I Love the Szymanski family's work. You guys make great stuff. It's always nice to hear from others who enjoyed Doom 3. I had to defend the flashlight in many conversations. Thanks for the uploads.
David's QA Associate here : The idea when you return after getting the item in the factory was mine because originally in the Jam version of the game it was basically the same scene, some updates later i noticed David applied the change and i loved it... To me was like a some sort of "artistic vision" that after going through the pony nightmare the player needs to breathe a little bit of colors, closure and approach to the end feeling more comfortable... the colors are in my opinion an expression of peace while giving a last breath until you escape the factory. I had fun with this game, hope all of you did too! hugs for all of you! excelsior!
I made a post about this on the Steam forums, but with the connection to Squirrel Stapler, I like to imagine some sort of epic battle between the squirrels and "God" and Satan and his pony army.
@@eow4317 I recently finished Butcher's Creek and interestingly, it turns out that "God" is actually an exile from Hell. I have no idea how a demon can be exiled from Hell since the game only states that detail in a very matter of fact way without any further elaboration.
My favourite videos of yours are the ones where you showcase the code and behind the scenes of your games, the butcher's creek video makes me feel better about myself. But for real, I like everything you upload, so I'm glad you're back
I played this game back in the day. In my first run I almost reached the end, I got blocked in a narrow corridor between two ponies and without ammo. I never tried again. But thank you very much for sharing this, I always find very interesting to listen to developers talk about their work. It makes me understand better the whole thing of how games are designed and how everything works.
I fell in love with this game and the lighting mechanics the moment I started playing it, so I’m really glad you decided to make this commentary! Can’t wait for the commentaries of your other games!
I'm glad you picked this game first, I've had a soft spot for it ever since the first Dread X Collection. As simple as it is, I really dig its atmosphere and I for one appreciate the silly humor that was added in the notes. Very much looking forward to your commentary on your other games, especially Iron Lung.
Hi, i recently just played Squirrel Stapler and Fingerbones and I enjoyed the both of them. I also played Pony Factory but I didn’t have much fond thoughts for the game like the others. Mostly getting annoyed at dying from cheap shots from the pony demons and the overall frustration I felt fighting the pony boss. As for Squirrel Stapler, I had a much better experience with. Outside from me working with a 1st dimension brain cell and scaring away squirrels and dying to the squirrel bears, I liked the experience. And finally Fingerbones, I loved it. I loved how it didn’t rely on monsters, or cheap jumpscares, or buckets of blood, rather, it relied on telling one of the most disturbing stories I had ever heard. Keep up the good work Dave, I can’t wait for Butcher’s Creek.
Great video, very cool to hear more about the development of this game. If you haven't done a commentary on Squirrel Stapler, please do so I'd love to hear about the choices made there.
I really love this kind of videos, David. I really appreciate you sharing your intentions behind the game and specially the small bit of advice. This is more helpful than you think.
I have idea for a pony factory DLC where everything is rainbow color throughout the entire game and the goal changes to part scavenging game where the whole map is accessible including a bit of the outside and in the end you make some cute like creation with the most obscure and absurd items that could be found in the factory so maybe you would need to kill the pony tank to get the giant skull or something and like when your outside you could see squirrels around and you could activate some secret by shooting or giving something to them
PLEASE DO SQUIRREL STAPLER!!! as someone who's such a huge fan of your game and concepts and wants to be an indie dev someday, I adore listening to this playthrough at work :))) tysm for the video either way!
If that note explaining the weird colors is actually an in-universe justification for everything being in black and white, then it's strange considering its connection to Squirrel Stapler and Butcher's Creek (unless in hindsight, this game doesn't take place in a monochrome dimension and only looks like that to make the colors more alien and otherworldly. I'm thinking about this way too much, but that's what happens when I recently finished Butcher's Creek and am trying to connect the dots with this "Night Fever" trilogy).
Thanks for the cool video! I learned a lot about game development here. …That advice about figuring out what you’re doing with your time makes me wonder if I’m making the right decision with the project I’m doing now, but after all of the people I’ve told about it, and all the times I decided not to give up, I’m not sure if it really can be put aside. I guess it’s more forgiving as a hobby, that way.
Since the theme of the first Dread X Collection was about making a theoretical playable teaser for your dream game, it makes me wonder what a full version (or followup in this case), would've looked like. Though with what we learned in Butcher's Creek, there wouldn't be any story left to tell now that "God" and her meddling squirrels foiled Winston II's plans.
I just wanna say that the visuals are perfect. For what it's going for, I don't think there's anything to improve. And getting some more color at the end is like a bow on top.
