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Frost Giant Studios
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| 12s | hi this is tim morton from frost giant |
|---|---|
| 14s | studios |
| 15s | we asked reddit and our newsletter |
| 17s | subscribers to submit questions for us |
| 20s | to do an ama or an ask me anything |
| 24s | and in this video you're going to see |
| 26s | answers from various frost giant team |
| 28s | members to those questions thanks to |
| 30s | everybody who participated and submitted |
| 32s | questions online |
| 33s | lord shafood asks how much until we can |
| 36s | see some important updates like game |
| 38s | setting engine or factions |
| 40s | we did announce some details of the |
| 41s | engine that we're working with unreal |
| 43s | engine 5 but we haven't revealed any of |
| 46s | the creative details about the game yet |
| 48s | we're going to do an official game |
| 49s | announcement in the year ahead so hang |
| 52s | in there but we're not quite ready yet |
| 55s | ozzycon asks what does a one-year-old |
| 57s | game project look like whether at the |
| 58s | artistic level playability design or |
| 61s | engineering |
| 63s | we set out to build a gray box or a |
| 65s | white box prototype which means that |
| 67s | we're focused not so much on the |
| 69s | artistic aspects because we know unreal |
| 71s | engine is capable of depicting great |
| 73s | graphics we're much more focused on |
| 75s | mechanics of getting real-time |
| 77s | strategies stood up in what is |
| 80s | traditionally a shooter engine and there |
| 81s | are definitely some architectural |
| 83s | challenges there that we've been working |
| 85s | through |
| 86s | and then also figuring out how do we |
| 88s | adapt rts as we know it to our vision |
| 91s | for the future and experimenting with |
| 93s | that |
| 94s | so what we've got it's very crude um it |
| 97s | is reminiscent in some ways of what you |
| 100s | would imagine the basics for an rts in |
| 102s | terms of unit selection in terms of |
| 105s | simple command cards and combat |
| 107s | but it's focused not so much on the |
| 110s | graphics and much more on the core |
| 112s | functionality and on the core mechanics |
| 115s | alpha drake asks have you decided how |
| 117s | your game will be distributed steam epic |
| 119s | your own launcher |
| 121s | we haven't made any hard decisions yet |
| 123s | because we're so early in the |
| 124s | development process but we definitely |
| 125s | got feedback that players don't |
| 127s | appreciate store exclusives so we'll |
| 129s | take that feedback into consideration at |
| 131s | the end of the day we just want to get |
| 133s | our game in front of as many players as |
| 134s | possible and we'll be exploring the best |
| 137s | platform or platforms to do that |
| 140s | blazendragon1737 asks will you guys be |
| 142s | reaching out to warchief gaming and |
| 144s | notorious studios or any other gaming |
| 146s | companies that have been made by |
| 147s | previous blizzard employees for gamers |
| 150s | we do keep in touch with a lot of our |
| 152s | former colleagues including second |
| 154s | dinner bonfire studios warchief gaming |
| 157s | and notorious who are literally in the |
| 159s | same building with us just sitting in an |
| 161s | office upstairs we have the closest |
| 163s | relationship with dreamhaven who are |
| 166s | advising on our game many of the team |
| 168s | members at dreamhaven were involved in |
| 170s | building the original warcraft and |
| 172s | starcraft rts's and it's super helpful |
| 174s | for us to have the benefit of their |
| 176s | perspective |
| 178s | all right so this question comes from |
| 180s | omg abaddon |
| 182s | what are your plans to improve |
| 184s | accessibility without casualizing the |
| 186s | game we really believe that the next |
| 189s | step for the rts genre to really have a |
| 192s | breakout um |
| 194s | incredibly successful game |
| 196s | and potentially live up to the |
| 197s | possibility of having a number one game |
| 199s | in the world is to be able to |
| 202s | satisfy core players at the same time as |
| 204s | bringing in a lot of new players who can |
| 206s | enjoy the game also so this is important |
| 208s | we really want accessibility but we |
| 210s | don't want to casualize the game and so |
| 212s | that's why i like this question it goes |
| 214s | to the core of what we're trying to |
| 215s | figure out and the first part is on |
