah, your studio's situation is pretty unique I think.
 
K

KooopaKid

Banned
thomasmahler said:
Hey guys,

Since we're putting finishing touches on the Definitive Edition of Ori and the Blind Forest (which is coming along brilliantly, love it! :)), we're also entertaining the idea of putting some Making Of Material together.

And jesus, we have so much old footage, tests, prototypes, animatics, etc. - So what I want to figure out is, how interested are you guys in this kinda stuff when it's in the game? Are you watching it?

For example, here's a concept video our animator James Benson made when we were trying to figure out how to best start the game after the prologue:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uccFFp7PWjk&feature=youtu.be

Everyone had their own way of expressing ideas... James made little prototype animations, our artists often made storyboards / animatics, the designers designed levels and recorded playthroughs, etc. etc. - We worked for 4 years on Ori and the Blind Forest, so there's a whole lot of material we've never shown publically and I'm just trying to figure out if you guys are interested in seeing more of how our process worked :)
Click to expand...

Are you crazy? Of course it's interesting to us! :)

If only Nintendo could release some making of their games...
 
B

BDP

Neo Member
Early prototype footage would be great. Maybe also show how the entire idea started and storyboard the progression till the final release? I really liked the soundtrack in the game also so it would be interesting to see how that all came together.
 
D

Dr Dogg

Member
Very, very, very, very interested. Love to see some concept art either early examples to preproduction stuff if you guys could.
 
T

thomasmahler

Member
gdt said:
Not to intrude into personal finances and stuff.....but are all of you full time game devs? Because if not I can't even imagine how that kind of autonomy from each other doesn't let the schedule spiral out of control. If you guys aren't in an office setting and people have other jobs....

Yeah, your studio's situation is pretty unique I think.
Click to expand...

Honestly, I think having to be in an office together is a bit overrated. Been there, done that, and I know all about the inefficiencies that come with that, the useless meetings and everything.

Moon Studios management approach is very 'task-based' - People know what they have to accomplish, but we don't manage their time like other studios do. I don't think creative people should be 'on the clock' at all times. If a developer has a great idea after he just had dinner with his family, then he should be able to just do the work then. As long as amazing work is being created, who are we to complain? :)

Some people start working really early and then end sooner and some people start later, but then work until the early morning hours... As long as the work gets done and we stay in time / budget, we're all fine with this. And I guess the content we produce on a weekly basis shows that we're on to something: It's super exciting to see how much content is being created when artists and developers are more liberated.

The entire idea behind Moon Studios was that we'd build a dream team of developers that span all around the globe and to not put them in a box together - And that's been working quite well for us :)
 
G

gdt

Member
thomasmahler said:
Honestly, I think having to be in an office together is a bit overrated. Been there, done that, and I know all about the inefficiencies that come with that, the useless meetings and everything.

Moon Studios management approach is very 'task-based' - People know what they have to accomplish, but we don't manage their time like other studios do. I don't think creative people should be 'on the clock' at all times. If a developer has a great idea after he just had dinner with his family, then he should be able to just do the work then. As long as amazing work is being created, who are we to complain? :)

Some people start working really early and then end sooner and some people start later, but then work until the early morning hours... As long as the work gets done and we stay in time / budget, we're all fine with this. And I guess the content we produce on a weekly basis shows that we're on to something: It's super exciting to see how much content is being created when artists and developers are more liberated.

The entire idea behind Moon Studios was that we'd build a dream team of developers that span all around the globe and to not put them in a box together - And that's been working quite well for us :)
Click to expand...

Cool man :)
 
T

Twilight Gap

Member
Early ability prototypes will be cool too, especially the inception of the Bash mechanic. Although I imagine some of that might be spoilers if it's released before the definitive edition

BDP said:
Early prototype footage would be great. Maybe also show how the entire idea started and storyboard the progression till the final release? I really liked the soundtrack in the game also so it would be interesting to see how that all came together also.
Click to expand...

