Operation: Friendly Skies (Developer Commentary)

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 * "When we first started this project, it was a series of interfaced prototypes to see what would feel good in VR. We wanted a mostly sitting experience to help eliminate motion sickness, and we wanted an input scheme that everyone would have access to, but that wouldn't break your presence in VR. The mouse interface Jason and Matt worked on had telekinesis, which felt pretty good, but there was one problem; we wanted you to feel cool and be awesome, but who can be awesome while being effectively tied to a chair? But wait! Spies get into situations like this all the time, and they always manage to turn the tables. What if we could make an escape-the-room game themed around that idea?"


 * "The original phone messages were all submitted by fans- and a few Schell folks- via a voice mail box at Schell Games advertised on our blog. The distortion you hear is real. Anthony Daniel's lines as Daniel Sans were added after the creation of the other three puzzles to foreshadow puzzle 2."


 * "So we were presented with this idea of a button that releases a pile of scorpions. Bonnie and I thought it was hilarious and had a fun time trying to figure out what we could record. We started with some plastic tongs from the studio's kitchen for the claws. [Tongs clicking] We also had a whole bunch of plastic straws that we'd cut up into small pieces for another recording session, so I grabbed a handful of those and started bouncing them around in my palms. [Straws rustling] The result sounded like a bunch of little crunchy bug feet skittering around, so we recorded Bonnie clacking the tongs and castanets while I bounced these little straw pieces around in my palms. We must've looked ridiculous. But, mix in a little hissing sound, and you've got yourself a pile of scorpions."


 * "For location, we wanted something that was familiar and had good affordances. That is, things around you would lend themselves to natural interactions you could immediately grasp and understand. If those affordances varied- pulling, turning, pushing, opening- all the better. A car interior lent itself to that, as well as the seated experience we were after."


 * "In I Expect You To Die, we use a surface-based collision audio system. The game uses 4 different types of surfaces, which are hard, soft, glass, and metal. Every object that can be picked up has a normal-hitting sound and a heavy-hitting sound for each of these surface types. When an object collides with the world, we first determine the type of surface it collided with, and then we use the collision velocity to blend the normal-hitting sound and the heavy-hitting sound for that surface type."


 * "Originally, the car puzzle was going to be the third puzzle in the game, with 2, 3, 4 also taking place on the plane. The gas was going to be released in the cargo hold during the second puzzle, explaining its presence during the third puzzle. Now, it's just part of the dangerous environment that you start in."


 * "After blowing the backdoor, try creating a net of hovered money outside the window, that way you can catch all the items flying out of the back of the plane. Though, they are non-interactive items. Sorry, performance reasons."