How Outer Wilds’ Impossible Planet Works | Crafting Materials
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 30 ก.ย. 2024
- This is Crafting Materials: a new series on Rock Paper Shotgun all about how our favourite games are made. Our first episode looks at Outer Wilds, specifically how Mobius Digital built Brittle Hollow, a dazzling technical showcase that collapses a different way every time. But how did Mobius build this insane creation? Find out in our making of Outer Wilds video.
Outer Wilds was Matthew’s favourite game of 2019, so it makes sense that he chose to don his spacesuit and jet off into the heavens for this first episode of Crafting Materials. In it we reveal juicy Outer Wilds secrets: how Brittle Hollow works, how its collapse won’t break the story and the challenges of running a solar system where you can be in two places at once.
This isn’t the first Outer Wilds documentary, but we hope you enjoy a deeper dive into one of the game’s most stunning planets and come out with a better idea of how Outer Wilds works. This video was based on The Mechanic column first run on Rock Paper Shotgun: The Site, written by the brilliant Alex Wiltshire. Read his wise words here: www.rockpapers...
If you are completely new to the game, this Outer Wilds gameplay does include light spoilers of places you’ll visit. If you’d like to know more about the game, why not watch our Outer Wilds review ( • 6 Reasons Outer Wilds ... ). Matthew REALLY likes banging on about this one.
We hope you enjoy this behind the scenes look at some of the smartest game design of 2019. If you have any questions about the video, pop them in the comments. If there are any topics you’d like us to tackle in this new series, why not suggest them down below, too. And please do give the video a like if you enjoyed it - it’ll cheer Matthew up after he burned his hand on the marshmallows featured in this video.
And if you enjoy this Rock Paper Shotgun video, why not subscribe to the channel or support the channel by becoming a member? Whatever you choose do do, huge thanks for clicking on the video and giving it a chance. Thanks for watching (and reading!). Bye!
#OuterWilds #BrittleHollow #MakingOfOuterWilds
Outer Wilds: The game where you discover the secrets of the universe through careful study, experimentation, and pure accident.
I'd go as far as to call it a 3D metroidvania game where every bit of character progression is done through personal discovery and deepened understanding of its mechanics.
So, it's science, the video game.
alanzoka reaching the sun station like: i will just land in this fken thing
and he did it
@@robiniborr Scott Manley also did this.
@@sergey1519 and watson amelia
5:07 Just something to note, the health value isn't hidden, you can shoot your probe onto the surface to see the health of that particular segment.
the percentage isn't hidden, but the absolute health is. Some segments have more health points than others so they get less % damage per hit. For example one segment could have 100 hp and another could have 250
I discovered this on accident when I crashed my ship into the planet and the section of ground underneath suddenly gave away. That's when I realized that it was all dynamic.
I never considered how good the performance of the game is when you suddenly translocate across the solar system without requiring a loading screen.
It is as _Futurama's_ God Nebula says: "When you do something right, people won't be sure you've done anything at all."
Thanks, ver Hoef! 🍻
I saw a documentary where a dev pointed out the balls in the museum that are attracted by the moon. Just think about all the forces there.
These balls rotate around the sun on a planet that also rotates and are attracted by a rotating moon.
The amound of physics on that are insane. He claimed himself that it amazing that it even works.
Good point! It was awesome to be unhindered by the load screens. Even distant things still loaded beautifully
Isn't gravity pretty easily to calculate and stimulate though? NASA did it back in the 60s with like 4k of hardware RAM
@@Superabound2 gravity's easy to calculate, but a lot of games can't even handle a moving physics object on top of another moving physics object
@@Superabound2 Nasa did it, but it took them months to calculate trayectories.
But you are right, gravity is easy enough *if* your are good with physics and know well enough when to simplify and when not to
fun fact: they almost had an achievement called 'critical performance hit' where you had your ship, your probe, and yourself all on 3 different planets at the same time. this was discarded by other members of the team protesting that 'you shouldn't encourage them to break the game'
this was mentioned in the noclip making of documentary, and it wasn't a team member, it was their publisher! lol
@@calebsw oh yeah right lol. sorry, i've got a shite memory
And yet we have that achievement about breaking the fabric of spacetime 😂
@@honzothesloth8075 yes well that was an intentional part of the game
@@rampagerslife I know, it's still funny tho. Don't spoil anything I just got that one last night lol
Brittle Hollow was so gorgeous and absolutely mind bending.
