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Deus Ex Human Revolution Developer Interview We chat with Jean-Francois Dugas of Eidos Montreal about transhumanism in Deus Ex Human Revolution. ( http://www.gameshark.com/features/848/Deus-Ex-Human-Revolution-Developer-Interview.htm ) A good sci-fi story is never just about aliens or technology or the future, it’s about using those impossible concepts to challenge the ethics and question morality. Having talked to Jean-Francois Dugas about Eidos Montreal’s Deus Ex: Human Revolution, I got the sense that his team really understood this. Hopefully this all translates well into the game when it releases later this month. Back in 2000, when Deus Ex came out, it struck a chord with players by exploring wired life and how we co-exist with technology. Ten years later with : Human Revolution, how is that being explored with our even more connected lives now? With Human Revolution what we really want to hit was the trans-humanism and all the possibilities for human beings to improve themselves, so we have a big focus on that. But your question is very interesting because in terms of our world that is all connected and wired; in the game it’s totally part of it. I guess in the last few years while we’ve been building this game our lives have become so accustomed to [persistent technology] that I think we just expect that it’s there and we don’t think about it anymore. That’s worked its way into the game, but it’s not at the forefront. I think it’s just a natural reflection of our real lives where we no longer think about our iPhones or wireless connections; in the game there’s that same kind of vibe where this connectivity is all over the place but at the same time nobody really pays attention to it. When creating this sort of work that’s based in a lot of commentary – particularly about modern society – you need to take a step back and evaluate it properly. As creators, how do you do that? In the beginning when we started the project, the first thing we did was go back to the old games and try and figure out what core values made them special. Then when we were done with it we started to brainstorm about the themes. Where ten years ago communication technologies were so important today it feels like with all these diseases and new medical technologies that can allow blind people to see for example, that’s the next big thing in terms of who we are moving towards a singularity type situation and that’s what we look at for Human Revolution. So we watched the commentary and read a lot of books that have to deal with the concepts of transhumanism, Joel Garreau for example. We went all over the place to look for inspiration and find out what were the concerns, benefits and what’s going on in the real world right now so we’d be fully aware. We just started by being sponges with our brains and absorbed a lot of stuff to figure out the best way to pull it off. The game is also a story about a struggle between classes. Why have stories like these always resonated with players and how are you tackling it in Human Revolution? Once again, transhumanism brings a lot of hope in terms of improving who we are but it also brings a lot of questions because we can look at who we are from a natural position where we are what we are and we should stay like that. So now we’re entering in to ethical problems and moral issues and depending on the background of different people they have different opinions on the subject. I think with the game we’re trying to reflect those different opinions through the story and through the characters you’re going to meet in some of the missions and let the player explore it in some of the decisions they’re going to have to make. It’s about getting the player into that fantasy and getting them to answer the questions and figure out what they think about it. It’s in the background but it also comes to the forefront during the missions where you’re asked to do things and have to make a decision. I’m trying to stay very vague because I don’t want spoilers; these issues are some of the most impactful in the game. As a game about transhumanism is the player presented as a subject or an object within the reality? That’s a good question; I think it’s a bit of both. You’re a subject in the sense that the character is your avatar and you’re supposed to put yourself in his shoes. However, at the same time I feel that your character is a conduit for exploring the ethical aspects about transhumanism and in that way the player is an object. At the beginning of the game this character is 100% human and through the initial incident where he gets badly injured, he’s forced to the operating table and there’s an underlying theme where the people who save him went a bit beyond the call of duty in fixing him. So there’s a dichotomy where although you ultimately become the hero you’re also a victim at the same time in that you didn’t ask for this. It asks an important question about how far people should be allowed to go with these things and to which extent are you improving who we are or stopping someone from deciding for themselves what’s best for them. The real enemy in this game is really an ideology; it’s not necessarily the people you’re shooting at. How do you create an effective villain out of an ideology rather than a distinct villain archetype? That’s a tough one because when we started the project we struggled to stay away from creating [an archetype] and evolve it beyond where the player can easily answer if they agree with the enemy’s ethics or not. The way you’ve described the game I get the sense that you’re providing experiences that offer opportunities for players to explore their own morality. However, this is ultimately a controlled medium and I’m curious how you avoid influencing the player, because ultimately our ethics are dictated by what