Interestingly, the original DOOM had enemies at elevation, and you could always hit them, because the game was not 3D, it was 2D. Elevation does not truly exist in DOOMs game engine. Very similar to this. If you were pointing the vertical centerline of the screen at your enemy, you would hit it, even if it was above or below you. The game effectively works the same way as Weird West, but they did it out of the physical limitations of the programming and hardware.
Many advances in game development were the result of working within and around hardware and physical limitations. Tomohiro Nishikado, the lone developer of Taito's legendary 1978 arcade hit Space Invaders, wanted the screen filled with six rows of descending aliens. The problem was that the hardware could not handle that many sprites without the game slowing down to a crawl. Instead of giving up and reducing the alien count, he figured out that the more aliens the player eliminated from the screen, the less slowdown would occur, and in fact he could make the remaining aliens move faster. Nishikado made the player's ship the fastest thing in the game at the start of each level, to compensate for the slowdown. Then, he gradually reduced that speed as the slowdown disappeared until it reached a set value and made the aliens faster than the player. Welcome to dynamic difficulty.
That's the first thing that popped into my head, when I heard Raf say what the solution was. The old ways aren't necessarily the best, but there are tricks that can be learned from some of the games from back then.
Well, it implies that the game was broken at some point. It's definitely easy to misinterpret but I wouldn't say it's misleading, it's true that the game was broken, but it's not anymore
Great video, including the narration/host! Hope to see more like these please, with the snippets of interview showing the dev’s exact perspective, and the narrator framing the larger picture and context. Love it!
Have to say, this was an amazing video. Not only because it had the trademark Remember When editing and graphics but also because as the video went along, I could find myself figuring out exactly how the problem described was resolved (the animations helped immensely as well). Very interesting to get these little insights into the development process. Keep it up!
Great editing. You took what was probably a lot of footage and boiled it down to his essential narrative, with just the right amount of your own narrative. also I want to say - I am a designer and I would not have thought of the straight line solution right off the bat either. but it's such a simple obvious solution in hindsight. Lol
This was a pretty cool story. You tell that one dev beats himself up about it not occurring to him how a 2D shooting system could work in a 3D world, but that's most likely everyone here who didn't even realize this clash of 2 worlds. The game is actually a lot of fun. It's not really my kind of game but I'm glad i chose to try something new cuz it's a great garne for how simple it looks
Haha this is also how I coded the aiming system for controllers in Tunguska: The Visitation at first. Later I scrapped it because it was really difficult when there are a lot of enemies clustered together. I ended up gaving player a cursor controlled by right stick that selects the closest enemy to the cursor.
Great video, Kurt. I guess the more things change (Weird West), the more they stay the same (original Doom's aiming system was the solution)? On a related note, The Ascent, was originally developed as an over the shoulder third person shooter, but the devs decided to do change it to an isometric, twin stick shooter late in development. They claim the game is fully playable in third person, so I hope they release a 3D mode that lets players experience the game in a different way in the future, hopefully.
I don’t find WW’s aiming annoying, I mean it’s just the same as you would aim a gun on a 3rd person only on top down. I’m having a blast playing this gem.
Don't think I am hating or thinking too much about myself but when I heard the problem in the video, my first idea was the thing that they done at the end
Thanks for the detailed explanation! And then I play and I can’t understand what kind of .... with shooting. But it turns out, you just need to choose a direction.
The control system is horrible. I hate it. I may be refunding the game because it's so bad. I love the concept of the game, but it feels nearly unplayable because it's so clunky.
I genuinely don’t understand what’s so impressive or revolutionary about the aiming system. It seems like the very first aiming system I would have attempted. Make the weapon shoot in line with what you’re aiming at… It’s just the aiming system of the original Doom.
Great video. Really well done. But this game has some of the worst controls out of any game released in 2022.I gave up after about 3 hours of struggling.
I really like the video because of the technic they used to make this game. however i dont need this overly dramatic guy that tells me something the developer already does. sure his hair is fancy but it annoys me that he stretches the video.
