Aug 16, 2022

Crea-ture Developer Blog #3 - END of Early Access

Session: Skate Sim - Nacon

COMMENTS FROM THE STUDIO

Hey Folks,

We’re back with another installment of our monthly crea-ture Dev Blog. July was a big month for Session as we continue to build up to V1 launch on September 22, 2022!

Since the last update:

We’ve gone through further team changes as we adapt to our current, and future, challenges on Session. The focus has remained on delivering the most rounded gameplay experience to date. Public Update 2 was a big improvement from the original Early Access build, and we’re excited to deliver the next iteration of this growth.

To this point, consistency has remained at the forefront of every discussion we have. Ending early access and releasing V1 on all platforms allows us to place another stake in the road as we progress, or another trick in the book…

Bringing Session to all platforms is a milestone we know a lot of our fans are excited for, and we are too.

We’re stoked to finally announce the official launch of the Playstation pre-order on the 25th of August!!

Development Updates:

Over the last month, our social channels have continued to deliver game footage on the weekly, providing a glimpse at some of the work going on behind our screens. Thanks to Donovan for continually pumping out content like it’s a firing line…all of these edits really show off what the team’s been delivering.

Skateshop apparel update for V1 - Pants!

With the addition of our latest team member - Renaud - we now have an in house modeller. Renaud is working on some new shoes for our TBA Pros before we start revisiting the DIY object library and other fun content!

Brand updates picked back up with our first update since we showed our latest drop of ThankYou skateboards as we introduced D.G.K. Keep your eyes peeled for more to come as we continue our licensing collaboration with Black Sun Productions!

In-game & Replay Editor filters - Not only are we keen skaters - but we’re also fans of the classic aesthetics and the importance of catching the mood of your session…

Audio is currently going through a major overhaul.
From the apartment - to grinds - to menus - to bails, it’s all getting a facelift.

Here’s one of the more fun ones to show off - Bail audio!!

Desync is WIP - We’re working on how to improve the separation of the flip and scoop speeds, in order to allow you to cater the ultimate trick set, by dictating both aspects of your tricks.

True Stance Input WIP - Any of our Discord followers will know there has been a lot of talk around the queries posted by our Lead Gameplay programmer regarding True Stance Input and relativity. Skating is not a regulated sport and as such we have varied opinions and beliefs in areas where we require steadfast rules in-game. Translating an activity as free as skating into code is incredibly complex. Thanks to a concerted effort and many hours of playtesting and feedback, we’ve made some major progress in cleaning up the input orientation and our rules for tricks, grinds, and manuals.

August:

As we’ve already mentioned above (but it's well worth noting again), August kicks off with the official launch of the Playstation pre-order on the 25th.

We thought it was only right that the pre-order DLC also be available to all of our early access players for no cost!

The Pre-order Brandalised DLC provides unique skateshop content:

Buy or Order the game on ANY platform before September 22nd to receive the pre-order DLC!

It’s also time for us to finally share what we’ve been able to pull together for our Deluxe Edition. We wanted to make an homage to the early days that started this journey…

Our Deluxe Edition is a content bundle fit for….well an additional 10 dollars!

We’ve come a long way since the early days, but we found it only fitting that we revisit them as we close out our V1 production.

The Kick Starter campaign started off with the prison demo, and since we already have the Prison dude playable in game, we decided to go full chain gang for the player.
You’ll receive:

A full prisoner outfit
- Hat / Shirt / Pants / Shoes
Two new crea-ture produced Prison themed Grip Tape designs
Two new crea-ture produced deck graphics
- The decks align with the grip designs & including a never before seen strobing cop lights deck graphics!

Outside of the skateshop content are TWO NEW locations.

Both of these locations have been massive hits amongst the dev team, and we’re excited to offer these amazing experiences in the Deluxe Edition DLC:

The Hangar - A classic Kickstarter map revisited - updated to V1 standards and converted to be partially editable using the Object Dropper!
Peitruss Skatepark - Our first map fully & officially outside of the US! This 1-to-1 replica of the famous skatepark in Luxembourg provides an awesome array of terrain and obstacles for you to experience.

