No Glitch Required: An Interview With Juggernaut Games About Avatar Flight
by NorseGamer, HSM Editor-in-Chief
Sometimes, smaller is bigger.
By now, you’ve read BONZO’s HSM interview with Juggernaut Games about their new estate and clubhouse, the Palace of the Seven Winds. By any measurement, this estate is a masterpiece. For years, we have contended that virtual worlds do not need to conform to the rules of our physical universe – indeed, it can be argued that half the fun of virtual reality lies in doing things that are impossible – and it is only now that we are starting to really see innovation on this front in Home.
The Palace is also quite a bold move. Given America’s protracted tensions with multiple middle-Eastern and north African cultures, there’s a level of cultural paranoia not seen since the days of Senator McCarthy and the Red Scare. One need only examine the recent incident involving Michele Bachmann accusing Huma Abedin of being involved in a Muslim Brotherhood conspiracy to infiltrate the U.S. government as an example of this.
It would have been the more conservative route for Juggernaut to create an estate which “safely” appealed to a western-world consumer mentality. The fault, here, however, is that of cultural ignorance; “Muslim” and “Arab” are not, by any stretch, automatically synonymous, nor does all Arabic myth stem from Islam. The concept of djinns, for instance, is older than Islam itself.
Will cultural ignorance hurt the Palace’s sales? Hopefully not; that would, indeed, be a very sad commentary on the Home consumer. We personally believe, here at HomeStation, that the estate will sell quite well – particularly in its clubhouse variant.
The other story, however – the smaller story – is possibly the bigger one:
The ability to fly.
For as long as Home has existed, our avatars have been limited to a specific menu of gesticulations and dances. A prior core update introduced emotional states with a wider array of facial expressions, but that’s about it. In terms of the physics of avatar movement, there’s been very little innovation; only Hellfire Games’ antigravity simulator, along with swimming emotes from Lockwood and Granzella, as well as the new Locomotion movements from nDreams, have pushed the envelope. The catch, of course, is that these specialized movements were limited to specific (and proprietary) areas, or limited in some regard (Locomotion has no altitude variance, for rather obvious reasons which have nothing to do with nDreams); who would be the first to break the Home community out of this cage?
Yeah, it was Juggernaut.
At this point, is it really any surprise? It was Juggernaut who created the MiniBots Battlebox, a triumph of microprogramming that somehow shoehorned an entire third-person shooter into an active item that could be placed inside any estate. It was Juggernaut that gave us the Cutteridge Estate, which pushed the limits with sound design and interactive elements. And now it is Juggernaut which has brought the community virtual commodities which allow the user a variety of new interactive elements which can be used in any personal estate desired – including the ability to fly.
And – get this – the active items which power these new abilities have a very small footprint. The old days of an active item taking up 22 slots are gone, and Juggernaut has once again managed to somehow cram volumes of code into items that take up only a small fraction of that total.
If we may be permitted a Top Gear analogy for a moment, Juggernaut’s a bit like Alfa Romeo: you don’t really hear that much about them on a consistent basis, the way you do with larger developers, but their products are absolutely sublime. Just as no other car quite feels like an Alfa, so there’s no other developer in Home which seems to be so eerily good at going outside the box and finding unique ways to deliver oft-requested experiences.
We discussed these new “elemental essence” active items with Juggernaut’s George Cochrane, to get a better sense of the thought process behind them.
Q: Let’s start with the most obvious question: the ability to fly. Is this product an offshoot of the new tools provided by Home 1.7, or does it pre-date that core update?
A: Actually, the Palace of the Seven Winds content was already in QA when the 1.7 update was released! Flight has been possible for a while, at least within a private space or clubhouse, but we thought that the ability to fly with a profiled active would be a hit with Home, so we went for it. One of the main challenges with the Palace was creating a space large enough within the resources of a personal estate to make flying as enjoyable as it should be. Once we felt we’d nailed the sense of movement with the Palace flying, we worked on crunching it down to fit in an active item.
Q: Where did the impetus for this idea come from? It seems so head-smackingly obvious that it’s astonishing no one came up with it until now.
A: I agree it does seem obvious. Its been added to a lot of MMO and online games in recent years in some form or another, and has been very positively received as a great addition to many games. Ultimately, virtual worlds such as Home allow us access to a realm where we don’t need to be constrained by the laws of physics, so why limit movement to a walk or a run? Its very freeing to be able to actually move in such an unconstrained manner. We wanted to do a space that involved magic and we though free flight would be a great addition.
Q: Since this isn’t limited to just a Juggernaut property, were there any complications getting avatar flight through QA?