Seriously Thomas, a 1 on 1 with Gareth showing an in-depth, note by note breakdown of the score. Nobody has done this. What are the names of all the instruments used? Why did he pick a specific key signature? What was his process to compose the scratch demos before taking them to a life orchestra?

Let's take Lost in the Misty Woods from the soundtrack. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8nvfzoQ9Zf8

This sounds like something straight out of an old adventure cartoon. Where did the inspiration come from? Did you guys sit down and say "this level is trippy and spooky, so approach it with a distant and haunted sound"? This kind of thing is fascinating to me, and for a game like Ori where the score is so intrinsic to the overall experience, I imagine it'll interest others as well.
 
T

thomasmahler

Member
Twilight Gap said:
Early ability prototypes will be cool too, especially the inception of the Bash mechanic. Although I imagine some of that might be spoilers if it's released before the definitive edition

Seriously Thomas, a 1 on 1 with Gareth showing an in-depth, note by note breakdown of the score. Nobody has done this. What are the names of all the instruments used? Why did he pick a specific key signature? What was his process to compose the scratch demos before taking them to a life orchestra?

Like, okay let's take Lost in the Misty Woods from the soundtrack. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8nvfzoQ9Zf8

This sounds like something straight out of an old adventure cartoon. Where did the inspiration come from? Did you guys sit down and say "this level is trippy and spooky, so approach it with a distant and haunted sound"? This kind of thing is fascinating to me, and for a game like Ori where the score is so intrinsic to the overall experience, I imagine it'll interest others as well.
Click to expand...

I'll let Gareth answer this once his NeoGaf account has been activated ;)
 
S

spineduke

Unconfirmed Member
thomasmahler said:
Exactly because we're distributed and we're still basically making games from our bedrooms, it's actually quite difficult for us to put a 'Here's how Moon Studios works!' clip together ;)

I guess Moon works a bit differently than most other game studios... we rely on people working very autonomously, people that are super passionate, that understand the vision and are pushing super hard to make it all work - and all the while, a lot of us have never even seen each other in real life. It's a bit crazy, I guess.
Click to expand...

That's really impressive - I wouldn't have believed otherwise considering how cohesive and well put together the game is.
 
G

Granjinha

Member
thomasmahler said:
Honestly, I think having to be in an office together is a bit overrated. Been there, done that, and I know all about the inefficiencies that come with that, the useless meetings and everything.

Moon Studios management approach is very 'task-based' - People know what they have to accomplish, but we don't manage their time like other studios do. I don't think creative people should be 'on the clock' at all times. If a developer has a great idea after he just had dinner with his family, then he should be able to just do the work then. As long as amazing work is being created, who are we to complain? :)

Some people start working really early and then end sooner and some people start later, but then work until the early morning hours... As long as the work gets done and we stay in time / budget, we're all fine with this. And I guess the content we produce on a weekly basis shows that we're on to something: It's super exciting to see how much content is being created when artists and developers are more liberated.

The entire idea behind Moon Studios was that we'd build a dream team of developers that span all around the globe and to not put them in a box together - And that's been working quite well for us :)
Click to expand...

That's incredible, and really hard to work. Congrats. Ori definitely shows that it you guys rock, even with a unique set-up. Can't wait for the Definitive Edition. :)
 
S

SavageCobra

Member
Awesome videos, I love behind the scenes stuff. It would be great to see anything related to the Ginso Tree escape...between visuals, gameplay and soundtrack, it's the perfect scene to showoff Ori. I'd want to see how early tests of that area looked.
 
Y0j1mb0

Y0j1mb0

Member
This gorgeous game is one of the reasons I'm getting an Xbox One this Black Friday. Only thing is: should I wait for the definitive edition or just get the base game?

I want to play it as soon as possible but getting more is always good.
 
B

Banjo-Kazooie

Member
I think Rare Replay does a good job with content like this. I would love if you included making ofs, interviews, behind the scenes, artwork, ect. Even make some of it unlock able of need be but definitely include it in some form!
 