*hugely gut-turning when you fall in for the first time, totalled unnerved me*
falling for the first time went from pure terror to "where tf am i 💀" really quick
I guarantee it's not nearly as gut-turning as when you do it in the VR mod
This is one of the best games I've played in years. The atmosphere, audio design, story and the freedom to explore and discover on your own terms left its mark on me. The emergent gameplay mechanics and perfectly crafted characteristics of each planet are so memorable and filled with a sense of adventure. A truly unique experience that I'll never forget. Thanks for this video Matthew, I hope it encourages more people to play it!
Seconded! This game took number 1 of all time on my list of puzzle games, well above Myst and Majora's Mask (their main influence for the game)
It really is a mind-blowing, life changing experience that will alter the way you think about our universe and everyday life
And on top of all that it's a technical marvel. The fact that this game works at all, let alone without a hitch is unbelievable.
I n eed a new game like this im so sad i beat it ;-;
What video doesn't reveal: all the melted marshmallows that need to be scrubbed from my patio. RIP patio.
All in the name of art, brother.
Ouch
One must suffer in pursuit of science
I'm a programmer, and something I usually find myself doing when playing games is getting distracted by trying to figure out how things were designed. I never once did this with Outer Wilds, not because it was bad, but because I was so immersed I never stopped to think about it.
It's only now that I've finished the game I realize there were so many crazy challenges, like designing circular levels or simulating multiple planets at once. It's really incredibly they were able to pull some of this stuff off, and it's truly a game I will never forget
ayo zach!
This has real BBC documentary energy and it’s lovely
I wonder if BBC presenters ever leave the set with melted marshmallows all over their jeans?
@@rockpapershot John Noakes was famously more marshmallow than man.
Rock Paper Shotgun god I hope so, like they’re just marking their territory with marshmallows
They did some magic with this game. The marriage of all the physics and mechanics with the lore/atmosphere mixed in with a universe running on a time loop. It's pretty crazy.
Another intresting fact: The creator first envisioned a planet that was slowly exploding. The planet would launch pieces of itself into space. That idea slowly evolved into a planet with a black hole at its core and then changed into a planet imploding instead of exploding.
Apparently, even a certain location on Brittle Hollow, that is "supposed" to fall into the black hole and be accessible near the end of the loop, isn't scripted, either. I've heard of a few playthroughs where it didn't fall at all for the entire loop, and was still present when the supernova hit. I would've thought that, at the very least for that one plot-critical chunk, they would've fudged the probability a bit, maybe set it so that beyond, I dunno, 18 minutes in, the next meteor hit would send it into the black hole regardless of remaining surface integrity. Apparently not!
You know you can ram chunks to reduce their health?
@@mememachine3029 what???
That is the 6th place rule right?
@@NoNameAtAll2 Yeah, just jumping up and down can be enough to knock a piece of Brittle Hollow loose if the integrity is low enough
yet there is also a case to be made about preserving it. There is yet another difficult puzzle on the planet which requires you to take an indirect route to get to more vital information, and if enough pieces fall along the path, cheese becomes the only alternative. Unless you are waiting specifically for the piece you mention to fall, the instances where it doesnt lends itself to leaving a route to the other tricky puzzle.
Something I started noticing at some point in my playthrough: every 1 in 6 loops, when you wake up looking at Giant's Deep, you can see the quantum moon by it for a split second, then when you blink it's gone. You can see it at 1:37
Wow! That is one hell of a catch.
It’s the small details that made me love how the game is built. Most games would just have a blink be an effect on the screen, like blood in CoD, but Outer Wilds actually covers your character’s eyes so you experience all the consequences of actually closing your eyes.
The probe is shot in a different direction each time, too.
It also took me many loops to notice that the solar system was full of stars at the beginning but near the end of the loop they had mostly disappeared in supernovas.
Never knew there was a blink.
Wow gj
Perfect game to open with.
Was my favourite game of last year and every story behind the game is great - the NoClip documentary covered a lot of other fascinating stuff, so I really recommend watching that if you haven't already. - Matthew
You can even perform extremely dangerous gravity jumps by throwing yourself towards the core, accelerating to high speeds as you are pulled in, and then ever so slightly adjusting your movement so you just barely miss the core. You can gain incredible speeds with this and can even boost yourself back to safety.