A: Yes, as many of you are no doubt aware, we did run into some last minute QA issues. To be honest, we had some expectation early on that we might run into problems, as we can’t test our content in another developer’s spaces. There are different types of collision in Home, and we were concerned that some spaces might not be built in a way that was compatible with flight. At the end of our QA period, we found out that there were actually issues in some personal spaces that allowed users to get well outside the bounds of the desired areas, and the release was delayed. Luckily, we were able to find a way to work around the problem pretty quickly and now the Essence is ready to go!
Q: Although glitching is slowly being patched in order to make Home more robust and stable, there is little question that glitching still has a number of active enthusiasts, and will almost certainly boost sales of this item as a result. Was this particular sub-community factored into the sales projections for this item when it was determined to commit the necessary cost and resources to its development?
A: Our main focus was in creating a fun and fast mode of avatar movement that could be used in any personal space or clubhouse, and let users get a different perspective on their spaces. If anything, we were excited about the possibilities it could open up for the Home machinima community, but we hope all Home users find some creative uses for the Essence.
Q: Take us through the technical hurdles of creating avatar flight. Whereas normal avatar locomotion is two-dimensional, relying on the environment for changes in elevation, this is a three-dimensional navigation interface. As there’s really no direct template for this sort of avatar movement in Home, walk us through the process it took to create avatar flight.
Early avatar flight test results required more test results.
A: There were quite a few iterations. The difficulty with something like this is creating controls that feel natural. You have to get the right amount of speed, glide and float to make it feel comfortable and enjoyable for the user. Our approach was just to test it constantly, get feedback from the entire team and then refine, and repeat that process until we all felt that the movement was perfect.
Q: Juggernaut has a tendency to comparatively underprice its virtual goods; in a marketplace where an estate like Cutteridge or the Palace could command a ten-dollar price tag, they are markedly less expensive. Certainly it can be argued that both the singleplayer and multiplayer versions of the MiniBots were underpriced. And now these “essence” items, which can transform any personal estate and even provide avatar flight, are notably inexpensive. While we have no desire to get into specifics on pricing strategies, it must be asked: why so generous?
A: Its hard to judge exactly what the “right”price is for a virtual item. People generally don’t want to pay $10 or $15 dollars in Home for a personal space when they can buy a game for that amount on Steam or PSN, and we have to be sensitive to that. That said, the work that goes into creating Home spaces is enormous, so developers have to price items accordingly to be cost effective. We always try to price items reasonably, and to offer people more for their money by adding unique interactive features. We also try to offer bundle deals wherever possible, which is a great way of rewarding those who buy and spend more in Home. At the end of the day, someone will feel we’re asking too little, and someone might feel we’re asking too much, and we do our best to aim for the former.
Early attempts at motion-capturing avatar flight (with active companion).
Q: Let’s discuss some of the other active items that are being rolled out along with the Palace. Avatar flight is the most notable, but there’s actually quite a bit more here, starting with the lounger rug. How did you create those poses – motion capture, or using photography as reference?
A: For the Decorative Lounger, we used photographic reference as well as live action reference. Our extremely talented animator can frequently be seen wandering around the office practicing various movements to try and get a feel for how they should be animated. Watching him “flying” was priceless!
Q: The masterstroke here is that the user can opt to hide the rug, which effectively makes any existing bed or sofa an active item. How does it feel to effectively kill – or at least render obsolete – an entire market segment (active beds) with one item?
A: The poses were originally going to be embedded in various locations in the Palace, however it was memory intensive, so we decided to make an active item instead – same functionality, more flexibility. Giving users the power to use their existing items and spaces is something we always try to think about – why force people to use a specific furniture item just because they want to be able to pose their avatar in a different way? As the amount of unique poses that can be fit into an active are limited, we like to think we’ve helped enhance the way different furniture items can be used, rather then making anything obsolete.
Q: The rug’s invisibility will obviously make it an attractive choice for Home machinimists looking to expand avatar versatility onscreen, which should further increase sales. Unintended bonus, or part of the design ideology?
A: Definitely a part of the design. The look of the lounger is tied to Seven Winds, but with the option to hide it, the great poses can be used in a variety of spaces. We’re interested in the types of avatar animations that would be useful to Home machinimists as we move forward and make more content of this type! We’re glad think it was very popular among the fashion photographers of Home also; we think that’s a group that has a limited familiarity with Juggernaut products, since we haven’t done that much with clothing and fashion in the past.
Q: Let’s talk about the lamp which adds foliage to a personal estate. Aside from the obvious savings in inventory slots – since the user doesn’t have to place individual plant items throughout the estate – go over exactly what this item does. How controllable is this foliage explosion? Are there a variety of foliage types and levels of density to choose from, or is it a one-Jumanji-fits-all approach? How widespread is the item’s effect inside a personal estate?
A: The Lamp of the Terra reward randomly spawns 10 tropical plants which can appear anywhere in the player’s apartment. Currently, the lamp just does its thing when you put it down, regardless of the personal space size, but its effect is most noticeable in smaller spaces.
