Earlier this month, Double Fine released PsychOdyssey, a 32-episode, 22-hour doc𝓰umentary series on the making of Psychonauts 2. Now that the world has actually had time to watch most of it, game devs are lauding the series as the absolute best insight you'll get into how hard making games actuallyಞ is.
Double Fine started chronicling its production process back in 2012 when the game that would eventually be known as Broken Age hit Kickstarter. The studio worked with 2 Player Productions to produce a lengthy episodic documentary chronicling the making of that game, and 2 Player essentially became Double Fine's in-house documentaria✱n group.
, and the results are absolutely incredible. The presentation feels so candid and honest that, even when it feels a bit voyeuristic to watch ordinary people do their jobs, it's absolutely enthralling. You don't know heartbreak until you watch a newly hired level designer have an idea gently shot down by Tim Schafer.I haven't been able to stop thinking about this moment from the newꦏ Double Fine Psychonauts 2 doc. p༺ic.twitter.com/I7NixkNrbq
The documentary doesn't shy away from the hard parts, even those bits you might expect to be swept aside for corporate or legal reasons. Take this bit from the time of 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:Microsoft's buyout of Double Fine, where 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:Xbox Game Studios boss Matt Booty⛦ gives some (♔arguably unsatisfactory) answers about moonlighting to concerned employees.
Huge shout-out to 2 Player Productions and to Tim Schafer for protecting the PsychOdyssey documentary. There💞 are unbelievable glimpses into what it's like to sell your studio to Microsoft in here.They dropped the documentary on Friday and need your help sharing it. pic.twitter.com/pfYxnylMSs
Game devs from all corners of the industry - from folks at indie studios to lead designers at places like Respawn and 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:Naughty Dog - have bee𒅌n praising the documentary for its insight into the game development process.
Finished the @DoubleFine documentary. Probably one of the most important industry "things". ꦬStories like this are not few & far between- good & bad happen at every studio♛ in all game dev. But never see it. Here it is laid bare for all to learn- immense.//t.co/LauaXmZwy4
Much like everyone else in GameDev - I am watching the @🔯DoubleFine documentary. I'm a bit too invested now cause of how real it is - going to ๊be sending some annual feedback requests to @TimOfLegend and co. Please respond in a timely manner.
Once again, @DoubleFine & @2PProductions have created an intimate & honest documentary on the process of making video games. If you want an unvarnished look at how the sausaᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚ𒀱ᩚᩚᩚge is concepted, planned, iterated on, revised, cut back, & eventu𒈔ally (sometimes!) made, look no further: //t.co/e3wNO5S9nb
It would probably drive me insane with stress also but I can get through it because I know at the end of all the struggles they made an incredible game 🥲
The only problem anybody in the industry seems to have with PsychOdyssey might be that it's a little tool real.
Finished #DoubleFine #PsychOdyssey & Damn...It's rare to find documentaries that showcase challenges of creative studio work, but I have NEVER seen a documentary tackle the sensitive issue of the cracks that break trust in the workplace and fosters൩ resentment among coworkers. pic.twitter.com/CK5vhkT7tE
Nine episodes into PsychOdyssey and I got to the part where one of the developers is investigating a🐠 game breaking bug, tries to reproduce it, and gets a different bug that completely crashes the game.…I feel so seen right now.
I’m laughing, I’m crying, but also I’m like “damn that c♕enter of mas🅷s trail debug is a dope idea”
But reallꦐy, where else are you going to find an honest discussion about how terrible it is to make a working platformer camera?
Double Fine PsychOdyssey EP10 pic.twitteꦅr.com/ntGjnp57Vs
If you have any interest in finding out💜 how much work goes into making the games you play, PsychOdyssey is essential viewing.
I haven't even finished PsychOdyssey yet and I'm already looking forward to the documentaries on whatever Double Fine's next 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:upcoming Xbox Series X games will be.
Dustin Bailey joined the GamesRadar team as a Staff Writer in May 2022, and is currently based in Missouri. He's been covering games (with occasional dalliances in the wor❀lds of anime and pro wrestling) since 2015, first as a freelancer, then as a news writer at PCGamesN for nearly five years. His love for games was sparked somewhere between Metal Gear Solid 2 and Knights of the Old Republic, and these days you can usually find him splitting his entertainment time between retro gaming, the latest big action-adventure title, or a long haul in American Truck Simulator.
