Antoine Routon
Game Developer at Square Enix Montreal. Worked on Hitman GO & Lara Croft GO
Discussion
M
Antoine Routon
@arouton · Square Enix Montreal
Hey guys! My name is Antoine and I've been a game developer for 10 years. I come from a AAA background and in 2012 joined Square Enix Montreal to work on mobile games. Working there, Creative Director @Lutzmade and I designed Hitman GO, a new take on Agent 47's world of assassination.
We were so thrilled by the positive reception from Hitman GO that we went on to imagine the GO version of the Tomb Raider universe. After a long road full of exciting challenges, we released Lara Croft GO last summer. We had such great feedback that we decided to add extra content and released the Shard of Life expansion a couple of weeks ago.
I'm excited to be here and to talk about what happened behind the scene, the transition from Hitman GO to Lara Croft GO, our unique studio here in Montreal, and more!
upvotesharetweet・
Jake Crump
@jakecrump · Community Team with Product Hunt
What lessons did you learn from Hitman GO and how did they translate over to Lara Croft GO?
M
Antoine Routon
@arouton · Square Enix Montreal
@jakecrump Hi Jake,
It's definitely one of those "one year older one year wiser" kind of thing. In terms of level design for instance, we were able to keep levels more compact by making sure all the game mechanics could interact with each other.
In Hitman GO, most mechanics interact only with Agent 47, independently from each other.
In Lara Croft GO, we designed the mechanics so that they would interact with each other: for instance, a spider can push a plate which activates a block which pushes a pillar which then kills an enemy. This provides more interactions with fewer mechanics, which then allows for more elegant, compact levels.
Emily Hodgins
@ems_hodge · Community and Marketing, Product Hunt
What's one thing about being a game developer that no-one else knows?
M
Antoine Routon
@arouton · Square Enix Montreal
@ems_hodge Making good games is a lot of work! It's fun for sure, but also very demanding.
One thing for instance, is that people see a finished game and think: "man, if only I had gotten that idea!"
But the idea is just the beginning. Ideas are pretty cheap... The execution, and all the mistakes that happens, THIS is the hard part.
In the same line of thought, sometimes we need to throw away a good idea because it doesn't work with rest of the game... It can be hard not to get too attached to your ideas, especially the good ones.
Jake Crump
@jakecrump · Community Team with Product Hunt
What initially made you want to get into game development?
M
Antoine Routon
@arouton · Square Enix Montreal
@jakecrump Believe it or not, as a kid I didn't have a console or a PC! On the weekends, I would get to play at my friend's house for a couple of hours. So during the rest of the week, I would fantasize about the games I'd play on the next weekend. In the end, I'd spend more time daydreaming about what the games would be rather than actually playing them. I guess in a way that frustration developed my imagination and it might very well have been a cornerstone for my future career!
Ben Tossell
@bentossell · Community Lead, Product Hunt
Are there any plans to adapt other gaming franchises to the 'GO' style in the future?
Carlos Oliveira
@carlos78oli
@bentossell Ben stole my question (😜), but would like to add: without revealing any details, can we expect it/them in 2016?
M
Antoine Routon
@arouton · Square Enix Montreal
@bentossell Hi Ben,
We're definitely investigating different avenues, but there is nothing I can confirm at this point. The only thing I can say is that as a studio we're aiming at delivering mobile games of the highest quality. So if we go for another GO game, we need to make sure we find a compelling proposition that brings great value to the player.
Ben Tossell
@bentossell · Community Lead, Product Hunt
What is the working environment like at Square Enix Montreal?
M
Antoine Routon
@arouton · Square Enix Montreal
@bentossell To be honest, it's an amazing place to work! We're small teams (5-10) with a lot of ownership on our projects. In a way, it almost has an indie spirit... but with the means of a big studio: the best of both worlds, really! It's a lot of fun but we're also setting the bar really high for ourselves, and that demands a lot of work... which all pays off when we see the players feedback. :)
Emily Hodgins
@ems_hodge · Community and Marketing, Product Hunt
What was the moment that you all realised that you had a 'winning' game on your hands?
M
Antoine Routon
@arouton · Square Enix Montreal
@ems_hodge To be honest, only once we saw the positive feedback from players and journalists... I mean, we knew we had something we believed in, but we were not sure what the general reception would be.
Hussein Yahfoufi
@husseinyahfoufi · Family. Tech. Real Estate. Flamenco.
Thoughts on the Montreal Jazz Festivals and Juste Pour Rire?
M
Antoine Routon
@arouton · Square Enix Montreal
@husseinyahfoufi Hmm, I haven't played those games. Are they on mobile? ;P
Oran Grahem Lopes
@oranlopes
Hey, What is that thing that every programmer should have while programming or creating a app or a game?
M
Antoine Routon
@arouton · Square Enix Montreal
@oranlopes COFFEE!
Haha, seriously, the main lesson I learned working as a programmer on the GO games is keeping a balance between coding quick and dirty to test out gameplay ideas and keeping the code somewhat clean so that it doesn't become a complete mess only understood by me! It's pretty challenging but I believe being agile and reactive is key to the creative process.
Zach Cmiel
@zach_cmiel · CEO, PoKoBros
What do you think the future of mobile games will be in regards with A.I. and V.R.??
M
Antoine Routon
@arouton · Square Enix Montreal
@zach_cmiel Hi Zach,
That's a tricky question.
Regarding VR, it's something we're looking at closely. We've announced a VR version of Hitman GO, and it has been great fun to explore this uncharted territory. From a UX/design standpoint, so many things have to be invented! It's been a really cool learning experience for us.