New Stanley Parable Website!
We've just launched stanleyparable.com! This is where from now on all Stanley Parable related news will go, including the Helpful Development Showcases. Galactic Cafe will be for my personal blog and for any information about other projects.
That is....the end of the information I have for this announcement! Please: go about your day!
Content Complete pt. 1
To figure out how much development is left on Stanley Parable, we recently broke the entire game down into five major chunks and began the process of content locking each of those chunks. The idea is to get each one exactly to where we would be happy releasing it, then coming back later for polish if the need be.
Last week we locked down the first of five!
The scope of this game is pretty massive, and most of the heavy lifting is being done by one person. It's taken nearly two years, which is WAY more than I ever imagined I would spend on this thing, but I can finally see the end in sight. We're getting close. Keep in mind we still have quite a bit of work to do, and I can't say exactly when we're planning to be finished, but for the first time in development I actually feel like we're going to release a game. I'm super proud of what we've been doing and I can't wait to show it all to you soon!
</gushing about how awesome you all are for supporting us through this entire development process>
And just to wrap up, here's a little photo of what the office where Stanley works currently looks like:
Stanley Parable Dev Showcase: Pressure
The Stanley Parable Helpful Development Showcase is our way of connecting you to the development of The Stanley Parable by giving you a small look at what's been going on behind the scenes. Each week we'll give you a tiny peek into what it takes to make a game like The Stanley Parable, the creative challenges we come up against in the course of development, and how to not judge yourself as a person for the quality of choices you've made in your own life. These are just a few of the topics we'll cover in this incredibly useful blog series.
This week: How not to give into pressure
As a highly-recognized celebrity game developer, I'm under constant pressure from the people around me to modify and make additions to my game simply to serve their own needs. These are people who think only of themselves and have little or not consideration for Art. They might not even know what Art means!
If you came to this blog to find out what Art means, let me point you to this excerpt from Dictionary.com:
This definition is what I turn to whenever I'm uncertain about the quality of my work. It gives me the strength I need to shoot down other peoples' opinions mercilessly.
Let's look at one example of how I respond to pressure from the public to steer the direction of Stanley Parable one way or the other. Here's a screenshot from the game's Greenlight page:
See how I got all excited and acted as though I was going to use Smithy's idea?
That's because I did. It's in the game.
It's a great idea.
I'm not going to turn down great ideas.
Here's another example of the tough-love attitude you have to take when members of the public try to get their dirty fingers all over your creation.
Obviously this one is also going in.
The guy sounds passionate about squid. Don't you see it in his words? In his words between the words? He isn't just asking me to put squid in the game, he's telling me that for him, squid IS the game. Will he play this game and see anything but squid? Or rather, can he look at a squid and see anything but The Stanley Parable? I can't answer that question, nor do I intend to. All I can do is bring this young boy's dream to life.
Here's another example of a suggestion from the public:
Mr. Foots needs to be in this game.
The Stanley Parable needs Mr. Foots.
Mr. Foots the mathematical wizard, deconstructor of numbers, of the universe. He who sees it from all angles, who can manipulate the fabric of time to his will.
Why is he so tall? Did he choose this height or was it forced on him? Will he ever be shorter? Does he measure himself in inches or in quarter-inches? These are the kinds of unanswerable questions that get to the root of what Stanley Parable is all about.
Mr. Foots is an enigma, he sees without seeing, he knows without knowing. He is everywhere and nowhere. Is it a stretch to say that he IS the stanley parable? No, no it is not. No stretching required.
Hm....
…
…
These suggestions from fans, they're so pure, so genuine...it's like they know my own game better than I do...
Once again, I turn to the public for help:
Slowly, in response to my request for ideas, a cohesive picture of what The Stanley Parable should be begins to emerge:
I include all of these suggestions and more, and already the game feels much more cohesive. I can tell it's coming together now, it's got life to it.
But it's still missing something.
I turn to the only real source of wisdom any of us have in our lives.
Minutes later, I get an email back:
At last, hope! Could this response hold the answers I've been looking for?
Eagerly, I go to Dictionary.com and pull up the definition of Art:
He got me again! I've fallen for that one too many times.
So perhaps all of my questions haven't been answered, but that's okay. Sure, there are times when I'm uncertain of my work and doubtful of my abilities, but it's probably healthy to be at least a little bit skeptical of yourself. Otherwise how would I be able to accept when my work isn't up to par? That's why I keep good friends and community close at hand, to keep me in check and watch my back. It's these friends who guide me ever on that eternal voyage toward completely genuine and intensely vulnerable artistic expression.
