[{"content":{"poster":["file:\/\/HJXQTjFyz9lbZ2jN"],"source":["file:\/\/3HEMpp192ubOiXTH"],"title":"What We Learned | Out of Scale: A Kurzgesagt Adventure","subtitle":"Powered by NotebookLM","description":"Audio summary of this blog entry created by NotebookLM and edited for clarity and length by humans"},"id":"004b1d7f-bce3-461b-9b21-46e64236e6c8","isHidden":false,"type":"audioBlock"},{"content":{"text":"As a game studio employing 150+, Schell Games always has multiple teams working on a variety of different projects both for ourselves and for external clients. But that doesn't keep us from coming together as a studio to share knowledge and expertise, ensuring each new project learns from the past.<\/p>In this new series, titled What We Learned<\/em>, we dive into the details of a specific game and explore everything from working with the client successfully, what went well, and continuous improvements for future work.<\/p>Today, we explore Out of Scale: A Kurzgesagt Adventure<\/em><\/strong><\/a>. <\/strong>Ready to work with Schell Games on your next great game idea?<\/p>"},"id":"291b5c8b-e772-4c26-b0bf-7e4106fc1006","isHidden":false,"type":"textBlock"},{"content":{"link":"https:\/\/schellgames.com\/contact","text":"Contact Us","class":"","id":""},"id":"1bfa4216-0afd-4694-9889-a6b048915488","isHidden":false,"type":"buttonBlock"},{"content":{"location":"web","url":"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=_hCQJnL6HSA","video":[],"poster":[],"caption":"","autoplay":"false","muted":"true","loop":"false","controls":"true","preload":"auto"},"id":"adbe50bb-8838-41c4-855f-9b16bf429584","isHidden":false,"type":"videoBlock"},{"content":{"level":"h2","text":"What Went Well","customid":""},"id":"5a5d1b0f-b993-48a2-8e40-8044032b1e5b","isHidden":false,"type":"headingBlock"},{"content":{"text":"One innovation that came out of developing Out of Scale<\/em> was the use of a dedicated narrative designer. The script was a primary focus even from the earliest meetings, and the Schell Games developers had a difficult task of explaining a lot of scientific concepts in an accurate, entertaining way. This also involved a lot of back-and-forth with the Kurzgesagt team for fact-checking and tone matching to their channels. The result? A beautifully cohesive and entertaining script that felt like it was coming right from Kurzgesagt<\/a>!<\/p>Other tactics to keep the team focused on making a great game included:<\/p>"},"id":"284eb025-0998-4066-8c81-c402524be903","isHidden":false,"type":"textBlock"},{"content":{"text":"Social ramp ups to start off meetings effectively<\/li>Use of Offtopic Slack channels to keep the team communicating even if it wasn't about work<\/li>Implementation of team rituals<\/li>Use of a virtual coworking hour with no set agenda (this was extremely helpful with remote and hybrid workers)<\/li><\/ul>"},"id":"ca2f0706-2123-44de-bc3d-5ee053dbb9f0","isHidden":false,"type":"listBlock"},{"content":{"location":"kirby","image":["file:\/\/mL0dlm6JpPy88aBQ"],"src":"","alt":"","caption":"","link":"","ratio":"","crop":"false"},"id":"d0c46d4f-230a-4dc4-93a5-ba5b96cf4c74","isHidden":false,"type":"imageBlock"},{"content":{"level":"h2","text":"What We Solved","customid":""},"id":"e46a9040-67d7-4f8a-9aa0-4d4c8446ad58","isHidden":false,"type":"headingBlock"},{"content":{"text":"Of course, there's always some bumps in the road when it comes to game development, but these were challenges our development team was up to facing. As Out of Scale<\/em> first started coming together, a major concern was that the overall playtime was too short. However, the team didn't want to add bloat or things that weren't necessary. The solution ended up being a perfect one, and by adding hidden objects throughout each stage, it drew the player into the beautiful world the team created and naturally extended the playtime. <\/p>One thing that stood out in planning the player journey was how much the development team trusted the player. They didn't want to over tutorial or put overt guide rails on the player, so they looked back to their old school adventure game sensibilities, allowing players to explore, experiment and figure things out themselves. If a player did get stuck, there was always the hint wiggle feature to get them back on track. <\/p>Another key lesson from this project was test...test...then test again. The multiplayer theatre element was saved until near the end of production, but getting the videos to stream proved to be unexpectedly complicated. The team got to an elegant solution, but the knowledge they shared with the rest of Schell Games was to acid test even the things you think you have an answer for early in the process so you can pivot as needed. Pretty smart!<\/p>"},"id":"952402b7-ff31-4ea0-847d-e96aa0d0901a","isHidden":false,"type":"textBlock"},{"content":{"location":"kirby","image":["file:\/\/hmASdktTEQ2IHClX"],"src":"","alt":"","caption":"","link":"","ratio":"","crop":"false"},"id":"a14e6254-410e-40f1-b46a-935a8ada236f","isHidden":false,"type":"imageBlock"},{"content":{"level":"h2","text":"Working with Kurz","customid":""},"id":"ec25b0ea-98d4-40e3-9171-fdfe8bd0a919","isHidden":false,"type":"headingBlock"},{"content":{"text":"Schell Games prides itself on making innovative experiences for all types of businesses, and working with Kurzgesagt is one of our biggest success stories yet. Their team had never made a game before and had never worked with a game studio, so we wanted to show them at every stage they made the right choice in bringing their concept to life.<\/p>Perhaps the biggest success of the project was taking Kurzgesagt's distinct 2D style and lovingly transforming that into a realtime 3D environment without losing any of what makes their style unique. Our dev team masterfully reverse engineered their art style to get to the core of what makes Kurz, Kurz. Then that was applied to the 3D environment, creating the beautiful style you can see from the earliest concept art to the final game.<\/p>In the end, Schell Games didn't need to have final ownership or control to make a great game. We did it because Kurzgesagt and the players deserved to get the best game possible. And it's that commitment to quality that makes Schell Games so inspired to work with on your next great game idea, educational experience of theme park ride.<\/p>"},"id":"a6c7f3c9-5990-43a2-86ce-246d55ce407b","isHidden":false,"type":"textBlock"},{"content":{"location":"kirby","image":["file:\/\/pIa75gtCKW54LM58"],"src":"","alt":"","caption":"","link":"","ratio":"","crop":"false"},"id":"f940d5a3-5c68-4b3e-8003-b00e0d14510e","isHidden":false,"type":"imageBlock"},{"content":{"level":"h2","text":"Work with Schell Games","customid":""},"id":"d62a2fb8-9fb8-4413-99e6-048fcc42dcc8","isHidden":false,"type":"headingBlock"},{"content":{"text":"Ready to talk so we can make the next Out of Scale<\/em> for you? Learn more about<\/a> Schell Games, see why<\/a> we're the top choice to partner with, and then let's get in touch<\/a>!<\/p>"},"id":"f424624e-da1e-41af-af88-99c0da27979c","isHidden":false,"type":"textBlock"}]