Nervous about Heavenly Sword?
I’ve been reading the blog of the lead programmer for Heavenly Sword.
He’s doing tons of Microsoft XNA programming, .NET Forms GUI development, Xbox 360 benchmarks, Microsoft Visual Studio work, 360 Lua integration (Lua is a popular lightweight language used in many video games in addition to a core language which is often C++), Microsoft .NET CLR internals investigations, Xbox 360 integration with Managed C++ (a Microsoft specific .NET version of C++), C# work, and miscellaneous other Xbox 360 development.
The PS3 is supposed to be getting Heavenly Sword as well, right?
However, there is very little mention of the PS3 or Sony on his site, and what is there has a somewhat negative tone. Contrast that with the Xbox 360 and Microsoft technology posts were he is full of excitement, enthusiasm, and even evangelism.
Just to be clear: PS3 developers definitely don’t need to be Sony cheerleaders. They have every right to their own opinion and that fully includes having a preference for the Xbox 360 or the Wii over the PS3 or preferring Microsoft-centric technology over alternatives. For example, the Warhawk guys can be seen using Microsoft Visual Studio on Windows PCs in interview videos and their website is developed in Microsoft ASP.NET. As a PS3 consumer, I don’t care because I still get a clear impression that the Warhawk team is giving the project their all.
With this Heavenly Sword lead programmer, I get the strong impression that he can’t stand working on the PS3 and isn’t giving it his full effort. He clearly spends lots of effort trying to incorporate as much Microsoft centric technology into his day as is possible. He’s added as much Microsoft tech to the Heavenly Sword tool chain as possible and even works on lots of side projects so that he can take a completely Microsoft centric focus.
He’s probably very bitter that his job carried him in a PS3 centric direction and tries very hard to cleanse himself of the feel of programming on a PS3. Unfortunately, this probably means that Heavenly Sword will not be the best showcase of PS3 technology. The best work in this world is done by people who love what they do, not by people who bitterly wish they were doing something else.
On the other hand, this is just one person. I suspect that many other staff particularly those doing art, production, sound, and managerial duties are much less opinionated on Sony/Microsoft technology and platform issues and are much more likely to be giving this project their full attention. However, he is the lead programmer which is a very significant role.
So, what do you think? Am I overreacting? Can PS3 exclusive developers be huge Microsoft fanatics or can Xbox 360 exclusive developers be fanatical about PS3, NetBeans, Java, ODF, and other distinctively non-Microsoft technologies and still deliver 110% as cutting edge lead game programmer typically do?
UPDATE: Misunderstanding is cleared up.
Heavenly Sword Lead Programmer Blog
Try now - 
May 20th, 2007 at 12:09 am
I’m not too worried about it because Heavenly Sword is a PS3 exclusive…There is no way that this game is going to the 360 anytime soon
May 20th, 2007 at 12:42 am
Heavenly Sword is published by Sony, so he is probably talking about development in general. Would be weird if they back with Microsoft though, after they already gave Heavenly Sword the cold shoulder.
May 20th, 2007 at 12:51 am
I wouldn’t worry about it. Ninja Theory would drop kick his ass if he slacked off and Sony still gets the Final QA. If Sony rejects the game Ninja Theory is screwed since Sony owns the IP.
So let him think what he wants. It’s only politics. It’s not like he has much say at Ninja Theory. His games are his resume so it would be career suicide to be a fanboy at work. He’s just a coder for hire.
His blog is his own,
May 20th, 2007 at 1:03 am
Dave + Mike, HS is 100% Sony funded. No chance of it losing PS3 exclusivity. That’s not the point. The point is that the lead is a hyper opinionated PlayStation hater who is probably half-assing the whole project. (to put it bluntly)
May 20th, 2007 at 1:32 am
I think your reading way too much into this. Since this is a Sony First Party IP at this late stage in the game Sony people are probably crawling all over Ninja Theory.
