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Session: New skateboarding game for PC & Xbox One

Bullet Club

Member



Pure, raw skateboarding.

Forget about hand holding magnet features or turbo timers here... It's you and the streets. Now, get ready to tame that concrete!

GI Preview: Session

Dropping In

Independent developer Crea-ture Studios has officially announced that its Session skateboarding title is hitting Steam Early Access on September 17 followed by a debut on Xbox One via the Xbox Game Preview program a few weeks later. Later on in early 2020 the game will release in full.

The Early Access version of the game takes place at and around the infamous Brooklyn Banks spot in New York, and there is even the ability to modify some spots by dropping objects and creating new lines and possibilities.

Users can capture and share their exploits via the game's video editor, which has a VHS aesthetic to match the game's replication of the "golden era" of skateboarding of the nineties when skate videos helped transform the sport.

For Crea-ture Studios' co-founder and creative director Marc-André Houde, it's been quite a journey introducing the world to the game's True Stance Stick controls which maps each analog stick to your avatar's feet, moving the sport away from rote and rigid button combos. Houde describes the game's unveiling on Kickstarter back in November of 2017 as "barely a prototype" using mostly placeholder and conceptual designs. Since then the title has been refined with tweaks to the board's flipping speed and grind connections, and improvements for the character's movements and the game's overall physics.

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Similarly, the game during this Early Access period will also evolve. For instance, right now the impact of landing big drops is strictly visual, but eventually players will have to manage these landings in some way to avoid automatically taking a tumble.

Although it won't be in the Early Access build on day one, character progression is also coming to the game. Session still doesn't feature a scoring system, but Houde says the team wants to reward players pursuing their own skating style by unlocking better manuals, faster flips, higher ollies, and mastering switch skating. Progression will be how skaters access different areas of the map, and progression also applies to video editors, which Crea-ture considers a fundamental discipline within the game.

The developer hasn't outlined a strict timetable when new features will be introduced to the Early Access build, but players will start out with a baseline roster of popular skating tricks that players can combo together. Later on more tricks like no-complies, hand plants, and pressure flips will be added.

Through the Early Access period, Crea-ture will naturally take feedback from the community and continue to refine the game, trying to strike that balance for players while still adhering to its core principles. "As much as we really enjoy the challenge of Session," says Houde, "we don't want to turn it into kind of a private experience for skaters."

The Xbox Preview version of the title will have all the features of the PC one, even if they may progress on different timelines (such as for video editing and sharing, for instance). The Xbox One version includes Mixer livestreaming integration, which the developer says it's excited about in regards to what it can bring to the title, including challenging the community to do certain tricks at certain spots, for example.

Crea-ture is eyeing a full release date in early 2020 for the game, but to Houde this is more than just a project, it's an expression of his life-long love of skateboarding. It's his and the team's contribution to skate culture. Like showing off a new street trick to the world, the game is in the hands of the community from here on out, where they'll take it in some cool and even unexpected directions.

 
Looks like it's further along than Skater XL in terms of visual polish. We'll see how the mechanics stack up and what kind of modding community grows around it.
 

Psajdak

Banned
I was never all that much interesting in these kind of games, but I wish I could return to the past, and show fans of Tony Hawk PS1 games this stuff.
 

quickwhips

Member
Im a big fan of skate and this looks like it could be great. Back compatibility is good on xbox one but i wanted a new title.
 
Anyone expecting Skate (4) in this...yeah, it's not Skate. It's more of a sim than an over the top Skate game. You steer with the triggers ,which is terribly unintuitive in my opinion. It makes what should be fun and easy to do into a chore. This is more geared towards actual skaters, not so much people who like skating games.
 
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kraspkibble

Permabanned.
i just bought this now it's in early access. not even 15 minutes in and i've request a refund. it has potential but the controls are awful. feels extremely clunky and the character falls at the slightest knock. also it's easy to get stuck in objects. i paused the game just as i was turning, my character fell into a bench, and after he stood up i couldn't move away without falling over again.

needs a lot of work but i'm gonna keep my eye on it.
 

Nero_PR

Banned
i just bought this now it's in early access. not even 15 minutes in and i've request a refund. it has potential but the controls are awful. feels extremely clunky and the character falls at the slightest knock. also it's easy to get stuck in objects. i paused the game just as i was turning, my character fell into a bench, and after he stood up i couldn't move away without falling over again.

needs a lot of work but i'm gonna keep my eye on it.
Can't you get out of your skateboard and walk to minimize this kind of things?
 

Maiden Voyage

Gold™ Member
Holy shit--this game is so good. I've put in over 40 hours so far. The controls take some getting used to but feel really solid once you get them down.

This is already better than the Skate series. Don't get me wrong, I will gladly take a new Skate game.

Between this and SkaterXL, we're spoiled for great skateboarding games this year.
 

Maiden Voyage

Gold™ Member
New update out today

Here are the notes for the Session 0.0.0.2 update!


The underground parking lot is now open!

In this update, you’ll be able to skate a brand new area which has been under construction.
Here y’all find an a bundle meant of manual pads, stairs, rails and ledges to shred!
Watch out for the scabby needles and broken glass!

What else is in this update you cry? Well, let us tell you. We’ve added...