I'm gonna go get a picture of Mr. Foots tattooed to my forehead.
The Stanley Parable Dev Showcase: Hidden Meaning
The Stanley Parable Helpful Development Showcase is our way of connecting you to the development of The Stanley Parable by giving you a small look at what's been going on behind the scenes. Each week we'll give you a tiny peek into what it takes to make a game like The Stanley Parable, the creative challenges we come up against in the course of development, and how to not judge yourself as a person for the quality of choices you've made in your own life. These are just a few of the topics we'll cover in this incredibly useful blog series.
Noel I. of Michigan writes:
tits
Unbelievable.
It took a full year and a half, since the original release of The Stanley Parable in 2011, but someone finally got it. Someone finally understands what The Stanley Parable is truly about.
Let me back up and explain, and I'll walk you through the secret meaning behind TSP that Noel has uncovered. This post will contain spoilers for the original Stanley Parable.
Two choices. One will save you, one will kill you.
Or is that the full story?
Because no matter which door you take, there is always death waiting down some corridor, always some gruesome fate toward which the Narrator will guide you. And then, no matter how you die, you are returned to the start. Reborn.
You are a baby, returned to the womb. And when you emerge, what do you find?
Your mother's teats, each one promising you sustenance, nutrition, life.
Or at least, that's how it's supposed to go.
Because in this world, no matter what you choose you are led once again back to the grave. Simply by choosing a door, by drinking the milk from your mother's breasts, you are doomed to die over and over and over again.
Why? Perhaps because her breasts have been corrupted by the influence of the male in this story, the Narrator. Patriarchy oppresses, it denies the woman her say, her role. No matter how she participates in this world, her child is taken from her and condemned to die. Is the Narrator your father? Perpetually attempting to wrest control of the fate of the family away from the mother? I didn't say that, you did.
When you are confronted by the crushers, and a female Narrator steps in to speak, she warns Stanley. She knows the truth, she has seen what society does to women. No matter which door, which breast Stanley chooses, he is doomed. The only option is to leave this world, as she says, “push escape and press quit.”
But is there an escape?
Down one path is a hole in the ground.
Entering into the hole, for the first time, places the Narrator at a distance, he loses his influence. And at the end of a tunnel of blackness you emerge into...
The original office, except with no Narrator. A world without man, without the patriarchal oppression. Here Stanley can once again access the two doors, but he is not forced down either path. Free to choose, to be with his mother, drink her milk, free from society.
The black hole that led to this freedom...was it a vagina? Does escape lie in the female body itself? Again, just repeating your words.
The bookcase doesn't mean anything.
Which door will you choose? And does it matter? Whichever breast you drink the life-restoring milk from, are you not simply choosing your own demise? Are you not just validating the institutionalized oppression of women? Simply by having breasts is it expected that one conform to the rigors of a patriarchal society mired in the inevitability of death and rebirth? The Stanley Parable is all of these questions and none of them, one's eternal struggle against oneself, the ruination of a society internally defiled by its own malicious foundation.
Or to put it into a single, all-encapsulating summation:
tits
Thank you Noel. Thank you for giving me the strength to share what The Stanley Parable is really about. I hope this cleared up any and all confusion.
The Stanley Parable Dev Showcase: Secrets
The Stanley Parable Helpful Development Showcase is our way of connecting you to the development of The Stanley Parable by giving you a small look at what's been going on behind the scenes. Each week we'll give you a tiny peek into what it takes to make a game like The Stanley Parable, the creative challenges we come up against in the course of development, and how to not judge yourself as a person for the quality of choices you've made in your own life. These are just a few of the topics we'll cover in this incredibly useful blog series.
William Pugh is the level designer for The Stanley Parable, he makes the game nice and pretty. Since the very first post on this blog, he has pestered me on a near perpetual basis to allow him to write his own Helpful Development Showcase blog post, and of course I shoot him down every time because which one of us wrote a successful video game oh wait it was me get back to work William.
But this particular week, after what can only be described as a combination of forgetfulness and wilful neglect of my duty as blog writer, William stepped up to the plate and wrote an update. What follows is copied straight out of the document he sent me, I will be press 'publish' without actually looking at what he's written, just to humour him and because why not. This should be fun.
-Davey
Hello my name is William Pugh co-creator of The Stanley Parable: HD Remix, and while Davey Wreden (the other co-creator) is writing these ridiculous blog posts I'm the one who's actually making the game.
