PAIN: DA-WOOD & DA-MOCKRACY

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I remember telling some employees before that game development isn’t a democracy. I said at best development should be a benevolent dictatorship. I held that opinion because oftentimes when you get too many cooks in a kitchen, it does spoil the soup. Oddly enough I haven’t felt that way with PAIN for quite a few reasons. This message board has had a lot to do with how we design PAIN.

PAIN design is liberating. We don’t have to worry about context, story, logic, or even reality. In a lot of ways, PAIN development is about as chaotic and creative as you can be. So before I dig into what’s next, let me thank all of you for buying PAIN because it really has granted us freedom to try new concepts.

November is an exciting month for us as we are launching the next environment for PAIN. It’s called Movie Studio, and it’s our take on the wackiness of movie making.

So to directly contradict my earlier statement … PAIN development is (at least somewhat) a democracy. We have listened to what you wanted and tried our best to make sure all the things that you wanted are in this area. That includes (but isn’t limited to):

  • More than one launcher location (There are three that you can dynamically switch to)
  • Single Player Fun with Explosives
  • New Cratetastic Mode
  • Unlockable FREE Character
  • HORSE Mode
  • Bowling Mode (With all new distractions)

Movie Studio is the first area that we created after hearing all your input (democracy again). Amusement Park was started before PAIN was released (and took quite a while to make). Movie Studio was made in a third of that time, and I think it shows how much better we as a team have gotten at this since the original PAIN area.

We also have a new single player mode in the Lot called CRATETASTIC. I think you will love the mode if you were in any way a fan of Spank the Monkey. Take Spank the Monkey and replace the monkeys with explosives. This mode gets hectic because you can switch launch locations.

Pose of the Week
We heard everyone comment about the lack of a free character with a purchased area so we kidnapped Buzz and locked him up inside the Movie Studio. Unlock the Afterparty area and get enough points, and he’s all yours.

Bowling and HORSE are also back. There are no mimes in this Bowling mode, but I am confident you will enjoy what we victimize instead.

You can thank your collective outrage for the Fun with Explosives inclusion (democracy + demonstrations = action). The Movie Studio just entered testing when Amusement Park came out. You all really went off about the lack of Single Player FWE inclusion. I called Jeff and told him how I wasn’t willing to explain why it wasn’t in Movie Studio. The funny part was how we all agreed that it was our favorite mode. So the designers burned the midnight oil, and it was added to the content push.

Lastly, you always vote for the PAINdemonium like areas as your favorite modes. So instead of doing two of these, we made three of them. Strangely enough they are easier to design than all the other modes. We thought it might be a good idea to give you more than what we usually do.

Watch the movie. Check out the screenshots and most of all, keep making your opinions heard. It helps us make better content. Stay tuned for the next couple weeks too. We will have some more cool content to share with you.

…and GO VOTE! I sure am.

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85 Comments

4 Author Replies

  • first!!! finally looks good

  • I know this is off topic but I found a bug with the new PSP 5.0 update.

    Have the USB charging and USB auto detect both enabled. Plug in a AC adapter to the power port. Now try and do anything on the PSP, it will automatically switch to USB mode and render all functions useless.

    Thanx

  • Come on. “Da-wood” and “Da-mocracy”? No one wants the media perpetuating this sort of social construction.

  • AWESOME! :) day one purchase from me! :D

  • getin it hot u guys did ur thin

  • NICE!

    thanks travis!

    NOW! is there any way you could re-do the trophies for Pain again?? I know you already made em easier…but MAN!

    these are hard! I’m still looking at 0 percent completion, and i’ve logged in hours and hours trying!

    anyway, thanks for your continued support, man!

    :)

  • Yeah, I’ll admit it, PAIN has some of the hardest trophies out there.