| 216s | wrapping we've talked about this a |
| 217s | little bit in |
| 219s | uh other interviews or discussions that |
| 222s | have been shared with the community |
| 223s | but bringing in new users to the game in |
| 226s | a way that does not |
| 228s | um intimidate them that does not make |
| 231s | them feel dumb because they're new |
| 232s | players and that lets them |
| 234s | experience the fun of rts and socially |
| 236s | interact with their friends |
| 238s | even though they may be at very |
| 240s | different skill levels there's also a |
| 242s | big question about um approachability |
| 244s | and pacing with how players are |
| 247s | presented with with new or complex |
| 249s | aspects to the game it's not about |
| 250s | avoiding complexity it's about pacing it |
| 253s | and really presenting its players in the |
| 254s | right sequence in the right manner so |
| 256s | that they |
| 257s | um they don't balk at that complexity |
| 259s | they can ingest it they can process it |
| 261s | and they can learn at a smooth face that |
| 263s | that helps them feel good for learning |
| 266s | and mastering incremental steps of |
| 268s | complexity and the third big part that |
| 270s | we're |
| 272s | um |
| 273s | that we're looking at is really our |
| 274s | gameplay modes |
| 276s | we're looking at co-op and different |
| 277s | ways that co-op can be expressed |
| 279s | skirmish modes and arcade modes |
| 281s | that we can build that will really bring |
| 283s | players into um |
| 285s | gameplay sessions that are less |
| 286s | intimidating less stressful |
| 289s | maybe more social with teammates around |
| 291s | them and and ones that would be |
| 294s | provide a positive experience even when |
| 295s | they lose |
| 297s | and |
| 298s | none of that is at |
| 300s | the expense of competitive because that |
| 302s | is also very important to us but |
| 304s | specifically for new users it's |
| 305s | important to have modes that are |
| 308s | that are not intimidating so they feel |
| 310s | like they can they can take that first |
| 312s | step they can try their hand at this |
| 313s | game and then build up confidence and |
| 316s | the next question is from niallisis um |
| 320s | and the question says are you planning |
| 321s | on making a traditional fully finished |
| 323s | and done released product kind of think |
| 325s | like age of empires 4 or you're |
| 327s | considering early access as an option as |
| 329s | well the game that we're making is one |
| 331s | that we are going to actively support in |
| 334s | big ways for |
| 336s | for years to come um |
| 338s | we're really focused on delivering the |
| 341s | best possible launch product but we're |
| 343s | already laying the groundwork on |
| 344s | planning for what's gonna come out |
| 347s | year one year two year five after launch |
| 350s | um in terms of your question about uh |
| 352s | fully finished and done or early access |
| 354s | um that's a bit of a blurred line |
| 358s | it is really important to us that we get |
| 361s | uh feedback from players feedback from |
| 364s | the community on the game that we're |
| 366s | building |
| 367s | early enough so that we can actually |
| 370s | react to that feedback |
| 372s | before the game |
| 374s | really goes full scale live whatever |
| 375s | that's called |
| 377s | all right |
| 378s | so this question is from terence malik's |
| 381s | hat |
| 382s | and it asks are you closely following |
| 385s | the release of aoe4 this week |
| 389s | uh to see how well it's received and to |
| 391s | see any interesting new features that it |
| 392s | might have to inspire a next-gen rts |
| 396s | um |
| 397s | we are fans of this genre um |
| 400s | first before we are developers of it |
| 402s | and we also believe that um |
| 405s | great ideas great inspiration can come |
| 407s | from anywhere and so it's really |
| 408s | important for us to be seeing how the |
| 410s | genre evolves |
| 412s | um and seeing what players are are |
| 414s | responding to well about it and so yeah |
| 416s | we've we've played a ton of aoe4 |
| 419s | specifically because that's that's the |
| 420s | one you're asking about um and i think |
| 423s | that microsoft and world's edge and |
| 425s | relic have i think they've done a |
| 427s | fantastic job on it |
| 429s | people hear this i encourage you to go |
| 431s | play vampires 4 and check it out it's |
| 433s | really a well-made game |
| 434s | and uh and it's it's providing a bunch |
