Jump to content

Thirty Flights of Loving: Difference between revisions

This is a good article. Click here for more information.
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Browse history interactively
← Previous editNext edit →
Content deleted Content added
VisualWikitext
No edit summary
Line 32: Line 32:
Unlike ''Gravity Bone'', ''Thirty Flights of Loving'' employs [[non-linear storytelling]] in a way that requires the player to piece together the story.<ref name="eurogamer review"/> During gameplay, objectives and guidance are provided through the player's interactions with objects. The player has little control over the game mechanics and is only able to move freely and pick up objects as needed to progress. Several optional actions, such as drinking alcohol, are available at several stages of the game.<ref name="eurogamer review"/>
Unlike ''Gravity Bone'', ''Thirty Flights of Loving'' employs [[non-linear storytelling]] in a way that requires the player to piece together the story.<ref name="eurogamer review"/> During gameplay, objectives and guidance are provided through the player's interactions with objects. The player has little control over the game mechanics and is only able to move freely and pick up objects as needed to progress. Several optional actions, such as drinking alcohol, are available at several stages of the game.<ref name="eurogamer review"/>
{{-}}
{{-}}
== Development ==
[[File:Brendon Chung at GDC 2012.jpg|thumbnail|right|Brendon Chung, developer of ''Thirty Flights of Loving''.]]
[[File:Brendon Chung at GDC 2012.jpg|thumbnail|right|Brendon Chung, developer of ''Thirty Flights of Loving''.]]
⚫
''Thirty Flights of Loving'' was developed by Brendon Chung under his video game studio [[Blendo Games]]. Chung, who worked as a [[Level design#Level designer|level designer]] for [[Pandemic Studios]], has contributed to the development of ''[[Full Spectrum Warrior]]'' and ''[[Lord of the Rings: Conquest]]''. ''Thirty Flights of Loving'' was developed using a modified version of [[id Software]]'s [[id Tech 2]], the [[game engine|graphics engine]] for ''Quake 2'', alongside an add-on named Lazarus.<ref name="gamasutra igf"/> Chung acknowledged that although he has worked with newer, "powerful and flexible" engines, he preferred the older engine because it was released as an [[open source platform]], "so you can redistribute it for free."<ref name="Dev1"/>


⚫
''Thirty Flights of Loving'' was developed by Brendon Chung's video game studio [[Blendo Games]]. Chung, who worked as a [[Level design#Level designer|level designer]] for [[Pandemic Studios]], has contributed to the development of ''[[Full Spectrum Warrior]]'' and ''[[Lord of the Rings: Conquest]]''. ''Thirty Flights of Loving'' was created using a modified version of [[id Software]]'s [[id Tech 2]], the [[game engine|graphics engine]] for ''Quake 2'', alongside an add-on named Lazarus.<ref name="gamasutra igf"/> Chung acknowledged that although he has worked with newer, "powerful and flexible" engines, he preferred the older engine because it was released as an [[open source platform]], "so you can redistribute it for free."<ref name="Dev1"/>
Chung used a diverse set of tools to create the game's elements. [[Blender (software)|Blender]] was picked for the creation of models, while [[Audacity (audio editor)|Audacity]] and [[Adobe Photoshop]] were used for audio and texture work, respectively. Another tool, [[GTKRadiant]], was used to create the game's levels.<ref name="gamasutra igf"/> The main development phase of the game, in which content creation took place, was finished within three months. Several more months were spent polishing the game and fixing [[bug (software)|bugs]]. Multiple existing assets were leveraged from ''Gravity Bone'' to ''Thirty Flights of Loving''.<ref name="gamasutra igf"/>


