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Game on: English prof delves into art of indie video game creation

Adam Hammond

Adam Hammond, of the department of English in the Faculty of Arts & Science, explores the art of making video games by documenting the creation of the indie game, JETT: The Far Shore (photo by Geoffrey Vendeville)

When you play a video game, do you ever stop to think about the work, time and energy that went into creating it? In some cases, a game takes years of imagining, creating, developing and fine-tuning.

Adam Hammond, an associate professor in the University of Toronto's Faculty of Arts & Science鈥檚 department of English sees the beauty of artistic creation in video games and believes it鈥檚 one of the most demanding and challenging art forms today.

Exploring that passion, he鈥檚 written a new book where he shadows the creator of an independent video game called following the path from its inception to launch.

In addition to recounting the at-times tortuous 10-year development of the game, also delves into the history of independent video games and how they relate to other forms of independent art, such as music and literature.

鈥淚t's not a 鈥榟ow to design a video game鈥 book,鈥 says Hammond. 鈥淚t's more about the people and what they go through, and how the act of creating a video game is similar to the act of making any other form of art.鈥

Created by designer Craig Adams (a.k.a. Superbrothers) and programmer Patrick McAllister (a.k.a. Pine Scented), JETT was released in October. In the game, you鈥檙e tasked with scouting a new home for a humanoid people after they鈥檝e destroyed their native planet. However, once on that new world, players must plan their survival while contending with the consequences of environmental destruction.

The inspiration for the book comes in two parts. The first is Hammond鈥檚 love of all things indie.

The Far Shore: Indie Games, Superbrothers, and the Making of Jett by Adam Hammond

鈥淚'm a lifelong fan of independent music,鈥 he says. 鈥淲hen I was a teenager, I was in a punk band. We believed that you have to do things yourself for them to be as ideologically pure as possible, and that any other form of creation is compromised. I never fully abandoned that thinking.鈥

The second source was an indie game called Sword & Sorcery, released in 2011 by Superbrothers. This music-inspired cosmic adventure game was at the forefront of a new era of indie games, and Adams was called a visionary.

鈥淚 had heard about indie games, but I hadn't played one that I liked,鈥 says Hammond. 鈥淏ut I got obsessed with Sword & Sorcery. I don't think I鈥檝e ever liked a video game as much. There's something magical about it.鈥

That adoration led Hammond to invite Adams to speak at one of his classes, which sparked the idea for the book.

鈥淚t was a mind-boggling experience to meet someone who I consider to be a major artist of a new form,鈥 says Hammond. 鈥淗e was telling me everything about his next project 鈥 which at the time was mostly ideas 鈥 but it was extremely interesting. I got totally sucked in.鈥

That was in 2013. And then for years, the game鈥檚 progress slowed to a crawl. In fact, it took another eight years of development before the game was released. Over that time, Hammond only spoke with Adams and McAllister occasionally, sometimes just once a year. There were plenty of highs and lows.

鈥淚ncreasingly, the narrative was not one of, 鈥楬ere are my amazing ideas鈥 but one of, 鈥榃e don't know how we鈥檙e ever going to finish this game,鈥欌 says Hammond.

During this long stretch, Hammond learned about the complex intricacies of video game design.

鈥淵ou have to have music, visual art, moving pictures, you have to have text and you need a story,鈥 he says.

He recalls one discussion about some of the game鈥檚 sounds, in particular sounds for 鈥済round control鈥 鈥 the headquarters for people on their new planet.

鈥淭hey had a spreadsheet of all the sounds they needed for ground control,鈥 says Hammond. 鈥淔or just the sound of a footstep, you have to create the sound of one person's footstep versus another person's because they should be different. And then you have to do the programming to make sure the right sound is triggered at the exact right time. It's just crazy how hard it is to make a game.鈥

Visually, it was just as demanding.

鈥淚magine a space outpost where a character is walking down the hall,鈥 says Hammond. 鈥淚f the person turns around, what does it look like from that perspective? If it's at night, how much light is coming in? What if they turn on the light? These are the things that took them years to figure out.鈥

Eventually, Adams and McAllister realized they needed help. They conceded they needed more people and money, so they worked with Sony and Epic Games to bring the game to fruition. At one point, Hammond guessed there were as many as 30 people working on JETT.

鈥淭hat's what it took to finish the game,鈥 says Hammond, noting both Adams and McAllister were a little disappointed that the game took a 鈥渂ig business鈥 turn and strayed somewhat from its independent roots.

 

 

JETT has had mixed reviews since its launch, which Hammond believes speaks to its independent origins 鈥 because, like any piece of independent art, it鈥檚 not for everyone. 

鈥淏ut I think it's amazing,鈥 says Hammond. 鈥淎 lot of people are still not sure about the game, and I get that. I mean, it takes on about the heaviest themes imaginable 鈥 it's about colonialism and environmental destruction. It鈥檚 not straightforward entertainment. But for me it couldn鈥檛 be more satisfying or timely. And I think it will find its audience eventually.鈥

In the meantime, Hammond feels we鈥檙e embarking on an exciting time in independent video game creation, 鈥渨here new artistic possibilities are opening.鈥

鈥淣ow, small groups of talented people can make games just because they have something they want to express,鈥 says Hammond.

鈥淎nd I think in the next five or 10 years, we're going to start seeing people use the form of the video game for new purposes and that's going to be amazing.鈥

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