If you were a fan of last year’s Horizon Zero Dawn, and happen to be also be attending GDC 2018, good news! Not only are there a billion* talks about the game, there’ll be an entire postmortem of the game’s design process from Guerrilla Games lead designer Eric Boltjes. 

As has been the case for several weeks on Gamasutra, we couldn’t wait to hear Boltjes give his talk, so we invited him onto the Gamasutra Twitch channel for a chat about his work on Horizon Zero Dawn. You should absolutely still make time to see his session at GDC, but while we had him on, we tried to get some helpful insight for game developers hoping to learn from Horizon Zero Dawn’s success. 

You can view our full conversation up above, but in case you’re staring down a Thunderjaw as we speak, we’ve highlighted 3 key takeaways for your perusal below. 

*not actually a billion

Using DLC to subvert player expectations

Our time on the stream was spent in the new content that exists in The Frozen Wilds, Horizon Zero Dawn’s story expansion from late last year. What’s notable about this section of the game, and something Boltjes emphasized about its development, was that it became a space to upend player expectations about the game loop, and create creatures and scenarios that fly in the face of patterns taught in the main game. 

Boltjes admitted that was sort of a risky move, especially with the new Burner machines, dog-like robots that shoot fire and explosive ammunition, and whose attack patterns defy a lot of the “large creature, slow movement” rhythms that make up the rest of the game. Elsewhere, a typical open-world “climb the tower to get the map objectives” encounter turns instead into a fetch quest that introduces one of those difficult new Burner enemies…as we learned to our dismay during our stream… 

For other developers, it’s worth looking at The Frozen Wilds and considering the risks of making DLC content like this, especially when it’s primarily aimed at a fraction of your core player base. 

Tuning stealth indicators was about analyzing a “return” to stealth, not losing stealth

As our conversation rolled along, one viewer in chat asked Boltjes about tuning the game’s stealth mechanics, most noticeably in how enemy characters detect the player when they’re trying to be stealthy. Since Horizon Zero Dawn isn’t primarily a stealth game, Boltjes says, but rather a kind of hunting game, stealth takes on a different role, so designing a “detection” system took a different level of thought. 

According to him, part of the way to achieve this was to give players more leniency in being caught the first time by AI opponents, but making it difficult to fade back into stealth, to encourage players to follow through with whatever battle encounter they started. It’s a kind of stealth design that (hopefully) helps reinforce the sensation of hunting, even though the ‘prey’ is these oversized machines. 

Crafting economies are tough to test

Boltjes’ biggest tease for his upcoming GDC talk was a discussion about Horizon Zero Dawn’s crafting economy, and how it was really difficult to tune and test because it effectively involved measuring run-throughs of the full game. He explained that it was really easy to test how that economy worked within the games’ first 8-10 hours, because a playtester working through that section of the game. But playtesters who were focusing on finishing the story over 2 or 3 days weren’t able to provide feedback on what it would look like if they also focused on side-quests or over-gathered resources in certain areas. 

Boltjes didn’t have a solution for us on stream, but if you’re working on a crafting economy, stories about his struggles may be of use to you when analyzing your own game’s long-term flow. 

For more developer interviews, editor roundtables, and gameplay commentary, be sure to follow the Gamasutra Twitch channel.

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Welcome to Next Week on Xbox, where we cover all the new games coming soon to Xbox One! Every week, the team at Xbox aims to deliver quality gaming content for you to enjoy on your favorite gaming console. This coming week we can go hunting for space minerals with Deep Rock Galactic as it enters Xbox Game Preview, take a supernatural journey to ancient Egypt in Immortal Redneck, or get nostalgic for some dinosaur hunting action with the console launch exclusives Turok and Turok 2. These are just a few of the excellent games coming to Xbox One next week. Read more about these titles below and click on their profiles for pre-order details.

Games

February 27, 2018

Put on the mummified boots of a redneck tourist who wakes up in ancient Egypt after a supernatural accident. A mix of old-school FPS action and rogue-lite elements, fight through dangerous pyramids, destroy a variety of monsters, and figure out what happened to this Immortal Redneck.