The game was first conceived as a prototype to ''Gravity Bone'', and was scrapped because it was "too dialogue heavy." However, Chung revived the idea after being contacted by Idle Thumbs to develop a game for their Kickstarter campaign.<ref name="DevComm"/> The main development phase, in which content creation took place, was finished within three months. Several more months were spent polishing the game and fixing [[bug (software)|software bugs]]. Chung brought multiple existing assets from ''Gravity Bone'' to develop ''Thirty Flights of Loving'',<ref name="gamasutra igf"/> and used a diverse set of tools to create the elements of the game. [[Blender (software)|Blender]] was picked for the creation of models, while [[Audacity (audio editor)|Audacity]] and [[Adobe Photoshop]] were used for audio and texture work. Another tool, [[GTKRadiant]], was used to create the game's levels.<ref name="gamasutra igf"/>
⚫
''Thirty Flights of Loving'' includes references to and [[Easter egg (media)|Easter eggs]] from classic cinema, as did ''Gravity Bone''. Films such as ''[[Three Days of the Condor]]'' and ''[[The Conversation]]'', film directors [[Steven Soderbergh]] and [[Quentin Tarantino]], games ''[[Zork]]'' and ''[[Saints Row 3]]'', and animated shows ''[[Animaniacs]]'' and ''[[TaleSpin]]'' are referenced in the campaign.<ref name="rps ref"/> The game incorporates music composed by [[Idle Thumbs]] member [[Chris Remo]].<ref name="1up 2012"/>

Chung developed ''Thirty Flights of Loving''{{'s}} environment as a way to present the criminal nature of the group. He intentionally avoided the use of voiceovers and such, and insead modeled the environment to bridge "the disconnect between the player’s knowledge and the player’s character’s knowledge."<ref name="DevComm"/> Characters Anita and Borges were to be introduced using dialogue, but this was removed. However, they were later replaced with montages after Idle Thumbs' crew expressed concerns that the characters' relationships were unclear.<ref name="DevComm"/> Chung included a system to automate the generation of non-playable characters to replace the process of manually scripting every person in the game. He explained that although it allows characters to "randomly wander near waypoints," the software is "occasionally glitchy and behaves badly around staircases." This automation code was originally developed for a surveillance game prototype "that never panned out."<ref name="DevComm"/>

A first-person meal simulator was designed for ''Thirty Flights of Loving''. The sequence included the main characters "enjoy[ing] street noddles." However, the idea was scrapped and replaced with the motorcycle ride featured in the final version.<ref name="DevComm"/> The gunfight scene portrayed in the game was supposed to have a "musical rhythm," inspired by the film ''Koyaanisqatsi and Baraka''.<ref name="DevComm"/> The last level of the game is modeled from the [[National Museum of Natural History (France)|French National Museum of Natural History]].<ref name="DevComm"/> Chung explained that, when developing levels, he first spends time researching and "learning how things work." He elaborates that researching is important in "how it gives specificity and grounding" to a game.<ref name="DevComm"/> ''Thirty Flights of Loving'' is the seventh "Citizen Abel" game developed by Chung. The first two games were coded in 1999, while the following three were written between 2000 and 2004.<ref name="DevComm"/> The sixth game in the series, ''Gravity Bone'' (2008), became the first to be published.<ref name="DevComm"/>

⚫
''Thirty Flights of Loving'' includes references to and [[Easter egg (media)|Easter eggs]] from classic cinema, as did ''Gravity Bone''. Films such as ''[[Three Days of the Condor]]'' and ''[[The Conversation]]'', film directors [[Steven Soderbergh]] and [[Quentin Tarantino]], games ''[[Zork]]'' and ''[[Saints Row 3]]'', and animated shows ''[[Animaniacs]]'' and ''[[TaleSpin]]'' are referenced in the campaign.<ref name="rps ref"/> The game incorporates music composed by [[Idle Thumbs]] member [[Chris Remo]].<ref name="1up 2012"/> Unlike most of Chung's previous games, ''Thirty Flights of Loving'' was not framed around a certain musical composition.<ref name="DevComm"/>


