Great read. Tried the demo, got put off by it, but maybe I should give this game a chance after all.

Yeah, this was a great game that really got overlooked on a lot of top 10 lists. Nice story, Scoops. :)

Dust was pretty cool. I hope we'll get to see some more stuff in that universe. I wonder what that cut line was.

Nice write up Patirck. I love this game and it's in my top ten GOTY list.

Okay, I don't want to read any spoilers for this game, so can anyone tell me whether or not this article mentions something about the game coming to PC, and, if so, when?

Some nice insight on the game's development, thanks @patrickklepek! I haven't thought about the Secret of NIMH in quite a while (I actually did a diorama in middle school for a book report of the novel that the movie is based on), but that's actually a good parallel to draw, and I could see that being inspiration for Dust's story.

I don't blame Dodrill for being stubborn about bringing other folks onto the project, when you're working so hard by yourself and essentially being your own sounding board, you can probably get hung up easily, especially with other stresses in one's life. Mad propers to Dean for recognizing his own shortcomings and making his brainchild even better.

I looooved this game when I played it on XBLA last year, hopefully it comes to other platforms soon so more people can enjoy it :)

@Snail said:

Okay, I don't want to read any spoilers for this game, so can anyone tell me whether or not this article mentions something about the game coming to PC, and, if so, when?

"In the near term, Dodrill mentioned that players hoping the game would become available somewhere other than XBLA should keep paying attention.

Dust sold enough copies on Xbox 360, however, to let Dodrill continue his one-man band of game development. It wasn’t enough for him to expand beyond himself, but that’s okay for him right now."

*HOOKS GAMECUBE SOLELY FOR METROID PRIME

I really need a new CTR, solely for these old consoles of mine.

Fantastic article! Makes me want to go back and replay Dust again.

"was largely interpreted as furry fandom. (Try to keep that out of the comments?)"

What's wrong with furries? Why can't we allow for people to have all kinds of personal expression? Like, I get that you're trying to keep people from deriding the game because of the aesthetic and I'm on board with that too, but maybe the way to solve it isn't to try to stop conversation about it but instead to foster an adult dialogue about diversity.

I didn't understand the praise for this game. I played the demo and youtubed the story. I can tolerate furry fandom but the seinen tropes with ronin flavor are super grating. The game part was a mash fest. Brad can speak to the strategy of fidget but she is most effective as a clear screen bomb.

DUST AET was a FUCKING Great game. Also i have become a FURRY

@beard_of_zeus said:

@Snail said:

Okay, I don't want to read any spoilers for this game, so can anyone tell me whether or not this article mentions something about the game coming to PC, and, if so, when?

"In the near term, Dodrill mentioned that players hoping the game would become available somewhere other than XBLA should keep paying attention.

Dust sold enough copies on Xbox 360, however, to let Dodrill continue his one-man band of game development. It wasn’t enough for him to expand beyond himself, but that’s okay for him right now."

Thanks!

I absolutely loved Dust: AET. I would buy a sequel without hesitation.

I loved this game and I hope that Dean will be able to continue making great works of art like this one.

Great article. Reading things like this is inspirational for me, when it comes to creative endeavors in video games. I've always wanted to make one in some form or fashion, and getting some insight into the creative process for games helps a ton.

As for Dust's story...it was an amazing experience. I have no shame in admitting that I cried at the end. I've been playing games for almost 30 years now, and I've never played a game that did that to me, until this one. Someone in the comments suggested that Dust be released as a "Director's Cut" on other platforms with the missing bits added in, and I think that would be really, really cool if it's not too much to ask for such a thing. The world created around this game is incredibly compelling, and I find myself hungry for every little scrap of extra info I can find on it.

As for the whole "furry" thing, I appreciate you guys clearing that up once and for all. While I have no problem with the furry fandom (seriously, what's wrong with artwork and roleplaying surrounding anthro animal characters?), I found myself taking offense to those who were flippantly dismissing the game for being that, when it very clearly wasn't. Silly and immature of me to proceed to yell at those in the comments and forums, perhaps, but few things drive me to anger faster than false accusations like that.

At any rate, i'm pumped to see this "horror Super Metroid" game that was hinted at the end of the article!

I enjoyed Dust's combat, but skipped past most of the dialogue.

I can't speak for others, but the furry vibe I got from it mainly stemmed from the fan-art feel that the cutscenes and dialogue sequences gave off. Don't ask me to put my finger on the exact problem, because I can't. But there was just always something that felt a bit off about the artwork. I never got that feeling when looking at the characters in general gameplay - maybe it was only noticeable to my eye when in those full-screen, zoomed in moments...

Loved the gameplay to bits, though I didn't like the anti min-maxing restriction in the levelup system. It just made half your levelups feel pointless. I'm no game designer, but I think the best way to prevent min-maxing is to balance the game's stats such that they all feel like worthy candidates for your skill points, rather than just not letting you have x amount more of one stat than another.

@DeadSpace said:

"was largely interpreted as furry fandom. (Try to keep that out of the comments?)"