Now both you and me know that these "Helpful Development Showcases" don't actually reveal anything about the ACTUAL Stanley Parable game's development process so I'm going to venture off script here and tell you fools about what it's REALLY LIKE TO MAKE A GAME LIKE THE STANLEY PARABLE.
THIS WEEK'S SUBJECT IS: HOW TO HIDE SECRETS IN YOUR GAME WITHOUT TEAM MEMBERS FINDING OUT ABOUT THEM
So you want to put secrets in your game? But your uptight co-workers don't trust your creative instinct and your ability to exercise self restraint? All you need to do is let them experience your brilliance through discovery! Don't tell them you're hiding secrets in their game!
Okay here's an example.
This is the Corridor Ending (which is brand new to the Stanley Parable HD Remix). Davey wrote it so that the player walks down this corridor for ever and the only way for the player to end the game is for him/her to stop walking. This sends some bullshit arty farty message about the nature of struggling against your surroundings and conflict and blah blah blah.
This is not how you make a good video game.
Davey doesn't know this but I have 'enhanced' this ending with a few special touches.
For instance, this is a video of how the ending normally plays.
But did you notice anything other than Davey's questionable choice of background music or his horrible ending concept?
Yes you're right! That green secret wall painting is VERY secretive looking!
Let's have a look at what happens if we play this ending again but after clicking on the secret painting.
Secret signs! Secret music! Secret sound effects!!
That's right - this ending has the signature of a genius all over it, and that signature reads: WILLIAM WAS HERE!!!
Now I hear you thinking - "Man oh man, those secret signs, secret music and secret sound effects showed me a whole new secret world full of secrets!! How can I go back to playing the normal Stanley Parable after that?"
The answer is: YOU CAN'T!!!
That's right - once you click on the secret painting there is no going back.
Every single section of the game will be full of secrets - ONCE YOU GO SECRET YOU NEVER GO BECRET!!
SECRETS!!!!!
SECRETS!!!!!!!!
SECRETSSSS!!!!!!!!!!!!
Thanks for listening.
UPDATE:
Davey here, just finished reading. I'd like to issue a few clarifications.
First, the Corridor Ending is not real. Never in a thousand years would I write something so banal and superficial that doesn't speak to the true nature of struggle and universal indifference that the individual must confront on a daily basis.
Second, let me take this moment to state definitively that The Stanley Parable is NOT a game about secrets, nor do I intend to allow secrets in the final game. I will be going through the game and systematically deleting all of William's hidden “secrets.” He has grossly misrepresented this game's intentions, and that mistake will be reflected in his percentage of revenue share.
Please, please do not let this blog post be a reflection of the true quality of The Stanley Parable.
UPDATE #2:
This is William. The real secret is that I haven't told Davey where all of the actual secrets are hidden. THE STANLEY PARABLE SECRETS FOR PRESIDENT 2013 DON'T STOP BELIEVING.
Stanley Parable Dev Showcase: Emotions
The Stanley Parable Helpful Development Showcase is our way of connecting you to the development of The Stanley Parable by giving you a small look at what's been going on behind the scenes. Each week we'll give you a tiny peek into what it takes to make a game like The Stanley Parable, the creative challenges we come up against in the course of development, and how to not judge yourself as a person for the quality of choices you've made in your own life. These are just a few of the topics we'll cover in this incredibly useful blog series.
This week: Creating games with emotion
Time and time again, people ask me: “Davey...why???”
This is followed by a lot of crying. Then, the person composes themselves, and asks me the second most common question:
“How do you create a game with emotions?”
This is a question that people have been asking ever since video games were first invented in 1993 by Mr. Games. The solution is simple. It's not enough to merely create a game with emotions in it, you have to actually use your emotions to create the game itself.
Let's look at a demonstration of how we are creating the Stanley Parable. I encourage you to follow along at home and try to make a game for yourself using this methodology.
Here is a picture of me at my desk, in front of the game's level editor, ready to do work.
I'm going to start off by feeling ashamed of myself and everything I've ever done in my life.
Already you can see the map starting to come together.
Now I'm going to take a step back weigh my perception of the universe against the infinite collective perception of everyone around me and how by the very nature of not directly experiencing these modes of perception I internalize them as dangerous and frightening, threatening to the identity that I have formed as an individual which allows me to remain shallow and protected in a perpetual bubble of self-inflicted ignorance.
Be careful as you attempt this one at home, if you feel it's too advanced for you there's no shame in waiting until you have more game development experience under your belt.
Eating money, another pretty high-level emotion.
I'm not exactly sure what emotion this is? I don't think there's a word for it yet, I was mostly just improvising.
