Spooky Tales of Game Dev Disasters

Sometimes, things don't work out the way you had planned. Enjoy these 3 real stories of game dev disaster, and be suitably spooked for Halloween.
All parties in this video acted in good faith and did their job to the best of their ability. Things just happen.
These stories are funny now, but I recognise that there are ACTUAL real horror stories in game development that will never be funny.
Chapters:
0:00 - Intro
0:16 - The Big Cut
3:46 - Metamorphosis
7:00 - All Locked Up
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Stock footage provided by StereoEye, from Pond5
Stock Music provided by SoundPhenomenon, from Pond5
Stock Music provided by ThomPie, from Pond5
Stock Music provided by Audiorezout, from Pond5
Stock Music provided by YevhenLokhmatov, from Pond5
Stock Music provided by jamesbaker, from Pond5
Stock Music provided by piccadillyCircus, from Pond5

[@Zimbleton]

As the Lead Programmer for the Console versions of Avatar: The Burning Earth at THQ Studio Oz, I humbly apologise you had to cut 35% of the GBA version. We were also disappointed when management decided to cut the later levels but with 3 console versions to test and polish, we had to reduce the scope to release on time for Xmas or the studio could have been axed for missing its window. Game development can be brutal! On a side note, it was hilarious that Microsoft forced us to pull most of our Xbox achievements for various reasons from the X360 version just before release and in the end you could receive 1000 gamer points within 5 mins of starting the game. When news of this went viral, our game shot to #1 for rental games at Blockbuster, lol.

[@lukemuscat]

Haha oh man, it's all good, defs not on you! Complicated situation, and at the time especially we were all just trying to scratch out a living. The whole achievements thing was crazy to watch from the sidelines as well. Hope you are well!

[@PPLToast]

Whoa, I had no idea there were more achievements and that it was Microsoft of all companies who required pulling them! Are you able to talk about the reasons?

[@costelinha1867]

In other words, the development was hell for everyone.....

[@elfrangofrito]

You could have just turned the camera upside down, but you went and turned yourself upside down anyway. You're legendary.

[@yuvrajmishra522]

classic game designer move

[@chickenmaster3879]

He does rock climbing. It was probably easier lol.

[@chickenmaster3879]

​@@yuvrajmishra522so true lol

[@darkly77]

Ngl I used to think that licensed games were made by lazy studios. I'm glad I saw your video because it educated me: Really, bad licensed games are probably down to time limits, and restrictions imposed by the IP holder

[@lukemuscat]

Yeah, no one jumps in and is like "I'm going to make a bad game". I often think about what must have happened on a project when I play something not very good. And I feel for them because I made a bunch of bad ones before I made some good ones!

[@__dm__]

Everyone has career ambitions and personal goals, or at least majority of the folks in a technical or professional field. Sometimes the circumstances just isn't right for something great to appear.

[@aeea3306]

I wonder what happened to gollum

[@CrownePri]

​@@aeea3306😂😂😂😂

[@FatDino]

I would LOVE to hear more stories like that, I bet with your experience you have some crazy stories to share!

[@revimfadli4666]

Listening to these made THQ's demise make sense in hindsight Thanks for the "things not to do" lessons!

[@seandruitt2199]

Another great video mate! Made me have some long stares off into the distance and eye twitches about some other publisher experiences too! Some too spooky to mention!

[@lukemuscat]

😐😐😐

[@ThomasStewartDev]

Great stuff! It's fun to hear big mishaps in the industry

[@GrahamOfLegend]

Love these stories! It's so rare to hear it from the perspective of the developers, especially publicly. Also lmao your commitment to the bit, you were upside down!? Wild haha

[@GoodguyGastly]

Wow YT recommended me the good stuff. I started getting into game Game Dev early last year after someone gifted me the book Blood Sweat and Pixels. Learning about the wild things that happened behind the scenes on some of my favorite games was so exciting. Almost like I was sitting at a bar listening to friends recount their nightmare experiences. I come from the film world and the parallels are incredibly similar so I guess I'm just a glutton for the punishment in both forms of creativity. Binged all your videos. Keep it up!