What's wrong with furries? Why can't we allow for people to have all kinds of personal expression? Like, I get that you're trying to keep people from deriding the game because of the aesthetic and I'm on board with that too, but maybe the way to solve it isn't to try to stop conversation about it but instead to foster an adult dialogue about diversity.

Nothing! I just didn't want 10 pages of comments bitching about the art style. We've already had that.

Never really like the art style of the game, thought it looked cheap, but id totally play it if it were on a platform I owned (ideally PC)

Tremendous article, thanks Patrick. As others have said, it's always super enlightening and very interesting to get close up feedback from game devs about their own games, particularly when they're not there specifically for PR purposes. Hanging out for a release on anything that isn't XBL and its absurd moonbucks system so I can give this game a go.

@Riboflavin said:

Never really like the art style of the game, thought it looked cheap, but id totally play it if it were on a platform I owned (ideally PC)

Do you mean the cutscene animations and dialogue portraits when you say the animation looks cheap or do you also mean the backgrounds, monster designs, and character designs in the world?

Great article. I finished the game last weekend and really enjoyed it.

@golguin said:

@Riboflavin said:

Never really like the art style of the game, thought it looked cheap, but id totally play it if it were on a platform I owned (ideally PC)

Do you mean the cutscene animations and dialogue portraits when you say the animation looks cheap or do you also mean the backgrounds, monster designs, and character designs in the world?

I'm really only going off the quick look and stuff, since I never played it, but yeah I didn't dig the portraits and I thought the whole thing nebulously didn't look, I dunno, polished enough.

@Riboflavin said:

@golguin said:

@Riboflavin said:

Never really like the art style of the game, thought it looked cheap, but id totally play it if it were on a platform I owned (ideally PC)

Do you mean the cutscene animations and dialogue portraits when you say the animation looks cheap or do you also mean the backgrounds, monster designs, and character designs in the world?

I'm really only going off the quick look and stuff, since I never played it, but yeah I didn't dig the portraits and I thought the whole thing nebulously didn't look, I dunno, polished enough.

I could understand not liking the art style in the cutscenes and portraits, but all the backgrounds, characters, and monsters looked pretty amazing.

@MindChamber: o.oa

I don't see any difference between the basic leg structure in those images. They both have stretched out ankles and walk on their toes.

@DeadSpace said:

"was largely interpreted as furry fandom. (Try to keep that out of the comments?)"

What's wrong with furries? Why can't we allow for people to have all kinds of personal expression? Like, I get that you're trying to keep people from deriding the game because of the aesthetic and I'm on board with that too, but maybe the way to solve it isn't to try to stop conversation about it but instead to foster an adult dialogue about diversity.

That's fine, but this article is mostly about the writing process behind Dust and not about the art style. Having that discussion would be off-topic and could easily derail this entire comment section, given it tends to be a controversial issue. I'm sure that discussion is taking place elsewhere on the internet or even Giant Bomb. You can always start it even if it isn't. Just don't start it here.

If you've already decided you'll play this game in the future, I recommend not reading the article (or listening to the GotY podcast). There's minor spoilers which admittedly won't ruin the game for you, but I think you'll have a better experience if you just dive in.

EDIT: Also, with regard to those Fidget comparison pictures, I feel the need to point out Fidget's line of dialogue there is a good example of the sense of humor you can expect from that character. The use of that screenshot is the perfect example of how the art style distracts some people from the merits of the game.

Loved this game. Easily in my top 10 for the year. I really wish more people gave it a chance.

@Viking_Funeral said:

Loved this game. Easily in my top 10 for the year. I really wish more people gave it a chance.

A ton more will once it comes to PC :D. Every single person on my friends list on Steam want to try it, but can't since they don't have 360's.

This makes me feel bad for buying this game

This and Fez are the two Xbox 360 games that I really want to play. And hopefully both are coming to Steam soon.

@Forderz: not sure how you can say Fidget walks on her toes when shes always flying. Dust doesnt walk on his toes and neither do any of the other animals. They arent simply animals standing on their toes, They have fully human bodies Anyways Ill stop here, Napoleon Dynamite already deleted my other post, no point in having a friendly debate about it.

Oh man, "not so fan-fictiony?" That's like the worst thing Microsoft could of said...

I really...well, I really despise the story and writing in the last two acts of the game. Which is sad, because I enjoyed what came before that. Everything that happens with Dust's dual-identity and General Gaius is just really badly handled, IMO. Like, so badly that I legitimately think it tops Far Cry 3's pretty terrible ending, though probably not Assassin Creed III's somehow even worse oh god ending.

An interesting read to find out how the game even got to the point where I liked the first half, though.

That bit about General Gauis' motivations being cut is frustrating to hear about. I enjoyed playing Dust, but I wouldn't say the narrative is what made me stick with it. I didn't have a problem Dust's artstyle, I just didn't think the portraits and the cutscenes looked great.

@patrickklepek: @mithical: Thanks, and good points. This really is a great article, it's exactly the kind of conversation with a developer that we still need to see much more of on the web, so bravo. It is a shame that "furry" stuff is so controversial. I'm proud of the Giant Bomb community for not piling on it the way I've seen so many other places in the web. As a gamer who's in the LGBTQ community, I'm glad to see people avoiding the kneejerk reaction to things that are different.

