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| [ goodies | dev diary | chapter twelve ] |
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| #12 |
W3D @ E3! |
First of all, our apologies for going all quiet on you, it's been somewhat of a hectic month on all
fronts, with E3 coming and going (and all the preparation for that), intense work on Worms3D and
ongoing publicity work with our publisher, Sega.
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| E3 demos |
From the middle of April to the start of May, it was fairly chaotic at Team17 as we got our E3 demo
builds, videos and promotional artwork ready for various publisher deadlines. Pretty much everyone was
involved, polishing as much as we could in the time we had available.
We produced two levels for the demo, we used the 'Saving Private Bryan' Normandy beach landing for the
single player v AI demo; just to underline the differences we can create in our 3d worlds and we also
produced an EFMV scripted intro to our multiplayer level which introduced the game to newcomers and
gave a little tour around our engine.
In addition, we also did a short video showing aspects of the game and clips of weapons as well as some
of the FMV video shorts (which were first pass). We also had to prepare booth artwork and supply new
shots for magazines etc.
As is usual, work carried on with the E3 demos right until the 11th hour, with all the last minute
breaks, problems and suchlike that trying to cram as much in brings - it was amusing as ever to see
just about all other developers going through the same fun. However it was pulled off and on Tuesday
13th, four of us headed out to Los Angeles to attend E3.
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| Worms 3D at E3 |
We based ourselves in Santa Monica, on the coast, some 13 miles from the conference center and away
from downtown L.A. which isn't the nicest place to be late at night. It was a long haul getting over
there, a cab, a train, two flights and another cab - some 18 hours in total, so we were pretty exhausted
when we got there.
E3 is a huge event, encompassing both major halls of the Los Angeles Convention Center and also all
other buildings they had there. We had a lot of meetings, interviews and press work planned, as well as
important time spent talking with other developers and publishers.
The next morning was the first day of the show and Craig and Grant set off early since they were
manning the booth - and they only just got in as the show opened after an over-zealous security guard
threatened to cut short their E3 visit. Once in and the DVD with the videos on it had been misplaced,
which meant a few hours without the presentation running... typical show goings on, it has to be said.
However, the DVD's were found later and everything began smoothly.
Our game was on Sega's booth and we had a PC, PS2 and Video screen showing our versions and video. We
were located right in the entrance to Sega's booth but eventually a blind was put up to ensure people
stopped and looked at Sega's nice (massive) video wall rather than wander through to Worms (and also
Warhammer online, another UK led Sega product).
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| the E3 show |
The show was very busy although it didn't seem quite as mad busy as it has been in previous years,
probably due to better booth design and wider walkways. It was also a little quieter in the South Hall
since people came in from the main entrance in the West Hall. Sega's booth was next to the colossal
Sony one.
Over the three days, we met many people, did a lot of interviews and suchlike - and the game went down
incredibly well. What was a nice surprise for us was the sheer amount of Americans who knew and loved
the game. We previously had Worms Armageddon at E3 in 1999 and few people really knew it, but this
time, wow!
It became clear to us that the reception of the game was very, very good - people only needed to see it
before uttering comments such as "there goes another 2000 hours of my life" which was
nice to hear. It was very comforting to hear that people really believed we'd done a great job of taking
a seemingly improbable task on and pulling it off. The press and media were very kind too and it was
nice to hear so many people wishing us well, as we're fast becoming Industry Veterans after 14years in
development!
We also had a good chat with 'Wild' Bill Stealey, the guy who founded Microprose and is in every way
one of the Industry's legendary figures. Turns out that Bill's wife is an avid Worms fan and he was
really excited about the new game. Stuff like this is really cool - like the fact that we got told that
Steven Spielberg's son was a big fan of Worms2 a few years back. Stuff like that tends to put things in
perspective and really gives us a boost.
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| viva, Las Vegas |
After the successful showing at E3, we spent a little time relaxing in Santa Monica - and meeting up
with some ex-Teamsters friends who are now based in Los Angeles, before hiring a car and heading out to
Vegas for a couple of nights (which was nice, if a little hot) before we eventually flew home on the
20th, a journey that took 27 hours all told.
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| back home |
We're awaiting updates from the publisher as to when we can release video footage and new screenshots
since much has progressed in the game since the last update. There is much more polish, effects, nice
stuff and more besides being crammed in on a daily basis.
The team is now entering the final stage of development, whereby the front-end, network code, weapon
code (including new stuff!) is being pulled together and improved where possible.
Expect another update sooner or later when we get the all-clear to release some tasty new screenshots,
videos and other stuff!
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| [ goodies | dev diary ] |
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| Development Diaries |
We plan diaries right up until the end of the project and they will
appear every week or two, so keep popping back for updates. The great
thing about the diary is that so much just isn't written yet!
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| overview |
The graphics and images shown in the diaries so far don't come anywhere
close to where we are currently in terms of visual style.
The first few chapters merely serve to bring us 'up to date' to how we got
where we are. It's envisaged that we will catch up with current progress
by Christmas and the diaries will then mirror recent developments rather
than things from the distant past.
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