SCIFI.COM | Farscape: Game Developers' Diary

June 7, 2002

SAN FRANCISCO (April 10, 2002) — Here's the latest report on the development of the Farscape game, straight from the front lines of the press tour. I'm with Peter Binazeski, public relations director at Simon & Schuster Interactive.

We have been touring around San Francisco and Los Angeles, where the majority of

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Length - 02:27

the major press for the games industry is based. We're now at the end of day two, waiting to catch a late-night flight from San Francisco to L.A.

The press tour is a very important stage in the process of getting a game to market. We've been demonstrating the game to journalists and answering their questions. This is the second time we have done the tour (the first time was back in January), and the game is going over well. It helps a lot that most of the people we are meeting are either fans of the show or have at least seen it a few times.

We are giving them copies of our first Beta (an early test version of the game) so they can preview the game for their publications. The press tours are tough work but fun and, heck, they get me out of the development studio for a few days!

Meanwhile, back home at Red Lemon....

At the time of my last entry, we had just begun recording dialogue. We've now implemented all the recordings from the cast. They all did a great job and I only wish you guys could hear the outtakes! Ben Browder (John Crichton) even ad-libbed a few lines, which work well in the game. Who knows Crichton better than the guy who plays him?

The team is now a couple of days into Beta. At this stage the game is pretty much complete in terms of functionality, but we still have a lot of hard work to do to make sure it's as bug-free and as fun as possible. We now have around seven weeks of bug fixing and game-play-balancing before the game is ready for manufacture.

It is coming together, though, and looking pretty cool. We've even managed to get in a few of the Easter Eggs that Ben suggested to us, as well as a bunch of our own, which you folks are going to love.

So, that's all I have for now. Our flight to L.A. is just about to depart; it's 10:30 p.m., and after a day full of meetings I'm pretty tired. Tomorrow is another day of meetings before I catch the flight home to Scotland and more bug-fixing. All in a week's work. Hey, that's showbiz!

March 28, 2002

Hi! It's time for the latest update on the making of the Farscape game:

As I write this, it's late February 2002.

We're getting ready to record the first of the voiceovers in Sydney. I'm staying here in Scotland, but I'll be working with Anne Bruning and our other contacts at the show's production office who are overseeing the recording session.

I have just finished a fairly intensive few days preparing the script. As I mentioned in our previous update, the actual actors from the show will be voicing their characters in the game. Claudia Black (Aeryn), Lani Tupu (Crais and Pilot) and Jonathan Hardy (Rygel) were the first to record their lines.

In preparation for the recording session, we phoned Anne in Australia. The call went well, and the folks over there were ready to roll. However, because of the time difference between the UK and Australia, our conference call took place at midnight UK time. I drank plenty of coffee to stay awake that night!

Back in the game itself: We have just completed our mortar-style weapon effect. When it impacts, it creates a pretty cool explosion, complete with a shockwave and fireballs that bounce off the walls. (See image at right.) You guys are gonna love it when you get you hands on that weapon! Hats off to two of our technical guys, Ken and Jonty, for a top job on this!

We are also refining our interface to make sure it is intuitive, yet weird enough to fit with the style of the Farscape universe. Balancing those qualities is tricky business, but we think we've cracked it.

Chris McMahon, our Level Designer, is making refinements to the placements of enemies in the environments and testing as he goes along. In March 2002 we start testing out-of-house, so we need to make sure everything is as solid as possible before it goes out the door.

We're also putting together the "cut scenes" (video sequences that are triggered when players reach certain locations or complete predetermined actions in the game). For the opening and closing sequences, we have opted for Full Motion Video. In the actual game, though, all the cut scenes (for example, when a major plot detail is given) are being done using our game engine, so they run in real time. We much prefer this approach over using lots of high-resolution video, as that breaks up the game and jars badly with the artwork.

We're preparing our first complete Full Motion Video sequence for final audio recording. It involves a skirmish happening around Moya, with the crew trying to escape capture. The Jim Henson Company even supplied us with the actual CGI model of Moya from the show to use in this sequence. This has been a real help and a testament to the great support that they give us.

We are also adding effects and detail to the environments right now. This will include DRDs wandering around Moya and tiny critters scuttling around the outdoor environments. It's those kind of details that really bring the game-world to life for the players.

Stay posted: Next time someone else on the team will talk about the game. Why should I hog the limelight?

March 13, 2002

The Development Diary goes live today on SCIFI.COM! The team has been extremely busy these last few months, but we've happily taken the time to put this diary together and give fans (like we ourselves are!) a behind-the-scenes peek. Now that we've the bulk of it up, we will keep our fellow Farscape fans regularly apprised.

December 17, 2001

We are busy pulling together the latest build of the game for Simon & Schuster Interactive and The Jim Henson Company.

The bulk of the game's artwork is complete and ready for refinement. Audio production is also progressing well. We have started adding special effects to the game using an in-house tool that Ken Cropper, our tech manager, has written.

Click thumbnails to view larger image.

We are also working hard on finalizing the game's dialogue script so we can start organizing recording sessions for all the characters in the New Year.

The programming team's main focus at this stage is refining and balancing the Control and Combat systems. This also involves tweaking the behaviour of the Enemies and Non-Player Characters (NPCs) to make them act the way we want them to. We're also still revising our on-screen interface, and making sure the puzzles in the missions work better. Getting those little details right is what will make the game the most fun.

The team members are very busy and looking forward to a short break at Christmastime before it's heads-down again for the last few months of development.

In the weeks to come we will be making more refinements. They say that a game is made great by testing and polishing. This is definitely an interesting time in our game's development!