@UnrealDP said:

Oh man, "not so fan-fictiony?" That's like the worst thing Microsoft could of said...

I don't even understand what that's supposed to mean. Maybe I need to read more fan-fiction to get it. Is "fan-fiction" somehow synonym with "bad writing"?

@patrickklepek: The art style is an integral part of the game though, and largely responsible for the divide of opinion about it. If he had chosen, literally any other art style, the game could have garnered a much wider audience. Whether it is furry art or not aside, I simply did not like the way it looked and was in fact so put off by the aesthetic that it stopped me from purchasing or giving it an honest try because deep down inside I knew it would distract me from the narrative. On the other hand, while a completely different genre Mark of the Ninja to me was very pleasing in the way it looked and animated. If Dust was about ninjas and mythical beasts as opposed to catlike anthromorphs I am certain a lot more people would have been willing to give it a shot - so it's just unfortunate that the art style he chose and prefers is one with a lot of negative connotation attached to it.

I think I'm going to abstain from reading this for now in hopes that there'll be a version I can check out for myself first. I'm still pretty excited to give this a shot should it pan out that way.

@Humanity said:

@patrickklepek: The art style is an integral part of the game though, and largely responsible for the divide of opinion about it. If he had chosen, literally any other art style, the game could have garnered a much wider audience. Whether it is furry art or not aside, I simply did not like the way it looked and was in fact so put off by the aesthetic that it stopped me from purchasing or giving it an honest try because deep down inside I knew it would distract me from the narrative. On the other hand, while a completely different genre Mark of the Ninja to me was very pleasing in the way it looked and animated. If Dust was about ninjas and mythical beasts as opposed to catlike anthromorphs I am certain a lot more people would have been willing to give it a shot - so it's just unfortunate that the art style he chose and prefers is one with a lot of negative connotation attached to it.

@MindChamber said:

@Forderz: not sure how you can say Fidget walks on her toes when shes always flying. Dust doesnt walk on his toes and neither do any of the other animals. They arent simply animals standing on their toes, They have fully human bodies Anyways Ill stop here, Napoleon Dynamite already deleted my other post, no point in having a friendly debate about it.

Animals with human like bodies is essentially what Disney's Robin Hood did.

@golguin: Without really sidetracking down that whole road of discussion we all know what type of art it is. You can very clearly see when something is just Disney type art and when its furry art. That whole Disney argument is pointless because no, it's not the same thing. When you play Epic Mickey you don't get the same sort of vibe as when you play Dust. But as Patrick said I don't want to turn this into a discussion about furry art - my main focus was that the art style plays a large role in the game and you can't just look past it and only talk of the story. Every game has some sort of wrapper which will define it and inevitably draw people in or push them away. Who knows, maybe Inversion actually has a really good story but since everyone, including the Bomb crew, took a huge shit on it because it looks like a very typical cover based shooter not a lot of people will ever know.

Great stuff Klepek.

After reading this........ I must finish this game.

@DeadSpace: You must not be paying much attention then, every article that mentions Dust has a comments section filled with people ripping on furries and Dodrill.

Bring this game to PC!

@golguin: yes though I never said Disney wasn't guilty of that. He Mentioned Don Bluth, who really kept his animals, animals. Though even Disney's anthromorphisized characters never felt fully human to me. Or completely sexualized. Fidget had breasts and big baby making hips, and thick human calves. I mean come on

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9vG7AaEPhWA

Disney played with this with their standing female animals, by indicating a fluff in the chest area and the bumps around the hips a 4 legged animal naturally gets when being made to stand on their hinds.. Fidget looks like a plumply lil girl in a costume. Same with Dust, he has a broad manly chest, as if he ripped off his shirt he'd have pecs, and abs complete with nipple rings.

Maybe thats why not a fan of most of Disney movies that involves heroic animals. At least when Looney tunes did it with Bugs Bunny in a dress, they KNEW what they were doing, they were being purposely weird with it,

@JohnstonThistle said:

I hate this game because of the stupid furry fandom designs. Seriously, the last thing I need to see in my video games is people dressed as animals having sex together.

This is possibly the most ignorant thing I've read all day. First thing is that it is not your video game and thus you have no real say in the design. Next is that they are not dressed as animals, but actually are. Finally, there is absolutely no sexual content in the game. All you are doing here is being an ignorant fool who gets upset at anthropomorphic designs because you believe every false stereotype you hear.

Back on topic, a Super Metroid styled horror game from the same hands as Dust? Count me in. I've decided to support all of Dodrill's games and especially hope for a sequel to Dust at some point in the future, but I'm willing to wait as long as it takes. You can't rush quality games.

This game is really good, and as Patrick says, the story goes to some pretty surprising places, and it's well-told in the process.

Anyone who writes the game off because of the character portraits is doing themselves a disservice.

@VargasPrime: I agree. on the same token though, Ive heard some pretty incredible lyrics in rap, more powerful than most pop music lyrics. but if you dont like rap, you dont like rap.

I will give this game a chance when I can get much cheaper.