Session: Skate Sim dev explains how game \u201cpushes boundaries\u201d for skateboarders Cre\u0101-ture StudiosAhead of Session: Skate Sim\u2019s full-release on PlayStation 5, we spoke with cre\u0101-ture Studios game producer Jeffrey Spicer about bringing players an authentic experience for newcomers and hardcore skating fans alike. Session: Skate Sim has had a long road to its full 1.0 release this week on September 22, 2022. Beginning life as a Kickstarter project, Session has evolved considerably since its 2015 beginnings. With genre figureheads such as EA\u2019s skate. and Activision\u2019s Tony Hawk Pro Skater series mostly missing for years, avid skating fans have been crying out for a worthy successor to lead the genre back to its former glory. Montreal-based cre\u0101-ture Studios are up to the task, with a team of only nine developers making it possible. Game producer Jeffrey Spicer spoke with Dexerto to give us an insight into Session\u2019s origins, its passionate community and how the game is breathing new life back into the genre. The game has spent considerable time in early access, but for Spicer, nailing Session\u2019s original primary goal was key: \u201cThe idea of Session came from an ex-member of our studio, one of the founders. Marc-Andre\u2019s essentially had the idea to take what had been introduced to change the dynamic of skate games and say \u2018hey, we have two feet, we have two sticks\u2019. Let the left be the left and the right be the right. It kind of took that change in gameplay to the next level and really allowed you to really open up the complexity of skateboarding.\u201d Initial comparisons to the game may illicit something reminiscent of EA\u2019s skate., though Session is very much a \u201csim\u201d rather than a \u201cgame\u201d according to Spicer. It\u2019s this focus that has enabled the game to succeed in the realms of realism: \u201cWe are very much a simulator[\u2026] We also wanted to take a step away from arcade games to really make something with a lot more longevity, something that would resonate more with a core skate fan base.\u201d Striking the balance comes with its own challenges Rather than use pre-determined animations, Session is completely physics based. Every rotation, pop and adjustment is down to the player. This does present a learning curve, which may seem daunting at first: \u201cThe ability or what we call player agency that we give the player, was something that was core to us, that we didn\u2019t want to sacrifice. \u201cWe definitely do have a steep learning curve. The way we managed it was primarily to keep the core gameplay our focus, but understand how we could help the transition into it. It\u2019s weird, you don\u2019t want to introduce a player to a game that they\u2019re not gonna play.\u201d The philosophy to aid players in their first steps uses \u201cpiecemeal\u201d strategy, Spicer explained. Players can take Session at their own pace without any penalties for it, as \u201cyou can start the game and have access to anything and everything. We don\u2019t gate everything. We just let you play and have fun.\u201d Managing the balance presents other challenges too, as Spicer said \u201cWe didn\u2019t wanna sacrifice the essence of the complexity and the reality of skateboarding, just to \u2018gamify\u2019 it.\u201d Competitors like Skater XL have appeared on the scene over the years, with a similar premise. \u201cIt\u2019s a catalyst. It\u2019s something that shows that we are going in the right direction, as we knew we were. You know mimicry is the greatest form of flattery. \u201cIt\u2019s one thing to be, you know, mimicked or copied. But it\u2019s another to stay true to your vision and to see it out. And that\u2019s what we\u2019re doing.\u201d Session\u2019s community is a driving force Any game needs a sturdy community beneath and Spicer recognizes the importance of keeping fans involved within Session\u2019s journey. Since the game\u2019s inception \u201cone of the things that we did early days to make sure we retained that was, we worked with our community on Discord. Ever since the Kickstarter days, we\u2019ve had an active core community that has been open and provided feedback for us. \u201cWe tweaked it to be the optimal skate experience and not \u2018gamify\u2019 it. To not over oversimplify it[\u2026]it\u2019s a very fine line. Using a community and also just our own experience with how difficult skating could be.\u201d This connection to community even drives the game\u2019s customization options too. \u201cSkating is about anyone and everyone, men, women, or if you don\u2019t wanna be assigned a gender. Any color, any size, it doesn\u2019t matter. That was something early days that we felt we needed to embrace and support.