Hey there everybody! Wanted to let you know that we hit Beta on Sunday, September 16th! That’s a huge milestone and it means we’re one step closer to finishing Uncharted. The team really pulled together to help achieve this deadline and we couldn’t be more excited about the progress we’ve made. Finally, most everything is in the game and we are just chasing down the last bugs and making a few minor balancing tweaks here and there.
We’ve had our last major focus test week last week too, and we received the data we need to make sure that the gameplay is finely tuned for our final release. This is a process that we take very seriously here at Naughty Dog and something we’ve been doing since the Crash Bandicoot days. We test the game over the course of a week and track a huge number of statistics from the types of weapons used, the amount of time spent in each area, and the number of times the players died. We then use this data to smooth out the difficulty and fix any puzzles or layouts that are too tricky to figure out. This will be the fourth time we do a full focus test like this and we are actually going to squeeze a final mini test in right before we Gold Master to make sure a bug didn’t creep in to mess up our tuning.
It’s also at this stage that a bunch of people in the office who have been so busy making the game, finally get a chance to sit down and play it. A lot of people have been so heads down that they are discovering areas in the game they’d never seen before. And because the cinematics are usually some of the last elements that go in, most people haven’t really seen the story unfold in its entirety. Our own Naughty Dogs make great gameplay testers too!
So we have a little less than 4 weeks to go now, but our bug count is actually shrinking instead of growing. There are going to be a lot of late nights ahead of us, but we’re finally seeing the light at the end of the tunnel. And as a sign that we’re almost launching, the official game website has gone up – Uncharted: Drake’s Fortune.
Also, we partnered with GameSpot to give you a sneak peak behind the scenes of our game. Check it out here and here.
(Average: 4.00 out of 5)
222 Comments
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101
leetfoo | October 3rd, 2007 at 8:00 pm
Wow! thanks so much for the 1080 support! I’ll definitely be buying this game now…
102
leetfoo | October 3rd, 2007 at 8:04 pm
For anyone who wants to understand the 1080i issue better, check out- http://boardsus.playstation.com/playstation/board/message?board.id=ps3&message.id=1543758#M1543758
For those of you with 1080i sets, make your voices heard- some devs do listen.
103
Deviation | October 3rd, 2007 at 8:34 pm
Wow, I can’t say I’ve ever, ever, EVER seen a developer respond to user comments like this. Ever. That’s really something else.
104
ItotheCtotheE | October 3rd, 2007 at 8:42 pm
Beta? congrats. Here come the Known Shippables.
105
Deviation | October 3rd, 2007 at 8:42 pm
Here’s a worry I have: The PS3 has a resolution priority that places 1080i over 720p. This means that people with 1080p sets playing games with scaled 1080i end up having to switch to 720p to get the game looking its’ best.
106
gamesblow | October 3rd, 2007 at 8:53 pm
Deviation, I own a 1080P Bravia and I set my native ps3 settings to 720 P anyways. I do this cause very few games take advantage of 1080P and even fewer take advantage of 1080I … 720P is a good signal, I can see where the dev’s are spending most of their time with it. I simply switch over to 1080P when the game warrents it. Lair “for instance”
107
40cal | October 3rd, 2007 at 9:03 pm
Hey Evan thanks for the post I cant wait to run around with Drake in the coming weeks. This game looks great.
OT
I just read that IGN gave Folklore a 9.0/10.0. Looks like I have to pick this one up also.
108
Evan Wells | October 3rd, 2007 at 9:23 pm
@Deviation
You don’t have to worry… if your PS3 is set to support 720p, Uncharted will select that mode over 1080i (we thought of that issue). If you really want to play it in 1080 instead of 720p (not recommended if you set supports 720p), you can switch off 720p in the XMB.
109
Deviation | October 3rd, 2007 at 9:37 pm
Sweet. That is very, very cool. Thanks for the response!
@gamesblow: I also use my PS3 as a Blu-ray Disc player, so I like to leave it on 1080p.
110
Chef Skillz | October 3rd, 2007 at 9:39 pm
Fantastic feedback Evan! With all of the recent delays in two of my other most anticipated games of the Fall season, Half Life 2: The Orange Box and Unreal Tournament 3, there is no doubt that I will be pre-ordering and picking up Uncharted: Drake’s Fortune on day one.
This looks like an excellent game from an extremely creative and talent group of developers. Kudos Naughty Dog! Keep up the great work!
