Developer Diaries - Episode 2: Mysteries of Misty Valley
Developer Diaries
Episode 2: Mysteries of Misty Valley
DECEMBER 1, 2019 | IN DEVELOPMENT, WE WERE HERE TOGETHER | BY TOTAL MAYHEM GAMES
Join us again for another behind the scenes look at the making of We Were Here Together! In this second of four episodes, we discuss the environments of We Were Here Together, how we brought them to life, and how we incorporated the puzzles in a natural way.
The series will cover the challenges the team faced while designing the latest entry in the co-op series and what new features were added during production to evolve the experience. Watch Episode 2: Mysteries of Misty Valley below!
We Were Here Together | Game update - 1.4.2
We Were Here Together
Game update - 1.4.2
NOVEMBER 21, 2019 | IN PATCH NOTE, UNCATEGORIZED, WE WERE HERE TOGETHER | BY TOTAL MAYHEM GAMES
It’s update time again!
We have tweaks for visual issues, collision, and some performance issues, not to mention some more fixes for walkie-talkie issues. We are particularly interested to hear if the issue with picking up microphones correctly is fixed. Future updates will see continued work on performance as well alongside more general bug squashing.
Complete list of changes and future plans
New Features
- Added holiday event: Saint Nicholas
- Improved the game over screen visuals
- Added missing sound effects
Resolved Issues
- Microphone should be picked up correctly for everyone who was having issues. If your problem still exists, please report again.
- Walkie-talkie lighting up when you are talking instead of when your partner is talking
- Final decision moment radial button speed now properly matches the corresponding animation, to visually match what’s happening behind the scenes
- Missing logbook entries are now added when starting from a checkpoint
- Improved overall menu usability
- Improved gamepad usability
- Increased gamepad sensitivity range
- Improved water shader performance
- Fixed a couple of in game visual glitches
- Fixed issue in the mirror room allowing players to pick up a book through walls
- Fixed reported collider issues throughout
What we are working on
- Final decision moment will better pick up the intent of the player, SPOILER ALERTof the princess taking over control while you’re in the process of sacrificing someone.
- Credits will be made legible
- Investigating an issue where disconnecting during an inspect locks you in that inspect
- Looking for a substitute for performance-heavy fog
- Investigating what we can do about a rare throne room desync event
Please let us know if these fixes work for you, and keep on posting reports of any new issues you encounter via Discord or the feedback subforum. All feedback is much appreciated!
Developer Diaries – Composing the We Were Here Together Theme
Developer Diaries
Composing the We Were Here Together Theme
NOVEMBER 12, 2019 | IN ABOUT, INTERVIEW, SOUND FX, WE WERE HERE TOGETHER | BY TOTAL MAYHEM GAMES
Hi everyone!
My name is Leon van der Stel and I’ll be talking today about the creation of the main theme for We Were Here Together.
The first and second We Were Here games share the same main theme. For the third entry in the series, we wanted a new main theme – the classic We Were Here atmosphere in a new jacket. I would like to take you into the story behind the main theme and the choices that were made along the way. At different sections I’ll link to audio clips. These are interim versions and ideas for the main theme that show the development process well.
For the people who want to play the main theme themselves, I made sheet music, which you can find at the end of this dev diary. Finally, I want to thank Jos Platschorre for helping to compose the main theme with his grandiose guitar playing, and Tom Hartman for his support and feedback.
The author, making music.
The process
The most important thing with each piece of music is which feeling it must express. Since We Were Here Together is about two explorers alone in Antarctica, the terms cold, deserted and isolated occurred to me. Although these were good terms, there was still something missing in my opinion. In the story, the other two explorers become hopeful when their emergency signal is fired into the air. Therefore the word hope should also be included in the overall picture.
Now that the atmosphere has been determined, how do you implement this, and with which instruments? This is a question that you can only answer by getting started and carefully directing the result at every step. Having said that, I thought it would be cool to take the first steps with some guitar.
This idea was inspired by the OST of The Last of Us, and it was in line with the direction which the TMG team and I wanted to go. My goal was to raise the standard to produce a greater result and I felt that this could only be achieved by involving other musicians. Fortunately I knew a good guitarist, Jos Platschorre, whose playing style would fit well with what I had in mind. After a phone call he agreed to help me to make something beautiful.
