My name is Chris. I’m one of the founders of PixelNAUTS Games, a Canadian independent games studio. On May 12th, we released our first original game, LOST ORBIT on Steam and PS4. It follows the story of a lone astronaut stranded in space. I’d like to take a moment to talk about our studio, and why it is we make games in the first place.
How did we start?
The one consistent thing between Alex and I was that games were always a topic of discussion. What we were playing, what we wanted to play, what we liked and disliked, and what we would change given the opportunity.
After meeting and becoming friends in college, we were lucky enough to get jobs at Silicon Knights in 2005. It was a smaller studio, off the beaten path of large gaming cities like Vancouver, Montreal, or Toronto, but we both felt that SK had the potential to be fantastic. It seemed to be on the cusp of growth like Digital Extremes, or Bioware. And, even if it was in St Catharines, they had a publishing deal with Microsoft to put Too Human on the 360, a console that had only barely launched before I landed the job! The concepts, lost technologies, the ideas the game was set to explore were interesting. When I first saw the game in progress during my tour of the studio, I couldn’t imagine why no one had made a Sci-Fi Viking game before...
Two and a half years later, Too Human was released and received a lukewarm reception. It was sad because it was something that we sensed internally was going to happen. It was something that a lot of us fought really hard to prevent. It felt like a game that was designed by several departments that didn’t talk to one another. The elements didn’t blend smoothly, and it was frustrating, even punishing at times, to play. The hardest part of it all to take was that at times, Too Human was great! The moments when it all came together were just too few and far between.
After TH, we were contracted by THQ to work with Vigil on Darksiders, and five minutes after loading the game on my development kit, I knew it was going to be great. Bear in mind, I was running around a white boxed room with blocky, work-in-progress puzzles. Everything about running around a barren environment was fun because of the amount of thought put into the character. I don’t even mean the look of the character, though that was certainly top tier. I mean the mechanics of the game: a jump, a dash, a ground pound, a flurry of sequenced attacks, all delivered with the utmost attention to weight and timing. The controls were perfectly and intuitively laid out, and the puzzle and level progression was already playable despite being ugly.
There were a few games that changed my perspective on the art of game crafting: Portal, for its storytelling despite a distinct lack of characters, God of War, for its pressing efforts to crank the visceral nature of melee combat to eleven, Battlefield: 1942 for its sheer breadth of ridiculous strategies like stashing TNT in the back seat of your Kübelsitzwagen and cruising for an allied tank to plow into.
After working on Darksiders, I couldn’t look at games development the same way again. It was a revelation to me that an early prototype done well could be much more fun than a finished game. That it could communicate so much about what the game was going to be with so few elements.
http://i.imgur.com/4WQUfuf....
PixelNAUTS
Alex and I founded the company in late 2010. We had been talking about designing games for more than seven years by that time. With digital distribution and self-publishing becoming more main stream, it seemed like the time to take our shot at it. PixelNAUTS as we know it is a little over four years old. Here’s a boiler plate description:
PixelNAUTS Inc., is an independent game studio based out of St. Catharines, Canada. Founded by game industry vets sick of working for the man, PixelNAUTS was formed with the need to create and entertain.
PixelNAUTS is located in downtown St.Catharines, in the Niagara region of Ontario. It’s an area known for fruit, wine, and nice lakefront retirement homes. There used to be a substantial manufacturing sector, but following the automotive collapse, that has given way. There has been a push to fill the gap with a budding tech landscape. It’s in its infancy, but there is some potential.
http://i.imgur.com/kbtamw8....
What do we do?
At the beginning, we did a lot of outsourcing. Work for hire, co-development, etc. The money was decent, and we got to work on some cool projects, but we were running into some of the problems that made us want to start our own company in the first place. Namely, if you’re going to spend a lot of time on a project, it had better be one that you’re confident in, and if not, you want to be able to change the project for the better.
After years of saving our money from contracting, we took the opportunity to make our first original game, LOST ORBIT. It follows the story of a maintenance worker named Harrison who becomes stranded after his ship is destroyed in deep space. He makes the decision to brave the unknown and attempt the dangerous trip across four solar systems with nothing but the most basic equipment: a space suit and a jetpack. It’s a risky endeavor that he’s not likely to survive.
The parallels between LOST ORBIT’s plot and our own challenges as a studio were not lost on us. We also embarked on a risky endeavor, and we managed to come out the other side.
http://i.imgur.com/yjKDasH....
Why do you do it?
Building a game is a complicated series of interdependent systems. Trying to balance the progression of each system, along with how they interact with one another is a challenging problem. It’s creative, and technical, and when you pull it off, it’s really satisfying.
As a game developer, there is no greater feeling than watching someone experience the world you have created. Win or lose, if they enjoy themselves, it’s rewarding. It’s addictive, and when players bring their friends to share the experience, the feeling is amplified. The technical aspects of the game fade away, and it becomes more about what you can make the player feel.