The map is nearly complete now, don't lose that good energy!
And we're done! That's the creative process! This map is now ready to ship. Be sure to relax and reward yourself for a hard day at work.
After creating a game using this methodology, you should actually feel more deeply in touch with yourself as a person, able to express yourself and demonstrate compassion for others to a depth you never understood before, that kind of nonsense.
And finally, the most important part of making an emotional video game: You get to award yourself The Official Video Games Are Art Developer Awareness Merit Recognition Association Award! This award is a tremendous honor, it adds a commemorative 4 years to your age on all official government documentation, and once a year, you are allowed to steal one item from any store free of repercussions! This year's date will be announced soon, so start thinking about what you will want to steal!
Membership also requires that you print and post this commemorative 10’ x 10’ bumpersticker somewhere on your car, bicycle, or other vehicle: http://www.galactic-cafe.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/bs1.jpg
That’s it! Congratulations on making an emotional video! Art is one of the most cherished elements of human culture. By making a game you have contributed not just to Art, but to Art 2, which is like Art only more emotional.
Go forth my child, and create.
UPDATE:
Shortly after posting this blog, I received an email from Heavy Rain creator, David Cage:
David Cage’s claims are preposterous. Not only is this method not his, it can be found in the appendix of any grade school-level textbook on game design.
I won’t be bullied by David Cage, and I encourage you to join me in this fight. Too many small developers making emotional games have been absorbed into the David Cage empire, and it’s time we stood up for ourselves. Together, we will be stronger than David Cage could ever be.
Demonstrate your support for the No David Cage You Can’t Steal My Technique For Making Emotional Games cause by printing and posting this 10’ x 10’ bumpersticker somewhere on your car, bicycle, or other vehicle: http://www.galactic-cafe.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/bs21.jpg
An Update on the Helpful Development Showcases
So I've been writing the Stanley Parable Helpful Development Showcases once a week for a few months now, and while they've gotten a great response, they are not without a cost. They take time and energy, and I want to make sure that the quality and effectiveness of these posts outweigh the costs of making them.
On a plane recently I began brainstorming new HDS topics, and I found that consistently they were extremely negative! Like, how to abuse your teammates, or how to abuse your fans, or whatever. Eventually I looked down at the paper and wondered what I was doing to myself that I could only think of these kinds of incredibly brutal topics to write about! Perhaps I'm just not having as much fun writing these as I used to?
Either way, I don't think the stress of writing a new installment every week is helping. So I'm going to be cutting back installments of the helpful development showcase to one every two weeks.
I hope this eases the pressure off me and gives me more energy to make these on a consistent basis and have them still be fun and interesting for people, rather than just background noise. And honestly, if I ever think that what I'm making is just garbage, I'll stop writing them all together and not waste either of our time. I want creation and enjoyment of those creations to be fun! If it ever becomes a chore, we'll change things up.
Anyway, thank you for understanding! I want my energy to go only into making cool shit, and I'm still figuring out how to do that. Thank you for riding this roller coaster with me, I have no idea where it's all going and I'm continually excited to find out!
Stanley Parable Dev Showcase: Press
The Stanley Parable Helpful Development Showcase is our way of connecting you to the development of The Stanley Parable by giving you a small look at what's been going on behind the scenes. Each week we'll give you a tiny peek into what it takes to make a game like The Stanley Parable, the creative challenges we come up against in the course of development, and how to not judge yourself as a person for the quality of choices you've made in your own life. These are just a few of the topics we'll cover in this incredibly useful blog series.
This week: Writing to the press
The role of promotion in game develop cannot be understated. Seriously, go ahead, try.
You see? Impossible.
Because marketing is so instrumental in determining the success or failure of your game, it's important to maintain a healthy relationship with members of the press. Creating a personal connection with a journalist can be the difference between your game becoming a huge hit and it being personally responsible for the slaughter of thousands of innocent children in third-world countries.
Let's look at how I handle my relationships with the video game press.
Suppose that I have some new bit of news about the development of the Stanley Parable (I don't. Don't ask). I'm going to offer it to Kirk Hamilton over at Kotaku as an exclusive piece. Offering these kinds of exclusives helps sustain a connection between developer and journalist, it tells them that you believe in what they're doing. Press is about creating that kind of lasting connection.
Before I send this email though, I'm going to do some heavy drinking.
First up is a fifth of Jack Daniels. Not the whole thing obviously, just enough to make it legally inadvisable for me to get into the driver's seat of a car.