Below are some of the first jams with Jos that had the most impact on the end result:
Jam 1A: https://drive.google.com/open?id=1hBcBzJ6AHzFiIa8lKR-POas_0cztGHF1
Jam 1B: https://drive.google.com/open?id=1vXODQNocPnziMArbSZu-jo5S2QHL4jbn
Jam 2: https://drive.google.com/open?id=19M0KITCgaRhj0bCu0_wk_Rgs2VbA8F5n
When listening to the above jams, several parts immediately jumped out that fit well with the new main theme vibe. Keeping in mind the cold and isolated atmosphere, the start of jam 2 was very satisfying. This stayed into place since then. After jam 1A was recorded, I had the impression that a strum style could fit in boldly with this (jam 1B). Although the Total Mayhem Games team was delighted with the vibe of these early jams, a simple and recognizable melody was still missing. Based on these jams, I came up with the following melody, to be played on the piano. The chord changes, the guitar style and the melody were the starting point for the next step.
Jam 3 – Piano melody: https://drive.google.com/open?id=13WdJvoi7V5Gr9ewBu8Dq953SpYKe6sGF
The following fragment contains the points above combined with the melody partially incorporated. In the second part I experimented with midi controller pads and vocals.
Jam 4: https://drive.google.com/open?id=1FvuxmTSr_Bda9ys4DZJZ0VotSRsYS3aq
At this point it was starting to become more viable and I was pleased with how the melody was incorporated with the guitar scrum. However, it still didn’t jive just yet; it sounded more like a loop. I was fortunate at this point to get some good advice from talented musician Tom Hartman on how it could potentially be turned into a good swinging melody that tells a story. Below is a take that he sent during a meeting. This recording inspired me during the composition of the end result.
Jam 5: https://drive.google.com/open?id=1T3fy3hIFwqJBtkhlFWiVVMymqaCbXcnk
So with this new jam in mind, I went back to the drawing board. The following jam (which is divided into two audio clips) was created by editing the old jams to be closer to the feel of Tom’s recorded take (jam 5). Based on these new ideas, I selected a high pitched piano to incorporate into the theme – this piano with a lot of echo gave a hopeful feeling, which you’ll recall is one of the expressions I added to my list at the beginning.
Jam 6: https://drive.google.com/open?id=1x4jtyLCMuY-arcSdi3HBxjAuhojQOFKs
Jam 7: https://drive.google.com/open?id=1eJB9MhZTF1i-l95vfVN5GVHVV75YcLWM
This is NOT what the composition process looked like, for the record.
Fitting the pieces together
As you can see, every decision at each step has had a part in shaping the music into what it is today. Although many ideas were collected, a complete composition was still missing. Even though the individual parts sounded good, the overall composition is what makes or breaks it as a piece of music. From this point on, I didn’t want to create new content anymore, but instead wanted to use what I had.
During this stage, the guitarist and I tried various parts on the spot in different combinations and listened for what felt best. Afterwards the composition was recorded in six takes. The last addition that has been made to the main theme was done by not ending with the tonic. This gives a dissonant / out-of-place feeling that is also in line with some of our aforementioned expressions: cold, deserted and isolated.
And so, the final composition was:
Intro: Beginning of Jam 3
Section A: Main tune (Jam 6 + Jam 7)
Section B: Start Jam 2 with the main guitar style of the main tune
Section C: Section A, but layered with high pitched piano and pads
In summary, it has been a long journey. My secret ingredient is taking little steps, building upon things that feel right along the way, and to simply ask for help when necessary to get to the next stage. This is not just for music! The same strategy could be applied to all things and decisions in life.
If you are interested in playing the theme yourself, don’t forget to check the main theme sheet music below.
