Ubisoft San Francisco’s Jason Schroeder says there’s a fine balance between a joke and a game mechanic, and he’s figuring that out with South Park co-creators Matt Stone and Trey Parker for the upcoming The Fractured But Whole.
“We always want to try and make sure to get every joke in that we can,” Schroeder said. “Sometimes we have to ask the guys [meaning Stone and Parker] ‘okay, do you want that to be a gag or do you want it to be a whole system? Should we build this in as dynamic part of the game or do want it to just be something that happens?
“Sometimes people will have fun with a joke for five minutes but if you try to build a whole level around it they might feel like ‘okay, I got the joke the first time and it was funny but I’ve been doing it for an hour now’.”
Schroeder is also quite impressed with the level of input both Stone and Parker have with the game.
“They’re really, really involved, he continued. “We have daily calls and I’m down there a few times a month just constantly trying to make sure that they’re getting the comedy they want into the game and making sure that it all makes sense moment to moment.
“They’re both gamers, so there’s a really easy common language,” he continues.
We previewed The Fractured But Whole at E3.
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