It’s more a fun reward then a functional one, as you can’t control where the explosive plant growth will happen, but it got us thinking about the potential for a controllable flower garden…
Q: Given some of the other products in the lineup, it’s easy to overlook the lamp that sets your avatar on fire. Considering that two of the other lamps affect the setting, why did Juggernaut choose to have this one set your avatar on fire, instead of the surrounding estate?
A: We originally considered an active item that set the apartment on fire, but since we cant affect placed furniture, it didn’t end up looking very convincing. It’s a bit odd for a wall to be on fire and scorching, while the wooden bookshelf that’s resting against it looks just fine. We actually ran into an issue once the lamp went live with it malfunctioning after multiple players activate it, but we’ve got a fix coming for it soon!
Q: We now come, of course, to the Lamp of the Deluge. One of the most frequent user-requested features for personal estates are diurnal controls, which are notoriously difficult to code for due to various technical challenges such as lighting. But now, Juggernaut is giving the user the ability to add weather effects to an estate. What’s the scope of this item? Is it akin to the torrential downpour in the Cutteridge Estate?
A: It is similar to the Cutteridge downpour. We changed the look of it a bit and tuned the sound effects to be less dark and spooky sounding. It’s a relatively large field of rain that should fill up most personal spaces. In some larger spaces you will actually be able to get outside of the raining area, but it seemed better to tune it for the typical personal space size and reduce the number of slots it uses. The other limitation is that since we can’t adjust it specifically to each personal space, its going to be raining all over, inside and out. Its not an ideal solution to the desire for weather controls in spaces, but it will give people the ability to experience rain in a lot of new places. Based on what we have heard so far, people are definitely loving the effect, especially as it can be obtained for free.
Q: Let’s examine the larger picture. With Home 1.7 now deployed, how did these new tools affect the creative process at Juggernaut? It seems fairly evident that these items are a direct response to user-requested features in Home, but were there other sources of inspiration as well? How do you people keep coming up with this level of innovation across such a broad spectrum of products?
A: 1.7 has introduced a number of new tools that should open the way for lots of exciting content. The ability to control avatar movement without having to attach it to a full-body costume will give Home users so many new ways to add variety and customization to their avatar, and it should be exciting to see what’s coming (DANCES)! We are actively working on interesting ways to incorporate this technology into our future releases.
It is this last point which I find particularly exciting; for years, Home users have asked for new gesticulations and dances, and thanks to Home 1.7, developers can now create and sell these as commodities to the Home community. It is entirely feasible that, a year or so from now, users will have as many different choices of emotes as they have wardrobe selections. We can but hope for that day to arrive, and quickly.
Many thanks to George Cochrane and Elena Consacro for helping to bring this story to life. Given Juggernaut’s track record so far, I suspect the only real question is how they’re going to top themselves after this. But since we asked that after Cutteridge, and again after MiniBots, it’s safe to say that they’re already hard at work on their next outside-the-box achievement.
October 9th, 2012 by NorseGamer | 4 comments
NorseGamer is the product manager for LOOT Entertainment at Sony Pictures, as well as the founder and publisher of HomeStation Magazine. Born and raised in Silicon Valley, he holds a B.A. in English/Creative Writing from San Francisco State University and presently lives in Los Angeles. All opinions expressed in HSM are solely his and do not necessarily reflect the views of Sony DADC.
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Lamp of the Deluge works very well in the Meadows and Dolphy spaces. So much fun.
The Seven Winds is so well done that one doesn’t need historical knowledge of the era (area?), One might learn, or I might learn.
The flying though is the highlight of the fun things.
the Deluge Lamp is one of my favorites now.. with the effects it has.. specially for machinima makers
with the avatar flight in a personal/clubhouse space introduced two weeks ago.. this sure now is the big highlight we see on the Home Community.. now everyone is flying, and can see more flying content to come. Can’t wait for the Essence active item.
Superb interview! Thanks Juggernaut.
Who was that masked cat?
@NorseGamer & Juggernaut developer: I bought the biggest package for Seven Winds & am very happy with it. Love the flying! Love the ambiance! And I could go on. However, how do I get the Essence? I knew it wasn’t available when I bought. Now the word seems to be that it is available but where?
Not in my space, or the Open House, (since I don’t have a clubhouse, the Seven Winds skin is moot for this) or any store I can find, including the merchant in my space.
Also, I’m very happy with the lounger. However, some beds have a “frozen” space above and the lounger looks as if it floats. It doesn’t fit some four posters or canopied beds. If the bedding or sofa has a pillow, the lounger doesn’t bend, it slants. None of this matters to me because there are lots of types of furniture. Nevertheless, people should be aware of it because if someone buys it to use on a specific item, they may not be satisfied with the result. Again, I really like it, and the lamps, although quirky, are lots of fun. I’m very happy with my purchase.