we’ve experienced. It’s very difficult and the only way we’ll know if we’ve succeeded or not is after the game is out. We try and create characters with motivations that are dictated by backgrounds that are personal and people can relate to. In this way even if you disagree with a comment in terms of what we’re saying, it’s not a matter of just understanding the point but understanding how this person went through things and possibly relating it to your own life or not. I think if you touch people more on the emotional level where there are things we all share, regardless of personal beliefs, so that even if you can’t relate then on a rational level it’s not the point. When you lose someone you love it doesn’t matter if you’re Christian or Muslim, Left or Right wing or not. I think in that sense, with the game we’re trying to keep it on a human level so everyone can relate regardless of how on a rational level they may think they don’t adhere to it at all. It’s difficult for sure, and to be honest only time will tell if we manage to pull it off because when you’re in development you think you’re doing something right but people when they play the game they’ll tell us. How rewarding will it be to hear players discussing and arguing about the different viewpoints the game presents? How much of the overall satisfaction in creating a game like this comes in that post-release debate? Personally I know I’m really looking forward to it because it’s surprising how sometimes you spend a lot of time working on something and people experience it afterwards and you get feedback that can be touching and emotional. Only as an example, last year at E3 we met with a journalist for a preview and after he told us he had a problem with his leg and said that what we were doing went to his heart because he can relate to what happened to the character and through that understood the growth of hope and strength. When you’re building a game it’s impossible to even think of the exact feedback you’ll receive and receiving it is always touching and gripping. It’s really interesting to see what sort of effect you can have on certain people. Here it was a positive one, but in the future we might also have negative ones and I want to hear them because it helps you do better for the future, understanding how different people perceive certain ways. It makes you more round in life and in all the things you do, so I’m totally, totally eager to hear all the positive and negative… As long as it’s all constructive (laughs) It’s funny you say that because in an age of self-gratifying YouTube commenters and mindless shooters, how do you prepare players to walk into a game where they’re going to learn something and explore ideas rather than just shoot? Actually, if people play the game and they don’t explore the ideas and they have a good time, I’m still happy. What I mean by that is, I don’t want to force anyone to think about the game in order to have fun. If people want to go on the critical path, pick up guns and kill everyone to get to the end of the story – enjoying it only on the first level of what it is – that’s fine I’m glad they’re happy. But, there’s so much more in this game if you go beyond the Call of Duty style gameplay, and this is where the game starts to open to far more interesting stuff. We don’t force it on the players, the only thing we do is that it’s mechanically not a mindless shooter, it’s a tactical shooter. Because if you run and shoot like a headless chicken, you’re going to get your rear end kicked and you’ll have a tough time. If you plan accordingly and examine your enemies you’ll start to go beyond the direct path and look at alternate things in the game. As you do that you may stumble across something that alludes to the richness the game has to offer. In the beginning of our play testing, I think actually the first play test we did, the game was somewhat easy and everyone was playing it like a typical shooter. We balanced the game and with later play tests we found people still start the game like a shooter but get killed a few times and then they start doing other things. They then find secret places, or things to read and suddenly the game becomes much bigger than they thought. So, we’re not forcing you but the way the gameplay loop works we do encourage you to go outside just the straight path. We’d like to thank Mr. Dugas for taking the time to answer our questions. You can look forward to playing Deus Ex: Human Revolution on August 23rd, 2011 on Playstation 3, Xbox 360 and PC.
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Aug 12, 2011 18:32
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I tested the stealth detection in DX1 just now, you can hide in the shadows pretty well, but the guards will see you if you get too close.
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Aug 12, 2011 18:32
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mwA2Vwo47us I have no idea. vv Haha, how did I miss that? YYZ fucked around with this message at 19:51 on Aug 12, 2011 |
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Aug 12, 2011 19:34
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YYZ posted:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mwA2Vwo47us human revolution
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Aug 12, 2011 19:46
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I am steering well clear of any spoilers or youtube leak footage and whatnot, but I've utterly spoiled myself on the soundtrack; a soundtrack which seems to me to be EXACTLY loving RIGHT; https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v95iqpo3ULY https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wp44GUkR4k0 I'm sure almost everyone in this thread is fully aware of the fantastic bloody soundtrack but i'm posting it anyway. Been waiting 11 years for this game ya know.
