Uncharted: Drake’s Fortune (Update)

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Update: Uncharted: Drake's Fortune
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.

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216 Comments

6 Author Replies

  • Naughty Dog will save the PS3.

  • 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!!!!!

  • @ 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?”

  • 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.

  • VGBlogger.com - » Uncharted: Drake’s Fortune Update - Hits Beta, Demo Confirmed, Gets 1080i Support and More

    […] Visit the PlayStation.Blog for the complete Uncharted: Drake’s Fortune Update. […]

  • 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…

  • You guys are amazing. This might be a first-day-release purchase for me now.

  • 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.

  • 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.

  • 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.

  • Got to hand it to Sony for putting us in touch with the Developers. We’ve seen it done very well on Warhark and Uncharted, and done pretty well on Lair and Heavenly Sword.

    Thanks Evan – good work, looking forward to the Demo.

  • In less than 2 hours on GameSpot “On the Spot” show they will show demo of Uncharted, maybe Evan will be there to show it?!

  • Evan,

    Wow. I’m really impressed at your quick and detailed answers and care for the community of PS3 users. I can’t wait to play the game and if there’s a sequel I’m hoping for 1080p! :D

    I may have to apply for a job there. I’d love to work at a company with a “co-president” like yourself.

    gamerman76: I share your feelings 100%…

    skygod: spot on! This blog makes me happy.

  • grrr, I think Sony has probably made some kind of restriction of which words you are allowed to include.

  • @164

    Me too :D!

    This the way developers must interact/communicate with their fanbase.

  • Hey Evan it’s great to hear about the gunplay, it was pretty much the only thing that was making me a bit worried about Uncharted, now that it’s fixed I am 100% sure that this game is going to be something special.

    By the way I remember hearing in an interview that you guys planned on having damage on the enviroment(like pillars breaking to gunfire) is that in the game?

  • do u guys {sony} read these post…no …

  • ******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***** ……… :D !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! those are the only things that were missing in this game…….and you managed to put them in…..you guys are incredible…..not like other developers who do half of a game wich could be an AAA title………and that’s not all: you adjusted the aiming, and this means that you’ve been following previews from all over the internet :P example: ——-Our biggest concern with the game up to this point was with the loose controls. Aiming was a chore and difficult to get a bead on things ——-(IGN) :D love you,guys :D after all, you never did a bad game, and this one will be as good as previous, if not better! good luck!!!

  • Evan,

    Your level of communication and response to user feedback has been incredible. Here’s a few things that I’m really hoping aren’t issues when the game is released:

    1. Framerate issues. I already know it’s 30fps which is fine, it just needs to be silky smooth. If it’s sketchy, it just won’t feel right.
    2. Screen tearing. Heavenly sword has this really bad a few other games have shown it. It’s extremely irritating.
    3. Camera woes. If the camera doesn’t work, the game doesn’t work. Please don’t underestimate how important a smooth and intelligent camera is.

    I think with what I’ve seen so far and if the above looks good, you’ll have a AAA title. Good Luck and Have Fun!

  • Is there still Blood in uncharted?
    I hope so, it could still get away with a T rating much like Heavenly Sword did.
    i hope it’s still there.

  • First, as a 1080i only TV owner, I really want to thank you guys for including 1080 support. There are many out there with this problem and we’re tired of having to play “next gen” games at a lowly 480p. Its great to see a developer listening and it is MUCH appreciated. THANK YOU!!!!!

    One thing disturbs me, however:
    “I wasn’t fully aware of how important it was for us to support 1080i…but reading through these comments, it was brought to my attention the number of people who had HDTV’s but would not be able to experience Uncharted in high-def.”

    The system has been out for a year now. At this point in the game, are developers REALLY not aware of this issue yet?

    This issue has seemed to have been dropped by every single video game news outlet – most reviews don’t even mention if a game supports 1080i. And Sony sure as heck hasn’t said one peep about it (despite a 160+ page thread dedicated to this issue on their forums).

    If the developers themselves aren’t even aware of the prevalence of this problem, the gaming community and those developers in the know really need to get the word out there!

    Again, thanks to Naughty Dog for joining (a sad few) other developers for putting in the time and effort to include support for us ‘1080i only’ folks. You’ve certainly secured a sale here.

  • Just let the fanboys complain. I still think your game is going to be a BIG hit on the PS3. I just hope the game doesn’t go “UNCHARTED” ironically. Heavenly Sword was a great game but not many people bought it. At least you are releasing it after R&CF: ToD.

    Can’t wait for the sure to be fun demo.

  • The PS blog helps customers make news. Check out Kotaku’s site, regarding the 1080i compatibility. Way to go Evan, way to go customers!

  • Ey thanks we dont wan another Lair in our hands, and for running on 1080 Men i was happy alot people have HDTVs, and there are lucky people like me that have 70′ Sony TV yea i pay 5.000 for it, after playing Resistance, Heavenly Sword on it and now Folklore and Uncharted it make it all worth it.

  • @ Evan – Hey again! Can you comment on what you meant by, “we hit Beta on Sunday, September 16th”? Did that just mean that it was a closed beta for your developers to test the full game with a rundown so that you could tweak it, or was it a public beta in which you sent invites to a select handful of PS3 owners?

    Thanks,
    Lh

  • @ Evan “again, myself” I just read in EGM that you had said no trophy’s or anything were gonna be in the game for home. Has that changed at all? I know it comes out much later now, but isn’t their like a default icon you could use and or maybe a patch to give us later on? Well… unless you do objective based stuff to get and obtain trophies. Well, it can’t be helped…. I’m still so hyped about this game. Way more than Killzone 2 or anything this year.! Go ND!!!!

