Pillow Castle(concept/tech demo)

EDIT: Dammit, I mistook the dev for the name! Can a mod edit the title for me as I've attempted?

Not sure if this has come up anywhere but I thought it was a rather cool concept. Video says/explains it all really!

Makes me think of the likes of Portal(is that even a nod to it in there?), where a simple concept can create such a very different game(also made me think somewhat of the recent Kickstarter for Scale)

But anyhoo - I always like to see new concepts and mechanics, and this is the sort of thing attempting to flip something familiar into a whole new perspective. Definitely interested!

(the last one confused me a bit though...not sure how that made sense entirely)

(the last one confused me a bit though...not sure how that made sense entirely)

The player became incredibly huge, so he was larger than the level - well, the first part of the level.

As soon as he stepped through the portal and grew in size he could see what was beyond the walls, and there it was: The exit and all the chess pieces.

This is what I call a revolutionary idea in gaming. No motion controls, no voice commands, just plain and simple...a gameplay mechanic that will hopefully become a game of its own. Please Valve, employ them...

I remember that Scale Kickstarter project. Thought it looked amazing back then.

Ahhhh of course! I see it now! What a delightful irony they slip in that whilst becoming totally huge...it seems you're still small in a grander world :p

Really need to remember not to forget about this, hope it isn't too close or similar to Scale though(which I should get from backing it) so I don't get too quickly fed up with this rather remarkable innovation!

The tech demo was interesting, if it could be incorporated into a proper game somehow then there could be a lot of potential for this.

As a game though just being able to pick up objects regardless of size or distance doesn't really sit right with me though it is quite impressive as a demonstration.

Ok I'm in! After Portal, Gone Home and Stanley Parable all proved you don't have to be an actual shooter to have an immersive first person experience to be a commercial success I more than up for this.

More news Developers meet with Double Fine!

Students from Carnegie Mellon University are planning to turn their intriguing experiment in forced-perspective puzzles into a full story-driven game; And the group could also be bringing its physics toolset to the public, Polygon was told.

 

Last week a little known graduate project from the collective — itself made up of five students you've likely never heard of — suddenly piqued the interest of thousands when the YouTube video demoing their in-development experimental project appeared online for the first time.

 

The demo was actually an old one — a four month old prototype from last year's Tokyo Game Show that lead designer Allen Tingley describes as more of an "internal tool for us than an experience we intend to publish."

 

 

'It was more of an internal tool for us than an experience we intend to publish.'

 

At almost eight minutes in length, the tech demo — which for the moment has the working title Museum Simulation Technology — introduces a first-person puzzle game inspired by an optical illusion known as forced perspective, a camera trick that essentially merges background objects into the foreground.

 

The player clicks on seemingly large objects that form the backdrop of the game then moves them into the foreground where they retain their shape but actually appear drastically smaller in size the nearer they are. Through shape manipulation, they can be used in new ways in the puzzles.

 

 

'Who knows though, we'd love to make the tools available to everyone.'

 

A statement from the collective released at the time describes the piece as a "proof of concept" designed to "wrangle our brains around using your perception as a weapon."

 

"Who knows though," Tingley tells us, "we'd love to make the tools available to everyone."

 

But it's still early days for the studio-to-be. A full game demo isn't in sight just yet, let alone release plans. So far they've teased that the eventually full game, whatever shape it may take, will include a narrative throughout. According to the developers, they are "storytellers first, technologists second." But despite positive feedback from the public and fellow developers alike, the group is taking it slow.

 

 

'We're storytellers first, technologists second.'

 

At the time the demo was produced, the prototype itself was only seven weeks into development. And likewise, the group is still currently working at the Entertainment Technology Center at Carnegie Mellon University, a thinktank founded in the late 1990s by the late, great American professor Randy Pausch. The game design collective met just last year as freshmen at the Pittsburgh school.

 

This is their first title, which is being developed in Unity 4 and backed by the creative muscle of game designer and engineer Albert Shih, producer and technical artist Yuxi Zhang, graphics engineer Yuxi Zhang, concept artist and art director Zhengyi Wang and writer, designer and former produce department manager designer Tingley.

 

 

Meeting the big shots

 

Now, even after just a week in the public eye, the collective is getting noticed. Last Friday, Tingley tells us, Pillow Castle was invited to Double Fine Productions in San Francisco where the team was greeted with a sermon on crowdfunding; a route the indie students have yet to rule out. Describing the outing, Tingley told us: "Wow, talk about a group of people dedicated to crowdfunding. Tim Schafer had some choice words for those who naysay kickstarter, and I understand why!"

 

But despite rubbing shoulders with Kickstarter alumni, the group remains firmly focused on the immediate future of turning their prototype into something more.

 

"We don't have to be in a hurry," Tingley tells us, emphasizing that the team is still working as a graduate group and has no plans to jump blindly into the cold light of indie game funding. "There are scenarios where we could see going the crowdfunding route, but we also don't want to get into a situation where we are overpromising for the sake of having a kickstarter."

 

 

'We don't want to get into a situation where we are overpromising for the sake of having a Kickstarter.'

 

As of last week, the team has cultivated a practical, business-minded strategy. Despite describing the group's design influences as post-modernist, Tingley adds that the whole size and scope of the game has shifted within the past 72 hours — although in what way exactly, they're not ready to say. Now, the primary focus just one week after the prototype's video upload is to keep the group's head above water.

 

"It sounds boring and bureaucratic," Tingley tells us, "but it really just means we don't get in over our heads."

http://www.polygon.com/2014/1/14/5304032/pillow-castle-wants-to-make-its-now-famous-physics-toolset-available

Awesome post, thanks. Sounds like they're doing their best not to get ahead of themselves, and for me that's actually really good and reassuring to hear. People with some common sense, hopefully this will come to something good for them!

Today we're excited to announce that Microsoft Studios has acquired the rights to the “Gears of War” franchise from Epic Games, including rights to all existing and future games, entertainment experiences and merchandise. In addition, we are excited to announce that Black Tusk Studios in Vancouver, BC will take over development of the “Gears of War” franchise and that Rod Fergusson, former Director of Production at Epic Games on the “Gears of War” franchise, will join Microsoft and play a key studio leadership role at Black Tusk on the development of the franchise going forward. We had a chance to chat with Phil Spencer, Head of Microsoft Studios, Hanno Lemke, General Manager of Black Tusk Studios at Microsoft Studios, and Rod Fergusson about the big news.