Beyond the Brick: An Exclusive Interview with the Creative Director of LEGO Voyagers | TheXboxHub

For many years, LEGO video games have adopted a well-recognized system, however a brand new title from Gentle Brick Studio is altering the sport – LEGO Voyagers is a singular co-op journey that places you and a buddy within the sneakers of a few LEGO bricks. 

We spoke with Karsten Lund, Artistic Director at Gentle Brick Studio, for an unique interview to debate LEGO Voyagers’ revolutionary physics, its obligatory co-op design, and the heartfelt story advised with out a single phrase.

And additional to that, you may learn our full evaluation ideas surrounding LEGO Voyagers too. 

Our unique interview with these behind LEGO Voyagers

Hello there, please may you introduce your self. What’s your position at Gentle Brick Studio and what was your involvement with LEGO Voyagers? 

I’m Karsten Lund, I’m the artistic director on LEGO Voyagers, fortunate to work with the proficient staff right here at Gentle Brick on bringing our visions to life.

For individuals who have by no means performed a LEGO recreation earlier than (or haven’t skilled the brand new tackle gameplay), may you briefly clarify the premise of LEGO Voyagers, and what they’d be lacking out on ought to they not test it out?LEGO Voyagers is a recreation that explores what it feels wish to be a LEGO brick. You get to tumble, hook up with different bricks and construct your approach by wealthy brick construct environments, all whereas being immersed in a nonverbal narrative about friendship and play. 

In the event you love LEGO bricks, you need to positively do this new tackle what a LEGO recreation will be.

Throughout my time with LEGO Voyagers, I observed an emphasis on physics based mostly puzzles slightly than the everyday constructing puzzles present in earlier LEGO video games. What impressed the change in focus and did your earlier title, LEGO Builder’s Journey, play a giant position?

We didn’t wish to repeat ourselves, so when a prototype of tumbling with a LEGO brick proved itself to be a variety of enjoyable, we knew that we needed to embrace the physics of being a brick on the earth. The problem was to make a constructing system that’s easy sufficient to work whereas working a brick like that.

Given the character of LEGO items and environments typically being tough to work with, did these trigger any growth challenges? How did you overcome them?In comparison with LEGO Builder’s Journey the world is way greater (round 1,7million LEGO bricks), that was positively a problem to beat, luckily now we have an superior staff of LEGO modelers on employees, to work on the gorgeous fashions within the recreation. In addition to some intelligent procedural programs for foliage and optimized rendering.

Environmental challenges

It’s clear {that a} mix of open exploration and constructing is highlighted on this recreation, however how did you stability this sense of freedom with pacing and problem? 

We now have pockets of exploration adopted by extra linear play. 

We balanced this by playtests and planning the rhythm for introducing new ideas, instructing them, and twisting them or combining them with different beforehand launched mechanics. Loads of small simple puzzles exist solely to determine a sure mind-set for use later in more difficult methods.

In earlier LEGO titles, gamers may assemble large creations in just some seconds, to what extent can gamers hope to construct with LEGO in LEGO Voyagers? 

In LEGO Voyagers we concentrate on the singular brick, and constructing with singular bricks, we consider that enjoying with LEGO bricks is enjoyable within the bodily world, so it must also be enjoyable within the digital world. 

The gamers will construct to unravel puzzles, however listed here are additionally some artistic playgrounds for constructing and adorning one thing large. I feel that is for the gamers to find.

After all, not all the things deliberate for a recreation all the time makes the minimize. Was there something deliberate for LEGO Voyagers that you just needed to take out for no matter purpose?

We minimize a variety of issues out in our video games, if we are able to’t attain the standard ranges we wish or if gamers have a tough time figuring them out. We additionally iterate rather a lot which suggests we re-work sure ranges many occasions over, in an effort to get the expertise we purpose for. 

So there are a variety of concepts that didn’t make the minimize.

Co-op has usually been non-compulsory in earlier LEGO video games, however what are the advantages to creating it obligatory? 

When you understand that you’ve two gamers always, you will be extra particular within the puzzle design and story telling. We additionally discover that two gamers are good at serving to one another with determining what to do, which makes the expertise much more pleasurable, and clean.

It seems like LEGO Voyagers may properly be good for individuals who don’t play too many video games. Was LEGO Voyagers particularly designed as an entry level for the youthful or extra informal gamer, maybe these seeking to begin out on their gaming journey? 

We examined rather a lot throughout growth, on all sorts of gamers, we actually wished this recreation to be playable and loved by everybody.

An ideal leap for brand spanking new avid gamers

In an trade that may usually be run by the considered cash, the Good friend’s Go system stands out as a shining gentle. Might you briefly clarify what this method is and what drove you to implement it?

Our aim is to get the sport within the fingers of as many gamers as doable, and because it’s a co-op solely recreation, it felt apparent that discovering a buddy to play was to be the one actual barrier to attending to strive.   

By way of story, how do you go about crafting a heartfelt story with an emotional storyline that is ready to seize the hearts of viewers, all with out dialogue? 

I feel it’s about understanding the underlying theme of what we wish to inform, after which ensuring that each beat factors in that route not directly or one other. 

The story got here out of gameplay and never the opposite approach round, this made it simpler to make use of recreation mechanics to inform the story slightly than telling it in parallel. 

The feelings come from all of our collective expertise of friendship and rising older collectively, we really feel that if it resonates with us, it simply would possibly resonate with the gamers too.

What prompted the selection of two singular LEGO bricks for the protagonists? Was it purely a story selection, or did gameplay issue into the choice?We wished to go deeper to the core of what LEGO play is, so for us it was a pure step to attempt to discover the way it feels to be a LEGO brick. That’s the way it began; with the only of bricks in a brick world. 

What are the subsequent steps to increasing upon LEGO Voyagers? Are we more likely to see some DLC, a sequel, or any form of revisit to this fashion of gameplay anytime quickly? 

We don’t have any DLC deliberate simply but, however we really feel like we haven’t explored each side of this recreation fashion, so perhaps…

Telling an unique story

Was the preliminary plan for LEGO Voyagers to return with a giant IP/franchise hooked up, or was this unique story all the time the first thought?

We wish to invent universes and inform our personal tales at Gentle Brick. We additionally consider in a recreation play first strategy to type the idea for our narrative in an effort to make a extra coherent expertise. In order that was the plan all alongside.

And eventually, for those who needed to decide one LEGO set you or the employees at Gentle Brick Studio loves, what wouldn’t it be and why? And equally, for those who’re not enjoying LEGO Voyagers or LEGO Builder’s Journey, what LEGO recreation ARE you enjoying? 😉Really we’ve been so busy ending the sport that now we have to brush up on different LEGO video games, now that now we have the time. We’re trying ahead to making an attempt a few of the new LEGO video games which can be popping out. 

However we’re additionally excited to see the place our subsequent prototypes will take us.

With its concentrate on a non-verbal narrative, obligatory co-op, and a Pals Go system, LEGO Voyagers is a shining instance of artistic and community-first recreation design. 

It’s clear that Karsten Lund and the staff at Gentle Brick Studio have crafted a very distinctive expertise that explores the very essence of LEGO play. Whereas they stay up for their subsequent venture, avid gamers now have the proper alternative to tumble, construct, and join with a buddy in a world not like some other.

Seize a obtain of LEGO Voyagers from the likes of the Xbox Retailer, enjoying on Xbox Collection X|S. You’ll additionally discover variations for PlayStation, Change and PC kicking round on related storefronts too. 

Large thanks exit to Karsten for offering us a while for this interview. 

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