[@lukemuscat]

Wow thanks! Yeah I think that all creative fields have their own spooky tales, just unavoidable to a degree.

[@styxrakash4639]

Thanks for sharing your experiences Luke

[@JairMcBain]

Great stories and all too familiar to me coming up in the industry in Melbourne post GFC! Really enjoying keeping up with what you're up to at the moment Luke. Thanks for the videos!

[@katzacodo]

Awesome content. Subscribed can't wait for more !!

[@abidounesaad3780]

as a guy who follows game dev channels on KZbin, yours is the most interesting of them all!

[@viriveras]

Really enjoy your content keep it coming!

[@timothymakesgames]

Expecting another video soon! Keep going man :)

[@chickensoupboi]

Ironically, I used to love playing Super Hero Squad on DS as a 5-year-old kid. Like one of the first games I ever played, and one I loved, so if your team were intending on making a fun game for kids, you succeeded in my book.

[@malanoir]

Is this my new favourite yt channel? Yes!

[@danieljohn9182]

Awesome story telling, Luke! Triggering some PTSD!

[@lukemuscat]

Haha thanks DJ, hope it wasn't too bad to relive!

[@kilianstarzengruber6835]

omg can't believe I have nostalgia for that Gameboy Avatar game. Ost takes me back and the puzzles were dope

[@whitesnakefr]

Amazing video

[@ianod]

Great video!

[@artemisDev]

nothing better than this for halloween

[@batburger0120]

The super hero squad game was amazing as a kid I have so many memories of playing that, it’s hard to believe you made that fruit ninja and Jetpack joyride!

[@JustTheDani]

First I find out you did Fruit Ninja, then Jetpack Joyride, AND ALSO MARVEL SUPERHERO SQUAD?!? I used to play that all the time when I was a kid, I don't remember having any gripes with it but I was pretty young back then lol

[@ReloGP14th]

Here is a story. one of the things that happened is a that a game was finished half way finished. The marketing team was making a trailer and pr people were ready to talk about their new game they wanted to tease. The director suddenly said that the WHOLE project will be scrapt because he doesnt feel like it anymore. Wanna know the company? Its simple: Ubisoft.

[@spearmintlatios9047]

Really interesting perspective on Super Hero Squad. I mostly played the multiplayer on DS download play, which was great fun with friends. It’s surprising that that was the intent of the game all along!

[@lukemuscat]

Haha that is awesome, makes me happy that people found and played this that way! We did all the balancing for multiplayer by having little tournaments inside the company to try and get it right, but as far as I remember there was still some pretty OP and unbalanced moves (Captain America's upkick move maybe?)

[@salurorottiers9305]

I remember playing the marvel game as a kid and enjoying this. So for ppl who dont recognise bad games, it was alright

[@megatronusv2215]

Oh my god, OpenFeint!! God what a throwback. Also the guy who founded OpenFeint went on to make Discord. Man, these tales are so riveting and interconnected

[@jefferymcmasters1517]

4:25-4:30, A reference to TMNT: Turtles in Time AND Super Smash Bros. Melee? This channel definitely gets a sub🏆

[@LadyDem]

One day, licensed games will be a distant memory...

[@GoodVolition]

Oh I played that Avatar game. I think I found an obscure way go get soft locked lol.

[@pinball16]

That was great when's part 2?? Thanks!!

[@lukemuscat]

Thanks! Maybe I'll try and do a part 2 for the next Halloween!

[@pinball16]

@@lukemuscat that would be great. An annual "treehouse of game dev horrors" episode. Ha.

[@moomoomang]

I love these fucked licenced game horror stories haha

[@lukemuscat]

I feel like everyone should have to do a licensed game at least once! Honestly teaches you so much.

[@TK75_]

These r some spooky stories

[@seancstudio]

My airpod died at 6:23, thought it was a video soumd effect, it was so well timed. 😂

[@lukemuscat]

Spooky stereo tricks!

