.
>> Welcome back to
PlayStation.
Live from E3, I'm here with
Chris from Polyarc and we
literally just played the VR
demo for Moss, and I have to
say I absolutely love it.
It was so delightful and a
little bit more challenging
than I thought it was going to
be.
What was your experience?
>> Yeah. Indeed.
I have tons of impressions,
and I could fill this whole
segment just talking about how
much I love playing Moss.
>> Thank you.
>> Awesome.
>> But I think we should talk
a little bit.
Do you want to give us a quick
overview for anyone who see
has seen the trailer yet.
What exactly is Moss?
.
>> So Moss is the story of the
hero quickly.
You take the role of the
reader.
You read the books in the
library and then it transports
you into the world, and then
you join her on her
adventure.
>> Awesome.
Yeah.
And when you say you're the
reader, and you read the book,
the demo literally opened with
you using the dualshock 4
turning the page and turning
the page, and then it brings
you in, and you kind of get to
the whole platforming
experience, which is the could
I of the crux of --
>> Absolutely.
>> And it's a great cue
because the page lights up as
you get closer to it.
Which as you play the demo as
you're going through, that
gives you the clues to know,
like, what you should be
interacting with.
It also felt really natural.
How did you go about designing
the game around using the
dualshock?
Because it was seamless the
way you use the buttons and
the sticks.
>> Thank you.
It was actually a result of
many, many user tests.
We have -- we're a small
studio.
And even in our small size, we
have multiple play test
rooms.
And for everything we do, we
go through iteration after
iteration.
Probably just one of the
interactions where you're
turning an object around, we
might have tweaked it 20 times
before we finished it.
And the rules for this medium
that we're working on are
still being written, so we
don't have anything we can
fall back on.
We just have to try.
We have to test it over and
over and over again and keep
asking ourselves the same
question and keep asking our
players the same question,
which is what about that
didn't work?
What about that pinged your
brain and pulled you out of
the experience?
And if we can fix all of those
and then apply good,
fundamental game design to the
rest, then we should end up
with something good.
>> Yeah. So this plays like
a -- at its basis level, this
plays like a platformer.
Kind of, you know, hack and
slashy.
You have a sword, and you go
and fight things and smash
pots and stuff and jump on
ledges across chasms and
stuff.
But then you introduce an
interesting wrinkle where you
go out and grab things with
the Dualshock controller, you
have this orb that you can
grab things.
And controlling quill with the
left stick and the buttons to
navigate these rooms and
everything.
How much of a challenge was it
to kind of teeter-totter
between direct control and the
more environmental
manipulation?
>> We find that it's actually
the most exciting parts of
playing Moss is when you have
that back and forth
interaction.
When you have to take a part
in the adventure, you reach in
and solve maybe one part of
the puzzle, and then you need
to control quill and guide her
to solve another part of the
puzzle.
And then maybe both in tandem
solve the final piece, and we
that find really exciting.
And that's when all the magic
comes together.
>> Yeah.
>> That's actually one of the
challenges of the design too.
Making sure when we switch
back and forth, we don't
overwhelm the player.
So we'll do sections for
each.
And then only on occasion when
we really want to amp it up do
we make you do both at the
same time.
But it will be totally
overwhelming if we had you do
that all the time.
>> Yeah.
>> Now, what I find really
interesting is so many VR
games, it's first person.
And with quill, you're kind
of, like, you're in it, and
you see yourself, you see your
reflection in the water, but
really, you're approaching it
from a third-person
perspective.
That was your idea in the
beginning?
Or maybe you thought nope,
we're going to do it third
person?
>> Well, we came out with the
primary principles of what we
thought would be a good VR
game, which is making people
comfortable and utilizing the
physical interaction.
It's really compelling to
reach and grab and move
things, and we really wanted
to emphasize that.
So we knew that was going to
be key that you were going to
reach in, you were going to
have a sense of place and be
in this place that you're
really altering with your
motions.
And we needed a tiny character
that I guess we shouldn't say
needed.
We wanted to have a tiny
character that you brought
in.
>> It could have been a
massive character.
>> Yeah. It could have been.
>> Could have been.
>> But it was actually
important that the character
was small enough that you
could reach across the
meaningful play area.
So that's where quill came
from, and that's where the
game design came from.
>> The environments are so
lush.
Even having the headphones on,
you can hear the creatures.
And as you open the book, it
gets stronger and louder.
And then the struggling sounds
as she's getting up on the
ledge.
The sound design is really,
really well done.
>> Yeah. We found that all of
the same things that are
important in flat screen games
still matter.