Next is most of a bottle of UV, flavored vodka, which is a great way of letting people know that you like to drink but you also have a great personality.
Now we'll get classy. Just a few shots of Balblair, premium single malt scotch whiskey.
One of these, I guess.
Don't even know what this is.
Now let's finish off the JD.
Perfect!
Let's sit down to write this email.
This is the full text of the email I found in my gmail outbox the next morning.
This might be bad for the game's press.
It's time to do some damage control. Kirk is a gentleman, an upstanding and understanding kind of guy. I know that the two of us can talk it out.
Let's write him an email to try to smooth things over and bring him back to our side:
Again, it's all about creating a connection. Now that Kirk thinks I love him, it will be impossible for him not to write some glowing coverage of the Stanley Parable.
Oh! We've gotten an email back from him!
It turns out that Kirk Hamilton's email address is NOT kirk@yahoo.com, so for now, it looks like I'm safe as far as press for Stanley Parable.
But this other guy at kirk@yahoo.com is still a problem. I came on pretty strong in that last email, and now he's probably developing feelings for me. We need to lay this beast to rest as gently as possible.
But he’s still trying to win me back. The next day I get this in my inbox.
You see, he’s playing hard to get, and I’m not falling for it. You had your chance, kirk@yahoo.com, and you blew it. It’s too late now, I’ve deleted him from my email contacts so that I’ll never be able to write him again, never send him my thoughts when I’m lonely, never fill that kirk@yahoo.com-shaped hole in my heart.
Goodbye forever, old friend.
Goodbye.
I love you.
Next week: We get in touch with IGN@yahoo.com
Stanley Parable Dev Showcase: Stalling For Time
Although the weekly Stanley Parable Helpful Development Showcase devblogs are a cherished weekly internet tradition, they are not without a cost. They take time to make! And energy! And when they're really complex, both! So once a month, we'll be Stalling For Time with an update that was just a little bit easier for us to make.
This week, similar to when we did this a month ago, I decided to sit down with William Pugh (the level designer for The Stanley Parable) to talk about life and video games. But what started with a simple inquiry evolved into an examination of our relationship. Sides of one another we didn't even know about were revealed, at least one terribly lie was confessed for the first time, and business transactions were made. It is an intensely erotic* 20 minutes.
You can stream it here:
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Or download it by putting your mouse button right here and clicking.
*it is, in fact, the opposite of erotic.
Stanley Parable Dev Showcase: Payment
The Stanley Parable Helpful Development Showcase is our way of connecting you to the development of The Stanley Parable by giving you a small look at what's been going on behind the scenes. Each week we'll give you a tiny peek into what it takes to make a game like The Stanley Parable, the creative challenges we come up against in the course of development, and how to not judge yourself as a person for the quality of choices you've made in your own life. These are just a few of the topics we'll cover in this incredibly useful blog series.
This week we've got an email from Robert I. of Michigan:
The stanley parable was good but it was too short. I won’t pay for the remake unless it’s longer.
Don’t worry Robert, we’ve got you covered! Here at Galactic Café know that when you spend money on a piece of entertainment you expect to be occupied by that thing for a reasonable amount of time. Besides, if you’re poor why would you want to waste more time playing video games? Get a job, hippie.
This is why I’m pleased to announce that The Stanley Parable: HD Remix will actually scale in length depending on how much money you spend on it!
Let’s look at one example: Suppose that you spend, say, $10 on the game. In that case, the narration in the game might sound something like this:
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Now let’s suppose that you spent $50 on the game! WOAH!! You’re after an experience! Here’s what you can expect that same line of dialogue to sound like.
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You see, the more money you pay the longer the game will take. If you're really loaded, a single playthrough of the game could last years!
Alternatively, you will be able to download the game for free, but that same dialogue will sound like this:
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But of course there's more than one way to affect the game's length. Loaded Lucy who spends generously on the game will find that her character's speed will be adjusted thusly:
Oh, but here's Deadbeat Dana who couldn't contribute more than a dollar. Boo hoo Dana, way to spread the pain around. You'll only get to spend a few minutes playing Stanley Parable because this is how fast your character will move through the game:
Beyond simply affecting the length of the game's play time, we also want to make the game a more pleasant experience for those who pay more money. So if you pay above $20, at random times throughout the game the Narrator will give you compliments! Here is one example of a compliment he might give deliver:
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Another example of a possible compliment:
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Alternatively, if you choose to play the free version of The Stanley Parable, this sound clip will play at random times throughout the game:
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Next week we'll talk about filing receipts from business expenses.