== Release ==
== Release ==

Revision as of 19:18, 13 January 2014

Thirty Flights of Loving
Developer(s)Blendo Games
Composer(s)Chris Remo
Engineid Tech 2 modified
Platform(s)Microsoft Windows, OS X
ReleaseMicrosoft Windows'OS X'
Genre(s)Interactive fiction
Mode(s)Single-player

Thirty Flights of Loving is a first-person interactive fiction adventure video game developed by Brendon Chung under his studio, Blendo Games. It was released in July 2012 for Microsoft Windows, and in November 2012 for OS X. The game employs a modified version of id Software's id Tech 2 engine—originally used for Quake 2—and incorporates music composed by Idle Thumbs member Chris Remo. It follows three people as they prepare for an alcohol heist and the aftermath of the operation.

The game is a non-direct sequel to Gravity Bone (2008) and features the same main character—an unnamed spy. It was developed as part of the Kickstarter campaign for Idle Thumbs' podcast and offered alongside a free copy of its predecessor. Thirty Flights of Loving received positive reviews from video game journalists, scoring 88 out of 100 on aggregate website Metacritic. A sequel, Quadrilateral Cowboy, is scheduled for 2014.

Gameplay

Thirty Flights uses the same blocky style of art as Gravity Bone. Here, the player and Borges are in their hideout, planning for the heist.

Thirty Flights of Loving is a first-person interactive fiction adventure video game that takes about 15 minutes to complete.[1] The player controls the protagonist of Gravity Bone, an unnamed spy who is taking part in an alcohol smuggling operation. The player works alongside non-playable characters Anita, a demolitions expert, and Borges, a forger.[2] The game follows the group as they prepare for a heist and experience its aftermath. The robbery is omitted from the game, although it is revealed that it went wrong.[2]

Unlike Gravity Bone, Thirty Flights of Loving employs non-linear storytelling in a way that requires the player to piece together the story.[2] During gameplay, objectives and guidance are provided through the player's interactions with objects. The player has little control over the game mechanics and is only able to move freely and pick up objects as needed to progress. Several optional actions, such as drinking alcohol, are available at several stages of the game.[2]

Brendon Chung, developer of Thirty Flights of Loving.

Thirty Flights of Loving was developed by Brendon Chung's video game studio Blendo Games. Chung, who worked as a level designer for Pandemic Studios, has contributed to the development of Full Spectrum Warrior and Lord of the Rings: Conquest. Thirty Flights of Loving was created using a modified version of id Software's id Tech 2, the graphics engine for Quake 2, alongside an add-on named Lazarus.[3] Chung acknowledged that although he has worked with newer, "powerful and flexible" engines, he preferred the older engine because it was released as an open source platform, "so you can redistribute it for free."[4]

The game was first conceived as a prototype to Gravity Bone, and was scrapped because it was "too dialogue heavy." However, Chung revived the idea after being contacted by Idle Thumbs to develop a game for their Kickstarter campaign.[5] The main development phase, in which content creation took place, was finished within three months. Several more months were spent polishing the game and fixing software bugs. Chung brought multiple existing assets from Gravity Bone to develop Thirty Flights of Loving,[3] and used a diverse set of tools to create the elements of the game. Blender was picked for the creation of models, while Audacity and Adobe Photoshop were used for audio and texture work. Another tool, GTKRadiant, was used to create the game's levels.[3]

Chung developed Thirty Flights of Loving's environment as a way to present the criminal nature of the group. He intentionally avoided the use of voiceovers and such, and insead modeled the environment to bridge "the disconnect between the player’s knowledge and the player’s character’s knowledge."[5] Characters Anita and Borges were to be introduced using dialogue, but this was removed. However, they were later replaced with montages after Idle Thumbs' crew expressed concerns that the characters' relationships were unclear.[5] Chung included a system to automate the generation of non-playable characters to replace the process of manually scripting every person in the game. He explained that although it allows characters to "randomly wander near waypoints," the software is "occasionally glitchy and behaves badly around staircases." This automation code was originally developed for a surveillance game prototype "that never panned out."[5]