Everything in this game screams Fallout New Vegas Old World Blues to me, which I think is great. From the insane and blatant humor, to the grotesque visuals, the gameplay and even kind of the story. If you haven‘t checked it out already I definitely recommend doing so. 👍
Great video! I love the insights into the creative process and why you made certain trade offs. Also loved the bit about squishing barrels and shrinking pipes to make the control boards. If you're open to suggestions for future videos, I'd love one on your process for level design. That's probably the area I struggle most with and your levels always have really good flows where even if they're "linear corridors" the elevation is shifting up and down and there's interesting visual motifs or setdec to spice them up. Do you plan the level out on paper before starting in Unity? Do you plan out specific encounters while you're making the levels or fit encounters to the geometry you came up with already? Any tools you use besides Probuilder? Thanks!
those ranged guys needed an AoE attack like the grunts had grenades. So was the workflow for this level design just "make a maze"? kinda seems like it though i suppose it works
I assume the protagonist of this game was the mysterious scientist from Squirrel Stapler. Update: I didn't know Butcher's Creek was connected too! Oh wait, the store page flat out says this. I guess it was added in later on.
Oh snap! I'll be honest I didn't know the game was out, but I'm 100% buying and trying this game, was following for some time and love the look as well yer other works ^.^
I would love to see you maybe expanding on the core combat principles, as someone who is a fan of Half-Life & Doom 3 (I think the pacing in D3 though suffers a bit from monotonously predictable enemy spawns for most of it in the middle once the demon invasion starts, gets good I think in Delta Labs, but could have used someone like you saying to the devs: "hey, we need to subvert player expectations a bit on occasion or else this will become too routine and subsequently boring") I would be very interested in just having more of this dingily lit claustrophobic arenas fighting HECU/clone trooper like AI from FEAR almost. I was thinking when you talked about players hanging back instead of pushing forward into arenas to exploit environments more and experiencing the AIs abilities to use their space, it could be interesting to see a HL/D3 style game with satisfying (grounded) arenas and enemy AI that runs away and flanks etc, but no health pickups, instead W40K Space Marine/Doom 2016 style glory kills (or maybe just 'boring' health drops from enemies only?) so that that would naturally push the player forward and chase enemies or go to their bodies, maybe same for weapons/ammo, you don't find it in the environment except in a few scripted places where it's needed to set things going, otherwise enemies drop their guns and health on death and that's your primary means of gaining resources back instead of via the usual scavenging (though it would hurt potential exploration sadly, but could be interesting to see if something else could motivate exploration? Permanent passive upgrades? Could be even minuscule, 1-5% max health, melee damage, speed, carry capacity per pickup, I guess FEAR kind of did that as well, could use it more dominantly for exploration while resources is for enemies) People always try to make the pushforward combat for a more arcadey Doom/Quake arena FPS clone, but rarely do you see a Half-Like with more emphasis on NPCs that can utilize their environment more but then the player seems to more naturally fall back to hanging behind corners outside the arenas "tactically" sniping enemies whilst avoiding diving into the space where the AI and potential combat can shine the most. (D3 environments are just sooo good. and love the flashlight dynamic and how most lights came from moving machinery lining walls and ceilings etc, though funnily enough the game actually doesn't have dynamic lights for weapon impacts, it's easy to mod dynamic lights though for bullet impacts etc, maybe was too costly back in 2003 but these days that won't tank fps, complements the visuals well like here in Pony Factory with the glowing sparks and all from shots.)
40:10 I appreciate that Winston had the time to both write "AAAGGGHHHH!!" and still sign the notice
I Love the Szymanski family's work. You guys make great stuff. It's always nice to hear from others who enjoyed Doom 3. I had to defend the flashlight in many conversations. Thanks for the uploads.
good ol' david's "it will probably take x amount of time" and taking pretty much double, love it
Right??? It's a curse lmao
@@duskdev hahaha I'm the same.. so I know how it be lol :D
David's QA Associate here : The idea when you return after getting the item in the factory was mine because originally in the Jam version of the game it was basically the same scene, some updates later i noticed David applied the change and i loved it... To me was like a some sort of "artistic vision" that after going through the pony nightmare the player needs to breathe a little bit of colors, closure and approach to the end feeling more comfortable... the colors are in my opinion an expression of peace while giving a last breath until you escape the factory.
I had fun with this game, hope all of you did too! hugs for all of you! excelsior!
I made a post about this on the Steam forums, but with the connection to Squirrel Stapler, I like to imagine some sort of epic battle between the squirrels and "God" and Satan and his pony army.