Might be part of his bitterness. But he’s only lead programmer, not really a major name. He’s suppose to be the most talented Programmer there. But With QA and Sony people not to mention every other programmer there he can’t half ass it.
If he does, he can expect a lower position, less money and fewer recommendations. Ninja Theory wont let him half ass it. It’s not as if he’s in charge of anything but the coders. After HS launches he probably wont be working at Ninja Theory, unless they are impressed with his work and keep him for the next project.
I can see how you might get worried that he wont be keeping himself up at night thinking of ways to squeeze the most out of the code and free up cycles. But really, someone as low level as him would want each project to shine on his skills.
Very few coders get the reputation of a Carmack or Abrash.
May 20th, 2007 at 2:36 am
MS started using developer candy to attract the developers a few years ago. Though to be honest, this is truly *developer* candy, the end-user don’t benefit anywhere near as much (tools may be more efficient, but the end product isn’t, and the devs themselves waste more time experimenting and learning the new tech rather than mastering it). I work in IT as dev manager, and I see it getting worse everyday: devs play with new tech candy, want to integrate it ASAP, but then swiftly move on to the next tech candy before they’ve mastered the tech they just integrated. It requires applying a whole lot more pressure than before to get polished results rather than tech demos as end-product…
However, for games development, developers have a way overrated role, and probably should not be propelled to the forefront anymore: on every major game title, developers form a small minority of the team, and in practice, they have become replaceable (though many don’t accept or see it, that’s the case).
Lead Artist, Level Designers, Story Writers, Sound guys, etc. all those play a much greater role in the final product. If they mess their jobs, the game will be ugly, be aggravating to play, be boring to play or not immersive (respectively).
If the developers mess, the game will have bugs, but bugs can be found by proper QA, and developers can be replaced on a budget (or a new game engine bought outright). Game assets, level and design are a much bigger investment, and can’t be fixed or replaced if it goes wrong.
These aren’t the early days of gaming, when developers did everything theirselves, nowadays they’re just a cog, and an easily replaceable one at that. It’s just that many haven’t realized it. Including the developers.
May 20th, 2007 at 5:10 am
Keep in mind that he probably can’t talk about the cooler parts of his PS3 programming since it’s an active project. Also keep in mind that most people who program for a living get very sick of their jobs because it’s the same thing every day, and often spend a lot of their free time programming completely different things because it’s different and fun. That’s probably why he’s so exuberant about the MS stuff.
May 20th, 2007 at 6:52 am
Judging from what Deanoc says on the B3D forums, he is pretty content with working on the Sony machine…
NAo moreso… I like him!
May 20th, 2007 at 9:39 am
Heavenly Sword is a PS3 exclusive and never ever this game is going to x360.
May 20th, 2007 at 11:42 am
All i have to say is this….After seeing the latest demo for this game, i believe it will be one kick ass title that i will definitely buy. At the gamers day event, they said it will be utilizing the PS3’s power. We will have to wait and see. I really want to play Uncharted: Drake’s Fortune !!!!
May 20th, 2007 at 12:21 pm
from what i can tell, it looks like he’s mostly bitter that he *can’t* talk more about the PS3 on his blog because of sony PR restrictions. he does sound like he thinks the SPUs are cool and stuff.
as for the xbox360, that’s all homebrew stuff. it’s not surprising that in his off hours he works with microsoft tools and XNA dev because it’s all free, and lots of coders have microsoft-tools backgrounds.
May 20th, 2007 at 3:59 pm
PC, good point, the previews do look promising. And the final game speak for itself.
Mike, there are certainly things he can’t talk about, but I’m sure he can freely talk about all kinds of PS3 or non-Microsoft hobbyist development if he chose to do so.
John, sure programmers don’t have the biggest influence. The most important decisions on games are more often made by designers, managers, and art staff, rather than by programmers. However, a highly talented and engaged team of programmers still makes a huge difference.
bunnyhero, you nailed it with “lots of coders have microsoft-tools backgrounds.” Devs are typically very particular about their tools of choice and often stick with what they are familiar with whether it’s UNIX, Java, PHP, or Microsoft.
