Rocksteady's Sefton Hill shares Arkham recipe

by Alexander Sliwinski on Feb 10th 2012 2:15AM

Rocksteady Studios co-founder and game director Sefton Hill shared his recipe for making Arkham games at DICE 2012. Beyond the basic ingredients listed, all you'll need is a major license, a supportive publisher and millions to fund the project.

Sefton's Arkham recipe:

Make the game instantly fun and accessible. "We believe it's our job to entertain," Hill said, adding that the free-flow combat of Arkham was meant to instantly convey the feeling of being Batman.
Deep core mechanics, with a contant, incremental challenge to maintain engagement. "We developed combat by introducing new enemy types ... it keeps giving you more, it keeps challenging you."
Complementary Orthogonal Design. Boiled down, it's that systems like navigation, combat and story "all have their own distinct and strong uses." Essentially, he encouraged designing complementary design elements that don't step on each other.
Authenticity. "The restraints of the character define the character." Hill said certain elements may seem like a pain the ass, but that one must embrace those constraints. The fact that Batman can't kill anyone was something the team had to maintain at all times. "It stops us from falling back on a lot of game cliches." Takeway: Celebrate and explore the limitations of characters and what makes them unique.

So, there you go. Oh, you'll also need an engine. We're sure if you write a really nice letter to the guys at Epic, they'll let you license the Unreal Engine at a good price.

Tags: Batman-Arkham-Asylum-2, Batman-Arkham-City, microsoft, pc, playstation, ps3, rocksteady, Rocksteady-Studios, Sefton-Hill, xbox

Posted: Feb 10th 2012 2:30AM GravyWeasel said

One of the best games I've ever played! I really hope they move away from Batman though, they have so much potential to create their own new universe.

Posted: Feb 10th 2012 5:57AM Apsac D said

@GravyWeasel

Sure, that'd be nice, but are you saying you don't want another quality Batman game? New IPs are always nice, but come on, these games are about as high-quality as they come... And it's Batman.

Posted: Feb 10th 2012 6:39AM tendoboy1984 said

@Apsac D

I'm the Goddamn Batman!

Posted: Feb 10th 2012 7:25AM This Little Man Says His Name Is said

@Apsac D

I'd like some Tick action please.

Posted: Feb 10th 2012 9:44AM Hunter141072 said

@GravyWeasel

True, too bad they forgot to add to that list: "don´t play-test the game for the p.c. community, and don´t release a patch for something as stupid as an option to activate DX11 at the menu, after more than 3 months of releasing it".

Posted: Feb 10th 2012 11:50AM aroGADGET said

@Apsac D

I really wish the rumor of them doing a TMNT game was true!

Posted: Feb 10th 2012 3:52AM monkeyontherun4 said

i wonder what it costs to license an engine these days

Posted: Feb 10th 2012 9:46AM Hunter141072 said

@monkeyontherun4

if you sell less than 10,000 units unreal is free, after that you have to pay a percentage but it´s still very accessible.

Posted: Feb 10th 2012 3:52AM Stevetrop Man of Mystery said

So with a mix of this and a dash of that you can make Arkham City Souffle.

Julia Child eat your heart out.

Posted: Feb 10th 2012 4:43AM FdUmCh said

Please God stay away from the ever so annoying combat system in batman on your next game Rocksteady. Hitting Y trying to counter attach only to fail nearly every time is not my idea of fun, other than that batman was a great set of games.

Off topic , you know you use your idevice way too much when you double tap space-bar on your pc expecting a full stop to appear :p........God dam you Apple.

Posted: Feb 10th 2012 5:58AM Apsac D said

@FdUmCh

If you didn't enjoy countering in Arkham Asylum/City, stay the hell away from games like Bayonetta.

You're welcome.

Posted: Feb 10th 2012 7:26AM This Little Man Says His Name Is said

@FdUmCh

Countering works fine in both Arkham games. If it's failing for you then it's probably because you're hitting attack too many times and its caught up in the queue.

Posted: Feb 10th 2012 9:27AM LEONLEONLEON said

@FdUmCh Its you doing it wrong, Its not a button bashing type of game.

Posted: Feb 10th 2012 9:56AM Courtney said

@LEONLEONLEON

Yep, you're doing it wrong. Achieving combos, using periodic counters, of 30-40 is pretty easy, and with practice getting much higher than that is not too difficult. There's actually a slow rhythm to combat, if you let yourself get sucked into reaching too fast or taking a frenetic approach to it, fighting will be much more difficult.

Posted: Feb 10th 2012 10:08AM HandsomeBoyGraduate said

@FdUmCh

At its core, the fight system is a rhythm game.

No, seriously.

Dont mash buttons.

Posted: Feb 10th 2012 4:57AM PreachingLlama said

Loved the core game (including New Game+) and really enjoyed the challenge rooms, but I was bitterly disappointed by the "Campaign Maps". Stringing together three of the challenge rooms (that I'd just finished) as a way of extending the life of the game felt cheap.

Posted: Feb 10th 2012 6:37AM tendoboy1984 said

"The fact that Batman can't kill anyone was something the team had to maintain at all times. "It stops us from falling back on a lot of game cliches.""

I definitely agree with this. Other developers should look at how Rocksteady handled the stealth elements. Games don't have to be about killing, a strong sense of restraint is needed too.

Stealth games are supposed to be about stealth, avoiding the enemy without being detected.

Posted: Feb 10th 2012 10:31AM HandsomeBoyGraduate said

@tendoboy1984

Well.. to be honest, the stealth areas in Batman are forced. You don't have the option like you do in really good stealth games. A room or section is either a 'combat' room or a 'stealth' room.

The 'types' of games in Batman have clear seams, which is further shown by the challenge modes. Challenge modes are basically 'combat' or 'predator' (stealth). You're not going to be able to use stealth of any kind in the combat modes.

So taking that and applying it the main game: There are the 'streets', then there's the 'interior' levels that split into 'Combat' or 'Predator'.

Out on the streets, you have a little more freedom to choose between outright combat and outright stealth... although there were moments in the game where I tried to use stealth and it wasnt possible, I didn't even get an option for a stealth move even though I wasn't spotted or detected.

'Interior' levels... like going through the museum, you are just forced into either or depending on that specific room. You go through a door and that room is a 'predator' room, where everything you need for stealth is present (places to hide, etc). You beat that room... make your way to the next room... which locks itself down and 20 guys coming pouring out and there's no place to hide. You don't have the option for stealth here. Its all combat.

Batman: Arkham games are somewhat deceptive. Its a linear game that is laid out like an open world one. But that 'deception' is not frustrating or takes away form the game and actually makes Batman games fun and unique.

Posted: Feb 10th 2012 10:38AM (Unverified) said

@tendoboy1984

Batman AC is such a great game BECAUSE it doesn't allow killing. Almost every other game shoves guns down your throat to the point that it doesn't even make sense. Can you imagine a version of Uncharted where you aren't an esy going mass murderer?

Posted: Feb 10th 2012 6:40AM tendoboy1984 said

I haven't played either Arkham game yet. How big is the open world? Is it as large as Liberty City in GTA 4, or is it more constrained?

Posted: Feb 10th 2012 7:58AM malexandria1 said

@tendoboy1984

It's large and seems daunting in the beginning, but about half-way through it stops feeling "unwieldy." I love the game but feel that the large open world nature ruins some of the "stealth" action because the areas are too large and villains too "smart" to really do good stealth takedowns.

I found myself always giving up and just diving in and giving all the baddies a beat down.

Batman: Arkham City