| 437s | of inspiration to us and we hope to |
| 438s | continue carrying that torch further um |
| 441s | with with our game so my question is |
| 444s | from go suit enron |
| 446s | go sue ass |
| 448s | you've chosen a path where you keep the |
| 450s | community in the loop from even before |
| 452s | you had an office how does this affect |
| 454s | your work and are you feeling added |
| 456s | pressure because of it |
| 458s | will it affect the game itself |
| 461s | i'm asking because i'm very excited for |
| 463s | what you guys will come up with but the |
| 465s | high expectation also makes the fall |
| 468s | harder |
| 469s | i guess i'm just interested in whether |
| 470s | you've discussed this before deciding to |
| 473s | keep such a close relationship to the |
| 474s | community and to be clear i really |
| 477s | appreciate that you do it this way |
| 480s | we had really amazing relationships with |
| 483s | the rts community |
| 485s | from our previous games that we worked |
| 488s | on |
| 488s | and we think we've always thought that |
| 491s | that the community that we had the rts |
| 493s | community was a very smart community |
| 496s | it's a very proactive community |
| 498s | there are challenges of course in doing |
| 500s | what we did in involving the community |
| 503s | from the launch of the studio itself |
| 506s | before we even had a game |
| 508s | one of the one of the repercussions of |
| 510s | that is that |
| 512s | people may have the impression that |
| 514s | we're not acting on the feedback that |
| 516s | they're giving to us |
| 518s | in fact we are digesting that |
| 520s | and thinking about it and organizing it |
| 524s | at the same time that we're doing a lot |
| 526s | of infrastructure building |
| 528s | you know when we started the studio we |
| 530s | didn't have a game engine um |
| 533s | we've we've done a deal with unreal |
| 536s | but we've also had to add a lot of |
| 538s | tooling on top of that before we could |
| 540s | even begin to design the game |
| 543s | so i'm sure from the outside that's felt |
| 544s | like there's been |
| 546s | no exciting news coming out of the |
| 548s | studio |
| 550s | but in fact behind the scenes we're |
| 551s | working very hard to build things one of |
| 553s | the reasons we did choose to announce |
| 556s | the studio in the game so early is we |
| 559s | wanted the community to know |
| 562s | that rts is not dead |
| 564s | that that there is a strong group of |
| 567s | developers that are very interested in |
| 571s | taking it forward into the future |
| 573s | and to let people know that they should |
| 576s | get involved |
| 578s | and that they can contribute to what |
| 580s | that that future vision is going to look |
| 582s | like a question from |
| 585s | raythos |
| 587s | do you have a problem to make an art |
| 588s | style that is clear and good looking at |
| 590s | the same time |
| 592s | and is it harder to design bigger big |
| 594s | units and buildings or smaller objects |
| 595s | small units workers in an rts game |
| 598s | it's pretty |
| 600s | straightforward to make stuff look good |
| 602s | and unreal the engine is super powerful |
| 605s | uh the shaders are amazing the lighting |
| 608s | animation we can do there's a lot but we |
| 611s | can do there to make stuff look good the |
| 613s | challenging part on our end is we can |
| 615s | put |
| 616s | so much into the game that it can get |
| 618s | noisy and we want to make sure that |
| 620s | we keep the units to have a nice clean |
| 623s | read in the game you know what you're |
| 624s | looking at instantly |
| 626s | and it's not |
| 628s | competing with the background |
| 630s | of what's happening in the terrain or |
| 632s | the lighting and animations that are |
| 633s | happening there so that's where |
| 636s | we can put so much into a game now that |
| 637s | we need to restrain ourselves to some |
| 639s | extent |
| 641s | and the second part is about the size of |
| 644s | the units is something easier harder i |
| 646s | would say making bigger units is |
| 648s | somewhat more difficult because we need |
| 650s | to |
| 650s | create them in a way that looks like |
| 653s | other units can't unless it's by design |
| 655s | pass |
| 656s | through them so if we have a big unit |
| 659s | let's say with uh |
| 661s | with their feet spread really far apart |
| 663s | we need to make sure it doesn't look |
| 663s | like the smaller units can go around and |
| 666s | in between that um if it's not |