Interestingly, the original DOOM had enemies at elevation, and you could always hit them, because the game was not 3D, it was 2D. Elevation does not truly exist in DOOMs game engine. Very similar to this. If you were pointing the vertical centerline of the screen at your enemy, you would hit it, even if it was above or below you. The game effectively works the same way as Weird West, but they did it out of the physical limitations of the programming and hardware.
Many advances in game development were the result of working within and around hardware and physical limitations.
Tomohiro Nishikado, the lone developer of Taito's legendary 1978 arcade hit Space Invaders, wanted the screen filled with six rows of descending aliens.
The problem was that the hardware could not handle that many sprites without the game slowing down to a crawl. Instead of giving up and reducing the alien count, he figured out that the more aliens the player eliminated from the screen, the less slowdown would occur, and in fact he could make the remaining aliens move faster. Nishikado made the player's ship the fastest thing in the game at the start of each level, to compensate for the slowdown. Then, he gradually reduced that speed as the slowdown disappeared until it reached a set value and made the aliens faster than the player.
Welcome to dynamic difficulty.
That's the first thing that popped into my head, when I heard Raf say what the solution was. The old ways aren't necessarily the best, but there are tricks that can be learned from some of the games from back then.
A great example of why cross-functional teams are powerful innovators and problem solvers.
this was such a cool and interesting breakthrough. more props to the team!
Please make more videos like this! Love to see how features like this get iterated on, especially with veteran dev teams
Playing it for the first time felt so weird but it is awesome after it clicks in a few minutes of using it!
This video has a misleading title. It implies the game is broken.
to some, it is
Well, it implies that the game was broken at some point.
It's definitely easy to misinterpret but I wouldn't say it's misleading, it's true that the game was broken, but it's not anymore
well, it is in past tense and it WAS broken
Absolutely agree, if I had moved on by just looking at the title, would not have bought the game thinking of this title
Yea maybe make a better title. Thought it was bad
Great video! Props to you and Raphael both for talking about this development struggle, very interesting stuff!
Great video, including the narration/host! Hope to see more like these please, with the snippets of interview showing the dev’s exact perspective, and the narrator framing the larger picture and context. Love it!
Jason! Really glad you enjoyed it. Hopefully there's a chance to make more of these in the future!
Have to say, this was an amazing video. Not only because it had the trademark Remember When editing and graphics but also because as the video went along, I could find myself figuring out exactly how the problem described was resolved (the animations helped immensely as well). Very interesting to get these little insights into the development process. Keep it up!
Great editing. You took what was probably a lot of footage and boiled it down to his essential narrative, with just the right amount of your own narrative. also I want to say - I am a designer and I would not have thought of the straight line solution right off the bat either. but it's such a simple obvious solution in hindsight. Lol
Dude I love this content so much you don’t know how interesting I find this please make more stuff like this
This was a pretty cool story. You tell that one dev beats himself up about it not occurring to him how a 2D shooting system could work in a 3D world, but that's most likely everyone here who didn't even realize this clash of 2 worlds. The game is actually a lot of fun. It's not really my kind of game but I'm glad i chose to try something new cuz it's a great garne for how simple it looks
Haha this is also how I coded the aiming system for controllers in Tunguska: The Visitation at first. Later I scrapped it because it was really difficult when there are a lot of enemies clustered together. I ended up gaving player a cursor controlled by right stick that selects the closest enemy to the cursor.
Great video, Kurt. I guess the more things change (Weird West), the more they stay the same (original Doom's aiming system was the solution)? On a related note, The Ascent, was originally developed as an over the shoulder third person shooter, but the devs decided to do change it to an isometric, twin stick shooter late in development. They claim the game is fully playable in third person, so I hope they release a 3D mode that lets players experience the game in a different way in the future, hopefully.
When I played WW I didn't even think about the system behind aiming. That's a good thing.
Their breakthrough was basically doom with visual feedback 😂
"The aiming system that nearly broke Weird West" fixed it for you
This is an excellent example of why it is important to prototype key systems before you commit to a larger project.
