Remedy Interview in T|Lehti magazine.

Finnish magazine T|Lehti has a interview with Remedy in their latest issue. Unfortunately we don’t have a translation available but instead we do have some scans.

Big thanks to RTsa from the forums.

Update: Rtsa has now posted a translation, which you can view by clicking ‘Read More’. It’s still not complete but he is working on the rest and I’ll update it as more comes.

There’s also some more higher quality scans if you want them in the thread at the official forums.

Update 2: The rest of the translation has now been added.

FRONT
Max Payne’s heir
Remedy’s coders bring Alan Wake alive

PAGE 1
Work’s a game
Playing through a game can take a few days but making one isn’t easy. A big scale game can occupy its makers fully even a few years.

The mood is casual in the lobby of the finnish game developement company, Bugbear. An employee swooshes by with a scooter [it’s not really a scooter, but that’s what an online dictionary gave me..and I’m lazy and can’t think of a better translation :P] You can easily get from the lobby to the firm’s living room, which has an optimal environment for playing games: a few couches, the latest consoles and a huge flat TV.
-We have a gameing evening here once a week, says Jussi Laakkonen, Bugbear’s business [insert a describing word here that says the guy’s in charge/has the responsibility - with the business, that is :|]. In the gaming industry you need to play games to keep up.
The line between a hobby and working is fuzzy in the gaming business. For Bugbear’s as well as for other companies’ employees, playing games and creating them is a job, which has begun from a hobby. In a game developement company playing doesn’t take all the time, though. People work just like elsewhere.
There’s enough work, but going through with a large game project takes a lot of work from dozens of workers.
Before the finished product is in the hands of the consumers, the game goes through a precise process with multiple stages. In many ways it resembles the procedures of the movie business from beginning to the end.

The idea can come from anywhere
When a new game’s developement starts from scratch, you first need to come up with an awesome idea. The project builds on a good and well thought idea.
-The difficulty is similar to that of a novelist, movie maker, a tv serie producer or anyone, who’s in the beginning of creative work. First you need a good idea, says Bugbear’s Jussi Laakkonen.
-When people talk about commercial entertainment, the idea needs to be unique and fresh, but at the same time it needs something familiar. You have to think what makes a game interesting and fun.
In the finnish game developement companies Bugbear and Remedy, coming up with ideas is anyone’s business. Even though some of the personnel focuses fully on coming up with new game ideas, a good supported idea can basically come from anyone.
-Anyone from those in charce to those in consumer support can come up with an idea, says Lasse Seppänen from Remedy Entertainment. Things work the same way at Bugbear.
-Normally when someone throws in ideas, they’re thought upon and one of them is taken further. A good idea can come from anywhere, like someone watches a B class movie and sees something interesting or crazy, Laakkonen explains.

PAGE 2
Game: Alan Wake
Developers: Remedy Entertainment, Finland
Publisher: Microsoft Game Studios
Platform: PC, XBox360
Release: 2007
Main Character: Alan Wake (picture)

PAGE 3
Right from the start you need to get the basics of how the game advances, the plot and the characters. These are in the game’s “High Concept”, a roughly five page written presentation of the game.
-There’s not neccessarily any code or graphics made in the high concept stage. At this point we start testing the idea and if it’s even technically possible to accomplish, so we make a small prototype of the game, Laakkonen says.
The concept stage goes roughly the same way at Remedy.
-One of the programmers might try out something new at this stage. For example, there could be some new rendering technology, which could be used in the game, Seppänen explains.
The ground work must be made well before you can offer a ready idea to the funders. In the gaming industry the developers get their funds from publishers.
-The diamond must first be made perfect before it can be offered onwards. The situation is kind of like in the movie business, where the funders need to be assured that this is the next Star Wars, Jussi Laakkonen describes.

Testing and building tools
When the idea has been sold, the developers move to more detailed planning. In the pre-production stage the game mechanics are defined more precisely and the game is planned from all sides. [Meh, my English skillz0rz aren’t as good as I’d like them to be ] At this stage a lot of tests are performed as well as new tools are developed.
Lasse Seppänen describes this with Remedy’s latest game project, Alan Wake:
-In pre production we go deeper than in the concept stage. For example, we figure out how many different cars we need in this game and what they’re like. You need tools and techniques in game making and those require tools and testing. The game world is so big in Alan Wake, that good tools are neccessary. You can paint the world just like that, a mountain there and some forest there, without specifically having to place every object.
Next the content making itself can start.

Lots of people working in the production stage
When you get to the production itself in game making, the need for workforce goes up to its peak. In a large scale game project you need a lot of project workers and outside service providers [eh, probably a bit wrong word, but the point is that you need people, that aren’t working on the company full time] apart from the game house’s own employees, because not everything can (and should) be focused on inside the company.
-We’ve for example ordered car modeling from elsewhere, because there are experts out there. Some of the characters can also be ordered from a firm, which has specialized in them. In the production stage you need a lot of people, who focus on the details, Seppänen [Remedy!] explains.
Using freelancers and buying outside services is a growing trend in the game making industry. Bought services have also been a help in Bugbear’s projects.
-Projects begin to be so massive, that there can be work for dozens of graphics producers [as in..people :p] in the production stage, Laakkonen says.
After the production stage the most time consuming and resource hungry part is behind.

The product is finished
The post production stage’s job is to make sure the quality is there. At this stage the amount of people working on the game has been reduced.
-In the end you find and fix bugs and optimize game code and so the game slowly comes nearer to being ready, Laakkonen says.
The game also has to be played, so you see what the result looks like.
-Alan Wake’s publisher Microsoft is pretty known for testing playability. They have a habit of bringing lots of people to play and analyze the game. If something comes up, changes can still be made, Seppänen says.
As a whole, the amount of time consumed to make a game is measured in years. The amount of effort put in it depends on the time as well as the resources available. For example, the making of Max Payne took four and a half years, during which it was a full time job for its makers. The sequel was done in two years.

The gaming industry requires feeling [attitude?]
Even in the world’s scale the Finnish game houses provide quality know how, but what’s the reason for that?
-In the Finnish game industry everyone, who’s someone comes from hobby circles [eh, yeah]. Firms have a lot of demo scenes, Jussi Laakkonen explains.
Laakkonen says that the most important thing is passion towards games.
-To be able to do cool stuff is really important to many. These guys do their own things and really enjoy making games and figuring out new things.
The gaming industry is employing more and more people. A lot of technical university students [like me, woohoo :D], whose studies are still unfinished work with games. Education is a good thing, but not a necessity. Both Laakkonen and Seppänen guess that the importance of education will grow in the future.
-Talent started this industry, but when it evolves, education’s importance grows too. In a university the raw talent can be made into professionalism. Studying can, for example, improve leading skills, but the basics have to be learned yourself. That’s why the joy of making and self improvement are crucial, Laakkonen explains.