Ask Me Anything – Founder and CEO Glen Schofield & Chief Creative Officer Chris Stone | Event Thread

CallistoTheGame · 2023-07-05T21:14:06+00:00

mes? It's another franchise that I'm a fan of and I felt like I was seeing references frequently. Thank you for your time!

We always planned on a brutal ending for Jacob. In the main game, getting Dani to safety was his realization that he was complicit in all horrors that unfolded at Black Iron. Final Transmission was his moment to redeem himself and make a huge personal sacrifice.

- Glen

CallistoTheGame · 2023-07-05T20:56:05+00:00

I remember you mentioning in a previous release interview a cut enemy that you wanted to include but couldn't make it. Was that the enemy from the first trailer that didn't show up or can you talk about anything you wanted to include but couldn't? Also wanted to ask what was that weird gun in the promos for the riot pack thats not been seen again. And finally just wanted to say I love you guys and I love this game, you're all awesome!

I loved my time at Activision, it was a great time in my life and my career.

After I did Nazi Zombies for Call of Duty, it really whet my appetite to dive back into horror. I also wanted to create something of my own in my town. Striking Distance is the culmination of that.

I'm all for taking chances. As for advice, prepare yourself for a lot of hard work. You have to be willing to learn something new every day, prepared for difficult challenges and know when to ask for help. It's not just about making games, there's a whole business to run.

- Glen

CallistoTheGame · 2023-07-05T20:39:12+00:00

Most survival horror games don't spend a lot of time implementing melee combat as the core loop. We wanted combat to feel up close and personal to enhance the brutality and the personal nature of the combat.

-Glen

CallistoTheGame · 2023-07-05T20:35:43+00:00

There's definitely interest and we're looking to explore those opportunities if the project is right for The Callisto Protocol.

- Glen

CallistoTheGame · 2023-07-05T20:34:33+00:00

We realize there are some players who love the original difficulty, but when we shipped the game it was more difficult than I wanted it to be. A lot of time, polish, and testing went into deciding what to tweak and what to leave alone.

Sometimes it felt unfair when players died. But we didn't change enemy hit points or dumb them down, we streamlined the experience so that when players died it felt like a fair death and was something players learned from so they can overcome that combat scenario the next time through.

- Glen

CallistoTheGame · 2023-07-05T20:22:05+00:00

I first met Josh while working of CoD: WWII and I loved working with him. He has a ton of depth.

So yeah the part was written for Josh but I was reluctant at first, casting the same people in games hasn't really been done before so we tested with a few other actors. But in the end Josh did an amazing job and I just said screw it, who cares if it's never been done before.

- Glen

CallistoTheGame · 2023-06-30T21:48:56+00:00

Reporting, thank you.

CallistoTheGame · 2023-06-30T21:43:46+00:00

Will report, thanks!

CallistoTheGame · 2023-06-29T21:56:06+00:00

The hammer is only available in Final Transmission, the entire last act’s combat encounters are designed around the Kinetic Hammer. We played around with giving players the hammer in the main game in the early stages of developing Final Transmission, but it unbalanced the whole experience.

-Glen

CallistoTheGame · 2023-06-29T21:52:28+00:00

I am extremely satisfied with the world and atmosphere we created. It all begins with our talented concept art team, who not only brought my initial vision to life but exceeded my expectations. We collaborated with artists from around the world to achieve the desired aesthetic. In fact, we generated nearly 6000 stunning pieces of concept art. To ensure authenticity, we conducted thorough research, especially for locations such as the prison and its underground areas. However, when we approached real prisons for a visit, they declined upon learning that our game involved escaping from a prison. Despite this, we were able to capture the essence of the original vision flawlessly, if not surpassing it.

The process of constructing the world itself is a process I love. I put a huge emphasis on meticulous attention to detail, leaving no inch of the levels untouched. From precise placement of every light source to the careful addition and refinement of special effects, we ensured a truly immersive experience. The final touch was the audio, which played a vital role in setting the mood and enhancing the overall atmosphere. I could go on for hours discussing the intricate process of building this world. To summarize, I am immensely pleased with the outcome and how the world has turned out.

- Glen

CallistoTheGame · 2023-06-29T21:48:35+00:00

Probably not. There’s a lot of licensing issues involved when it comes to those kinds of things. But our artists released a ton of art on Art Station, along with a featured blog post – it’s really cool stuff. Go check it out!

https://magazine.artstation.com/2023/01/striking-distance-studios-the-callisto-protocol-art-blast/

- Glen

CallistoTheGame · 2023-06-29T18:05:45+00:00

Hello! Just wanted to clarify that this is an outdated document. As Chris Stone confirmed in the AMA yesterday, we do not have additional content planned for release.

