Thread by @thedmatts

THREAD: A question I often get from others as a #gamedev after they hear that my previous career was in #Theatre / #Musicals is “What similarities are there between the two?”

Welp, there are quite a few, so figured I’d talk about some of em!

If I only have a few moments, the first thing I talk about is the large group of specialists collaborating together to make art.

In Theatre, Actors, Musicians, Lighting & Set Designers, etc.

In games; Actors, Composers, Programmers, Lighting & Environment Artists, etc.

If I have more time I like to talk about small examples too like “Cheating Out”.

“Cheat Out” in Theatre means instead of facing how you would naturally face (in this case towards each other), “Cheat” your body “Out” towards the audience so they can see you.

Similarly on the mo cap stage during #TheLastOfUsPartII @Troy_Slough wanted to make sure that the player was easily able to see a weapon reload. @NoshirDalal pointed out that typically IRL a combat reload would be close to the chest so the weapon was less likely to be taken.

However, in a 3rd person game, this would not work well, as the camera is pulled back behind the character. So @Troy_Slough asked for @NoshirDalal to “Cheat Out” the reloads toward the camera so the player could get the feedback they need.

vimeo.com/434659070

If you watch @Troy_Slough’s reloads animation reel (linked in previous post) you’ll see how often Ellie/Abby pull the gun out to the right side of their body. This is integral in communicating with the player about the player state.

I could go into it with more examples, but I’d be here all day, haha. But yeah, the simple answer to the #Theatre/#gamedev question is that there are WAY more similarities between them than the most people probably think!