111
Demayor | October 3rd, 2007 at 10:00 pm
This is great! Thanks for listening to us 1080i-only-TV owners. We appreciate that you take out coments and concerns into consideration. Uncharted is now defenitely on my “must-buy-on-day-one” list.
112
MUGEN02 | October 3rd, 2007 at 10:04 pm
thanks for the reply. can’t wait for the demo.
113
Kamahl | October 3rd, 2007 at 10:29 pm
The game is looking great! This really shows that you are listening to the consumers and that’s just pretty cool.
I’m buying this game as soon as possible.
Keep up the good work!
114
redDragon | October 3rd, 2007 at 10:31 pm
Wow, thanks so much. My friends have TV’s and monitors that support 720p, but I only have an old CRT HDTV that supports 1080i. Thanks for accommodating that as well.
115
alcstarheel | October 3rd, 2007 at 11:15 pm
I can’t wait until this game…one of the 4 big ones that I’m waiting for. Good luck you guys :)
116
roadclimber | October 3rd, 2007 at 11:21 pm
I’ve been anticipating this game for a while and i have to say my biggest concern is finishing it in a day. I love the cinematic feel of Heavenly Sword but the biggest complaint people have about it is that it’s over so quickly. I’m crossing my fingers and hoping that U:DF can look this good AND have a decent amount of gametime.
I’m thinking that barring some horrible development, I think this is going to sell through the roof. I’m curious if U:DF would be conducive to downloadable content… assuming that it garners sufficient interest.
Any comments on that or is it “wait and see?”
117
Jander | October 3rd, 2007 at 11:28 pm
Oh Evan, that little show of support to us non 720p 1080i set owners is fantastic news. Thanks so much, that’s the first thing I look at when I get a hold of a game at the store before buying. I usually get a big frown when I see no 1080i support. Major props for including us in the HD glory. I’m really looking forward to the game.
118
Cameron | October 3rd, 2007 at 11:44 pm
Yeah, you all love him now but… but…
Oh alright, I love him too.
119
Shadow_Dancer | October 4th, 2007 at 12:56 am
Hey Evan. As much as I’m thankful that you guys are releasing a demo, I don’t really need one. Naughty Dog are (and have always been) one of the BEST developers in the business and I’d buy the game anyway. In fact I’d buy anything with the Naughty Dog logo on it. Thanks to ND for you hard work. Can’t wait to play the game!
120
gamesblow | October 4th, 2007 at 1:20 am
Thing about demo’s… They’re good and bad. Back when we didn’t have them “for like ps1 and ps2″ I’d buy a game on whims and either love, like or loath them… It was a gamble, but the cool thing was… even for a few seconds every game “good or bad” was new and at that moment, surprised me. Now, with all these demo’s… Anticipation is out the window. The internet and all that has killed the anticipation level for these games… So have PSN and Xboxlive. I’d have bought Skate in a second, had I not played the demo. I still like the game too.. I just don’t want it now I’ve played it. Strange, I know.
121
gamesblow | October 4th, 2007 at 1:22 am
To further that last comment… I’ve waited 2 years for Uncharted and even longer for the next R&C game, I believe. When I pre-orderd R&C I got the demo at Gamestop… I haven’t touched it. I don’t want to. Uncharted… I’ll want to play it, I know I will… but I’m going to hold off on message boards and reviews of the game until I get my copy… It’ll be tough, but I got to. I did this with U2’s last album. Everyone had downloaded it, but me… I refused to listen to any tracks. I’m just that way.
122
darktorns | October 4th, 2007 at 1:27 am
Have fun with the crunch time ND! oh how i miss crunch time… staying late at night trying to put in last min stuff and fixing bug. The feeling of the room is like your home that it feels you cant go outside. But atleast free dinner food from the company.
123
shinigami-lighto | October 4th, 2007 at 2:54 am
As i was reading the blogs and the support for 1080i and 720p it got me confused. I thought that 1080i would be a better resolution than 720p. I have a 1080p TV that supports all HD formats, so my question is that it would be better to take out 1080i support on a 1080p TV set?
124
rukusa | October 4th, 2007 at 5:18 am
Oh Evan… you dont know how much it HURTS waiting for this game.
Being a huge Naughty Dog fan, I will NEED this game.
Can you say if the game will be compatable with the… you knoa… “trophy system”?.
125
Tim111 | October 4th, 2007 at 6:38 am
I can’t wait for this game.
