0:00:00.690,0:00:05.100
>>GAME VOICE: For too many years I'd been
smothered beneath the surface, blind to the

0:00:05.100,0:00:06.150
beauty of Terra.

0:00:20.000,0:00:23.200
For my fourth design tour I'd like to discuss
Aquaria by Bit Blot.

0:00:24.120,0:00:28.660
Aquaria is mostly notable for its excellent
audio visual production values and unique,

0:00:28.660,0:00:30.820
well developed setting.

0:00:30.820,0:00:35.129
In this video, we'll first deconstruct the
graphics, and then look at some of its hidden

0:00:35.129,0:00:37.059
gameplay features.

0:00:37.059,0:00:42.059
The different areas of Aquaria have very different
looks, but they're all drawn in the same way,

0:00:42.059,0:00:47.320
by layering hundreds of images together.
The built in level editor gives me a convenient

0:00:47.320,0:00:49.550
way to demonstrate this.

0:00:49.550,0:00:53.289
Even the seamless rock walls are drawn with
many smaller rock segments and then the bigger

0:00:53.289,0:01:00.289
set pieces are carefully placed by hand.

0:01:10.000,0:01:14.210
More distant elements are added in the parallax
layer, behind the level and in front of the

0:01:14.210,0:01:20.300
background gradient, to give more of an illusion
of depth.

0:01:20.300,0:01:25.240
Even the lighting is added in the same way.
Beams of light and blobs of shadow are manipulated

0:01:25.240,0:01:32.240
and placed, just like any other object.

0:01:51.250,0:01:54.500
Because the background and character images
are all drawn in the same way, by the same

0:01:54.500,0:02:00.590
artist, Derek Yu, the whole scene comes together
with a consistent look.

0:02:00.590,0:02:05.060
This method of using freely transformed tiles,
instead of using traditional square ones is

0:02:05.060,0:02:09.450
only possible with modern graphics hardware,
but it's likely to be the future of 2D game

0:02:09.450,0:02:12.170
technology.

0:02:12.170,0:02:17.060
Aquaria uses 2D skeletal animation, so the
characters are divided into component parts,

0:02:17.060,0:02:20.710
which are rotated in a hierarchal fashion
to form poses.

0:02:20.710,0:02:25.230
These poses can be combined into a set of
keyframes, which are interpolated to form

0:02:25.230,0:02:26.720
the final, smooth animation.

0:02:33.000,0:02:38.520
GAME VOICE: Slowly, I awoke... For a moment
I had no idea where I was.

0:02:39.240,0:02:43.640
This is a powerful technique that gives polished
results, but it has a significant limitation

0:02:43.640,0:02:49.360
compared to traditional animation.
All of the poses have to be completely flat,

0:02:49.360,0:02:56.319
this usual is not a problem, but is most obvious
when characters turn around.

0:02:56.319,0:03:00.540
Audio is the other half of the presentation,
and it's also very high quality, with some

0:03:00.540,0:03:07.540
excellent songs written and preformed by programmer
Alec Holowka.

0:03:14.190,0:03:16.470
The audio still holds up even if you turn
off the music.

0:03:16.470,0:03:30.000
[Booming and pinging sound effects.]

0:03:30.880,0:03:35.910
There are also 357 different sound effects
which help add background ambience, identify

0:03:35.910,0:03:37.989
different enemies, and accentuate actions.

0:03:37.989,0:03:42.520
They are all very well done, but there's one
that I think could have used more attention

0:03:42.520,0:03:46.459
to context.
Naija's attack sound is long and soft, but

0:03:46.459,0:03:48.349
it's a rapid fire attack.

0:03:48.349,0:03:52.370
During a fight, often the sounds are drowned
out by a blur of over lapping fire sounds.

0:03:54.370,0:03:58.730
[A loud, low boom]

0:03:58.730,0:04:03.069
Now I'd like to talk about the hidden features
of Aquaria. In the beginning of the game,

0:04:03.069,0:04:06.860
there's a brief tutorial that tells you how
to move and dash, how to access the map, and

0:04:06.860,0:04:08.989
how to sing notes.

0:04:08.989,0:04:12.250
However, there are many essential things that
it never tells you.

0:04:12.250,0:04:15.100
Outside the home cave, all of the save points
are well hidden.

0:04:15.100,0:04:17.800
But you can still see them as red circles 
on your minimap.

0:04:18.000,0:04:23.550
This seems like a small detail, but the game
is not really playable without knowing this.

0:04:23.550,0:04:27.449
Without using this feature, you can explore
for hours without finding a save point.

0:04:27.449,0:04:33.440
And then you die, and have to start all over
again.

0:04:33.440,0:04:37.560
Many reviews complained you couldn't see parts
of the map you've explored.

0:04:37.560,0:04:42.770
You can, the game just never tells you how.
You can click on sections of the map to highlight

0:04:42.770,0:04:47.320
them and see which parts you've explored.

0:04:47.320,0:04:50.780
The game also doesn't tell you you can create
markers by clicking these little triangles,

0:04:50.780,0:04:54.660
And that you have to move them down a bit
to be accurate.

0:04:54.660,0:04:58.270
This is essential because you keep getting
new powers that let you bypass old obstacles,

0:04:58.270,0:05:02.930
and it would be impossible to find them again
without leaving notes on the map.

0:05:06.000,0:05:09.180
>>GAME VOICE: As I sang, I could feel the
Verse flowing through me.

0:05:09.180,0:05:14.000
>>GAME VOICE: Certain songs stirred the Verse
deeply, causing changes in the surrounding

0:05:14.000,0:05:14.510
waters.

