Moving Out News

Hey Movers,

This week we’re excited to showcase some of the great work we put into our assist mode and to highlight some of our accessibility options! We really wanted to give all our players lots of control over how to play the game, so we made it a priority to create tools to make that happen!



In terms of accessibility, we worked heaps on the controls. We have a super cool Hold/Throw toggle that takes away the need to hold down triggers for extended periods of time, plus you’re able to remap the keyboard controls on PC.

We made a point to include a dyslexic-friendly font to make our written words as legible as possible, and we also added a scalable UI feature.



When it came to our assist mode, we wanted to give all our players a fighting chance - we reduced the difficulty by removing some dangerous elements and slowed down the hazards. We also slowed down enemy movement and chase speeds and made sure that slapped enemies would stay stunned for longer. You’re welcome.



To make levels easier, we also increased the time limits – this really helps players finish without the added pressure of that super quick ticking clock!

Last but not least, we gave players a never-fail option. If you’re really struggling to progress to the next level, we have good news for you. With level skipping, you will never truly get stuck.

We knew going into this game that we wanted to make something for everyone. We were excited by the challenge of making the game accessible to every player we could imagine and we really wanted you, the players, to be able to experience the game with both your families and your friends, regardless of skill level or requirements more generally. We can’t wait for you to play the whole game through, in any way you like. Let us know in the comments below which features you’re looking forward to most of all and tell us how you think they might help you play the game in YOUR way.



Until next time,
Stay home and stay safe xoxo

Hey Movers,

Last week we took you ‘behind the camera’, but this time we wanted to share with you the crazy mayhem of destruction that you’ll find in our game. It’s a whole world of comedy, colour and chaos, and it’s a blast to mess around in!



We have all sorts of weird and wacky objects in Packmore, from old-school CRTs to giant plush giraffes.



Aside from deliverables, there’s a lot of physics-based objects to break and smash; but do be careful, these are people’s homes and workspaces you’re moving through – then again, no one ever cried over spilt... pizza.



There’s also the matter of Fragile Objects. These require teamwork, so please do handle with care. Or don’t. But if you don’t you’ll need to handle that object again, so better to be safe than sorry!



Lastly, we wanted you, the players, to forge your own paths through this world. To that effect – don’t let windows get in the way of you living your best life. Charge through those like they don’t exist!




Until next week,
Stay home and stay safe!*

*No funnies here – please stay home – Team SMG and Team17 are working from home like it’s nobody’s business and we all need to do our bit!

Hey Movers!

Last week we went all in on the World Map, but today we’re gonna touch on some of the technical problems we had to solve during development.

First up, let’s talk about Steve’s* Magic Camera! You’d think the camera would be simple, but we had to consider things like: framing all the characters to make sure that everyone would stay on the screen at the same time and crucially, designing the size of the levels so we wouldn’t zoom out too far and lose all legibility.



We also found that when players were walking up ramps and stairs, objects could get caught on the ground. One solution we tried was to make the ramps super long for a shallow angle of elevation, but this wasn’t really workable from a level-design perspective.



In the end, we created a system whereby the characters would automatically raise their arms up when approaching ledges or walking up ramps and stairs. Chaa-ching!




Another issue we faced were complications with item respawning. We had to consider things like: how would they respawn with items in the way? How would we indicate something being blocked? We had to think creatively to solve those issues, and we added respawn markers and indicator graphics to make things pretty clear.



In the end, game design is a complicated mix of unknowable things and every game is different. It’s only when you’re putting all the pieces together that you can see the tech problems that need to be solved, but that’s part of what makes designing and building games so much fun.

Now that the demo is out, let us know in the comments what you think about the technical considerations and pay attention to that camera, especially if you’re giving it a shot with multiple players. We’d love to hear your thoughts!

*Steve is one of our amazing developers and he totally nailed the camera in our game!

[h2]Get ready to move on April 28th – pre-orders for Moving Out are now LIVE![/h2]

[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]

Pre-order and get ‘The Employees of the Month Pack’ – four exclusive movers to represent you on your journey to become a certified Furniture and Relocation Technician (F.A.R.T):



‘The Employees of the Month Pack’ movers from left to right: Sprinkles, Bruce, Professor Inkle and Dials.

You can pre-order now right here on Steam!

https://store.steampowered.com/app/996770/Moving_Out/

If you’re a fan of couch co-op fun and own Overcooked! or Overcooked! 2 you’ll get 20% off when you pre-order Moving Out on Steam!

[h2]But wait, there’s more…[/h2]

A free demo is also available now! Grab your co-op buddies and try Moving Out before launch! Steam players can also utilise the Remote Play Together feature here on Steam to play over an online connection.



[h3]Moving Out comes to Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, Xbox One and PC on April 28th 2020![/h3]

Keep up to date with the latest Moving Out news: Sign-up to the Team17 newsletter Moving Out on Twitter Moving Out on Facebook Team17 Discord

Hey Movers!

Last week we got you grooving with emotes and dances, but this time we thought we’d get you racing through the Moving Out overworld!

Welcome to Packmore!



Lots of concept work went into the world map because we wanted it to be both fun and functional. Early on we started with some abstraction and a board game sort of feel.



As we progressed, we made the decision to take a more real-world approach so it would echo the levels, but keeping the board game feel. There were lots of elements to consider though. From the environment itself to the buildings and the truck, we had to do a lot of design work, which was super fun!



We also needed to make sure that the levels were clearly defined – the map is a tool to navigate through the levels of the game after all - so we tried lots of different things to make them pop.



Even though the world map needed to be functional, we also really liked the idea that you could have oversized physics items to play with, so we kept this board game element all the way through.



We hope you have fun exploring the Packmore world as you progress through the game. It took a lot of development and planning, but we think it was worth it!



Until next week,

Keep Moving!