126
King-@ | October 4th, 2007 at 6:59 am
I’ve been watching all trailers and gameplay videos, and i love this game…..the only thing that i can’t accept is that for kill someone you must shoot like 10 bullets (same thing for Nathan), inacceptable thing that ruins an extremely realistic game :( ……Just hoping that on harder difficulty level both Nathan & pirates will die whit 1-2 shoots like all humans would do :P…..Keep doing like this!!!! If this game will be 10-15+ hours long whit cool unlockables, it’s going to be a 9++++++-9.5/10 game, sure!!!
127
L3371 | October 4th, 2007 at 7:32 am
# Question
I read the article on Uncharted:DF in PSM, is the woman playable other than on the JetSki?
Kudos on this game. It looks incredible.
128
orbio234 | October 4th, 2007 at 7:35 am
#128 i understand your confusion. noticed best buy now plays on its tvs displayed the different models. for me the question to ask ….does my tv have hdmi….what does my tv handle….standard….720…l080l…l080p…if it only goes up to 720 thats its max…it it goes to 720 and l080; then thats its max…..and finally if it goes to 720 and l080l and l08lp then that is its max. with a little help from hdmi you will, get crystal clear picture the higher you go. now about games thats another story
129
drdre74 | October 4th, 2007 at 8:04 am
all this good news is just too sweet! Uncharted is going to be the game of the year for me. Still I would like to know how many hours is the game so far in the test runs you have been doing?
130
juanleche | October 4th, 2007 at 8:14 am
THANK YOU!!!
Evan, I just want to express my appreciation. It really earns consumer loyalty, from me at least, and I’m sure from others.
My sense is this issue is not widely known in the developer community, but that awareness is growing. I imagine that you may have contacts in other development companies. So my request is that if you do have contacts to make them aware of this issue and that supporting 1080 scaling for 720p games is very appreciated by the us gamers and earns them our loyalty.
Again,
Many Thanks!!
131
nmc75 | October 4th, 2007 at 9:19 am
@ Evan Wells
Wow.. implementing 1080i for those earlier HDTV adopters is fantastic. Count me in as a fan now.. I have a 720p HDTV but I really dig and respect you guys hearing what the community says.. and more importantly.. acting on it. KUDOS.
132
Jigsaw | October 4th, 2007 at 10:02 am
Sweet,can’t wait to buy this game.
133
harbinger | October 4th, 2007 at 10:10 am
Sounds like you guys are finally getting to enjoy the fruits of your hard labor- great work Naughty Dog- you are a valuable asset to the gaming community. Thank you for your games!
134
kanyn | October 4th, 2007 at 10:18 am
I’m probably more excited for this game than any of the holiday releases coming up. Nice work Naughty Dog!
135
osirisomeomi | October 4th, 2007 at 10:22 am
Hey, I have one question about the game. First off, I’m really glad that you are reaching out to the community like this. It’s a huge step forward for public relations, and you’re making tens of thousands of gamers very pleased by your commitment to the community.
The question I wanted to ask was regarding gunplay. I know it’s a little bit beyond the scope of this blog post, but that’s really my only concern with the game as it seems you’ve done a fantastic job. How much effort are you putting into tweaking the gunplay controls? Most previews i’ve read discuss that as the only feature that seems to need improvement.
Again, thanks for all the hard work, I look forward to playing this game. I’ve enjoyed your developer interviews greatly, and best of luck in november.
136
Kinglink | October 4th, 2007 at 10:33 am
Evan thanks for supporting 1080i. It’s a major thing that not every developer is doing and seeing you are doing it and have realized that it’s needed to call your game “HD” makes me more interested in the game than ever before.
137
optimusprime76 | October 4th, 2007 at 10:55 am
@Evan For us Insomniac/ND fans, will we have any ratchet easter eggs??? :)
This game and R&C have been day one purchases for me since they were announced, and November can’t come soon enough
138
Carl | October 4th, 2007 at 11:08 am
Wow Evan you are the best :D
139
drakkan | October 4th, 2007 at 11:18 am
I prefer 720p over 1080i. It displays more lines at a time than 1080i does, since 1080i only displays 540 at a time. I wouldn’t have bought my TV if all it did was 1080i. And even though 1080i has less lines it still requires more compression to fit into the same space(like for TV), and its more difficult to compress as well.