If you prefer just listening, you should visit our new Spotify channel! Peace out 😀
Main Theme sheet music links
Interactive online: https://flat.io/score/5d73748133d5ed32e1fc61d1-we-were-here-together-main-theme?sharingKey=93101f350e5331c1530d8eaae0cef7960c0cc9249bb4d065446c8be2936d13a04b2af7e6347f9a94aceeccadafc70dbffe8b0a7f7a6f1025898b49db068fd90e
PDF: https://drive.google.com/open?id=1blfLqwVgHn9YvQVsVNtza-6dfB1jv7ia
Cheers Leon
We Were Here Together Official Soundtrack now available online!
We Were Here Together Official Soundtrack
now available online!
NOVEMBER 12, 2019 | IN NEWS, RELEASE, WE WERE HERE TOGETHER | BY TOTAL MAYHEM GAMES
Do you want to listen to the chilling winds of Misty Valley, the haunting sounds of Castle Rock and the calm notes from the Base Camp without your co-op partner shouting for help all the time? We can imagine!
Great news! We just released the 🎵 We Were Here Together official soundtrack! 🎶
You can get it on iTunes…
Or stream it on Spotify!
Our lovely composer Leon van der Stel has also shared some details about the making of the music. How did the main theme came to be? You can read all about it HERE.
We Were Here Together | Game update – 1.3.1.
We Were Here Together
Game update – 1.3.1.
OCTOBER 31, 2019 | IN PATCH NOTE, WE WERE HERE TOGETHER | BY TOTAL MAYHEM GAMES
Good news everybody!
Earlier this week we released a hotfix which should resolve the issues with microphone volume dropping,
and now we’ve just released a larger update with even more in it.
Complete list of changes and future plans
Fixes included in this patch
- Issues related to microphone levels have been resolved.
- Added cross region friend invites.
- Added a toggle in the gameplay settings that will make sure you connect to the region with the lowest ping. (Auto select region).
- Added controller navigation support to the banners in the main menu.
- Added translations for the keybinding panel.
- Added the ability to select a different region when the connection in the title screen fails.
- Added the ability to see what chapter is selected before joining a game.
- Fixed some UI navigation issues.
- Fixed an instance where the lobby background and chapter name would not be updated correctly.
- The correct background is now shown for chapter 6 in the lobby.
- You no longer receive a “Connection Established” popup when switching regions.
- Fixed some minor visual errors in the game hud.
- Fixed several instances of inventory items showing up through cutscenes.
- Fixed an instance where the candle would not be visible.
- Fixed a visual glitch where the candle would be visible for a single frame when scrolling through the inventory.
- Fixed an instance where players would clip through the ceiling in forced crouch areas when opening the menu.
- Subtitles in the basecamp should be more consistent now.
- Snow and Cloud particles should no longer be visible when inside the basecamp.
- You can no longer get stuck behind the outside door in the basecamp.
- Fixed an issue where you could solve the clock puzzle with only one correct dial.
- The board of the alchemy puzzle is now properly interactable.
- Fixed a missing door after passing through the royal passage.
- Removed a button click sound effect during the intro cutscene of the throne room.
- The jester’s face now disappears in the game-over screen.
- Keybindings for the decision moment are now correctly bound to the correct keys.
- Reworked a lot of the rotating statue puzzle in the throne room to resolve de-sync issues. (let us know if this has truly fixed the issue).
- Improved performance in the throne room.
- All steam achievements are now hidden to avoid spoilers.
- Added some Halloween decorations to the basecamp.
What we are working on
- Proper implementation for microphone auto leveling.
- Revamp of the control schemes.
- Ability to select a checkpoint for all puzzles in the Overgrown chapter.
- Collectibles that can be found throughout the game.
- Audio leveling throughout the game.
- Resolve performance drop caused by the volumetric fog.
- An issue when 2 players try to join the same game at the same time.
- Investigating an issue in the mirror room where the rotatable titles spin 360 degrees instead of 90 degrees.
- Investigating an issue in the bridge puzzle where the clamps don’t always update correctly.
- Investigating an issue where push to talk events are not sent to the other player, resulting in the voice chat not working at all.
- General bug fixes for puzzles.
- Loading speed optimizations.
- General performance optimizations.
As always, let us know if these fixes work for you, and keep on posting reports of any new issues you encounter via Discord or the feedback subforum.
All feedback is much appreciated!
First Developer Diary video is live!
