I just noticed that IGN has quite a few Dark Athena videos up now. Only the original trailer was made by us here (hence it’s the best :) ) but some of the others are pretty good.

IGN Dark Athena XBox 360 Videos

Not long until it is released now! 24/04/09 in Europe I believe.

Dark Athena @ Play.com (XBox360)
Dark Athena @ Play.com (PS3)
Dark Athena @ Play.com (PC)

I think I prefer the 360 version although the PC version has nice SSAO if you have a good gfx card. But then I would prefer the 360 version as I only have a 360 and a lowly laptop PC at home and I haven’t played it through fully on PS3 yet.

We are also starting to get some reviews in. Metacritic has a couple for each platform already logged. Looks like the average rating will be around 80/100. The Darkness ended up just above that and the original Riddick got around 90/100.

Actually I really think that some reviewers really missed the point of The Darkness and expected a straight shooter - hence it some pretty bad reviews. Can’t please everyone.

I think that gameplay wise I personally prefer The Darkness over Dark Athena for most of the time. Having said that though Dark Athena does have some really excellent moments in it and I really enjoyed playing the final build so maybe it is a close call for me.

http://www.starbreeze.com/news/pressrelease_090202.aspx
http://kotaku.com/5144252/ea-gets-ludlum-starbreeze-does-bourne
http://kotaku.com/5144914/ludlum-rep-says-jason-bourne-in-the-hands-of-grown-ups-now
http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/ea-and-starbreeze-game-is-bourne
http://www.shacknews.com/laryn.x?story=57032
http://uk.gamespot.com/xbox360/action/robertludlumsthebourneconspiracy/news.html?sid=6203972

Also as was pointed out on Gamespot this Bourne title is not the previously mentioned RedLime project that is also in development at Sbz with EA.

In more personal news this means that I will be employed for a bit longer. :)

Damn foggy, but cool.

And from the Starbreeze office balcony looking towards Uppsala Cathedral…

(Watch the HD version, dammit!)

So, the next Starbreeze game is almost on the shelves! “The Chronicles Of Riddick: Dark Athena” is being readied for a release in Q1 2009 and after a change in publisher (Vivendi -> Atari) the publicity machine is firing up with the initial offering of the above debut trailer. It’s not long been available on Game Trailers but already we are over 100,000 views and have hundreds of great comments from fans.It’s always busy for everyone at the end of a project but getting the kind of positive feedback that we have gotten always helps to keep everyone going.

I’m sorely tempted to fire up my 360 dev-kit and play it now but I’m going to resist until I actually get my hands on a final, shipped, boxed copy. That’s much more satisfying :).

For what was originally planned as more of a remake than a complete new game the final result is something much more. The original game is present and correct (with much pimping) plus a new ~10hr campaign plus some great new multiplayer modes - so hopefully there is something for everyone. The original Riddick game was one of the reasons I joined Starbreeze so it has been pretty cool to go back and revisit that whole world.

In other Sbz news I’m now officially “Lead Engine Tools Programmer” (previously I was the “Only Engine Tools Programmer” :) ) and I’ve spent the last year building a tools team. We’re up to 4 now (including myself) with a fifth coming in the new year. Although building a new development team can be quite stressful at times things are working out well. We are trying to balance maintaining existing technology vs creating new technology and after a few false starts I think that we will very shortly have found the perfect balance.

It feels like I’ve been out of contact with pretty much everyone the past 6 months or so but I’m going to try to finally get around to replying to everyone’s emails etc… Real Soon Now. I promise!

Watching Matrix play Guitar Hero reminded me to listen to a CD I ordered a while back but that only arrived recently: Guitar Wolf – “Golden Black – The Best Of…”

Oh My God.

Why didn’t I listen to this sooner?

For those who don’t know much Japanese music Guitar Wolf are a fairly old Japanese “Jet Rock ‘n’ Roll” (to use their own term) band. I’ve known about them for ages but just never got around to listening to them.

Their music is insane. Basically it’s one or a couple of dudes with a raw Japanese voice screaming over two guitars, a bass and some drums. All recorded in the studio and mixed (from what I can tell) to sound like it is a shit bootleg. It has a 50s vibe in places, a Ramones thing on some tracks and is definitely Japanese. Their lyrics however are truly awesome in their simplicity:

(Translated from Japanese in places)
First verse from “Missile Me”:

Missile me with the missile rock
Baby Missile Me
Inject the explosion shock in my head
Baby Missile Me
Missile Me Missile You Missile Me Missile You
Missile Me Missile You
Fuck You

And the brilliant Murder By Rock ‘n Roll (whole song):

Rock ‘n Roll Rock ‘n Roll
Rock ‘n Roll Rock ‘n Roll
Murder by Rock ‘n Roll

!!