OH! I get it now. That’s what the deal with the squirrels was. Thanks!
@@eow4317 I recently finished Butcher's Creek and interestingly, it turns out that "God" is actually an exile from Hell. I have no idea how a demon can be exiled from Hell since the game only states that detail in a very matter of fact way without any further elaboration.
My favourite videos of yours are the ones where you showcase the code and behind the scenes of your games, the butcher's creek video makes me feel better about myself.
But for real, I like everything you upload, so I'm glad you're back
I played this game back in the day. In my first run I almost reached the end, I got blocked in a narrow corridor between two ponies and without ammo. I never tried again. But thank you very much for sharing this, I always find very interesting to listen to developers talk about their work. It makes me understand better the whole thing of how games are designed and how everything works.
I fell in love with this game and the lighting mechanics the moment I started playing it, so I’m really glad you decided to make this commentary! Can’t wait for the commentaries of your other games!
I always like seeing a developers thought process on why they do things in game. Very interesting video.
Its really cool to see a dev doing a commentary on their own game of the making process, great indie dev keep up the good work ❤
I'm glad you picked this game first, I've had a soft spot for it ever since the first Dread X Collection. As simple as it is, I really dig its atmosphere and I for one appreciate the silly humor that was added in the notes. Very much looking forward to your commentary on your other games, especially Iron Lung.
Hi, i recently just played Squirrel Stapler and Fingerbones and I enjoyed the both of them. I also played Pony Factory but I didn’t have much fond thoughts for the game like the others. Mostly getting annoyed at dying from cheap shots from the pony demons and the overall frustration I felt fighting the pony boss. As for Squirrel Stapler, I had a much better experience with. Outside from me working with a 1st dimension brain cell and scaring away squirrels and dying to the squirrel bears, I liked the experience. And finally Fingerbones, I loved it. I loved how it didn’t rely on monsters, or cheap jumpscares, or buckets of blood, rather, it relied on telling one of the most disturbing stories I had ever heard. Keep up the good work Dave, I can’t wait for Butcher’s Creek.
Don't worry, the flaying is whimsical flaying that makes it all ok. *demonic cackle*
Great video, very cool to hear more about the development of this game. If you haven't done a commentary on Squirrel Stapler, please do so I'd love to hear about the choices made there.
Yup if people enjoy this I was planning on doing one for all my games at some point.
I really love this kind of videos, David. I really appreciate you sharing your intentions behind the game and specially the small bit of advice. This is more helpful than you think.
This is literally what I asked for in a previous comment, thanks David!
Massive fan of your work, thank you for what you do!
this was a delight to watch, thank you!
I love you David!!!♥️♥️♥️ Ur a genius, thank u for uploading when u can!
I have idea for a pony factory DLC where everything is rainbow color throughout the entire game and the goal changes to part scavenging game where the whole map is accessible including a bit of the outside and in the end you make some cute like creation with the most obscure and absurd items that could be found in the factory so maybe you would need to kill the pony tank to get the giant skull or something and like when your outside you could see squirrels around and you could activate some secret by shooting or giving something to them
This was great, love videos like these. Would definitely watch more!
Hell yeah, I love Doom 3! Always great to see devs take inspiration from it. Absolutely love your writing too!
PLEASE DO SQUIRREL STAPLER!!! as someone who's such a huge fan of your game and concepts and wants to be an indie dev someday, I adore listening to this playthrough at work :))) tysm for the video either way!
If that note explaining the weird colors is actually an in-universe justification for everything being in black and white, then it's strange considering its connection to Squirrel Stapler and Butcher's Creek (unless in hindsight, this game doesn't take place in a monochrome dimension and only looks like that to make the colors more alien and otherworldly. I'm thinking about this way too much, but that's what happens when I recently finished Butcher's Creek and am trying to connect the dots with this "Night Fever" trilogy).
Thanks for the cool video! I learned a lot about game development here.
…That advice about figuring out what you’re doing with your time makes me wonder if I’m making the right decision with the project I’m doing now, but after all of the people I’ve told about it, and all the times I decided not to give up, I’m not sure if it really can be put aside. I guess it’s more forgiving as a hobby, that way.
Since the theme of the first Dread X Collection was about making a theoretical playable teaser for your dream game, it makes me wonder what a full version (or followup in this case), would've looked like. Though with what we learned in Butcher's Creek, there wouldn't be any story left to tell now that "God" and her meddling squirrels foiled Winston II's plans.
mlp meet the analog horror community
cool stuff and really interesting insights from a dev 😀
I just wanna say that the visuals are perfect. For what it's going for, I don't think there's anything to improve. And getting some more color at the end is like a bow on top.