| 667s | intentional so that's the challenge i |
| 669s | would say there is for larger units |
| 672s | and also making them look |
| 673s | comparatively large in scale but we can |
| 675s | do a lot of that with detailing |
| 677s | example if you have a building |
| 680s | uh and you put smaller windows on it the |
| 682s | building instead of looks bigger |
| 684s | compared to than if you have |
| 685s | lots of bigger windows on it'll make it |
| 687s | look smaller so there's lots of art |
| 689s | techniques that we can use to change how |
| 690s | the scale of something feels in the game |
| 693s | this question is from statistician |
| 696s | number 266 and the question is in terms |
| 699s | of art style what do you aim to have |
| 701s | your game look like and why would you |
| 703s | pick it is there any particular strength |
| 705s | you seek to stress or aim behind it or |
| 708s | is it simply stylistic |
| 711s | for our game we want it to be |
| 715s | unreal is capable of doing like lots of |
| 717s | photo real stuff uh but we want to add |
| 720s | our own style to what our game is going |
| 721s | to be so harness the power of the engine |
| 724s | the lighting the materials the animating |
| 726s | animation and stuff like that but we |
| 728s | want to make our own style of game we |
| 731s | want |
| 732s | players to be able to see a screenshot |
| 734s | of our game and know instantly this is a |
| 735s | frost giant title uh and so that's kind |
| 738s | of the main goal that |
| 740s | we are driving as in our team is is |
| 742s | determining what is our style what is |
| 743s | their look but then still using the |
| 745s | power of the engine |
| 747s | dan riley cg asks a multi-part question |
| 750s | but the first one is even though many of |
| 752s | you are from blizzard are you guys |
| 754s | interested in any mechanics from the |
| 756s | command and conquer series our primary |
| 758s | inspiration is blizzard rts's but we are |
| 761s | definitely looking at command and |
| 763s | conquer age of empires company heroes |
| 765s | and even more |
| 767s | and trying to see what makes sense for |
| 768s | our game and seeing what fits |
| 771s | the next question he asks |
| 773s | are any of you former game designers |
| 775s | from the command and conquer series |
| 778s | tim campbell he's our game director he |
| 780s | worked on regular two and it has very |
| 783s | very fond memories of the very alert |
| 784s | franchise as all of us do i worked on |
| 787s | multiple series of the command and |
| 789s | conquer red alert and also the original |
| 791s | tiberian wars |
| 792s | and on top of that tim morton our |
| 795s | production director also worked on the |
| 796s | command and conquered series the next |
| 798s | question is from hazy khan |
| 801s | how many employees are working at frost |
| 803s | right and how many do you plan to add |
| 805s | before the release of the game |
| 808s | as we speak we have 22 full-time |
| 811s | employees here |
| 812s | an additional 10 at our contract we plan |
| 815s | to get at least double that size |
| 817s | uh give or take 50 |
| 819s | uh when the game is released |
| 821s | it creates a more collaborative |
| 823s | team he made it slightly smaller which |
| 825s | does lead into the next question from |
| 827s | kevin mobeck |
| 828s | are you accepting any interns at this |
| 831s | time |
| 832s | i can say on the marketing side |
| 834s | we do and we are |
| 836s | on the development side we are |
| 838s | considering that for the future so |
| 840s | you'll have to stay tuned |
| 843s | little demon asks i have an engineering |
| 845s | question are you using an existing game |
| 847s | engine or are you building your own from |
| 849s | scratch |
| 851s | we're using unreal 5 with a custom game |
| 853s | simulation that runs within unreal |
| 857s | and as a follow-up he asks what's your |
| 859s | approach to ensuring that all players |
| 861s | see the same game state given that there |
| 863s | could be possibly hundreds of unit |
| 865s | interactions every second |
| 867s | it seems like a difficult problem |
| 869s | it is a difficult problem and we do that |
| 872s | by |
| 873s | creating our own custom game simulation |
| 876s | that runs deterministically which means |
| 878s | that every computer |
| 880s | runs exactly the same way and produces |
| 883s | the same results for any given player's |
| 885s | input |
| 886s | it's kind of like playing a game of |
