Man, that must have been soul crushing to have all that painstakingly crafted art, code and other hard work just cut and thrown in the bin. Still, I am happy that they managed to complete the game.
Bless you guys. Such a long process. Staying financially viable and relevant must have been a real headache. I hope your final version and the fact you are now giving talks at GDC helps you to remain positive through the low times. Maybe all the material you cut could end up in the sequel... 20 years from now? lol. Keep on keeping on. :)
As much as I would have enjoyed a Molstrom boss fight, I gotta say I 100% respect their artistic reasons for removing it. When I finished the game I knew instinctively why we never got to fight him but it was cool to actually hear them confirm my suspicions out loud.
I recently did a stream of this game and you can really tell how much work was put into this. Absolutely gorgeous in every way and its character designs and locals really stick with ya. It's absolutely heartbreaking seeing how much had to be cut out. However, these two and everyone else who worked on the game should absolutely be proud of what they have accomplished. Ya'll did it! Owlboy was a success.
Instead of having breakthrough over breakthrough of how the game evolves or improve, this Owl Boy in-the-making process sounded so much slower, uneventful, yet the payoff is as great as any other successful titles. All these years must've been slow for them. They proved that when you pour in your hearts bit by bit (no pun intended), the tree that you've been growing for so long bear fruits that are sweet. Although the process is slow, the end game is worth it.
I just completed the game. Watching this video, the existence of Owlboy seems like a miracle. I really appreciate their efforts and hope they have bright future ahead :)
I really appreciate you guys going into how hard it was to stay on track and how much you had to cut and change the game because it really shows other devs that it's okay to make mistakes and cut things out; sometimes that's what you have to do to get the game out and keep the lights on so you can move on to the next game.
They were one of the first to use XNA? Crazy. I had to use it for a team project in university 4 years ago and it's so outdated. Really puts the length of this project into perspective.
Great talk! this talk is a great lesson in learning on how to keep your scope right, both because of what you ended up adding, and the ton of things you ended up scrapping .
Necro reply here... but this is too true. I'm about a year and a half (from idea conception) into development on my own game, and boy feature/scope creep is such an easy pitfall to stumble into... But at the same time, how is anyone supposed to know that something doesn't work until after you make (something like) it and give it an honest try? :P It seemed like such a good idea at the time, after all! Haha.
It's interesting to learn about the city of Advent, as it was originally conceived. I can also see the themes resonating in the story based on the developers' experiences.
It's interesting watching this after watching Jake Birkett's talk. I'm sure Owlboy was an amazing success but after 10 years of development I can't imagine they made a lot of money per hour of work. Would love to see that data.
I can see why they cut the Molstrom fight. His imposing presence in the narrative was told though the story and the cutscenes with what happened in Advent. Beating him in a moderately challenging fight would have complicated the story by a great deal. It was interesting to see, though.
Great game, I'm playing it now and I have the third friend now. Beautiful pixel art and music My favorite pixel art game of all time is Alundra for ps1
Love how this video starts. I thought that long haired dude was in the wrong place. Stood on the stage looking at his phone. Turns out he is giving the talk. lool.
They point out that most of the stuff that they cut out was scrapped because the story shifted, and that content no longer fit with the rest of the game. Most of the cut content was completed, or nearly so.
Nice game and presentation, even if I would have liked a bit more techy explanations that dive deeper into the mechanics :) Whats up with the thumbnail though? :D
Oh, you maniacs! At the end I expected to hear smth like: "So, after 25 hours of working on last bits, I went to hang out with my friends, and I noticed that somth was off. They didn't quite fit my mood. So I gotta CUT THEM."
Man, that must have been soul crushing to have all that painstakingly crafted art, code and other hard work just cut and thrown in the bin. Still, I am happy that they managed to complete the game.
Bless you guys. Such a long process. Staying financially viable and relevant must have been a real headache.
I hope your final version and the fact you are now giving talks at GDC helps you to remain positive through the low times. Maybe all the material you cut could end up in the sequel... 20 years from now? lol. Keep on keeping on. :)
Still one of my favorite series of gdc talks
As much as I would have enjoyed a Molstrom boss fight, I gotta say I 100% respect their artistic reasons for removing it. When I finished the game I knew instinctively why we never got to fight him but it was cool to actually hear them confirm my suspicions out loud.
I recently did a stream of this game and you can really tell how much work was put into this. Absolutely gorgeous in every way and its character designs and locals really stick with ya. It's absolutely heartbreaking seeing how much had to be cut out. However, these two and everyone else who worked on the game should absolutely be proud of what they have accomplished. Ya'll did it!
Owlboy was a success.
Instead of having breakthrough over breakthrough of how the game evolves or improve, this Owl Boy in-the-making process sounded so much slower, uneventful, yet the payoff is as great as any other successful titles. All these years must've been slow for them. They proved that when you pour in your hearts bit by bit (no pun intended), the tree that you've been growing for so long bear fruits that are sweet. Although the process is slow, the end game is worth it.
I just completed the game. Watching this video, the existence of Owlboy seems like a miracle. I really appreciate their efforts and hope they have bright future ahead :)
I really appreciate you guys going into how hard it was to stay on track and how much you had to cut and change the game because it really shows other devs that it's okay to make mistakes and cut things out; sometimes that's what you have to do to get the game out and keep the lights on so you can move on to the next game.