I used this funnily enough to reach the tower of quantum knowledge. Not the intended solution but it was fun.
@@meditalisoo7 thats sick haha
I’d heard a bit about how Brittle Hollow worked on some podcasts but not such a lovely detailed discussion of it as you’ve done here. Fantastic work Matthew! Can’t wait for the next episode.
I loved this. Feels like a casual chat about what makes game design fascinating. Brilliant idea for a segment, man.
Thanks! I should get on and make more!
The health value wasn't actually hidden, if you launched your Scout on a piece of the crust it would tell you its stability.
The scout gives you the percentage of health but how many hits each section can take is different and is hidden.
Funny how the meme is kept alive with the documentary calling the game Outer Worlds multiple times
I think the first time I noticed how good the gravity in this game works is when I stopped in the outer solar system with a relative speed of 0 to the sun to repair my ship. When I entered the ship, I noticed that I was heading with over 300m/s towards the sun.
Lessons learned. Never stop in space If you want to stay there, start orbiting the sun.
Outer wilds: also known as Anxiety the game
"ooo pretty red light bulb"
Even if nothing inherently scary or creepy happens during my playtime il still lose sleep that night.
When you launch a probe on brittle hollow the damage meter is no longer a hidden mechanic as it will indicate the integrity of the area the probe is attached to.
This game is an absolute masterpiece, from the music to the story to the execution to the internal design of the software to the outer design of the gameplay.
Really enjoyed this, thanks. This sort of thing reminds me of Movie Magic, which was a similar treatment for cinema and which I enjoyed immensely. More, please!
The only thing I can think of that would make this game even more amazing would be voice acting. It's not really often that you see those scattered adventurers, so It would be kinda nice to hear their voices, and to hear your own too, after choosing the dialog option. It's such a great game I could just stare at It's innovative and amazingly made solar system for days... If only planets were so close to each other, so that we could explore them all! This game is really close to my heart...
Aliens don't speak English!
I think the lack of voice acting works in the game's favour tbh; no other game captures the feeling of space as well as Outer Wilds. A voice would go a long way to filling the void expanse, and that crucial feeling would be weakened a little.
I'm super late, but voice acting is generally a negative for me as it's hard and expensive to get right.
@@liamernst9626 Glad to see someone's still here, damn that was a year ago I barely even remember writing that ahaha, and I agree with you, not having voice acting is special in it's own way, and I see that now, but having good quality voice acting for others around you could also be a very awesome thing, it all depends and maybe it's better this way tho, been a long since I've heard anything about this game but I still love it
"Who hasn't relied this lift to make a daring jump over the planet's core"
Me. Vertigo is a massive problem for me with this game.
4:03 I can't tell if you're saying "outer worlds" or "outer wilds", and it keeps on happening ahah
There will never ever be another game quite like Outer Wilds
Fan-frickin’-tasting.
This is great. Looking forward to more
Glad you enjoyed it.
Without a doubt, one of my favorite games of all time, for sure this gen. Thanks for this video I am no idea exactly how intricate this all was.
This game is one of those few games that left a memorable impression on me. Really loved playing through the secrets of this universe. And this video does justice with the efforts of the developers. Great video. Never realized that so much was going under the hood behind the seamless gameplay. Thanks
I love how this title applies to at least 2 other planets in the game
This is great! Looking forward to the next parts.
I wonder though, instead of you eating marshmallows at a fire will you be eaten by rats... next to a fire?
Actually, the health value for each piece of BH isn't hidden. If you shoot a probe onto the surface of the planet, it tells you the structural integrity of the plate you're standing on
Features like that usually take away from the exploration aspect of a game, but the way they did it made it feel even more like a dangerous adventure. i.e That segment has 75% integrity, that gives you somewhere between 4 and 11 meteors before your ship ends up on the opposite end of the system.
Aaaah all the feels from the title track 😭What an *incredible* game. Also, I never realized that the breakdown of Brittle Hollow wasn't scripted but much more intricate.
Really lovely stuff. I hope this series does the numbers.
It might be worth throwing out a quick spoiler warning at the start of vids like this. People can get a bit sensitive about that sort of thing...
if you shoot a probe on brittle hollow, it displays the stability of the piece you shot the probe at. it helps me time myself to be able to find lore. :/
Real Proper Science
This was really good and I love the series idea, looking forward to these :) Thanks Matthew, Thatthew.