A first-person meal simulator was designed for Thirty Flights of Loving. The sequence included the main characters "enjoy[ing] street noddles." However, the idea was scrapped and replaced with the motorcycle ride featured in the final version.[5] The gunfight scene portrayed in the game was supposed to have a "musical rhythm," inspired by the film Koyaanisqatsi and Baraka.[5] The last level of the game is modeled from the French National Museum of Natural History.[5] Chung explained that, when developing levels, he first spends time researching and "learning how things work." He elaborates that researching is important in "how it gives specificity and grounding" to a game.[5] Thirty Flights of Loving is the seventh "Citizen Abel" game developed by Chung. The first two games were coded in 1999, while the following three were written between 2000 and 2004.[5] The sixth game in the series, Gravity Bone (2008), became the first to be published.[5]

Thirty Flights of Loving includes references to and Easter eggs from classic cinema, as did Gravity Bone. Films such as Three Days of the Condor and The Conversation, film directors Steven Soderbergh and Quentin Tarantino, games Zork and Saints Row 3, and animated shows Animaniacs and TaleSpin are referenced in the campaign.[6] The game incorporates music composed by Idle Thumbs member Chris Remo.[7] Unlike most of Chung's previous games, Thirty Flights of Loving was not framed around a certain musical composition.[5]

Release

Thirty Flights of Loving was announced in February 2012 as part of the Kickstarter campaign for Idle Thumbs' podcast.[8][9] The Idle Thumbs team talked to Brendon Chung about a possible sequel to Gravity Bone, which was offered as one of the rewards of their Kickstarter campaign.[10] Those who supported the campaign received Thirty Flights of Loving before its official release.[11] They also gained access to an exclusive "Goldblum mode" that was not part of the general release. It replaced the character models with ones resembling actor Jeff Goldblum.[11][12] The game, alongside a free copy of Gravity Bone, was made available to early supporters in July 2012 and to the general public a month later via Steam.[11] A Mac OS X release followed in November 2012.[13]

Reception

Thirty Flights of Loving received positive reviews upon release. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the game received an average score of 88 out of 100, based on 10 reviews.[14] Destructoid's Patrick Hancock awarded the game 9.5 out of 10, stating that "you'll never look at linear storytelling the same way again."[17] Gamespot's Carolyn Petit wrote that "the pleasure of Thirty Flights of Loving emerges from the things left unshown", allowing the player to infer and imagine the events, such as the heist itself, that are not otherwise shown.[18] Graham Smith of PC Gamer extolled the minimalist storytelling, asserting that Thirty Flights of Loving "tells a better story in 13 minutes than most games do in 13 hours".[1]

IGN's Nathan Meunier said the game "gets off to a fascinating start before completely throwing any and all expectations you might form during its first few minutes into the wood chipper."[15] British video game magazine Edge elaborated that Thirty Flights of Loving was "an intriguing psychological thriller that feels like Wes Anderson taking on Hitchcock."[16] The magazine added that the game had an "wonderfully ambiguous" story, crafted thanks to the replacement of dialogs with "artful framing and shrewd gestures, and booting out cutscenes in favour of prickly jump-cuts."[16] Greek magazine PC Master praised the game's storytelling, and stated that Thirty Flights of Loving "attempts to blur the lines between gaming and art."[19] Thirty Flights of Loving was nominated for the Narrative Award at the 2013 Independent Games Festival.[3]

Sequel

Main article: Quadrilateral Cowboy

A sequel to Thirty Flights of Loving, Quadrilateral Cowboy, is being developed by Chung, with an expected release in 2014.[20] The game, though plot-wise not a direct sequel to Gravity Bone or Thirty Flights of Loving, takes place in the same universe. It follows a hacker overseeing several adept agents who have missions to infiltrate buildings and steal documents.[21] Unlike the two preceding games, Quadrilateral Cowboy uses id Software's id Tech 4 engine—originally used for Doom 3. According to Chung, the new engine provides "a lot more modern functionality" than the earlier engine used in the first two games.[22]