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Aug 12, 2011 19:49
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Fag Boy Jim posted:human revolution Well punned.  Simiain posted:I am steering well clear of any spoilers or youtube leak footage and whatnot, but I've utterly spoiled myself on the soundtrack; a soundtrack which seems to me to be EXACTLY loving RIGHT; Hell yes, this sound track is awesome, haven't played the leak myself (nice computer is busted) but a friend sent me the music files from it and its just great. I love cyberpunk music. Blade Runner, Uplink, Deus Ex 1/3 (dunno about 2), Frozen Synapse, etc.
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Aug 12, 2011 19:56
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Is that new book any good? I'm skeptical of all video game tie-ins but I'm really craving some awesome cyberpunk lately, and having the Deus Ex name makes me piss myself with excitement before I even know about it. And really, I'm sick of William Gibson. I love him to pieces, but his best work is just so outdated! Also, thanks for the responses earlier, guys. I'm glad to see that even the Gooniest of the Goons are appreciating and loving this game. Normally, I'd wait months and months to see if it was actually a legitimately good game (a la Red Dead Redemption, which seemed to take a while, or Crysis 2 which didn't take long at all but fizzled out quickly). I'm glad that this game seems to be certifiably good, with a lot of depth. I'm also glad that this particular thread isn't made up of the Fallout: NMA types. It's pleasant to hear that a sequel to a classic game really is that good, while people bash the older game's bad qualities. Nostalgia is a good bookmark, but not an indicator of quality. I never even finished Deus Ex which would make me a total heretic in other threads, but I'm not scorned here. Just a gamer with an appreciation for good things. Kudos, posters in this thread. edit: God that soundtrack is loving good. If you haven't heard it, look up the track "Ohtosk" from Splinter Cell: Double Agent. It has a lot of acoustic stuff and makes you really appreciate Michael McCann's approach to ambience and atmosphere. oversteps fucked around with this message at 20:26 on Aug 12, 2011 |
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Aug 12, 2011 20:19
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Jarate posted:Is that new book any good? I've read a small amount of it (maybe 20-25 pages of it) and found it to be rather annoying. I found the introduction to be interesting. Like the original game and Human Revolution, it begins with (very minor spoiler, no plot discussion) a meeting between conspirators. I liked this a lot and I recognized a character or two right away. (Still minor, but more significant spoiler) One of which was DeBeers from the first game. ("Ah Command you!") Everett was probably one of the others as well. It was very engaging for me as a hard core Deus Ex fan. If that was what most of the book was, I'd probably like it a bit more. As I read on, the dialogue felt rather poor and the exposition was laborious without being particularly good. I decided to quit, but I'm not a big fiction reader generally so you may enjoy it more. I'd say read the first 20 pages on Amazon. By the time you're around page 18 or 19, you'll know if you like it or not. StickySweater fucked around with this message at 20:34 on Aug 12, 2011 |
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Aug 12, 2011 20:32
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You know all those great stories people have of pre-ordering things and paying for priority shipping so it literally arrives on their doorstep on the day of release? I kinda fell for that. Never again though. Here's why I will never do it again: That's right. I preordered it months ago and it will ship three days AFTER it releases and it will arrive 5 or 6 days later by estimation. By the way, when I ship a letter to my mother who lives across the country by regular mail, she gets it in 5 or 6 days. I'm about -><- close to calling up amazon and ripping someone to shreds over this.
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Aug 12, 2011 20:39
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I wouldn't be too worried yet. Amazon (or at least Amazon.ca) kind of follows the same logic as Dell in that they make the most conservative estimate possible in case something goes wrong with supply or demand. I ordered a bunch of DVDs and games for Christmas gifts from them on a Sunday and the shipping estimate listed it as Thursday, with delivery the following week. It was at my doorstop two days later. Never pre-ordered from them, though, and have heard of delay issues occasionally with them.