Games have had a similar impact on us. They have gotten us through hard times and amplified the good ones. They are ingrained in our lives, tied as tightly to the past as the people we shared them with. I clearly remember the first time I stayed up all night playing NBA Jam, the first time I played Mario Kart 64 at my friend’s birthday, and watching the words “Get Psyched” scrawl across the screen when my dad and I fired up Escape from Castle Wolfenstien. We want to give people similar experiences they’ll hold onto and want to share with others.
http://i.imgur.com/cCWosJp....
What do you play?
Our team has really eclectic tastes. We’ll try almost any genre: action, adventure, RPG, FPS, RTS, Racing, Sports, or Puzzle. We play the full range from independent to AAA. One of our favorite pastimes has always been transplanting mechanics from one game into a game of a slightly different genre.
Some of the games that helped shape LOST ORBIT for example include Gravitational Combat, Trials, Mario Kart, as well as films like The Rocketeer, T2, and Shawshank Redemption.
Design Philosophy
Since playing with that prototype of Darksiders years ago, I can’t see building a game any other way. You can strip away the art, music, and story of a game without fundamentally changing the core of what it is. A bad game can hide behind any of the aforementioned and be decent, but a great game is merely enhanced by all of them. It’s fun AND pretty, AND sounds great, AND has a great story.
At PixelNAUTS, we didn’t sit down and write a design philosophy. It developed organically when we had conversations about what we love, and hate about playing games. We love games that both empower, and challenge you, games that allow you to progress, learn, and improve. We love games that are fast, that make you react, and quickly strategize. We love games that don’t rob the player of their control.
We can’t stand mushy or floaty controls, high respec costs, long load times, punishing mechanics (I’m looking at you Duck Hunt Dog!), excessive grinding, and obtrusive monetization strategies. Above all, we hate when a player knows he’s going to lose, and can’t do anything to stop it.
PixelNAUTS games are Fast, Fluid, and Fun.
http://i.imgur.com/ZLObKIS....
Tone
I can’t talk about PixelNAUTS without at least touching on the tone of the studio. We believe Games should run the full range of emotion. In effort to be epic, or dark, too many games steer clear of humour, happiness, and silliness. This typically has the opposite effect, with the game coming off ham-fisted or cheesy in its efforts to be gritty.
Without the highs, the lows seem monotonous and pretentious. Having the full spectrum makes everything more relatable, and honest. It pulls people in, and gives them something digestible. Some of the best dark stories juxtapose humour with dark themes. Often they’re hard to classify in genre. Pulp Fiction, Fargo, Starship troopers, Life is Beautiful, and Stand by Me, all play with this balance, and their hard hitting moments are more intense because of it.
As a studio, Alex and I made the decision early on that we would try to never take ourselves too seriously; to never be above a joke at our own expense. After all, we’re in the entertainment business and no one wants to hire an uptight clown.
You can visit the PixelNAUTS website at http://www.pixelnauts.ca/
http://i.imgur.com/3UjeeFD....
Day 8 | PixelNAUTS
According to Rockstar Games, all footage shown in the GTA 6 Trailer 2 video was captured on a “PS5”, not a “PS5 Pro”.
In 2028 at minimum according to leakers it's estimated that the pc version is 18 months behind the console version.
Also you can bet that if the next gen consoles come in 2027 it's likely they will be given priority over the PC version just like with GTA v where the PS360 version launched first then the PS4/Xbox one and even later the PC version.
Similar thing with GTA IV PC came about 1.5 years later.
It will come to PC but don't hold your breath
Here is the now confirmed legit rumour that states PC is 12 to 18 months behind
https://www.reddit.com/r/Ga...
I don't think there's really going to be a whole lot in it, higher resolution, maybe a bit better on detail here and there? They both have the same CPU and even if Pro runs it better I don't think either console will be more than 30-40fps with dips.
CPU will be a limiting factor, and you can bet R* will want double dippers with console to PC and also console to next gen consoles.
Pc gamers are going to lose there minds knowing this was captured on a PS5
welcome to reality
No gameplay is lame. But I suppose rockstar usually waits til close to release for a full gameplay breakdown.
Celebrate the holiday by getting some of the best Star Wars games compatible with your Steam Deck. Which one is your favorite?
Little Nightmares III receives an Advisory 16 rating in Singapore. Set in a haunting world, the horror adventure features new protagonists, eerie environments, and disturbing encounters.
More Canadian devs! This was a good read, I remember being hyped for Too Human when I first read about it in GamePro such a long long time ago. As for the game at hand this looks great, bright and colorful- reminds me of nights into Dreams and the soundtrack, wow! It has a real synthwave vibe to it.
i know too human wasnt the best of games but it tried something different.. having somethings work and something just dont.. having being worked on that, darksiders and other games i think they really got the sense of what might work and what might not.. Lost orbit looks awesome
Nice team, best of luck
those reviews looks promising ,
i hope we see a good game
I agree. A truly good game should be able to stand alone with it's core mechanics, stripped of everything else, and still be enjoyable.