I actually had no idea that the collapse of brittle hollow was _completely_ procedural. As you mentioned, I saw that certain structures on the planet don’t fall into it until a set time in the loop. This made me assume that the volcanism and impacts, while _technically_ following real physics, still had scripted events for the initial conditions of each meteor every time. Props to the devs at Mobius for being even more dedicated to their work than I first thought!
So glad you guys are giving this game more recognition. I feel that most game "journalists" have completely ignored this title and only givenThe Outer Worlds(Inferior game no doubt) attention, those god damn shills.
Nah, you're just not looking at the right outlets, buddy.
Outer Wilds and Outer Worlds are both amazing games. Trying to compare them against each other just doesn’t work. It’s like asking which is better: Fallout NV or Civ 5? They’re both great games in their own ways.
This video is awesome! Outer Wilds is genius in so many ways!!! But I think you've shown too much of content on other planets. Dark Bramble is really meant to catch people unaware. At least make a warning for spoilers!
Fantastic video. Still cant believe this game exists.
I love this game
4:03 Outer worlds?
Rock Paper Scissor
-> Rifle Pistol Shotgun
killer intro to the video. love it
My fav game of 2019. The music in this game is stellar.
I loved this game to death it's incredibly crafted and I wish there where more games like this one
Nobody gonna comment on how big that damn marshmallow is?
The marshmallow is the real star.
I want to play this game so bad, but I only have a Switch and Macbook :(
Anymore Crafting Materials Episodes coming? This one was very nicely done!
Sadly not. We started the series just as we went into lockdown and I wasn't capable enough with the camera to make it without some help. Then I was made redundant from the video team - thanks Covid! - which killed it off. Sorry about that. I had a script written for the Plague Tale rats episode - even purchased some prop rats for the shoot - but it never happened. Appreciate the kind words though. I'm really proud of this one episode.
@@matthewcastle3641 Sorry to hear that Matthew. This seems like it could be a great series/format for a video essay if it gets revived some day.
@@LargelyNonsense_818 Ha, no worries. People discovering this video later - and enjoying it! - is always nice.
i just wish i could replay this game
i cant wait for the planets in outer wilds 2
Really good, Matthew! Now I kinda want a whole RPS magazine show...
we don't talk enought about the OST
Wow that’s amazing, always assumed brittle hollow was scripted
It SHOULD be. You're stuck in a time loop. There should be no "procedural randomness" in a time loop other than what is caused by the player's actions
@@Superabound2 I think the fact that the probe is firing in a different direction every loop, coupled with you having memories of a future that never was justifies enough butterfly effect for the procedural randomness to happen. Especially if you factor in the naturally random nature of the quantum moon.
I thought id be dissapointed when the next episode wasn't another outer wilds planet
BUT THATS A GOOD ONE TOO lol
Great! Different and entertaining... Thanks
Epic video, but why didn't you eat the marshmallow! >:v
It was SO big and SO burnt. It looked genuinely evil.
Rock Paper Shotgun My mom eats her marshmallows like that. And while me and all of my siblings prefer theirs golden brown, I’m the only one who’s any good at getting them like that. It’s a blessing and a curse.
4:05 ... outer worlds?? so sad.
I promise that's an Outer Wilds. Just my sloppy diction.
@@rockpapershot I'll give ya the highlight of the doubt because we all know outer worlds doesn't toast a marshmallow to outer wilds!
Also side fact about brittle hollows crust, you can smash into it like an idiot like I did my first play through and you have a chance of breaking it
Super interesting video. Can't wait to see more!
the comet hit one time Leviath and was stuck on it
The only gripe that I have with brittle hollow is that it's never explained why it is only falling apart right now, after being bombarded for literally thousands of years
Take a drink each time he says "Outer Worlds" instead of "Outer Wilds".
Not once (I don't think?).
@@rockpapershot I heard it several times. Might be your accent, although even so it's hard to see how the one would turn into the other. Good video, though.
Better get drinking then!
You say you don't have a relaxed streamer attitude in live streams but you are very amusing sir and that makes up for it.
Excellent content Matthew! To be fair I love most of the RPS stuff I think the chemistry between you, Alice and Astrid on the Vampire let's play is particularly fun :)
Wow! Serious 'the legend of Pai Mei' vibes here. So, next time you roast a rat? Is the team OK with that?