  • Wow a studio that actually listens to their fans. O_o Good job on fixing the gunplay.

  • I believe that there has been some confusion to the amount of gameplay time to play through it once because I’ve heard 8-10 hours and I’ve heard 10-12 hours because some people have been talking about how this is going to be terrible “just like Heavenly Sword” (which was completely awesome) cause its going to be “too short” and it would be really cool to have some official information.

  • Just because you replyed like this to the fans, im buying the game no matter what. Viva Naughty dog! (I got crash 1,2 and 3 AND jak) woo

  • Uncharted: Drake´s Fortune abre su web oficial y tendrá demo antes de su salida en Nivel99.com

    […] antes de su salida Published by October 5th, 2007 in Videojuegos A través de los blogs oficiales de Sony, Evan Wells, Co-Presidente de Naughty Dog, ha estado comentando el estado actual de […]

  • I WANNA THIS GAME…NOW!!!!!

    AUEHEUHAEUA

  • @ evan
    i noticed some screen tearing during the behind the scenes video(during gameplay) that came out in the playstation store. has this problem been fixed?

  • FIX THE SCREEN TEARING AND FRAME RATE ISSUES!

    i had to deal with that in HS and it was fine then but not in a ND game.

  • Anyone here think the main character kinda looks like Evan? hmmmm

  • Looks more like Jason Rubin to me… In the face. Well, that or that Lead singer of 98 degrees… nick whoever he was.

  • hey evan! thanks for responding to everyone’s questions. it means a lot to know someone is listening!

    my concern has been addressed by your company MANY times, so it really shouldn’t even be an issue.

    what i loved most about jak and daxter games was just how FLUID walking around and jumping and everything was.. it all just felt so smooth and really made me feel like i was controlling the character.

    i just want you guys to make sure you spend just as much time making sure that he moves and acts on the environment at LEAST as well.

    i know you are including hundreds of animations and stuff, and thats good news, i just really hope you capture that feel.

    i know you guys can do it better than any other company out there. :D

    /crosses fingers

  • Evan Wells please consider this:
    This game looks great but the shooting is very frantic and difficult to target as i have seen in many videos.
    Why dont you guys give the option of auto aim, that would really attract a lot of interest. it seems that the players in videos die very often.
    please consider auto aim as an option.

  • He’s already adressed that jagged. Auto aim isn’t really a nessasaty anymore. Not if you’ve seen the latest vids just released today. I can tell either the player’s really good or the gunplay is. I’d like ot think it’s the gunplay, myself.

  • Most underrated title of 2007………if only I had a PS3, I could play what looks like a masterpiece.
    *SIGH*

  • I just noticed something in the latest gameplay video that I saw… You have your aiming and shooting functions mapped to L1 and R1. Why is this? The Sixaxis doesn’t have the best triggers but L2 and R2 are still the triggers. Will we be able to remap the controls? I’m used to using the triggers for firing now and I really don’t care for the L1 and R1 setup anymore.

  • Wonder how long this game will be? I’ve heard rumors of 10 hours. That’s a little short in my opinion.

  • “As for multiplayer, we opted to stick to making the most compelling single player game possible this time. But there is a lot of game there and some pretty good replay value with multiple difficulty levels, hidden treasures, medal points, and some really cool unlockables.”

    Thank you, thank you, thank you. Too many developers add on a multi player mode because it seems to be “required” nowadays – IE game sites deduct points from scores because of lack of multi player…which is crap – and I’m really glad you guys are going against the grain and producing a solid SINGLE player game.

    The single player game is, was and always will be most important. Kudos for sticking to your guns. You just piqued my interest for this game by tons.

  • I agree, multiplayer isn’t nessassary for every damn game. I’m sick of all these games being online when noone uses them half the time anyways. It’s almost a wasted venture. I try to play Motorstorm online and all I get are like 6 to 8 people… It’s pathetic! Motorstorm didn’t need online. Only a select few games need online a year. Simple as that. Warhawk “awesome online” Resistance “awesome online” everything else… I can do without. Uncharted having no online doesn’t affect me at all. I’m glad Ratchet and Clank and Uncharted are single player only. It menas I’ll have more time to dedicate ot the actual game.

  • Hi Evan!

    What a masterpiece and an astonishing accomplishment !

    I just want to bring something to your attention. I saw the videos of a brand new level on gamevideos.com and gametrailers.com, and both have different textures, lighting, geometry etc. since this is the same level displaying in those sites. Why is that ? Let me tell you that I prefer the look of the gametrailers.com video. Is this a newer build ?

    Thank you so much guys. Day one purchase for me too.

  • Hi again !

    The level where both sites have differences is the Harbor view cut scene.

    Hoping to have an answer on this.

    Thanks.

  • Hi Evan Wells,

    could you please address this issue I arised on the NeoGAF forum please?

    http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showpost.php?p=8119486&postcount=249

    It’s really bugs me.

    Thank you.

  • Here is an animated GIF to better describe the issue.

    http://i24.tinypic.com/16kndr5.gif

  • I hope Evan actually takes a look at your post TTP,
    It does seem a bit disorienting.

  • hey.. ive been following along on the uncharted post and i think its awesome that Evan has actually been responding and addressing everyones issues and concerns… rare on this site… uncharted is gunna own.. keep up the good work naughty dog!!!!!!!

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