Both the Hangar & Peitruss provide a unique skate park experience in session.

September and Beyond:

After over 5 years in development, and 3 years in Early Access, hitting our V1 is a huge deal for the project, team, and studio. Along with this major milestone is the inevitable adjustment of our sales price to account for our V1 status.

As of our V1 launch on September 22nd 2022, the game price will be increasing to meet the standard price of a full PC game at launch:

Standard Edition: 39,99$ USD
Deluxe Edition: 49,99$ USD

Our full launch also finally brings the Session experience to all platforms (PC/Xbox/Playstation), and we’re excitedly planning and preparing everything to follow. Post-launch production will kick off immediately upon the full closing and debug of the Day 1 Session experience.

Don’t fret though - we aren’t just looking forward and forgetting about Day one!

Session Day 1 still has quite a few updates to deliver:

Skater Roster: 4 skaters still To Be Announced!!!
- Including sponsors & unique missions

Expansion: Keep an eye on gamescom this August for the big reveal!!!!
- The final destination in the US…?
- More than one map!

Gameplay
- True Stance clean up - Input
- Grind System overhaul - Input
  - The above Input overhauls have resulted in a reset of the core gameplay system, greatly improving the input logic for grinds and manuals when performed with a rotation
- Power Slides clean up
- Lip Tricks shipping at Alpha & completed through patches

De-bug: We continue to work hard on the balance of the core gameplay and experience.
- Consistency in the overall experience is key, from cruising to kickflips and the overall session experience. Debug will continue to improve the game incrementally through patches post-launch.

Post Launch plans?

The future for Session post V1 is bright, and it is important to set the tone right from the get go, we want to keep Session alive!

Our philosophy at crea-ture Studios is that gameplay features will always be free, it's that simple. Players on all platforms post launch players will receive updates via two methods…

Patches:

No gameplay feature will be behind a paywall. All future gameplay features will be free, along with all improvements and debugging to the gameplay systems!

Gameplay feature examples include: manuals, slappies, late tricks, grabs, the replay editor, the object dropper.

Downloadable Content:

DLC will be behind a paywall, and will consist solely of content!

The DLC content allows us to add more items and locations to the world for those who want it. DLC drops will often be produced in tandem with gameplay patches and will allow for the player to expand on the new gameplay experience through tailored DLC Object Dropper Assets and a unique gameplay spot, location, or city.

DLC Drops will consist of:

A new skater added to the roster
New skateshop content from soft goods to hardware
Unique DIY objects
Unique missions scripts focused on the DLC Skater
New and unique location(s), curated and developed by our world team
From unique gameplay possibilities to more classic skate spots, we’ve got a wealth of cities and pinned spots to choose from.

The DLC content will allow us to continue to produce unique world experiences and to curate the best digital skate experience available. We’re excited to share our post launch plans in the months to come!

Studio:

We continue to grow and adapt as a team and a studio, and so we have been posting open roles on our social channels and LinkedIn. Since posting our latest openings we have successfully recruited a Sound Designer and 3D modeller. Taking the total project and studio headcount to nine!

While it may seem late to make additions to the team at this time, these roles are key not just to the Day 1 experience, but for the weeks and months that follow our V1 launch.

We continue to actively recruit for the following roles:

Animation
Quality Assurance / Control

Any applicants interested in the remaining roles should send their CV to info@crea-turestudios.com with an appropriate subject line: Session x “your name” - “role”

As always, Donovan will continue dropping Session wisdom & updates on our social channels, along with the brands and skaters that are as of yet unannounced. The August Dev Blog will be the final for V1 before launch, and the team is still growing and excited for what lies beyond, so please share with your friends and family if you know anyone who would be ideal to join our team!

CV’s can be sent to info@crea-turestudios.com

Peace,
The Crea-ture team!