  • i love pain and enjoy it so much, but shesh why most the trophy’s be so hard

  • wats up travis are there goin to be trophies for the new mode and im in luv with tati she bangin. how about sackboy in pain and kratos and jedi knights bring the force

  • thay are hard i think i got 5 pain trophies

  • oOo forgot Gorge Bush him too i would luv to slam him to a wall

  • Nice!!! Travis… Nice!!!

  • Quick question.. when next environments are added will they get new XMB trophies to go with them..

    Thanks to you and your team for all the work!!

  • Nice TITles, see i can make up funny names too. Da-wood, hmmm great for the kiddies. I can see it now, little johnny comes home from skewl and logs into the store, buys this character and later when the folks come home and ask what he’s been doing all day. Little Johnny answers ” I’ve been playing with Da-Wood all day” Yeah really conjures up good wholesome images in the mind. DA-Mockracy, hmmm that too. Seems like you’re trying to make fun of your “Freedom”, sure everything looks great but is it?

    Sorry I just watched Zeitgeist Appendum a few minutes ago and it’s got me to thinking about how things are run. I’m sure they are fun characters and all but meh I think I’ll pass until PAIN gets an online two-four player (on the same screen at the same time) mode. Trophies just don’t really matter to me at all, especially if they aren’t retroactive.

    I just like multiplayer online play.
    Hint Hint…

    p.s. I already OWN Pain, just won’t be playing or buying DLC until said Online mode shows up.

  • Thank you for the info and for continuing to support this game.

    Looks great!

  • Ah Pain gets played again!

    :P

  • You guys continue to rock out with … a clock out. Hey- as an aside, I actually got some of those trophies I thought were next to impossible. I think I’m maxed out at my “pain tolerance level” at about 70% of the trophies though. Better than I ever thought I’d do… ;)
    Keep on keepin on…

  • Yay, another Pain expansion. Now…

    Where are the new Avatars, Sony? We need new avatars, and you guys promised a big fall update of ’em. AVATARS.

  • Sounds great! I love PAIN and how hilarious it can be, especially with an audience. ;)
    Looking forward to the new area and continue to enjoy the PAINlabs content every Thursday! Keep it up!
    Oh, and I don’t suppose you will be adding FWE to the Amusement Park? :D

  • People saying that the trophies are too hard: I think you are doing it wrong. I have 46% and I know others have even more. And I know a few others are within my grasp, I just haven’t tried for them yet.

  • Sweet – I called this during the ComicCon coverage – the promotional material said “PAIN Movie Lot”. Nice to see Buzz in there.

    Also, since it’s movie lot – i’d imagine we’ll see some other cross-media characters included.

    Lastly, pretty cool that you added new trophies with a patch. Well done.

  • @Theossie: Every time we release a new area we are granted more points for PlayStation trophies. So the answer is yes. We will have more trophies. We have trophies inside PAIN and outside PAIN. I would list what all of them are but it would ruin the next two announcements.

    @ThatPSPGuy: Our online features are in BETA now so I will see you soon. Thank you for buying PAIN. The online modes we offer first are some of the best multiplayer modes we have made yet. I will detail these next month when we have done all the BETA testing.

    @Fritoz: Thanks! No we will not be altering existing PlayStation Trophies.

    @Fed315: Sackboy is coming but we have also done some Sackboy-creation ourselves. We will release pics soon.

    @EktorOni: We are working on some PAIN avatars. Which characters would you like to see? That’s a good question for everyone.

  • Is this going to be free? If not then that unlockable character really isn’t free…

  • Glad to hear that Travis, Can I help Beta it for you? I am pretty critical of games and even have found things in the New Socom game that shouldn’t have been overlooked during their beta. You WILL see me online and I hope to compete against or play at the same time as you. Cheers.

  • Nice new content. Looks very fun. As others have said, it would be nice to be able to have the multiplayer online as well.

  • Hey- wanted to throw out a quick suggestion too- I’d really, really, really, like to be able to swap characters on the fly (like say, while sitting on the launcher) instead of having to quit the level and go all the way back to the menu and start over. It’s a Pain (lol). Like say I want to show off the game to a friend, to show them all the characters I have to quit and restart the game like 12 times now… This would also be nice in multiplayer.