\u201d Bringing players the authentic skating experience Mastering Session\u2019s mechanics isn\u2019t the only element that the studio needed to perfect either. Every skating gaming lives and dies on its locales, which Session has a bountiful amount of. While eagle-eyed skaters will recognize many of the game\u2019s spots, this doesn\u2019t take away from players who aren\u2019t in the know. Each of them are full of unique opportunities to explore. Spicer\u2019s history in the sport alongside his dev team has been used to enhance the map: \u201cOne of the important parts that for us as skaters is learning, not learning is adapting. How you see the world. As opposed to just what it was meant to be and seeing it, how you could skate it. \u201cWe\u2019re nine guys, total, and two of us don\u2019t even make data. So those huge cities were made by a team of two or three artists. We tried to replicate the real-world locations while taking minor artistic liberties, in terms of navigation, so you aren\u2019t skating for 10 minutes to get from spot to spot.\u201d To bring the game\u2019s world to life, Spicer clarified that they \u201cidentified key locations, both either in skate history or in skate films that we wanted to recreate where players could then push the boundaries. \u201cMy favorite spot is the China banks map. It\u2019s gonna be released on the 22nd. I start at the top of the hill, come down front tail out to fakey, switch, heel, flip a crack, and then, you know, front side, 180 over a bump to bar and it\u2019s just its butter. I love it.\u201d Session\u2019s visuals can\u2019t survive without impeccable sound design, an element that has been expanded upon towards the game\u2019s full release: \u201cSound design is a very complicated discipline[\u2026] it\u2019s something that we knew, especially for the skate element was critical. When I hear a pop or I hear the sound of someone rolling down the road, I know right away. \u201cWe have actually overhauled that and brought in a new sound designer with over 15 years experience. So it\u2019s gonna improve even more from what you\u2019re aware of.\u201d To accompany the game\u2019s improved audio, players can also vibe to handpicked songs from labels such as Red Robin. Spicer explained that the team \u201cwent with some smaller, but perfectly aligned\u201d artists to make Session\u2019s \u201cchill\u201d vibes standout. Where is Session Skate Sim heading next? The game has been available on Xbox consoles and PC for some time, but September 22 is a huge day for Session players. Leaping onto the PlayStation 4 and 5 respectively, the dev team are already considering what the future holds for the game. \u201cWe definitely have post-launch plans that are actually already in production,\u201d Spicer said on the game\u2019s next steps. \u201cWe\u2019ll be sharing those after the launch. We really wanna, you know, hit the street hard with the day one plan[\u2026] continue listening to the players and the feedback as we continue to add content and features.\u201d Though Spicer wouldn\u2019t reveal whether any multiplayer plans are in the works, the ethos to getting content right is all in the name of upholding Session\u2019s standards: \u201cWe don\u2019t wanna just continue to provide content and not engage. Engagement in our community is critical to our success, not just in the quality of the game, but also much like in skating. When I saw Chris Hale do something, I was like, you can do that.\u201d However, changes to the game\u2019s skating styles could be on the cards as feedback is taken onboard. \u201cStreet skating and vert skating are two disciplines of skating. The era that we are kind of an homage to, the nineties wasn\u2019t necessarily big for vert skating. It was still, there was still some big skaters. \u201cWe had to decide early on, do we wanna focus and optimize his skating street skating? Or do we wanna try to stretch it and include more, but sacrifice the overall quality?\u201d Spicer is aware that players are keen to see other variations included, but it could be some time before it happens. \u201cThere is a fanbase that wants to see it [\u2026] It\u2019s definitely in the reckoning for postlaunch, but we\u2019ll wait and see what kind of world opportunities we could provide for it.\u201d Session: Skate Sim is available on PlayStation consoles on September 22, 2022.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Session: Skate Sim dev explains how game \u201cpushes boundaries\u201d for skateboarders Cre\u0101-ture StudiosAhead of Session: Skate Sim\u2019s full-release on PlayStation 5, we spoke with cre\u0101-ture Studios game producer Jeffrey Spicer about bringing players an authentic experience for newcomers and hardcore skating fans alike. Session: Skate Sim has had a long road to its full 1.0 […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-84738","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dejan.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/84738","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dejan.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dejan.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dejan.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dejan.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=84738"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dejan.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/84738\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dejan.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=84738"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dejan.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=84738"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dejan.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=84738"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}