And because of the interlacing it can cause noticeable jagged edges and flickering, so a lot of times 480p does look better because of that, the fact that there really is only 60 fewer lines per frame, and 480p runs at a full 60fps, where as 1080i runs at 30(540 lines ever 1/60th of a second = 1080 lines every 1/30th),
So everybody should go out and buy a new TV, and we can never need to use 1080i again :).
140
SPARDA | October 4th, 2007 at 11:29 am
I just finished watching this video and I cannot freaking wait for this game
http://www.gamersyde.com/stream_4772_en.html
But I did notice some screen tearing from time to time, but I am sure it will be all worked out.
Keep us posted on when we can expect the demo.
141
thefjk | October 4th, 2007 at 11:44 am
I’m really looking forward to this game, and the demo… BUT please, please give the UK’s PSN the demo at the same time, pleeease!
142
naughtyco | October 4th, 2007 at 11:51 am
Naughty Dog will save the PS3.
143
gamesblow | October 4th, 2007 at 12:38 pm
Collectivly, Naughtydog, Insomniac, Team Ico and God of War’s next installment will save the Ps3, along with a “lets hope to god” exclusive Tekken 6!!!!!
144
gamesblow | October 4th, 2007 at 12:43 pm
@ Evan
On a side note from all the praise and such… Would you venture to say this game leans more along the lines of a 10 our liner game or more like a 6 hour liner game? I can deal with 10, but 6… man, even that’s too short for me. I hope the game gives us atleast 10 “GOOD” hours of gameplay. 10 hours is perfect for me… though, you’re not making the game for me “per say” but alot of gamers who are like me have very limmited time to actually play thru games and thus 10 is the sweet spot for me to enjoy fully. Also, maybe on the next one we get FLAMETHROWERS “heh?”
145
Evan Wells | October 4th, 2007 at 12:51 pm
Hey guys, I’ve seen some comments on here concerning the critiques of the gunplay that have shown up in some of the preview articles on Uncharted. I just wanted to say that we’ve spent a ton of time working on polishing our gunplay and I am confident that those concerns have been fully addressed. Now of course I’m going to say that, but I really do believe it’s true. We’ve fine tuned the aiming so that it is much more precise and easy to control, we adjusted the amount of damage that our enemies take, we toned down the hit reactions on the enemies so that they aren’t as hard to hit with successive shots, and we’ve put in damaged animations so that enemies that have taken a bullet or two will move differently. Game production is a long and complicated process and you definitely run risks by putting your unfinished product out there for people to judge. In fact I’m not sure of any other industry that shows their products to the public so far in advance of being complete. We were fully aware that our gunplay still needed work when we put those demos out, but I’m happy to say now that everybody at Naughty Dog thinks we’ve finally struck a great balance.
146
gamesblow | October 4th, 2007 at 1:00 pm
All I needed to know… This is one of the games I’ve been pushing at my work for pre-order so that’s incredible news, Evan. I’m sure the flank any and everything Sony camp will still be in effect on review sites, however. Maybe the paid Lap Dongs of Microsoft will be out to lunch the day this game gets reviews on IGn and Gamespot…
147
afrosheen | October 4th, 2007 at 1:03 pm
You guys are amazing. This might be a first-day-release purchase for me now.
148
Neil | October 4th, 2007 at 1:23 pm
Thanks for all of the info. You guys are incredible. When Uncharted wraps up I’d still like to see you guys poke your head in here and tell us what you’re doing.
Talk about great communication with your fans, and you’re not even the marketing team.
149
gamesblow | October 4th, 2007 at 1:32 pm
Sony working with Naughtydog was the best thing they’ve probably ever done, other than getting close with Insomniac. You all can have your Square and Konami and Capcom… Give me the 2 best developers, who make the absolute best games, and keep them happy… That’s all Sony needs to do to keep me on board with the Ps3.
150
GamerMan76 | October 4th, 2007 at 1:40 pm
Evan Wells,
I would like to thank you for everything you have put forth of answering everyones’s questions here!!
This game was a day 1 purchase for me because of the idea of treasure hunting and a semi normal joe being played sound really fun to me. Plus your marketing team did a great job with the trailers of this game..not to mention the great programming you guys have done.
I’m more willing to spend my money on games that thought and feedback mean something to a developing company and that makes repeat business for me anyways much easier.
Of course the Jak and Daxter series has had me in stitches with great gameplay.
I was a little shocked to see ready at dawn did Daxter for the PSP instead of Naughty Dawg but it still was a great game..
Look forward to the Uncharted game and thanks again for reading and responding.
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