  • This game is fun, but I find it way to $$$. :-[

  • @22 – I’d love to see Hung Lo! He’s like… my favourite character, ya dig? ^^

    I love the fact that he has a sword, and that you made a pose for him with a flying kick (pretty often used in ma crib).

    I’m from Europe(not UK), so I was wondering… What does “Tetanus” mean? … The joke is used in Uncharted as well, and I don’t get it. Does it have something to do with Titanic?

    Thanks for PAIN. My favourite game to show off in front of my non-Ps3-owning friends =D It’s always a blast playing bowling and smashing a grandma into the face of your friends, or perfect timing for a relaunched girder.

    I love it =D

  • @28guitan “Tetnus” – http://medical-dictionary.thefreedictionary.com/Tetnus
    Throw in an “a” and you get to include giggle inducing a body part too.
    The only thing better than a relaunched girder is a “man hole” sign in the face to someone who was eprfectly lined up for the srike.
    -Foo

  • SWEET I didn’t think Pain could get any better, I was wrong!!!

  • Great work Travis (and your team ofcourse). That Movie Studio trailer looks really funny and maybe it will get me back to playing PAIN again. Its nice to see that you are coming out with another level so soon. Also thanks for listening to our requests and throwing in a free character and its actually Buzz.

    I also look forward to seeing how the new trophies will be and hopefully not HARD like the other ones.

  • Shweet – here’s what I guessed 2 months ago:
    http://playstationlifestyle.net/2008/08/07/sneak-peek-at-upcoming-content-for-pain-celebritycross-game-characters/

    Looking forward to the celebrity characters (as mentioned by Jeff Litchford).

  • My guesses on the next 2 announcements:
    – Online Multiplayer (would ruin if he mentioned trophy that is multiplayer-dependent)
    – Celebrity characters (would ruin as more trophies require use of a specific new character)

  • errr… nevermind on multiplayer. Maybe it is the enhanced replay editor (it is a movie studio after all) and you get a trophy for uploading a video to YouTube.

  • Hey Travis, is there any chance we could get Travis Williams as a downloadable character?

    Haha. :)

    Joking aside, I’m looking forward to the new level and hope multiplayer comes soon, it sounds really great. Take care!

  • PAIN trophies are painful to get. I’m only at like 6% with the bowling tasks. Yes, they become tasks. :P

    Easiest trophies IMO = Burnout:Paradise + Uncharted

  • I encountered a bug in pain trophies, I unlocked pain in the park and 2 mill club but I never got D-Town Destruction, what do I do to fix this?

  • thanks for responding Travis!

    looks like i’ll have to buckle down and try even harder for those trophies!

    I’d like to see Hung-lo as an Avatar and of course, Ed the Mascot!

    keep up the good work AND KEEP BEING OUTSPOKEN TRAVIS! we need more rock star developers!

    peace

  • yo Travis good to see you again in the blog.

    i have some favors to ask from you and your team:

    1-can you kindly add in game custom sound track SUPPORT to the game.

    2-can you kindly add youtube uploading SUPPORT to the game.

    3-can you kindly add Remote Play SUPPORT to the game.

    4- can you kindly add In-game Screenshots SUPPORT to the game.

    Please Please Please Please Please Please Please Please Please Please Please Please Please Please Please Please Please Please Please………………………….

  • I’d like to have a demo of both Pain and High Velocity Bowling, they look fun but I feel uncertain about purchasing them.

    Is a demo coming sometime in the future?

  • Very cool.. thanks!!

  • Thanks for the update Travis.

    Very happy that I purchased this game and with these new additions, the game will be even better.

  • Or how about a Barak Obama where all he does is make empty promises or pander to the welfare class when launched. That would be better than a George Bush.

