Matthew Ford speaks about the Developer Commentary feature

[chronovore]

Portal in-game commentary praised:

The blurbs are voiced by various members of the development team, including those who are not particularly effective speakers. However, that’s not the point; the authenticity is enchanting. Also, this brings me to the main reason I extoll the idea of an in-game commentary besides value to the player: this is a fantastic way to reward and motivate a development team. If I am given a soapbox in which I can tell the game’s most rabid fans how this bit I made is clever, I am psyched. It’s every bit as motivating and celebrated as a fat bonus check. My generation X is driven by a sense of purpose and peer appreciation just as much as money and title, so like good game credits times a thousand, a spot of game commentary serves as a great reward to the team’s key people.

I predict that in-game commentary as seen in the brilliant Portal will become more and more common, and that’s a great thing. It will further legitimize games as an art form, expose fans and would-be developers to the craft, add even more value to a great game, and give game creators an effective and motivating voice.

Comments

[epiphaniesrus.livejournal.com]

Coincidentally, just this week I've been helping a coworker implement something related to this type of feature. I really like the idea of having commentary... how often have we had to try to restrain a junior artist or a designer, saying "no one's EVER going to see / notice that!"

[chronovore.livejournal.com]

Even so, there's the danger of using the commentary track as a means of promoting trivia, or trivial things which an individual Game Designer found intriguing but should be otherwise glossed over by the Player.

Have you seen the stuff in Portal? It's got some very insightful stuff for non-game-designers -- and it's explained in a way that MANY game designers should learn from.

[epiphaniesrus.livejournal.com]

I noticed you've been playing Orange Box on XBL... no, I have yet to lay eyes on portal. I've considered buying JUST portal on Steam, but as an Achievement point whore that hasn't sat too well with me, either.

[chronovore.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I bought the Orange Box specifically to play Portal. I've got a wealth of PC games that have not been installed yet (cue Timmeh) and may never be, now that I've joined the Church of Achievements.

I plan to play HL2 at long last, Ep1 and Ep2 eventually, and hopefully find out what Team Fortress is about, since I missed the first coming of that title.

In the meantime I'm all about Viva Piñata - the game is like a drug; or what I imagine a drug is like. I've never been tempted by drugs, but I've spent a few nights staying up later than I know I should, just trying to plant a few more seeds, or engender a new animal variation.

I found out this morning that I'm one color away from finishing ALL the Flutterscotch variants. Brown. If I'd known that last night, I wouldn't have got to sleep before 02:30... Ignorance, in this case, is bliss(ful sleep).