[@Neutronax]

No way, the Marvel smash fighter unlocked a seemingly lost Memory, it actually was one of my favorite games (didn‘t have alot) i still remember the Hulk Fight with Abomination and the completely OP Cap America shield, this game got me through pretty boring vacation and i loved it, being a Child i didn‘t care if the Game was Bad

[@costelinha1867]

Now watch as someone make a patch for this ATLA game's rom to restore the cut content without the need of a password.

[@Raderade1-pt3om]

Spooky, btw I'm really interested in how devs used to make games for and using primitive hardware and software like old java phone games etc.

[@tastysnak]

It's the stuff nightmares are made of! 😬

[@SreenivasV]

would love to hear more about the ATLA game development! that was my favourite GBA game (played everything on an emulator as a kid - Pokemon Leaf Green / Fire Red / Sapphire, various Dragon Ball saga games)

[@timothymakesgames]

Very interesting stuff, sounds like THQ really messed you guys around, man that would be frustrating.

[@rogsiel]

Suck a great video, good job mate

[@PuppetDev]

6:10 had to pause the video here and take a deep breath

[@costelinha1867]

"We released on the App Store, back when mobile games costed money" I mean, they still do, it's just that back then it was the more reasonable "buy the game and you play it", now you donwload it for free, but you WILL pay, either trough microtransactions that are practically required to make the game remotely playable, or trough the sheer amount of ads/pop-ups you'll have to deal with.

[@Zaluuk]

This video reminds me of Simpsons horror episodes and Gravity Falls bottomless pit episode

[@lawrencetoh9510]

7:05 i know youre ninja , but i dint know youre spiderman now

[@its_just_matt]

That is a travesty truly. I would've released the full game if I were the publisher. smh

[@Drakonia1990-ft9uw]

Spooky... maybe not. But useful - yes, very much so.

[@michaelafton2307]

I am spook

[@panduvandal]

Didn't know you were one of the devs that made the best Avatar game in GBA

[@AdamSingle]

Oh dang! I remember OpenFeint!

[@lukemuscat]

Remember all the other competitors as well back before Game Center? Different times!

[@AdamSingle]

@@lukemuscat it all feels like a lifetime ago. Crazy wild west the app store was

[@costelinha1867]

ngl, that GBA ATLA game does look fun, even if it's super simple.

[@jhonmarston1234]

Do you still have that unfinished Marvel Smash Bros clone? I'm sure people would still like to try it.

[@lukemuscat]

Nah it is long gone sadly. There is multiplayer in the final release that has quite a lot of where we got to early on, but it's only 2 player!

[@SevenDeMagnus]

Cool, I have no choice now at this era but to create a successful app (a games or games most likely). God bless.

[@sepoy5346]

poor openfient

[@AdamBardugo]

How do we get the full version of the GBA game ?

[@lukemuscat]

Google something like "avatar burning earth gba cheats" and you should be able to find the code!

[@AdamBardugo]

@@lukemuscat Thank you !!! So ...what's the point of letting you cut the game but still let players access those levels? Is this something that THQ knew?

[@lukemuscat]

​@@AdamBardugo Wasn't really intentional! Rolling credits after the drill machine was fastest and least risky way to end the game early, but the way the password system worked, it had no knowledge of that change. It just unlocks levels based on the code. I guess someone messed around with a hacking tool or something to figure out the password and bypass the early credits roll!

[@costelinha1867]

@@AdamBardugo This isn't just exclusive of this game. Plenty of games, including some big triple a ones, have cut content hidden inside it's source code. For exemple ocarina of time has a beta version of Jabu Jabu's Belly hidden in the game that can be accessed via a wrong warp glitch. Sonic 2 had some cut levels hidden as well that were restored in some modern ports. There are countless examples of stuff like that happening in game development.

[@costelinha1867]

@@lukemuscat To be fair, I feel it's only a matter of time before some rom hacker makes a patch that restores the cut content without needing a password.

[@chickenmaster3879]

Okay but what's the password tho

[@brytonmassie]

Any chance you remember the password for that GBA game?