| 888s | chess or checkers over the phone with a |
| 890s | friend and just telling them what your |
| 892s | moves are |
| 893s | fluffy maguro asks what's the most |
| 895s | exciting thing on the technical side |
| 897s | that you couldn't do with starcraft 2 or |
| 899s | warcraft 3 that you can now |
| 902s | the most exciting thing for me is that |
| 903s | we've completely separated the game |
| 905s | simulation logic |
| 907s | from the rendering that we do with |
| 908s | unreal 5. |
| 909s | this allows us to have faster frame |
| 911s | rates a smoother simulation experience |
| 915s | and better support for replays and |
| 917s | spectating among other interesting |
| 919s | possibilities |
| 922s | alpha se2 asks after your game releases |
| 924s | are you planning to organize or sponsor |
| 926s | your own tournaments or even run a |
| 927s | professional league like starcraft 2's |
| 929s | world championship series or are you |
| 931s | planning to have a more community driven |
| 932s | tournament scene instead |
| 934s | great question alpha thank you |
| 936s | it's our belief that all successful |
| 937s | esports ecosystems have really been |
| 939s | built on the foundation of what the |
| 940s | community authentically enjoys so we're |
| 942s | going to start by focusing on that our |
| 944s | current approach is for tournaments and |
| 945s | esports to be enjoyable and rewarding |
| 947s | for players of all skill levels |
| 949s | regardless of how much they've invested |
| 950s | into the game so far |
| 952s | so our goal is really to have a clear |
| 954s | overarching esports ecosystem that |
| 956s | sustainably layers professional |
| 957s | tournaments alongside those always on |
| 959s | grassroots activity that everyone can |
| 961s | participate in this process doesn't just |
| 963s | start after the game releases we're |
| 965s | really excited to be building all these |
| 966s | plans and activities alongside the core |
| 968s | game development so we're able to |
| 970s | incorporate the thoughts and desires of |
| 972s | everyone in the community to create |
| 973s | something that we all can really love |
| 976s | so food guy asks a three-parter |
| 979s | part one what is your design philosophy |
| 981s | when it comes to creating units how much |
| 983s | do you value unit design based on their |
| 985s | lore balance and overall fundness |
| 988s | like what are the most important |
| 989s | considerations when you design a unit |
| 992s | so this is this question is about unit |
| 994s | design in general and the answer to that |
| 996s | i would say is it depends |
| 998s | so i'll give you a few examples when we |
| 1001s | are working on co-op commanders in the |
| 1002s | starcraft 2 universe we had a lot of |
| 1005s | deep and rich lore to base these |
| 1007s | characters off of |
| 1009s | so what we did as a team is we went into |
| 1012s | a room um we jotted adjectives of uh |
| 1015s | what describes these co-op commanders so |
| 1016s | for example mix he's known for |
| 1019s | dictatorship and subjugation and nuclear |
| 1021s | holocaust and then we design units and |
| 1024s | mechanics for this commander that really |
| 1027s | fit this fantasy um an alternate way to |
| 1031s | design units is what i imagine the |
| 1033s | legacy of the void team |
| 1035s | did with the ravager unit in the versus |
| 1037s | mode so with that unit the team i i |
| 1039s | believe really wanted to |
| 1041s | break apart roach death balls in the zbz |
| 1044s | matchup and give zerg players an |
| 1046s | opportunity for counter play against |
| 1048s | force field in the zvp matchup so with |
| 1051s | the design of that unit mechanics were |
| 1053s | really prioritized and the lore was |
| 1055s | built later on in order to |
| 1058s | fit that fantasy in terms of |
| 1060s | balance versus fun versus how |
| 1063s | interesting a unit is |
| 1065s | we really want to prioritize fun and |
| 1067s | interestingness from the get-go |
| 1069s | with some balanced considerations mixed |
| 1071s | in and the main thing um we want to |
| 1074s | consider with balance is not how balance |
| 1077s | is the unit currently because we can |
| 1078s | always tweak numbers but uh rather we |
| 1081s | want to consider how difficult it would |
| 1083s | be to balance the unit later on uh part |
| 1086s | two of this question |
| 1088s | um in terms of designing a unit is it |
| 1090s | one guy that designs everything or is it |
| 1092s | multiple people how do you settle on the |