Developer Diaries
Episode 1: Escape Together
OCTOBER 30, 2019 | IN DEVELOPMENT, WE WERE HERE TOGETHER | BY TOTAL MAYHEM GAMES
Join us for a behind the scenes look at the making of We Were Here Together! In this first of four episodes, we discuss the cooperative gameplay in the game as well as the essence of cooperation itself.
The series will cover the challenges the team faced while designing the latest entry in the co-op series and what new features were added during production to evolve the experience. Watch Episode 1: Escape Together below!
Happy Halloween at the Base Camp!
Happy Halloween at the Base Camp!
OCTOBER 29, 2019 | IN EVENTS, WE WERE HERE TOGETHER | BY TOTAL MAYHEM GAMES
Pumpkins, pumpkins and more pumpkins…
Pumpkins have been brought in just for the holidays, and those long Antarctic nights (sometimes a couple of weeks long in the depth of Winter)
have given the explorers plenty of time to practice their carving technique.
Carving pumpkins!
Reading scary stories!
Jump scares!
Finally, if We Were Here Together is the first game you’ve played in the series, you might be interested in our Halloween sale on We Were Here Too!
It’s 55% off while supplies last…*
*Supplies will always last, since this is digital distribution after all…
We Were Here Together | Game update – 1.2.0
We Were Here Together
Game update – 1.2.0
OCTOBER 24, 2019 | IN PATCH NOTE, WE WERE HERE TOGETHER | BY TOTAL MAYHEM GAMES
Today’s update brings a mix of game play and puzzle updates alongside technical tweaks to improve performance and option menus.
We also have an updated list of things we are working on.
Fixes included in this update:
- Simplified resolution selection. (highest refresh rate is now automatically applied for the selected resolution)
- Removed the refresh rate dropdown due to confusion.
- Resolution dropdown now displays the current resolution properly.
- Steam avatars now visible in server browser.
- You can no longer get stuck behind the wooden fence in the basecamp.
- You actually spray the poison on the plant in the greenhouse now.
- The ceiling of the brewery should no longer be foggy.
- Removed a “cheat” where picking the same destination 3 times would complete the puzzle.
- Fixed some issues with menu text and subtitles.
- After passing through the royal passage the door behind you is now closed.
- The pipes puzzle is more consistent in updating the leak states.
- Spamming the paintings in the mirror room should no longer result in the puzzle becoming unsolvable.
- The clock inside the mirror room should now visually represent the correct solution.
- You should no longer hear the puzzle complete sound twice in the mirror room.
- Fixed some visual inconsistencies.
- More performance optimizations.
- Added OpenGL for older Apple Hardware (this is experimental, visual errors could occur)
What we are working on:
- We are still investigating issues surrounding the microphone volume being pushed down.
- General bug fixes for puzzles.
- General performance optimizations.
- Loading performance optimizations.
- Game invites that fail when players are not in the same region.
- Ability to switch region if connection fails in the title screen.
- Ability to switch region directly from the server browser.
- Ability to select a checkpoint for all puzzles in the Overgrown chapter.
- Ability to see what chapter is selected before joining a lobby.
- Visual glitches where the candle would be visible for a single frame when scrolling through the inventory.
- Minor visual errors in the menu and lobby.
- Controller navigation for the banners on the right side of the main menu.
If you run into new issues, please make sure to contact us via Discord or the feedback subforum.
Walkie-Talk - Meet Alex
Walkie-Talk
Meet Alex
OCTOBER 18, 2019 | IN ABOUT, DEVELOPMENT, INTERVIEW, WE WERE HERE TOGETHER | BY TOTAL MAYHEM GAMES
Developer Interview
Previously on Walkie-Talk we looked at how we design puzzles for the We Were Here games.
However, even with the best ideas in the world a game doesn’t get far without technical developers.
Today we’re talking to one of our newest devs, Alex Leestemaker.
Walkie-Talk: Hi Alex! Let’s start with the basics. Who are you and what do you do?
Alex Leestemaker:
My name is Alex, and I’m the new programmer on the team. That means I listen to what the game designers would like in the game, I program exactly what they asked for, and then the next day it turned out that they meant something completely different and I can start from scratch.