I’m so sad that I missed their gig at Debasser the other week. Something like this would be truly amazing to see live! If someone knows a good club that is known to play their music I will definitely be there! I am sure that it is eminently danceable (possibly when sufficiently drunk).

For anyone interested Guitar Wolf is actually fairly easy to buy from online music stores.

(HD Version)

So, The Darkness has been released for about a week now (at least in the US) and from the look of the review scores and best seller lists it is doing great! Everyone at work is relieved that it is now finally out the door and is so well received. Although I came to Starbreeze quite late in it’s development I hope that my last minute efforts helped some way in getting this game out and I am very pleased to see it “in the wild”!

• The Darkness is No.2 in the UK sales charts (Via Kotaku - Under Harry Potter that was released one day earlier and on multiple platforms against The Darkness’ 360-only debut!)
• The Darkness (XBox 360) on MetaCritic
• The Darkness (PS3) on MetaCritic
• The Darkness (XBox 360) on Gamespot

The Darkness TV Ad:

In the last 11 months…

…I met some guys from Starbreeze Studios in a bar after a games development conference and was offered an interview and then a job.

…I became Starbreeze’s new (and currently only) “Engine Tools Programmer” and get to develop and improve tools that are used to create games such as The Darkness and Dark Athena!

…Karin and I bought a fantastic appartment in Uppsala!

…My Sister spent 10 weeks in the USA and covered SxSW.

…There were two deaths in my family. My Mother’s Mother (mormor) and my Father’s Father (farfar) both passed away recently.

So there have been alot of mixed emotions recently as the very sudden death of my Nana has been hard for all of my family to come to terms with. Being part of such a close family and being so far away from everyone makes things hard sometimes - But that’s the way life goes sometimes and without both positive and negative changes we would not appreciate what we do have even half as much. And I really do appreciate everything that I have right now.

For some reason I have been dreading making this first new post here, but now that it is done I am looking forward to resuming a regular service here. It is good to be back!

It’s 3:14 AM so let’s get it on…

Because the nature of my project is very technical it is incredibly hard to explain it to anyone who does not have a similar background to myself. I can show people things but all people see is the icing - the superficial end product of my work and not the internal workings. This is not uncommon of course - when I look at a painting I see the picture and not the detailed brush work required to paint the picture because I am not an artist. Everything I have ever done has been like this and it does not present a problem for me most of the time. This project has been my longest to date and in the final weeks/months I am beginning to question exactly what I expect to feel like when the project is complete.

Obviously the people in the games industry I demo my work to will understand the nature of it (they better, the bastards), but that is the point of my work - to get me the kind of job I would like to do. But what of my other friends and family? To be honest my family and close friends already have an understanding better than what you would perhaps expect. They are the people who are there when I get in a bad mood because things aren’t going well. They are the people I get drunk with when I have to let off some steam. They have provided the support I have needed, in a variety of ways, to continue working on my project and of course I am grateful to them all. But what about when I finish that final line of code and show it to someone for the first time? What reaction am I expecting? “That’s nice.”, “Cool!”, “Is that a bug?”, “Why didn’t you…”. In an ideal world I would just sigh, turn around and continue smoking my self-congratulatory 2ft cuban cigar (no, there is no metaphore there(!)). Screw it. Who cares?

I am a strong believer in believing whatever you have to, to do what you have to do. But that only works if you are introspective enough as to not kid yourself over the worth (in any measure) of what you do. And worth is relative. That is the crux of the matter. Because a path is of a high value to you, does it mean that you should follow it? Only when the guilt of taking the path is below a level your concsience can deal with? Why is there guilt? Could you be doing something “better” (in whatever way)? Guilt implies your own view of another point of view, whose? Those who disagree with the path or those who are supportive of the path?

I guess that I feel guilt for not taking the various jobs I have been offered these last few years. For working myself hard and letting it consume me to the sometime detriment of those around me, and for running the risk of repeating the mistakes of my youth (not that I’m out of youth yet!).
But you know what? I think I can live with that. I know that this will not last for ever. I know the point when I finish the final line of code will come. And I’m a bit of a bastard. But that’s cool. So is everyone else…

Anyway, I have managed to get some work done since returning and I did some good work in the UK. My trip to the UK was great as always. My parent’s new house is fantastic and I am really happy for them. I spent some time in Reading as well and had some fun nights out in London. I also managed to see most of my family which was nice as it is hard living in another country sometimes when you have a close family.

It was nice to return home however and Karin and I were glad to see each other. I got through security control without too much trouble this time - even though my passport got ripped at Heathrow…
I aplogise (once again) to those people who I didn’t get a chance to see in the UK, and to those who I have not yet contacted since my return to Sweden. I will be resuming full communications in a day or two provided I start to feel better.