

- #Spyparty tutorials the timer manual#
- #Spyparty tutorials the timer full#
- #Spyparty tutorials the timer series#
I'm putting, obviously, all the stuff in there to make it possible to - I don't even know what an eSport means, at some level, right? But I'm making an intensely competitive multiplayer game." "That happens, that's something the players do. "At indie scale, you can't make something an eSport," he says. That old art and a decade of playtesting has helped Hecker create a rich, competitive game unlike any title currently on the eSports market - a market that didn't even exist when he began building SpyParty. I mean, maybe not when it was the old art." "At indie scale, you can't make something an eSport." "They were like, 'Your game is way under-priced at $15.' So, there you go. "The players told me to do it," Hecker says about the price increase. This is notable for any interested spies and snipers, as the game's price is set to rise when it hits Steam: The beta is $15, while the Steam Early Access version will cost $25. Anyone who buys into the beta via Hecker's website will automatically receive the Steam version as well. These 10 maps are live today in the SpyParty beta, and they'll be available in the Steam Early Access version when that launches April 12th. But today, SpyParty is gorgeous, featuring fully shaded and colored villas, restaurants, mansions and balconies, and a cast of striking, diverse characters. As SpyParty has stewed in beta over the past decade or so, it's largely featured placeholder art - blocky, 3D characters and environments plastered in primary colors.
#Spyparty tutorials the timer full#
So I narrate the tutorial with full voice."Īlongside a shiny new tutorial, the Steam Early Access version of SpyParty will have a total of 10 updated maps built by Hecker's partner in crime, artist John Cimino. People learn to play, they like the game when they play. "So I was like, I'm gonna try to emulate that. "All the fans man the booth and they teach you to play," Hecker says.

These volunteers steer new players through the game in real-time.

The tutorial is an attempt to emulate the successful formula Hecker has instituted at conventions like PAX and GDC, where he's shown off SpyParty at booths staffed by some of his most dedicated beta players.
#Spyparty tutorials the timer manual#
Thankfully, on Steam Early Access, the manual has been replaced by an interactive tutorial narrated by Hecker himself. Demos used to be accompanied by a printed four-page user manual outlining the game's most important intricacies. With 21 fully fleshed-out characters and 10 maps, there are hundreds, if not thousands, of avenues for the spy to be caught in each round, and just as many opportunities for them to conceal their actions, complete the mission and win the game. Certain spy moves will trigger sounds or actions at the party, while specific characters are known to behave in unique ways when they're controlled by the AI - the sniper is looking for any inconsistencies or slipups by the sole human in the room. Meanwhile, the sniper watches everything from afar, attempting to pick out the spy and shoot them on the spot.
#Spyparty tutorials the timer series#
The spy's job is to blend in with these AI characters while stealthily completing a series of tasks for their mission. The spy attends a party packed with AI characters making small talk, wandering the room, drinking, and generally behaving as fancy humans would. It's a one-on-one battle of wits and detection, where one player is a spy and the other is a sniper. SpyParty is the Turing Test in video game form. It's a dense competitive game with thousands of tiny rules essential to top-tier play. In his mind, SpyParty can't exist without an engaged pool of people helping each other out, and he might be right. He's placed an emphasis on cultivating a welcoming, knowledgeable and non-toxic player base as the game has been put through its paces in beta on Hecker's own website. One of Hecker's greatest concerns - and accomplishments - with SpyParty has been the community. Like the fact that I have the best online competitive gaming community ever." There's a whole bunch of things I'm concerned about with that and excited about that. "That's fucking crazy and I'm terrified, like literally, abject terrified, and my anxiety level is through the fucking roof," he says.

After 10 years of development, SpyParty is finally going to land on Steam Early Access on April 12th, and Hecker is barely containing a cacophony of emotions - not all of them bad. Chris Hecker, the creator of SpyParty, is smiling and gesturing wildly over the open lid of a laptop showcasing the game's six new upgraded maps.