What do you think of your work at Total Mayhem Games so far?
This is my first job in the game development industry, and I’m glad it’s at a studio that makes games I’m interested in myself. Puzzle games and co-op multiplayer have always been high up on my list of favorite mechanics in video games. Since I’m new to the industry, working in a smaller team like this also feels more familiar than getting thrown into a big sea of coworkers would probably have felt like.
I like it! I’ve been here for a little over half a year now, and it’s my first job straight out of university. It’s a big jump going from a giant university where everything is planned to hell and back to our small office in Rotterdam, but I like my coworkers here far more than the average uni student.
It’s much more cosy for sure! What are you working on right now?
I’ve been working on a lot of the alpha tests we’ve been releasing over the last few months.
Final question – what are you playing for fun right now?
Currently I’m dumping most of my free time into The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild.
Thanks for your time!
A short but sweet interview this week. We hope you liked it! If there are particular topics you think might make for a cool Walkie-Talk, let us know in the comments.
We Were Here Together | Game Update - 1.1.0
We Were Here Together
Game Update - 1.1.0
OCTOBER 17, 2019 | IN PATCH NOTE, UNCATEGORIZED, WE WERE HERE TOGETHER | BY TOTAL MAYHEM GAMES
Thanks everyone for your great comments, reviews, and general feedback!
The launch has been great, and today we have a first update to resolve some of the issues that slipped through.
UPDATE
Thank you all for reporting bugs back to us. We resolved already a few of the issues. It doesn’t cover everything that’s been reported yet – see the known issues section for a list of things we’re working on. Keep that feedback coming!
Changelog
Fixes:
- Final chapter in some rare cases didn’t trigger the same events / cut-scenes at both ends
- Environments behind a door sometimes popped in, due to slow loading
- In very rare occasions the Brewery area wasn’t loaded in for one of the two players
- Pipes puzzle sometimes didn’t trigger an achievement
- When using the 4-way pipe in the pipe puzzle the leakage isn’t always clear (visual and in sound)
- Server browser could not be scrolled
- Achievement when inviting a friend didn’t get triggered on some rare occasion
- Credits list in menu didn’t always work
Improvements:
- Loading times have been improved
- Several minor performance improvements
- Organ player is now more visible
- Subtitles in various languages
- Several minor improvements to the experience
Known issues / planned for future patches:
- New Steam integration, fixing some integration issues and visuals like profile pictures
- Microphone issues, where some players experience issues with the volume of the microphone getting adjusted
- Players in different regions sometimes have a hard time inviting each other
- Players are often connected to EU servers, while in another region
- Resolution option in menu doesn’t show all available resolutions due to difference in refresh rates
FIRST IMPRESSIONS
This screenshot from hryule made us smile.
There was a fun stream by LIRIK, as well as one by sodapoppin. If you want to compare how quickly you solved the puzzles compared to well known streamers, take a look!
Review Roundup
We’ve been reading the reviews good and bad (mostly good, we’re happy to say) and there are lots of good points and helpful feedback. It goes without saying that leaving a review is a great way to support the game. Some were quite amusing. Here are a few we liked.
Me and my friend argued alot, fights were had, and im pretty sure a shanking was involved. 5/5 would play again.
~ crazedhunter
Some people are naturally argumentative types. If that’s you, then rest assured you can still enjoy We Were Here Together!
– Excellent story
– Incredible soundtrack
– Immersive atmosphere
– CUTE RUNNING AND JUMPING ANIMATIONS.
– Fair price.5 STARS GAME.
~ Captain Sloth
We’re very tempted to put ‘CUTE RUNNING AND JUMPING ANIMATIONS’ on the store page. After all, we trust a sloth would know a thing or two about cute.
Yeah if you want to become infuriated by your friend, and you want to infuriate your friend at the same time, pick this up.
~ Loathing Editor
Another vote for mutual infuriation. To be clear, this was a positive review 😉
good game, only buy if you are a gigabrain.
~ landocalrissian
You don’t really need a gigabrain to play We Were Here Together… but it certainly doesn’t hurt. Or find a smart friend!