Fascinating! I loved Dishonored and immersive sims, so I’ll definitely be looking into this game
So excited to try it on PS PLUS.
I don’t find WW’s aiming annoying, I mean it’s just the same as you would aim a gun on a 3rd person only on top down. I’m having a blast playing this gem.
Not be paralyzed by the knowledge of math. I think that's a great quote.
Someday people will create a documentary series about this great game well as they did with Dishonored and Prey.
I'm only on the second chapter and I've put 30 hours in this game and absolutely love it.
I really dig it too, a year later.
@@EPKKC yeah. Still awesome
This was a pretty cool little documentary. Greatly entertaining and informative on something I didn't think much about. Thanks!
Always love to see a new GameSpot video from Ben Schwartz.
Go see my new movie Sonic 2
Raf Colantonio = Gaming's True Last Action Hero.
Interesting video, I always like sneak peaks into game development
I see Kurt - I watch the video. Man is consistently putting out excellent videos.
And Ben, knowing you show up to watch is consistently amazing.
This is one of the coolest original games I’ve played in awhile. Loving it, good work team. 😍
Don't think I am hating or thinking too much about myself but when I heard the problem in the video, my first idea was the thing that they done at the end
Weird West is so good.
This game would be that much better with multiplayer
Pretty insightful video
Thanks for the detailed explanation! And then I play and I can’t understand what kind of .... with shooting. But it turns out, you just need to choose a direction.
There is twin stick shooter with great shooting mechanics and elevated lvls of aiming_The Ascent
I hate the controls. Glad this was free, still kinda feel robbed.
Another game that pulled this off is The Ascent. I'm a sucker for isometric games.💚💯
Really enjoyed the video
Game is good, but man that aiming system makes game impossible to play.
Very interesting, im glad they got to realize their vision!
came across this game by mistake, best mistake ever. love this game
Great video Kurt! Quality content as always bro
Tbh.The controls are still whack even after they "did their job". The controls are still not where they should be.
You know weird west started as a rpg book like D&D, Vampire The Masquerade, or Cyberpunk.
I think Synthetik made me instantly like Weird West, idk why.
Thinking outside the box
I'm finally getting around to playing this amazing game and it's so much fun, very unique
The aiming system is awful on ps5. Love the story and many aspects, its keeping me going. I try and stealth as much as i can.
The aiming and shooting it's fine in the game I'm using the experimental aiming and it's very good
Kinda wish the actual Weird West music was the same as this video's outro music. (WW has kinda bare bones music I think)
The control system is horrible. I hate it. I may be refunding the game because it's so bad. I love the concept of the game, but it feels nearly unplayable because it's so clunky.
I genuinely don’t understand what’s so impressive or revolutionary about the aiming system. It seems like the very first aiming system I would have attempted. Make the weapon shoot in line with what you’re aiming at…
It’s just the aiming system of the original Doom.
The dev literally says it’s not impressive or revolutionary. It’s just the first fully 3D rendered twin stick shooter with that aiming scheme.
Great video. Really well done. But this game has some of the worst controls out of any game released in 2022.I gave up after about 3 hours of struggling.
Just play it
more player control and lest games lets go?!
I really like the video because of the technic they used to make this game. however i dont need this overly dramatic guy that tells me something the developer already does. sure his hair is fancy but it annoys me that he stretches the video.
Appreciate the feedback. My hair appreciates it too.
@@KurtIndovina For what it's worth, I thoroughly enjoy your videos and presentation. Wouldn't change a thing.
Same
Very cool!
such a good game
I could've saved them several months of frustration.
The aiming in this game is still horrible. Seeing you talking as if the problems were fixed is so laughable.
So it's Original Doom aiming. genious
Do people actually play nuclear throne with a controller? Are they masochists?
I’ve done it for coop before, it’s not that bad once you get used to it
Meh, mountain of out of a mole hill.
First here
🥱🥱🤫🤫
Surprised they didn't find away to blame Sony for any faults in the game.
What? This game isn't even an exclusive.