NEW PUPPY!!!! NEW PUPPY!!!! NEW PUPPY!!!!
Everything in this game screams Fallout New Vegas Old World Blues to me, which I think is great.
From the insane and blatant humor, to the grotesque visuals, the gameplay and even kind of the story.
If you haven‘t checked it out already I definitely recommend doing so. 👍
Great video! I love the insights into the creative process and why you made certain trade offs. Also loved the bit about squishing barrels and shrinking pipes to make the control boards. If you're open to suggestions for future videos, I'd love one on your process for level design. That's probably the area I struggle most with and your levels always have really good flows where even if they're "linear corridors" the elevation is shifting up and down and there's interesting visual motifs or setdec to spice them up. Do you plan the level out on paper before starting in Unity? Do you plan out specific encounters while you're making the levels or fit encounters to the geometry you came up with already? Any tools you use besides Probuilder? Thanks!
those ranged guys needed an AoE attack like the grunts had grenades. So was the workflow for this level design just "make a maze"? kinda seems like it though i suppose it works
I assume the protagonist of this game was the mysterious scientist from Squirrel Stapler.
Update: I didn't know Butcher's Creek was connected too! Oh wait, the store page flat out says this. I guess it was added in later on.
There is a lil bit of pony factory DNA in Dusk
edit: actually there is a LOT
Doom3 gettin’ some proper love… huge win
Oh snap! I'll be honest I didn't know the game was out, but I'm 100% buying and trying this game, was following for some time and love the look as well yer other works ^.^
I would love to see you maybe expanding on the core combat principles, as someone who is a fan of Half-Life & Doom 3 (I think the pacing in D3 though suffers a bit from monotonously predictable enemy spawns for most of it in the middle once the demon invasion starts, gets good I think in Delta Labs, but could have used someone like you saying to the devs: "hey, we need to subvert player expectations a bit on occasion or else this will become too routine and subsequently boring") I would be very interested in just having more of this dingily lit claustrophobic arenas fighting HECU/clone trooper like AI from FEAR almost.
I was thinking when you talked about players hanging back instead of pushing forward into arenas to exploit environments more and experiencing the AIs abilities to use their space, it could be interesting to see a HL/D3 style game with satisfying (grounded) arenas and enemy AI that runs away and flanks etc, but no health pickups, instead W40K Space Marine/Doom 2016 style glory kills (or maybe just 'boring' health drops from enemies only?) so that that would naturally push the player forward and chase enemies or go to their bodies, maybe same for weapons/ammo, you don't find it in the environment except in a few scripted places where it's needed to set things going, otherwise enemies drop their guns and health on death and that's your primary means of gaining resources back instead of via the usual scavenging (though it would hurt potential exploration sadly, but could be interesting to see if something else could motivate exploration? Permanent passive upgrades? Could be even minuscule, 1-5% max health, melee damage, speed, carry capacity per pickup, I guess FEAR kind of did that as well, could use it more dominantly for exploration while resources is for enemies)
People always try to make the pushforward combat for a more arcadey Doom/Quake arena FPS clone, but rarely do you see a Half-Like with more emphasis on NPCs that can utilize their environment more but then the player seems to more naturally fall back to hanging behind corners outside the arenas "tactically" sniping enemies whilst avoiding diving into the space where the AI and potential combat can shine the most.
(D3 environments are just sooo good. and love the flashlight dynamic and how most lights came from moving machinery lining walls and ceilings etc, though funnily enough the game actually doesn't have dynamic lights for weapon impacts, it's easy to mod dynamic lights though for bullet impacts etc, maybe was too costly back in 2003 but these days that won't tank fps, complements the visuals well like here in Pony Factory with the glowing sparks and all from shots.)
Dont worry, your stupid sense of humour is funny to me too. XD
Great video and great showcase! I'd like to volunteer my 3D animation skills to you if you want it. It'll be good for my resume.
"bad idea" 😅
Hello David Szymanski from DUSK
Is the Pony Factory labyrinth a map that has an actual size or do you create the labyrinth as the user moves with the camera?
were all of the textures hand painted for this game?
Naw mostly photo sourced for this one
totally NOT how i imagined your voice (not in a bad way btw)
What is the puppy's name?
Daisy! Like the Doom rabbit
Is the giant skull the only boss?
Yup
hello :)
Are you gonna make a new game
Yup!
Yees
Is the protagonist a male or a female because i don't know what it's gender is?
pleas play outlast
I played it in college and wasn't a fan
Odds of this poor uneducated console gamer ever finding this on a eshop?
Not sure yet!