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Aug 12, 2011 20:48
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StickySweater posted:I've read a small amount of it (maybe 20-25 pages of it) and found it to be rather annoying. I found the introduction to be interesting. Like the original game and Human Revolution, it begins with (very minor spoiler, no plot discussion) a meeting between conspirators. I liked this a lot and I recognized a character or two right away. (Still minor, but more significant spoiler) One of which was DeBeers from the first game. ("Ah Command you!") Everett was probably one of the others as well. It was very engaging for me as a hard core Deus Ex fan. If that was what most of the book was, I'd probably like it a bit more. Naky posted:You know all those great stories people have of pre-ordering things and paying for priority shipping so it literally arrives on their doorstep on the day of release? I kinda fell for that. Never again though. Here's why I will never do it again: I'm an Amazon fanboy and I'll usually order/preorder things through them, but GameStop's extra mission proved too desirable. This is a preorder for a game, though. You'll get it rather quickly. A lot of folks bitch about the speed of Amazon preorders, so perhaps they're more knowledgeable than I am, but I'm a satisfied gamer. oversteps fucked around with this message at 20:51 on Aug 12, 2011 |
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Aug 12, 2011 20:48
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Jarate posted:Is that new book any good? I'm reading it right now. Read around 80 pages (at chapter 4) and so far I'm really liking it  The thing is that I normally really don't like sci-fi stuff, so I have nothing to compare it to. Also have not played through Deus Ex but there seems to be at least some cameos that even I recognize. The book is getting me really hyped for the upcoming game though. I got it for 5€ and so far I think it's easily been worth it.
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Aug 12, 2011 20:55
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You guys are making me feel a little better, but my RL friends I told this about have made me feel worse due to them having similar stories of waiting a week or more for their pre-orders to arrive from amazon.ca  All I can do is hope to hell they come through this time, especially at that price!
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Aug 12, 2011 20:56
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Whenever I order something and pay to bump that 3-day shipping to 2 or whatever, it manages to nick Friday and so be delayed over the weekend anyway. Some day I shall learn to count.
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Aug 12, 2011 21:01
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I've heard some pretty bad stories from friends about Amazon shipping books like weeks after they're released. This was a couple years ago though, so they've probably gotten better if anything.
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Aug 12, 2011 21:05
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Naky posted:You know all those great stories people have of pre-ordering things and paying for priority shipping so it literally arrives on their doorstep on the day of release? I kinda fell for that. Never again though. Here's why I will never do it again: Did you remember to select release date shipping when you pre-ordered it? Amazon says my delivery date is the 23rd.
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Aug 12, 2011 21:07
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Oatgan posted:Did you remember to select release date shipping when you pre-ordered it? Amazon says my delivery date is the 23rd. Yes. Which is why this is infuriating to me. edit: clicking the upgrade shipping button show that I'm already at the highest level, though they give a conservative 2 day shipping estimate. Ship it on the 22nd, it arrives on the 24th and it's not so bad. Ship it on the 26th and it arrives on the 31st is loving crap though. Naky fucked around with this message at 21:11 on Aug 12, 2011 |
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Aug 12, 2011 21:08
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I've been ordering games with the release date delivery option from Amazon for well over a year now and they've never let me down. Are you sure you picked the actual option called "release date delivery?" It's something you actually have to select, you can't just pick a regularly fast shipping speed. e: hell, beat
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Aug 12, 2011 21:09
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This is why digital distribution is very nice! Can't wait to have Steam all nice and warm and preloaded.
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Aug 12, 2011 21:16
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Mine is scheduled to arrive on the 30th of August and I'm
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Aug 12, 2011 21:18
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Zorak posted:This is why digital distribution is very nice! Can't wait to have Steam all nice and warm and preloaded. I may have missed it because the thread seems to have been moving a little faster the last week or so, but do we have any word yet on whether or not this will preload? edit: ugh, I just remembered I used that Green Man Gaming thing for its spectacular deal, so my own situation might be a little weirder than an average Steam user since they're just going to e-mail me the Steam key sometime the day of release. Pharmaskittle fucked around with this message at 21:24 on Aug 12, 2011 |
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Aug 12, 2011 21:20
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Pharmaskittle posted:I may have missed it because the thread seems to have been moving a little faster the last week or so, but do we have any word yet on whether or not this will preload? You might notice that Steam doesn't have a specific date yet set for the DX:HR release (we know the date though). This is probably because Eidos hasn't specified the time of release to Steam. Presumably, once the date/time is specified, we'll probably have a preload. I don't see why we wouldn't.
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Aug 12, 2011 21:21
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Has there been a Steamworks game that hasn't preloaded yet?
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Aug 12, 2011 21:23
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Pharmaskittle posted:edit: ugh, I just remembered I used that Green Man Gaming thing for its spectacular deal, so my own situation might be a little weirder than an average Steam user since they're just going to e-mail me the Steam key sometime the day of release.  Once preload goes up you can force steam to preload the game with a command; after that plug in your key on release day and decrypt.