Games

February 27, 2018

Xbox One X Enhanced – Race across a variety of environments from all over the world in three racing challenges including cross country, stadium events, and unique courses set in the wild. Take your racing skills online against other players and compete for the title of Gravel World Champion!

Games

February 27, 2018

The Inkies have returned with a new scheme to rid the world of color and it’s up to you to stop them! Play across 12 levels on a new color-packed adventure where custom paints, patterns, and music bring the world to life as Blob fights to restore peace to his colorful home.

Games

February 28, 2018

Shoot and loot your way across nine four-player co-op missions with your friends, taking out members of the WarSwarm, a hive-mind of alien AI that has waged war on humans in this sci-fi shoot ’em up. Pick up perks, loot your enemies, and upgrade your ship to support your comrades in battle to become the ultimate damage dealer and save the galaxy.

Games

February 28, 2018

Xbox Game Preview / Xbox Play Anywhere / Xbox One X Enhanced – Space Dwarves! Have your attention? Great! Deep Rock Galactic is a new co-op FPS that features destructible environments in procedurally-generated caves and (naturally) an endless horde of alien monsters that guard valuable minerals for you and your team of Dwarves to collect.

Games

February 28, 2018

With a mix of gothic horror and challenging turn-based RPG mechanics, Darkest Dungeon challenges you to successfully manage a group of flawed heroes through twisted forests, crypts, and dungeons. Battle not only the monsters you’ll face, but the physical and mental toll each successive adventure into the dark takes on your fledgling group of knights, mages, and thieves.

Games

February 28, 2018

Return to the Aperture Science Enrichment Center for a slew of new challenging puzzles, this time as a bridge constructor. As a new Aperture Science employee under the tutelage of GLaDOS, it’ll be up to you to build bridges, slides, ramps and a variety of other constructions across 60 test chambers, utilizing the series’ signature tools like portals, propulsion gel, faith plates and more all in the name of science.

Games

February 28, 2018

As the character I, who has lost all his friends (the 25 other letters of the alphabet), embark across 75 ultra-challenging levels in this deceptively cute and difficult platformer, featuring a unique switch-mechanic that you must master if you hope for I to ever see his friends again.

Games

March 02, 2018

Combining elements of permadeath, random world generation, and hack ‘n’ slash across an overarching story, The Story Goes On drops you into the storybook of a crazed author. Utilize 50+ items to survive battles against dozens of enemies across randomly generated worlds and dungeons.

Games

March 02, 2018

Manage your own fantasy retail shop! Start from scratch with a limited inventory, effectively price your goods, and arrange your displays to attract the most customers to grow your business. Employ staff, find the right price for your wares, and keep the shop looking great. And always be on the lookout for ways to expand.

Games

March 02, 2018

Inspired by the real-world locations of northern Mexico, Mulaka is a new 3D action-adventure game based on the culture of the Tarahumara. Pulling from the region’s rich mythology, embark on an epic journey of a Sukurúame (shaman) as you draw upon the power of gods to fight against the corruption of your land.

Games

March 02, 2018

Graduating from Xbox Game Preview – Take command of a full cast of tragic heroes across an apocalyptic wonderland. Combining elements of fast-paced gameplay, turn-based strategy, and co-op adventure. Find loot, customize your crew, and fight in tournaments to survive this hostile world that is home to electrobots, vampires, and cupcake people.

Games

March 02, 2018

Console Launch Exclusive – The classic returns! Restored and enhanced with a new visual engine for Xbox One, return as the time-traveling warrior Turok who has found himself lost in a savage land of conflict. Find the eight pieces of the shattered Chronoscepter scattered across this world to put an end to the Campaigner’s evil crusade… and fight a ton of dinosaurs, naturally.

Games

March 02, 2018

Console Launch Exclusive – Once again, it’s up to Turok to restore peace to this ancient world. Having awoken an ancient evil, Turok must stop the evil Primagen from merging Earth with the nether world. Fight prehistoric raptors, evil flesh eaters, and do battle with the mother of all beasts — you must defeat them all to save this land once and for all!