0:05:15.700,0:05:19.290
>>GAME VOICE: The first song I had discovered,
would wrap the Verse around me...

0:05:19.290,0:05:22.330
>>GAME VOICE: ...Protecting me from environmental
dangers.

0:05:22.580,0:05:27.430
The spell doesn't protect you against environmental
damage, and reflects magic projectiles.

0:05:27.430,0:05:31.690
Any kind of physical or environmental hazard
will still hurt you.

0:05:31.690,0:05:33.610
Also, all of the spells have a numeric hot
key.

0:05:34.610,0:05:38.050
The shield spell can be cast instantly by
pressing '9'.

0:05:38.050,0:05:42.699
This is not mentioned anywhere in the game,
or even in the control screen.

0:05:42.699,0:05:47.040
Similarly, you can hold down the 'R' key to
form a whirlpool that sucks all nearby items

0:05:47.040,0:05:50.389
towards you.
This is really useful, but I didn't figure

0:05:50.389,0:05:52.940
this out until about 10 hours in.

0:05:52.940,0:05:57.710
Also, you can swim with the keyboard, leaving
your mouse free to aim, look or cast spells

0:05:57.710,0:05:58.350
independently.

0:05:58.350,0:06:03.199
There are many other hidden aspects of Aquaria
besides the controls.

0:06:03.199,0:06:06.350
Sometimes when you kill big boss characters,
all you get is a new outfit.

0:06:06.350,0:06:10.990
I found this really disappointing at the time,
but later I discovered that these new outfits

0:06:10.990,0:06:12.530
have undocumented powers.

0:06:12.530,0:06:17.750
For example, this jellyfish costume regenerates
your health if it falls below 50%, making

0:06:17.750,0:06:22.650
it the most useful item in the game.
However, I almost didn't put it on, because

0:06:22.650,0:06:27.600
the dead jellyfish is certainly not the most
flattening outfit in Naija's wardrobe.

0:06:27.600,0:06:32.030
This is the same trap I fall into in all the
games I've made, like Black Shades and Lugaru.

0:06:32.030,0:06:36.020
I assume that everybody already knows about
all the cool features I've put in, and I don't

0:06:36.020,0:06:38.710
have to explain them.
You have to remember that from the player's

0:06:38.710,0:06:42.090
perspective,any thing we don't show them might
as well not be in the game.

0:06:42.090,0:06:47.790
It's no use making great features if nobody
ever finds out about them.

0:06:50.790,0:06:52.539
There are a lot of puzzles that make it easy
to get stuck.

0:06:52.539,0:06:56.610
For example, almost everyone I sent the demo
to got stuck at this door here.

0:06:56.610,0:07:00.720
There are many things that could go wrong.
The player could just swim passed and not

0:07:00.720,0:07:04.440
even realise that it's a door.
The player could assume that the whirlpool

0:07:04.440,0:07:08.400
pattern means that you've to create one.
The player could leave the cave and look for

0:07:08.400,0:07:11.610
a solution elsewhere and never find it.

0:07:11.610,0:07:15.090
Even if the player stumbles across these marking
on the wall, there are even more things that

0:07:15.090,0:07:18.289
could go wrong.
You could forget that these are note markings,

0:07:18.289,0:07:23.580
or try and sing that song and forget about
it when it doesn't do anything.

0:07:23.580,0:07:27.180
The solution to this puzzle seems obvious
once you know it, but there are many ways

0:07:27.180,0:07:34.180
that an intelligent payer could still miss
it, and give up on the game.

0:07:34.250,0:07:39.270
Similarly, puzzle solutions that seem like
they should work, sometimes don't.

0:07:39.270,0:07:42.780
Several times I thought I'd figured out a
clever solution to a puzzle, for example by

0:07:42.780,0:07:46.550
trapping a glowing fish inside a bubble to
light my way.

0:07:46.550,0:07:49.580
But it didn't work, because it wasn't the
solution that was programmed in.

0:07:49.580,0:07:55.479
I also found a recipe for poisoned food, and
thought I could feed it to this all devouring

0:07:55.479,0:08:00.190
boss, but that didn't work either.
I never found a use for this poison recipe,

0:08:00.190,0:08:03.449
so I'm not sure why it's in the game.

0:08:03.449,0:08:07.699
This is the classic problem in adventure games.
The player may not find the intended solution

0:08:07.699,0:08:09.940
and may find unintended solutions.

0:08:09.940,0:08:15.220
The classic answer to this is to observe play
testers trying the game for the first time

0:08:15.220,0:08:19.780
to see where they get stuck, and what alternate
solutions the find, and provide dialogue queues

0:08:19.780,0:08:23.199
to gently guide them back onto the right track.

0:08:23.199,0:08:27.000
Like the Myst series, Aquaria gives no feedback
like this.

0:08:27.000,0:08:31.990
This is certainly a valid design choice, but
I think most players won't be able to finish

0:08:31.990,0:08:35.560
the game without some kind of walkthrough.

0:08:35.560,0:08:39.789
Aquaria is available from bit-blot.com for
Windows and Mac and is a unique game that

0:08:39.789,0:08:43.909
combines a lot of new ideas.
Even if you don't like it, you can learn a

0:08:43.909,0:08:47.200
lot by experimenting with the built in modding
tools.

0:08:48.200,0:08:51.950
If you have any comments about this video,
or suggestions for future ones, please let

0:08:52.950,0:08:53.250
me know on the Wolfire blog.