Inspiring.
They were one of the first to use XNA? Crazy. I had to use it for a team project in university 4 years ago and it's so outdated. Really puts the length of this project into perspective.
That is a serious level of dedication for them. Well done!
I feel an amazing friendship of this 3 boys...that awesome , the feeling
Great talk! this talk is a great lesson in learning on how to keep your scope right, both because of what you ended up adding, and the ton of things you ended up scrapping .
Necro reply here... but this is too true. I'm about a year and a half (from idea conception) into development on my own game, and boy feature/scope creep is such an easy pitfall to stumble into... But at the same time, how is anyone supposed to know that something doesn't work until after you make (something like) it and give it an honest try? :P It seemed like such a good idea at the time, after all! Haha.
Just finish the game, the nine years were worth it. The scene when Otus is falling from the boat upsidedown is one of the best scenes I have seen.
It's interesting to learn about the city of Advent, as it was originally conceived. I can also see the themes resonating in the story based on the developers' experiences.
Great game!! Hope they make a sequel to Owlboy.
Based on the time spent to create one game, i think that will be a task for their children to finish it
lol
20 years later
It'll be called Towlboy and it will be about a boy who likes towls.
These guys could make a feature film with their pixel art style (depending on whether that would at all be cost effective).
I would watch it.
This is an ode to perfectionism.
I finished this game yesterday. Is the most polished indie game I have ever played.
What a cool video, I absolutely LOVE Owlboy, so cool to see the creation process and the cut content 😄👍🏾💪🏾
24:18 This looks uncannily similar yo the final boss of every 90s game that prevented me from 'wrapping the game'
These guys made so much extra work for themselves, only for it to be cut.
I wonder if they will ever make a directors cut of Owlboy..
i like that owlboy is standing to the left in the beginning of the show.
It's interesting watching this after watching Jake Birkett's talk. I'm sure Owlboy was an amazing success but after 10 years of development I can't imagine they made a lot of money per hour of work. Would love to see that data.
I can see why they cut the Molstrom fight. His imposing presence in the narrative was told though the story and the cutscenes with what happened in Advent.
Beating him in a moderately challenging fight would have complicated the story by a great deal.
It was interesting to see, though.
im glad they took out advent in the end. considering what happend in the story i wouldn't have been able to play it further for days if at all
Great game, I'm playing it now and I have the third friend now. Beautiful pixel art and music
My favorite pixel art game of all time is Alundra for ps1
Thank you for sharing your story!
Love how this video starts. I thought that long haired dude was in the wrong place. Stood on the stage looking at his phone. Turns out he is giving the talk. lool.
Love child of Liam Neeson and Thor. Yet suffers from depression? Sad.
I thought that long haired dude was Otus.
I feel happy for you guys !!please keep making good game everyone can enjoy . !!
Cool !
But... Is that me or, those two guys look lot like Asio and Otus ? That's great x)
i will shurely buy this game!!! Its too beautiful to be true
They should make a 'master edition' or something, that has all these extra features completed and added.
Quite a few other games do this.
I don't think you watched through the part where they explained WHY they cut that stuff out.
I don't think *YOU* watched it, bucko.
They point out that they didn't have time for some of it.
They point out that most of the stuff that they cut out was scrapped because the story shifted, and that content no longer fit with the rest of the game. Most of the cut content was completed, or nearly so.
Rewatch it. You'll see what I was referring to, unless you're just trying to find things to argue about.
If anyone here is trying to start an argument, it's you. Don't be so passive-agressive.
Does anyone know of any other talks out there from the developers of owlboy?
Ten years wow
Love you guys!
Wow, very interesting story.
all of that cut content makes me so sad.. i loved owlboy but thought it was kindof short
Me acuerdo lo fuerte que fue cuando destruyeron advent.
I WANT TO SEE ADVENT.
I love how everyone laughs at around 5:20 cuz of the pup lol
Nice game and presentation, even if I would have liked a bit more techy explanations that dive deeper into the mechanics :)
Whats up with the thumbnail though? :D
still awesome insight into the adventure of indie game dev.. :)
Good Game and Good Talk
25:54 oh look , he has two fidget spinner
Gamers: "Whaaaat? You cut all that stuff out? OMG, that's just rough."
Developers: "Tuesday, bro. Tuesday."
We turned on anti aliasing you know complicated stuff.
The Molstrom fight looks cool, but I am glad it was eventually cut.
there should be second screen for that dog...
Oh, you maniacs! At the end I expected to hear smth like: "So, after 25 hours of working on last bits, I went to hang out with my friends, and I noticed that somth was off. They didn't quite fit my mood. So I gotta CUT THEM."
wait a minute 10 years and all those missing contents??
15:25
If Weird Al was a game developer.
Owlboy: Advent Chains DLC?? :D
Give it six years.
Somebody NERF SNAKE plz... greetings from wayofthepixel Master Snake.
Guy on the left looks like Asio
ah, Spoiler alert! Dont watch this before you play the game!! Too much spoil
A good way to push people to play their game ;)
it didn't happen because the city blew up...
The art in Owlboy is Amazing. Too bad the gameplay is shite.