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Aug 12, 2011 21:35
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Just a reminder, the IGN stream should go live in around 10-15 minutes (unless my timezone calc hosed up). You're probably too late for the "tweet questions for a chance to win the game" portion, tho. http://pc.ign.com/articles/118/1187615p1.html edit: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KuPs7oAl0hA Tecman fucked around with this message at 22:25 on Aug 12, 2011 |
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Aug 12, 2011 22:18
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Tecman posted:Just a reminder, the IGN stream should go live in around 10-15 minutes (unless my timezone calc hosed up). You're probably too late for the "tweet questions for a chance to win the game" portion, tho. http://pc.ign.com/articles/118/1187615p1.html
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Aug 12, 2011 22:31
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DO IT TO IT posted:I've been ordering games with the release date delivery option from Amazon for well over a year now and they've never let me down. Are you sure you picked the actual option called "release date delivery?" It's something you actually have to select, you can't just pick a regularly fast shipping speed. I love pre-ording games from Amazon because many of them come with gift certificates that I can use to pre-order more games.
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Aug 12, 2011 22:49
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Holy Jesus gently caress at them showing "that". It was an amazing little spoiler and I am still kicking myself in the balls for not screen-capping it. 
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Aug 12, 2011 22:52
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Tecman posted:Holy Jesus gently caress at them showing "that". It was an amazing little spoiler and I am still kicking myself in the balls for not screen-capping it. I kinda wish I hadn't seen it. The entire segment kind of blew though and I don't know what they were thinking by showing the boss fight, which even the devs agree weren't successful.
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Aug 12, 2011 22:56
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Tecman posted:Holy Jesus gently caress at them showing "that". It was an amazing little spoiler and I am still kicking myself in the balls for not screen-capping it. What kind of spoiler? I'm not watching the stream, so if it's something that I missed in Detroit in the leak, you should let me know. 
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Aug 12, 2011 22:57
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Does anybody know if they plan on uploading this whole stream thing after it's done because some of us can't watch it right now? 
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Aug 12, 2011 22:59
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Pretentious Turtle posted:What kind of spoiler? I'm not watching the stream, so if it's something that I missed in Detroit in the leak, you should let me know. No, it's something that takes place right after the boss fight.
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Aug 12, 2011 23:02
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Tecman posted:Holy Jesus gently caress at them showing "that". It was an amazing little spoiler and I am still kicking myself in the balls for not screen-capping it. I don't care about spoilers. Could you message me or post the spoiler?
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Aug 12, 2011 23:03
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Oatgan posted:Does anybody know if they plan on uploading this whole stream thing after it's done because some of us can't watch it right now? IGN typically puts something up - might take until tomorrow or Monday or something. I still had the stream on my computer and screen capped the spoiler. I wouldn't know how to put it on the forum in spoiler tag form, however. Ultimately though I'd assure everyone that the stream was extremely uninteresting, save for that one little last bit.
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Aug 12, 2011 23:06
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Nelson Mandingo posted:I don't care about spoilers. Could you message me or post the spoiler? You see a statue of the MJ12 hand in the middle of a room.
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Aug 12, 2011 23:07
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Here I was expecting something shocking. That's not a huge spoiler.
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Aug 12, 2011 23:09
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Momomo posted:No, it's something that takes place right after the boss fight. Actually, they said it takes place roughly half way though the game, so it's probably much later.
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Aug 12, 2011 23:09
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jcp982 posted:I still had the stream on my computer and screen capped the spoiler. I wouldn't know how to put it on the forum in spoiler tag form, however. edit: You loving own. Nelson Mandingo posted:Here I was expecting something shocking. That's not a huge spoiler. Tecman fucked around with this message at 23:15 on Aug 12, 2011 |
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Aug 12, 2011 23:10
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Nelson Mandingo posted:Here I was expecting something shocking. That's not a huge spoiler. It was certainly cool. It's updated and fancy. It was a neat little shock.
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Aug 12, 2011 23:12
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jcp982 posted:I still had the stream on my computer and screen capped the spoiler. I wouldn't know how to put it on the forum in spoiler tag form, however. Ultimately though I'd assure everyone that the stream was extremely uninteresting, save for that one little last bit. Just post a link to it instead of using the bbcode? I'd really like to see it.
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Aug 12, 2011 23:20
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