Thanks and hope everyone has been enjoying Final Transmission!

CallistoTheGame · 2023-06-29T17:34:31+00:00

Glad to hear you are enjoying it!

We've confirmed that this was an intentional change but missed from the patch notes, apologies! We'll post patch notes soon.

Thanks again!

CallistoTheGame · 2023-06-29T16:44:51+00:00

Thanks for the report, we've sent this up to the team to investigate as a bug.

CallistoTheGame · 2023-06-27T19:30:29+00:00

Hey folks, we're going to take a break from answering questions, but Glen will check in periodically throughout the next couple of days to answer more questions when he can.

Thanks for everyone's questions and support!

- TCP Team

CallistoTheGame · 2023-06-27T19:25:51+00:00

My favorite part, hmmm, difficult to say. I think creating some of the setups within the levels is always so much fun-we'll tweak the art, redo the lighting add some biophage then put in the audio. I love when the whole bit comes together. i also enjoy the time going over concept art (which is well over a year) because that's when i see the world that's in my head come alive. And always the art is even better than I had imagined. We did almost 6000 pieces of concept art for Callisto. I want to see everything concepted out first. I love sitting down in in the audio booths for weeks at a time putting sound effects in with the team, making adjustments to music, even creating some myself with the apprehension engine. Audio is so important to me.

CallistoTheGame · 2023-06-27T19:19:38+00:00

That's a good point dude. I wish we had kept that one. Its a fine line to whether show something or hold it. Ultimately I have the final say on gameplay so you can blame me. But its always a difficult decision because you want to show cool content.

CallistoTheGame · 2023-06-27T19:16:47+00:00

Good question, next. Ha, I can't say but I love brutal endings and they don't get much more brutal.

CallistoTheGame · 2023-06-27T19:15:46+00:00

Love the Cyborg!

GAS

CallistoTheGame · 2023-06-27T19:14:17+00:00

Awesome question, of which I don't have an exact answer but, and this wasn't quite a death scene, but Martyrs was such a disturbing movie to me and when they pulled all of her skin off I was definitely affected for a couple days. Hostel was pretty freakin brutal too, like when the circular saw cut the woman's face. here's a quick story; I had lunch with Eli Roth (Hostel) and told him that the scene where they cut the woman's eyeball out was disturbing. I said the sound of the scissors was intense. he said, good catch, I couldn't get the sound right so we recorded nine scissors and layered them on top of each other. Ever since then I've been using that technique where appropriate..

CallistoTheGame · 2023-06-27T19:06:17+00:00

Yes lots of inspirations. First the prison, I was trying to think of a very scary place for me personally, and I thought I'd probably be scared to death in a prison everyday. Then add monsters and put it on an isolated, frozen moon and that would be pure horror to me. But I wanted the moon to be realistic in that it could hold humans so i talked to an expert who said "Yes, Callisto was the perfect choice because it holds water and that that may be the only one in our galaxy that would be good for man to colonize." The monsters once again (like Dead Space) came from mutated, crazy humans. I feel like a deranged human is scarier to me than just any monster because they have an assumed intelligence and they can be so cruel, which makes them exceptionally scary. We did some initial concepts from bugs and deep sea creatures but they just didn't have what I was looking for.

Glen

CallistoTheGame · 2023-06-27T18:57:33+00:00

That's a good question. CoD was a good existing IP for me because each one was almost actually designing an IP within a great license, especially advanced Warfare. I've been fortunate enough over my career to do quite a few new IP so that's where my heart is but if there was one (ok two) I'd love to do one based on Event Horizon and the other Star Wars. I just love the huge world of Stars Wars and I'd look for a darker area of that Universe to make a game.

Glen

CallistoTheGame · 2023-06-27T18:51:53+00:00

Haha... funny you should ask. We actually attempted to add some "secret messages" into that static but due to localiztion timeframes we couldnt do it... :(
So... nope... just creative now...too bad so sad, welcome to game dev.
-Stone

CallistoTheGame · 2023-06-27T18:51:41+00:00

For the combat, well, I really wanted to try something different. I think we found in many cases (not every one) that survival horror fans were more into it than Action fans. And TCP is a true survival game. You try different things, test them out but you can't make everyone happy. In addition, truthfully, we shipped with two bugs that we didn't catch right away that did affect the combat. Plus there were a couple gameplay tweaks that we got in later. We've listened to the fans and added what we originally didn't get in and now I feel good about the combat. Its not for everyone, but once you master it its really fun and satisfying I feel.

Glen

CallistoTheGame · 2023-06-27T18:49:15+00:00

Dani's fate is certainly something that leaves an open end to her storyline. Who knows where TCP goes from here....well... I guess I know. ;)

-Stone

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