References

  1. ^ a b Smith, Graham (March 6, 2012). "Thirty Flights of Loving tells a better story in 13 minutes than most games do in 13 hours". PC Gamer. Future Publishing. Retrieved January 22, 2013.
  2. ^ a b c d e Welsh, Oli (August 23, 2012). "Thirty Flights of Loving Review". Eurogamer. Gamer Network. Retrieved January 30, 2013. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |work= (help)
  3. ^ a b c d Rose, Mike (January 16, 2013). "Road to the IGF: Blendo Games' Thirty Flights of Loving". Gamasutra. Retrieved January 30, 2013.
  4. ^ Chick, Tom (January 1, 2009). "The man behind the strange wonderful world of Gravity Bone". FidGit. Sci Fi. Archived from the original on February 27, 2009. Retrieved November 15, 2012.
  5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Cite error: The named reference DevComm was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  6. ^ Valjalo, David (2013-02-01). "The 27 Homages Of Thirty Flights Of Loving". Rock, Paper, Shotgun. Retrieved 2013-02-01.
  7. ^ Sliva, Marty (December 25, 2012). "1UP's Favorite Games of 2012: Thirty Flights of Loving". 1UP.com. Retrieved January 31, 2013.
  8. ^ Meer, Alec (February 28, 2012). "Gravity Bone's Sequel: Thirty Flights Of Loving". Rock, Paper, Shotgun. Retrieved January 30, 2013.
  9. ^ Hamilton, Kirk (February 28, 2012). "Indie Darling Gravity Bone Gets a Sequel". Kotaku. Allure Media. Retrieved March 8, 2012.
  10. ^ "Thirty Flights of Loving Trailer". Kickstarter. February 28, 2012. Retrieved January 30, 2013.
  11. ^ a b c Sarkar, Samit (August 21, 2012). "'Thirty Flights of Loving' now available, includes 'Gravity Bone'". Polygon. Retrieved January 30, 2013.
  12. ^ Stevens, Ryan (August 11, 2012). "Reset: Thirty Flights of Loving is the Best Cutscene Ever". Game Trailers. Retrieved January 10, 2014.
  13. ^ Hinkle, David (November 14, 2012). "Thirty Flights of Loving now seducing Mac". Joystiq. Retrieved January 31, 2013.
  14. ^ a b "Thirty Flights of Loving". Metacritic. CBS Interactive. Retrieved January 22, 2013. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |work= (help)
  15. ^ a b Meunier, Nathan (August 29, 2012). "Thirty Flights of Loving Review". IGN. J2 Global. Retrieved January 22, 2013. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |work= (help)
  16. ^ a b c "Thirty Flights Of Loving review". Edge. Matthew Pierce. August 28, 2012. Retrieved January 31, 2013.
  17. ^ a b Hancock, Patrick (September 18, 2012). "Review: Thirty Flights of Loving". Destructoid. ModernMethod. Retrieved January 22, 2013. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |work= (help)
  18. ^ Petit, Carolyn (October 9, 2013). "Thirty Flights of Loving: One of the Least Reviewable Games of the Year". GameSpot. CBS Interactive. Retrieved February 5, 2013. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |work= (help)
  19. ^ "Thirty Flights of Loving review". PC Master. Greece. October 2012.
  20. ^ Eppink, Jason (December 7, 2013). "Indie Essentials 25 Must Play Video Games". Moving Image. Retrieved December 8, 2013.
  21. ^ Matulef, Jeffrey (February 6, 2013). "Thirty Flights of Loving dev shows off upcoming cyberpunk game Quadrilateral Cowboy". Eurogamer. Gamer Network. Retrieved February 7, 2013. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |work= (help)
  22. ^ Campbell, Colin (February 4, 2013). "What the Hell is Quadrilateral Cowboy?". IGN. J2 Global. Retrieved February 7, 2013. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |work= (help)
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Thirty_Flights_of_Loving&oldid=590550889"