6 new Pressure flips for each stance (Regular, Nollie, Fakie and Goofy)

  • Pressure kicks & Heels
  • Pressure Flips
  • Pressure Hardflips
  • Pressure 360 Hardflip

All the know-how and input info is available to check from the Trick Guide in the pause menu.

The First time and only the first time you load up the game after this update y’all be introduced to the difficulty selection wizard. Before you get too excited, this isn’t a real wizard like the kid in that book. It’s the new difficulty wizard for your settings. This is for you to choose your difficulty, don’t worry if you have bitten off more than you can chew because you can still edit your settings in the pause menu at any point during gameplay.

We are proud to announce the arrival of our Kickstarter backer brands joining the in-game;

  • FlatFace
  • ESP
  • Samurai Punk

All these brands have boards and fresh threads to go with ‘em!


We also have some new product drops from existing in-game brands

  • Heroin
  • Roger
  • Schlaudie

All flip tricks have been updated and reworked for the auto and manual catch settings.

The Session Community Radio Station has now opened its doors to 11 new artists, for a total of 23 new tracks!

  • 86’D
  • Blueprints
  • Budda Kronic
  • Certain Death
  • Dead wing
  • Destination Dimension
  • The Pigeon Boys
  • Pigeon Vs Crow
  • SCOLDS
  • Strawberry Sleepover
  • WALKEN

(This is just the first wave for new artists that have been added. There’s plenty more to come)

EXPERIMENTAL FEATURES

Game Of Skate

You and a homie can sit back and battle it out on the sofa like the old days, with the Games Of Skate, this is still an experimental feature, which will hopefully show y’all which direction we want to go with the Game Of Skate feature.

Trick names
Under the Experimental section, you’ll be able to turn on The Trick Display feature. You will now be able to see the names of the tricks you do you on screen.

GAMEPLAY SETTINGS

Grind Input mode

Full Release Mode; The input must be released after popping a trick and then re-applied in order to apply weight to the desired foot/ feet for all types of grinds
Partial Release Mode; The input must be released after popping a trick and then re-applied in order to apply weight to the desired foot/feet. Only for grinds using one foot (IE: Nose grinds, Five-0, etc)
No release Mode; The input does not have to be released after popping a trick. For the weight to be applied to the desired foot/feet for all types of grinds.

Pop Height Mode
Global; Pop heights for Lo/Mid/High tricks remain the same regardless of stance/ foot position.
Unique; Pop heights for Lo/Mid/High tricks vary depending on your stance/ foot position. IE, when skating Switch, pop heights will be lower.

Auto Grind Mode
When auto grind is turned on, you (the skater) will automatically try to grind or slide without having to enter any input at all, like AT ALL when landing on a ledge or rail!

ADDITIONAL FEATURES

We have now made the map like a banana split and have split it into two sections, NYC and The Underground parking lot. By doing this, it helps overall performance, optimization process and GPU usage. To access the new underground parking lot, locate one of the entrances to the parking lot and hold A (There's two at the moment)

New Custom Camera Option
You can now customize the camera so it fits your personal needs and play style.

New Object Dropped Objects
We’ve added some new toys for you guys to play within the object dropper;

  • Picnic tables
  • Grind Box
  • Jersey Barrier
  • Old Rusty Barrels
  • Pyramid
  • Curved Ramps

New Historical Challenges
15 new Brooklyn Banks Historical challenges have now been added from The Back to the Banks 2006-2009 contests. So dust off that history book on your shelf, study up and hit the Banks!

Art
Lighting has been updated and optimized
A massive optimization pass has also been done in NYC, you should definitely notice fps improvement on that end!
All this adds up to a sexier looking Session with less GPU usage without compromising graphics. So it still looks fantastic.


From here at crea-ture Studios, we want to thank everyone for the ongoing support, love and feedback and don’t forget to leave a Review/comment bellow if you like the game and feel free to join us on our Discord server Discord ! So that’s What’s up for this time but keep shredding and stay rad!

Merry Xmas to everyone!

The crea-ture Team.
GAME
https://store.steampowered.com/app/861650/Session_Skateboarding_Sim_Game/?snr=1_100400_2100__2105
$19.99
 

Phase

Member
I've been slightly interested in this since hearing about it. I think the trigger steering would probably be alright after I've got some practice with it. Sounds like a realistic way to get you feeling where you're putting your weight. I'll have to give this game a try soon.
 

Maiden Voyage

Gold™ Member
I've been slightly interested in this since hearing about it. I think the trigger steering would probably be alright after I've got some practice with it. Sounds like a realistic way to get you feeling where you're putting your weight. I'll have to give this game a try soon.

It's on sale for $10. And honestly, I hated the turning at first but can't ever go back. I tried playing Skate 3 a few weeks back and couldn't comprehend the analog stick steering.
It's seriously so much better once you acclimate.
 

Phase

Member
It's on sale for $10. And honestly, I hated the turning at first but can't ever go back. I tried playing Skate 3 a few weeks back and couldn't comprehend the analog stick steering.
It's seriously so much better once you acclimate.
Nice, just picked it up.
 

Maiden Voyage

Gold™ Member


I've been learning to play with manual catch. It's another layer of difficulty, but it makes nailing a trick feel very rewarding.
 
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