I don’t think cheap/free is the issue. OpenGL + Java Monkey Engine, and NetBeans with Matisse are all completely free: Microsoft offers some free stuff, but also a lot of cripple-ware with high priced upgrades.
May 20th, 2007 at 6:54 pm
Too many people on a project to worry abour a coder that is looking for a way out. Not the best way to do it though. His next emplyer may originally be happy he’s found an enthusiastic employee untill this guy reverts to form and starts gipping about the next thing and starts bloggin about it. When you hire peopple like this you always have to remember the old punchline.
The turtle asksthe snake on his back. “Why did you bite me? now well both drown”
Snake: “I’m a snake. It’s in my nature
May 21st, 2007 at 4:45 am
I’m actually quite hurt by the implication!
Read my latest blog post with my reply…
Really don’t think you know me from some blog posts…
Specially given we were ordered by Sony to say nothing about HS for a good 6 months (black out now ending).
Anyway hopeful some of what I posted will put your mind at ease… Tho I expect an apology is out of the question
Deano
May 21st, 2007 at 5:35 am
Glad to see the whole debacle has been clarified. Keep up the good work, Deano.
Shame on you, Darrin.
May 21st, 2007 at 5:42 am
>Really don’t think you know me from some blog posts…
Welcome to the web 2.0!
Of course people can’t know the real “you” of Life 1.0 from a few blog posts (or much anything else actually), but they project an intent, a personality image, and if you re-read them, you’ll see they projected evangelism too, and this is what was reacted too.
Everybody assumes a political intent when the writings are those of people at the forefront of news, whether there was an intent or not is somehow irrelevant… And when you don’t say you can’t say, then people assume that you could have said what you didn’t say
Being public is being politic, and having a blog is being public.
As it seems it was more a circumstantial agglomerate of articles, then I guess we jumped the gun a bit too fast, and I’m sorry for this. Peace
May 21st, 2007 at 6:39 am
I guess the reason, it hurt was the implication that I wasn’t working 100% on PS3 cos I happen to like and use XNA for my indie dev stuff… I simply don’t see the logic… I use and like XNA for small scale indie development, why does that affect my day job?
Its like saying somebody who drives a car at home, is a worse truck driver as a job… Different aspects of the same skills.
And if you read back a few pages, you will see a number of ‘positive’ PS3 posts… Including one where I mention enjoying just playing with it.
And I passionate don’t believe blogs should become PR… There a brain dump, when they stop being that, it just another PR marketing release. what’s the point??
Anyway no harm done. I’m used to a certain amount of ‘media’ interest, one of the reasons I stopped posted so much about work and the PS3… guess I now need to go the other way a bit lol
Hope you enjoy HS when it done
Deano
May 21st, 2007 at 6:50 am
Its all good Deano. Keep up the good work. Speaking of I need to go pre-order this game I think.
May 21st, 2007 at 11:35 am
Thanks Deano! Some folks like conspiracy theories I guess.
May 21st, 2007 at 12:02 pm
Jeez man see a psychiatrist. The 3 companies are just all out to get money and they don’t give a rat’s ass how much you ****ride on them. It only shows how stupid a human person can get (And that’s only the tip of the iceberg).
May 21st, 2007 at 12:28 pm
My two cents…That lead programer needs to move on to something else.
May 21st, 2007 at 12:35 pm
http://www.killzoneunit.com/kz/?p=603
May 21st, 2007 at 12:58 pm
There’s more;
http://www.gameswank.com/content/view/48/1/
May 21st, 2007 at 2:42 pm
Apologies in full if any of my comments offended DeanoC. I may be tough and a bit nasty sometimes but when confronted by the facts and a very reasonable answer I can do nothing but the logical thing an offer my sincerest apology and the promise of being one of the first to buy your game.
And Inspectre is correct. I above all love a conspiracy theory. MS buying FUD, Gary Bettman a plant by Stern to ruin the NHL. Aliens at Roswell. Sorry for any
hard feelings.