| 1095s | final design for the unit if five guys |
| 1097s | have five different views on a unit um |
| 1100s | and i think in terms of designing units |
| 1102s | it's no different uh from designing |
| 1104s | levels designing uh systems like ladder |
| 1107s | systems or progression systems |
| 1109s | um in that generally there is uh one |
| 1111s | owner and uh and the design team |
| 1114s | surrounding uh that person |
| 1116s | um and it's up to the owner to define |
| 1119s | the goals of what they're trying to do |
| 1121s | with this unit with this level with the |
| 1123s | system |
| 1124s | and then take ideas from the entire team |
| 1127s | build consensus |
| 1129s | with the team to |
| 1131s | finalize what this unit or level is and |
| 1134s | then it's their responsibility to make |
| 1136s | the the calls |
| 1138s | uh when designing a unit do you start |
| 1140s | off with one path and iterate until it |
| 1142s | feels right or do you start with a |
| 1144s | hundred ideas and narrow it down |
| 1147s | so i would say in the ideation phase |
| 1149s | when you're just jotting down uh ideas |
| 1151s | for units yeah we we kind of do a |
| 1153s | shotgun approach where um we come with |
| 1156s | all all these ideas for what this unit |
| 1158s | could potentially do um but after that |
| 1161s | phase when we start the prototyping |
| 1163s | phase when we actually try to make these |
| 1165s | units put these units into our game we |
| 1167s | eventually narrow down |
| 1169s | all these ideas into |
| 1171s | just one thing that we want to try and |
| 1173s | that's mainly for time reasons we can't |
| 1176s | just spend like all our time |
| 1178s | implementing a hundred different units |
| 1179s | so why don't we just try one see how it |
| 1181s | feels um if it if it kind of works then |
| 1184s | we iterate on that unit and if it |
| 1185s | doesn't work maybe we scrap that and try |
| 1187s | one of the other ideas |
| 1189s | all right so this question comes to us |
| 1192s | from sub-surion |
| 1195s | sub-suryan asks |
| 1198s | while of course it's too early to talk |
| 1200s | specifics on the story and universe |
| 1203s | what sort of lessons and focuses from |
| 1205s | blizzards storytelling and world |
| 1208s | building |
| 1209s | are you all taking in when designing |
| 1212s | this new setting |
| 1214s | so certainly we are learning things uh |
| 1217s | always from the way blizzard was telling |
| 1220s | a story and for an rts when you have |
| 1222s | multiple factions |
| 1225s | uh that can be tricky you you're |
| 1227s | fighting one faction in one campaign and |
| 1230s | then in the next campaign you might be |
| 1234s | that faction and so you're going to be |
| 1237s | uh fighting you know potentially the |
| 1240s | faction that you were just playing and |
| 1241s | so in in that sense you don't want |
| 1245s | one faction to always be the enemy so |
| 1248s | certainly you know looking back at |
| 1250s | warcraft for instance the warcraft rts |
| 1254s | how orcs started off being the major |
| 1257s | villain but then as you start to play |
| 1260s | orcs |
| 1261s | you find that the orcs have compelling |
| 1264s | characters and they have |
| 1266s | their own compelling storyline when |
| 1268s | you're playing that faction you want to |
| 1270s | feel like the hero and that's really |
| 1273s | important so |
| 1274s | all of these factions you know in an rts |
| 1277s | game you need to feel like you are the |
| 1279s | hero when you're playing those factions |
| 1282s | our next question comes from sue warrior |
| 1287s | sue warrior |
| 1289s | would like to know can we at least get a |
| 1291s | hint to the type of setting |
| 1294s | and world you have envisioned |
| 1298s | imagine aliens that arrive in these |
| 1301s | craft that look like giant vacuum |
| 1304s | cleaners uh specifically |
| 1306s | like the old kirby vacuum cleaners from |
| 1310s | like the 20s to the to the 40s |
| 1313s | uh so this this alien race just comes in |
| 1315s | just starts sucking up everything with |
| 1317s | these vacuum you know they're sucking up |
| 1319s | hamsters they're |
| 1320s | sucking up gerbils they're sucking up |
| 1322s | monkeys |
| 1323s | so so we think it's going to be very |
| 1326s | compelling |
| 1327s | and we're very excited to explore this |
| 1330s | storyline |
| 1332s | and i'm very happy that i had the chance |
| 1335s | to to share it with all of you today so |
| 1338s | thank you |
| 1349s | you |