Okay, so, here we go… the first blog post on Doctor Who: The Eternity Clock. I’m looking forward to writing more of these blog posts over the next couple of months as we move towards launch.

Developing anything for Doctor Who has to be done right. The show has such a following that we need to be certain that everything the game does fits with the expectations of the fans.

So far, we’ve said very, very little about the game. This trailer just has the barest hints about the core of this story. What is The Eternity Clock? How is it related to the Doctor? How is River involved in this?

I’m afraid this post isn’t going to answer any of these questions; we’ll leave that to future posts and the game itself.

We’re very excited to be working with Supermassive Games as they’ve already delivered some great titles for PlayStation, such as Tumble, Start The Party and Start The Party: Save the World. The team are huge fans of the show and they’ve been great at bringing the key essence of Doctor Who into the game.

Working on PlayStation Vita, as well as PS3, is a real privilege and its unique set of features has allowed our designers to cut loose and we’ll tell you a lot more detail about how we’re using those features in a future post.

So, I hope you enjoy the trailer and look forward to sharing more details with you in the future.

In Tumble, you use the motion controller to stack up and knock down blocks. There are over 50 challenges to tackle across single and multiplayer modes. Balance, Solve and Destroy with blocks of all different shapes, sizes, weights and dimensions and reach into the screen like never before.

We’re already starting to get great reviews, and you can try it for yourself by playing the Trial version on your PlayStation Move Demo Disc (which can be found in PlayStation Move peripheral bundles) or downloading it from PlayStation Store.

We’d now like to take you behind the scenes to learn some of the secrets from the development team, Supermassive Games.

The PS Move Is Too Precise?
We think Tumble has the most precise control system ever developed for a game: Every action you make with your motion controller is replicated on-screen perfectly.

We’re very proud of what we achieved, but early in development we had an issue with this amazing technology. The data we were getting from the PS Move was almost too precise; It picked up every tiny movement, every twitch, every overshoot and correction.

A long time was spent just working on how to use the huge amount of data we were getting back from the PS Move, smoothing out the raw data without introducing lag. It wasn’t just about getting 1:1 control; it was about making it feel like 1:1. We’re really happy with the outcome and sure you will be too when you try it out.

Multiplayer Attracts Crowds
There’s something about a massive, unstable, teetering tower of blocks that draws a crowd: People want to see it crashing down.

To test our multiplayer levels we invited everyone in the studio to have a go on Tumble whenever they liked. The crowds grew as the games got more intense. It made us realize that we had something really compelling with the multiplayer experience; everyone was a backseat driver, everyone wanted to grab the controller and everyone wanted to be the best.

We also added drop-in co-op to all the single player levels. It’s a great feature to play with family or friends, or if you want to complete the Timed medals super fast.

What Hit The Cutting Room Floor?
Right at the start of the project we realised that stacking blocks on its own didn’t offer enough variety for the game, however precise and rewarding it felt.
So we had lots of brainstorming sessions and came up with a huge number of ideas – different materials for the blocks; destruction mode; light puzzles; sloped, rotating and moving platforms; sticky blocks; explosive blocks; anti-gravity blocks; earthquakes; wind generators; see-saws; jigsaw puzzles; sequence puzzles; maths puzzles; home run challenges; timed challenges; target challenges and a whole lot more!

And Finally…
Tumble on a 3D TV is incredible: it feels like you’re actually reaching inside the TV. You should definitely give this super intuitive mode a go if you get the chance.

Thanks for stopping by. Go check out Tumble soon and we hope you have as much fun playing it as we had making it.