May 21st, 2007 at 4:06 pm
Now that everyone has hugged and kissed…we would love some HS info, reflection, opinion, anything your allowed to give us. Nothing better then info coming from the horses mouth.
May 21st, 2007 at 4:40 pm
I don’t think he could give any info until after the launch.
I, at least don’t think, said anything to upsetting. I kept by comments on a hypothetical ‘bias wont effect work’ argument. But if you were upset with anything I said, then I’m sorry.
May 21st, 2007 at 5:04 pm
Darrin, this was the point I tried to make on a previous post I think by Henning….stop creating stories that assume/feed negativity about the PS3. This is an unbelievable piece of hardware..let’s all stop assuming the worst as our *starting* point.
Spend time informing people about the positives instead of looking for every negative angle. MS is funding plenty of it on their own.
I couldn’t have given a crap about my PS2 or Xbox but the PS3 is in fact a special piece of kit..please stop helping MS to spread the FUD.
May 21st, 2007 at 8:47 pm
liar, I agree that there is way too much negativity in game discussions. In general, I try to keep a positive tone. What’s with your handle, btw?
May 21st, 2007 at 9:44 pm
MS trolls always pick names like IamTheTruthAndShiningLight, TrustMe, ILovethePS3, etc etc. which are always the opposite of what they espouse…Kind of like the Department of War changed their name to the Department of Defense..lulls people into a false sense of what something/someone is really about .. decided to have some fun by doing the opposite.
Oh the rants of people saying your just like your name you $$#!%$%$ .. I find it very funny .. because really I’m just interested in getting as many FACTS out there instead of the lies and FUD that have been misinforming people. Sometimes it’s innocent but too often it’s not…the best products should be available to people. Not based on Bill Gates being friends with Steve Forbes and asking him to write hatchet jobs of the PS3 or ignore the horrible reliability of the 360.
May 21st, 2007 at 10:02 pm
That a better explanation then I guessed.
I figured in todays climent you get attacked for not being negative to PS3 on most forums and blogs. Although 99% of the hate is based on the price being what they perceive as out of reach, they pick anything and everything they can to justify hating it. If you don’t hate it your either a blind fanboy and everything you say is a lie. That’s what I figured your name was based on.
Kinda ironic that if you skip mainstream and go to 360 hardcore fan sites they don’t trash PS3 nearly as much as, say Gamepro or G4.
May 22nd, 2007 at 12:10 am
The professional MS trolls usually understand it right away because they know the truth of what I’m saying and because of the way they’ve been taught to pick their names. There are a few that never get the irony….it’s often one of the clues for me that it’s just a wanker and not a professional troll.
Every gaming site has a lot of professional trolls..usually with multiple identities and multiple voices/styles so they can “back” each other up. Can spot them a mile away.
I’m sure some of them think I’m associated with Sony.. but I’m not…just got involved because the bullshit has just been over the top.
May 22nd, 2007 at 3:51 am
So, does nobody else find the name of that website (gameswank) funny? Or maybe it’s just a British thing.
May 26th, 2007 at 10:39 pm
@Gary
British humor has a lot to do with funny name.. hahhaa
@Liar
U didn’t sound like a liar to me.
I don’t know who wrote this article and the intention is unknown about this person but I call him Mr Xbo.
I found this article is barking on the wrong tree. 99 percent of developers started their game development on Windows PC. A M$ loving programmer can’t develop a good game on PS3, Xbo indicated. The game didn’t show that. Even he is a lead programmer, game development is about team work.
“He’s probably very bitter that his job carried him in a PS3 centric direction and tries very hard to cleanse himself of the feel of programming on a PS3.” That is Mr Xbo’s pure assumption and is like personal attack. How can Mr Xbo know that by just reading his blog, accuse him not doing a good job and come to the conclusion Heavenly Sword miss it potential? That is a bold accusation from a guy who didn’t even give out his name.