C

Coxy100

Banned
doniewhalberg said:
Sounds like something that would be amazing
in a physical edition
. Can't wait for definitive edition.
Click to expand...

Goddamn would I love a physical edition. Ori is the only game I've bought from the xbox store - would love to see it on my shelf :(

Really interesting video in the OP - love this sort of stuff - but would love some sort of merchandise even more :)
 
T

thomasmahler

Member
Coxy100 said:
Goddamn would I love a physical edition. Ori is the only game I've bought from the xbox store - would love to see it on my shelf :(

Really interesting video in the OP - love this sort of stuff - but would love some sort of merchandise even more :)
Click to expand...

We've been recently working together with Microsoft on some really cool merchandise stuff - Should have news about that soon! :)
 
D

Duuke

Member
I'd be interested in watching all of it! Anything you can find. This is always a point of interest for me and I'm always disappointed when a "making of" video turns out to be more talking heads marketing the game I already bought.
 
T

thomasmahler

Member
Duuke said:
I'd be interested in watching all of it! Anything you can find. This is always a point of interest for me and I'm always disappointed when a "making of" video turns out to be more talking heads marketing the game I already bought.
Click to expand...

I promise you won't see our mugs ;)

I think it'd just be interesting to show videos like the ones I posted - Behind the Scenes stuff, early animation prototypes, sequences that used to play out very differently to how they ended up in the game, early concepts... that kinda stuff :)
 
T

transience

Member
Maybe include some of this stuff as bonus content in Definitive Edition? That'd be swell, especially if you put some commentary tracks over it.
 
T

thomasmahler

Member
Here's another tidbit: We initially wanted to have an ability caled 'Pull' - Basically as a way to pull objects and other things towards you. Here's one idea we came up with that required Pull:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oIHo3n0dDhY&feature=youtu.be

In the end, it was left on the cutting floor cause we had the rule that we'd cut everything where we couldn't come up with at least 10 different cool ways of using it. We were super scared about having one-off abilities like some Zelda-games do. Abilities that you only use once or twice in the game that don't really work with all the core gameplay pillars :)
 
F

Final Verdict

Member
thomasmahler said:
We've been recently working together with Microsoft on some really cool merchandise stuff - Should have news about that soon! :)
Click to expand...

Ori plush toy?

My little sisters really enjoyed playing the game (after I beat it of coarse) and would probably like some sort of Ori toy or what not.

Can't wait to see what it is!
 
Z

Zeth

Member
Yes we want it!

I'd love to watch more stuff like this! Really interesting to see - it's a shame we're rarely exposed to this kind of thing.
 
C

Coxy100

Banned
thomasmahler said:
We've been recently working together with Microsoft on some really cool merchandise stuff - Should have news about that soon! :)
Click to expand...

Awesome - sounds great! Great game by the way Thomas - fantastic experience - thank you so much for making it :)

p.s. if you have no plans to release a physical edition - perhaps you could just make 1 very limited edition physical copy to be won in a competition on Gaf. Only terms and conditions are that you must be named Coxy100 to enter the competition...
 
C

CopperPuppy

Member
Ori is probably going to be my GOTY. I know the Definitive Edition was set for release this year - is that still the case? It's one of my most anticipated titles right now, despite being a game I've already played.

Also, the only information I've seen floating around for it talks about general content additions. Is there anything specific regarding what it will include?
 
D

dankir

Member
Why did you guys permanently close off the escape sequence areas! I couldn't 1000 this game as a result.

I still had a great time though.
 
Leatherface

Leatherface

Member
For games like this I am very interested. The art direction and animation is beautiful. I love seeing the process come together. All the brain storming, excitement, actually seeing something come together that is a labor of love. All the challenges and accomplishments. It makes it even more special IMO and gives us further appreciation of all the hard work that goes into making the games we play.

P.S.- I still haven't played it yet! lol
It's one of my next purchases on STEAM for sure though.

:)
 
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