    Like when he is launched you here, “Failed policies of the last 8 years, I have no valid ideas of my own. I will give you free everything, don’t know how I’m going to get it done but it will happen. By the way companies who sign your paycheck are evil. Lets tax them more so they have even less money, but they will still keep you employed. Sure fire way to stimulate the economy. Also trickle down economics doesn’t work, oh except in the 80s under Regan when it worked, but pay no attention to that. I am sending you free everything because I am barak obama, savior of the universe.”

    Not that would be cool.

  • I have a question Travis, they have the in-game photos you can take. Is there anyway we can get this on pain? So i don’t have to use my camera or phone anymore to take the pics i want to save… One more thing thankx for the new update loving this game.:))

  • Fun game and all, but if you think I’m going to pay extra every time you come out with one new level, you’re nuts.

  • WOW!! New environment already!! I was thinking that it would take at least a whole year before saw another one. I have to say I rather enjoy this game, even though I guess its me that sucks at it cause Ive only been able to get to about 45% on the trophies. Some of them seem near impossible. Ill keep crackin at it though in time.

    Also, how about taking pain to the next level? Im not sure what the game is rated as but im fairly certain it is meant to be an adult game. Therefore we need more evidence of the pain being inflicted. We need blood, bruising and broken bones. Your bodily damage can be reset everytime you reset the sling but I wanna see how many teeth we can knock out or If I can turn him into a human pretzel.

    Also how about a map editor where we can share each others maps. It seems like user generated content is the way to go these days with games like LBP and Far Cry 2 coming out. You guys should license some of LBP’s creation tools.If this game got online play, map creation and bloodied up, no doubt this game would be a favorite of everyone’s for years to come.
    Cheers

  • I enjoy playing PAIN, but it’s irritating that there is no single player mode for bowling. Will that change in the next release?

  • Jeff this is off topic but we need to know if this is true or Not. We need to know NOW!

    SCEE has supplied us with the official statement on the situation regarding LittleBigPlanet…

    During the review process prior to the release of LittleBigPlanet, it has been brought to our attention that one of the background music tracks licensed from a record label for use in the game contains two expressions that can be found in the Qur’an. We have taken immediate action to rectify this and we sincerely apologise for any offence that this may have caused.

    We will confirm the new launch date shortly.

    We’ll keep you updated with further information as soon as we get it.

    UPDATE

    We’ve just been informed by SCEE that the delay to release is effective worldwide.

  • How quickly you guys cooked this thing up most definitely shows that you’re getting better, and all of the content in this update makes it all the more tempting. Thanks for the update! :D

    By the way: Mm… I think the cow guy (Ed? ) would be a great avatar. :D

  • @Motorhead: The theory is that you pay for the environments/characters you want. If that is not all of them I can respect that. I hope that makes sense.

    @Sublimentality: Sorry to disappoint you on the time it takes us to get it right now. Haha. As a master of sarcasm I can appreciate that well deserved jab. PAIN is rated T and above all else we want to be sophomoric in our humor and in the violence. Blood isn’t funny (to me at least) so it has no place in PAIN. Think of us as Tom & Jerry or Looney Tunes violence. We are thinking of a map editor but I honestly couldn’t see that happening until a sequel or something.

    @Huuze: No but when we have online multiplayer at least you won’t have to have another player in your house to play Bowling. I hope that meets you halfway at least.

    @GGCAN: Thanks for the prizz-ops!

    @Ghamdik1:
    1. Custom Music is already in PAIN (We will be adding more shortly)
    2. YouTube uploading and then some will come at the same time as #1
    3. No remote play is planned
    4. Screenshots will come at the same time as #1

    @Stalking: Remember when you make your game larger Sony gives you more trophy points. There is no other way to do this. So we are not making you pay for trophies. We are charging for more game expansions and because our game is larger we are allowed more points. So the notion that we are charging for trophies is not really accurate as trophies are a “fringe benefit” of making more games. PAIN is not in the point total category of say an Uncharted or LittleBigPlanet but as we make our product larger our point totals get to that level .

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