But the kind of the balance of
how much they're important has
shifted, and we found that
while sound design and
animation were always
important, always, they're
even more important now
because those get to the root
of your brain down at that
part that allows you to
believe that it's real or not,
so that was very intentional
that all of that audio makes
you feel really immersed.
>> On the screen, it looks
like a beautiful game, but
it's really taken to the next
level when you strap on the
headset, and you're in there
and surrounded by all of these
lush trees and the amazing
statues that you guys have put
so much work into details and
even the darkroom that we see
at the end of the demo and
everything.
It's all so impressive.
Especially in VR.
How has it been trying to
design these environments in
VR?
Have you faced any interesting
challenges, like, in terms of
how far do we draw out and
stuff like that?
>> Absolutely.
There are -- I mean, we are
faced with a lot of challenges
in this new medium.
But it's also equally exciting
to explore and create
something and then minutes
later be inside of it.
>> Yeah.
>> To play on the players'
emotions a little bit.
What part of the tale is quill
on?
Is she in a happy place or a
dark, scary place?
And making a nice, warm
environment where the sun's
beaming in and quill's there,
and you're there, and you have
a moment to kind of breathe,
it's really nice to kind of,
like -- all the warm lighting,
all the, like, nice sounds and
all the, like, pleasant
animations that our team make
really play on those
emotions.
And when you in turn go to
somewhere that's maybe a
darker part of the story,
taking you deep down into some
ruins and, like, really
playing on the coolness of it,
you can actually feel like
you're a little bit colder,
even though you are in your
virtual reality headset.
>> Has that effect.
You can trick your brain.
>> There better not be any
time trials in this game
because I already caught
myself going, like, woe.
Look at everything.
You have so much to take in.
>> Yeah. We definitely want
you to feel comfortable, and
we want you to be in there
with quill and go on that
adventure.
>> There was the
second-to-last room that we
were in the demo where we
played where there was
actually a fairly involved
puzzle where you had to spin a
thing around, take control of
a beetle, have it stand on a
switch, all of that stuff.
And I got stuck for a little
while.
And one thing I love that you
guys tucked in here is -- so
I'm a sucker for idle
animations, and I've talked
about this at length before.
This is a new take on a idle
animation where quill actually
looked up at me and said,
like -- and kind of, like,
motioned what she wanted me to
do. Like, she had figured it
out, and she was trying to
conhave a to me, like, you
should do that over there, and
then I'll be able to jump over
here.
So cool.
>> Yeah.
>> Yeah. We really want to
make sure that she has
agency.
And it's very easy to rob her
of the agency if all of the
focus is around giving her
input and guiding her.
So for every moment possible
without breaking the game play
itself, we want to give her
own life, and it's a double
win because it makes her alive
and real and gives her
personality, and it turned
into our hint system.
So when you need help, we can
check and see, and then she
can help you out.
>> Nice.
>> She definitely had her own
personality.
I caught myself in the game,
like, come on girl.
Good, girl.
Like she was one of my puppies
at home or something like
that.
I felt instantly connected to
her as a character on a very
warm and familiar level.
And only playing that demo,
which is 15 minutes?
>> Yeah, 10, 15-minute demo.
>> I find I had that feeling
that she was one of my pets at
home.
A very heart-warming
connection.
>> Yeah. It's our favorite
reaction when someone plays
and talks to her.
Because if you think about it,
you're the one guiding, and
you're sort of talking to
yourself.
>> Right.
>> But --
>> I do it all the time.
It's totally fine.
>> My favorite part of the
whole demo was at the very
end.
After solving that puzzle,
quill walks into a very big,
darkroom, and it's kind of
scary.
But she kind of looks over her
shoulder and looks up at you,
and kind of, like, we got this
and pulls her sword out.
And it's, like, yeah. Let's
do this.
Come on, quill, we can do it.
So cool.
I love little details like
that that make you feel just
so attached to a character.
>> Yeah. We're really excited
to tell this journey, and
we're really excited to share
the relationship that you'll
gain with quill.
>> Yeah.
>> At first, you're
strangers.
And maybe she's not so sure of
you.
You might be a little bit
frightening to her.
But over time, you guys build
this bond and become best
friends, hopefully.
>> Love it.
>> All right. Guys, well,
thank you so much for being on
the show.
Thank you for letting us do a
little VR demo before we even
got here.
It's so hard with VR when
you're trying to explain,
like, what it is and be able
to experience it and then come
out here and share that with
all of you guys.
It was really, really
awesome.
>> Don't sleep on this one.
Moss looks fantastic.
I'm impressed.
>> Thank you so much.
>> All right. Guys, well,
stick around because we have a
lot more coming here from the
live PlayStation at E3, so
stick around, we'll be right
back.
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