Congrats on a new series! Looking forward to more of this in-depth stuff.
That must be a fake campfire - there's no way the wood would behave like that. We got through a whole sack of logs in about 30 minutes. They burn so damn fast. Also had to wait for wind to blow in so the flames were brighter. I bet Tarantino wasn't waiting for wind. (And thanks for kind words. More to come!)
@@rockpapershot Correct! They did use a fake campfire. Also, "Originally Quentin wanted them roasting marshmallows as he told the story, but the monologue didn't flow quite right with a steaming hot molten marshmallow in David's mouth, so Quentin asked David to try it with the Flute." (C) Carradine's book on making Kill Bill
Fantastic work! I sure hope there’s more of this to come! I’ve started this game a few times, but the first bit has never quite grabbed me enough to dive in. You’ve convinced me to give it another go.
First bits all totorial man. You cant expect all games to hook you in an hour
Or maybe 22 minutes in this case lol
Excellent video, very well researched. Thanks especially for shouting out Logan Van Hoef's work specifically.
I just found my new favourite channel just because of your name.
note: I am a professional shotgun lover.
There's one thing I don't quite get about Brittle Hollow. Why now? Why, after thousands of years of bombardment does it all yield now?
Matthew roasting marshmallows is a great start to this new direction for the vid buds
Brilliant video!
Thanks so much! Was quite proud of this one.
Personally, Brittle Hollow was my least favorite planet, but the funny thing is that isn't saying much at all since all of the planets are awesome including BH
Great video
9:53
If you go for well cooked, you can eat about 165 marshmallows in 22 minutes
I lost some sanity but it was worth it
7:05 I never relied on that gravity lift because I never realised it, for me once you fell to the black hole the loop was wasted. And boy did you fall especially at the start of your exploration, and it made Bramble Hollow such a frustrating experience for me. I hope I am not the only one stupid enough to miss the lift...
Why did you consider that loop wasted? Couldn’t you just teleport back from the white hole station and resume your exploration?
@@samtaylor257 its hard to use jetpacks
Same.
I used to accidentally fall so i restarted. But then i found the gravity lift
I’m assuming this was the first and only episode in the “Crafting Materials” series because i can’t find any more when i search for it
5:06 if you place your little scout on a piece of the crust, it’ll tell you how much “health” it has
Also known as finding out where to stand or else you will have your pants soaked in piss as you fall into a black hole
After playing this game, I just wanna say that I am so so so glad that earth doesn't just fall straight into the sun.
Yes, more please.. Love the concept, Love the video!!
I feel like this video needs a MASSIVE spoiler warning.
Thankfully I already played this game.
I did weigh it up, but ultimately, it's a 'making of' video - clearly explains itself as much. If people want to find out how something they haven't played was made, then they willingly step into spoiler territory.
This channel deserves at least 1 Million subs. I would watch this weekly.
I agree.
I read the title and thought this was about Dark Bramble
This may be my favourite video on this channel. Looking forward to more!
honestly I never realized it was random
I am terrified of black holes... well the image/simulation of a black hole so that video was pretty jarring to watch
if it makes you feel any better. this isnt a normal black hole. its basically a portal that exits at a "white hole" totally harmless
@@claytopolis I guess the lack of an infinite void that crushes you to the point of nothingness is a good thing to know lol
I was waiting for you to actually bite the marshmallow at the end. My disappointment is immesurable and my loop is ruined.
Excellent game and excellent video 👍
I would love to see more of this series. Wonderfully done
It's on the cards. Second script is written. Other nonsense got in the way.
Great job on this video 👍
Hey for anyone who hasn’t played this game HUGE SPOILER WARNING! ⚠️ I’d very much recommend playing it yourself before you watch this.
I luve this game
But why would brittle hollow be so different between every time loop (even if the player doesn't interact with it at all)?!?
Because it isn’t really a “time loop” because it’s more like the world does whatever while only our memory, gabbros, and data from ash twin is sent back
The main theme gives me such nostalgia and something.... More. Something like what Twin Suns from Star Wars is like.
Fun fact: the hidden health value of each surface segment can be shown by attaching your scout to it, thus showing how likely it is to collapse while you're exploring
There is actually a can of marshmallows in your ship! I think that’s where the “infinite” supply comes from :)
3:40 Outer Worlds?????