Schlagwort: studio mdhr

  • Cuphead’s The Delicious Last Course DLC arrives on PS4 June 30, 2022

    Cuphead’s The Delicious Last Course DLC arrives on PS4 June 30, 2022

    Reading Time: 4 minutes

    Hey again, this is Chad from Studio MDHR! The last time I had a chance to write something for the PlayStation Blog, we were announcing Cuphead’s surprise launch on PlayStation 4. Since that time, we have been heads down on the continued development of our game’s upcoming expansion, The Delicious Last Course, and I’m thrilled to be able to announce a bonafide release date: this next adventure will be coming to PlayStation 4 on June 30, 2022!! 

    I’m so proud of our amazing team and I can’t wait for PlayStation players to get their hands on The Delicious Last Course. When we originally announced this expansion, we cheekily chose to name the game with a title that shortened to “DLC”, and while this isn’t a sequel, I can confidently say The Delicious Last Course has taken on a life of its own during development, and that it isn’t just your bog standard game expansion. On that note, let’s talk a little bit about what the game is, and what you can expect.

    The Delicious Last Course sees Cuphead and Mugman setting sail for “D.L.C. Isle”, an untamed and previously undiscovered island off the coast of the main Inkwell Isles. In true Cuphead fashion, however, they find that the island is host to a new cast of fearsome, larger than life bosses, all of whom are tied to a quest they must undertake on behalf of the jubilant and jolly Chef Saltbaker. What this quest is and where it will take our intrepid heroes is something we want to keep secret for just a little longer, but it’s fair to say that it might be our brave little cups’ most challenging adventure yet.

    Luckily, Ms. Chalice is there for more than just moral support. Fans of the original Cuphead will recognize her as The Legendary Chalice, but in this new form, Ms. Chalice packs a wallop of her own, including unique abilities that will help you overcome some of the biggest bosses we’ve ever designed! Be sure to keep an eye out for grumpy shopkeep Porkrind as well, who’s never one to pass up an opportunity for commerce and might just have all new weapons and magical charms for you to experiment with. In fact, if you take a closer look at the trailer we debuted at this year’s Game Awards, you might just spot a few.

    Major announcements like this are always a chance to reflect on a game’s development, and something I’m really excited for Cuphead fans to see with The Delicious Last Course is the way our team has really honed their craft during development. From our designers to concept artists to animators and engineers, everyone spent the development of this game challenging themselves to innovate, and we have pushed to make The Delicious Last Course a true high watermark of everything we do at Studio MDHR. There are individual phases of single bosses in this game that contain more attacks and frames of animation than entire bosses from the original Cuphead. 

    It’s often said that “any video game that releases is a feat,” and that’s something I think our whole industry has felt doubly so making games amidst these unique times. In our case, we have been especially challenged by things like safely and securely assembling a live orchestra to perform our game’s soundtrack. However, our guiding principle through the whole experience has been the game’s quality, and we are so excited to see what everyone thinks of The Delicious Last Course when it releases next year. I hope you’ve saved up an appetite… for adventure! 

    Website: LINK

  • A great slam and then some — Cuphead is out today on PS4

    A great slam and then some — Cuphead is out today on PS4

    Reading Time: 4 minutes

    Hey, this is Chad from Studio MDHR, and I’m extremely excited to announce that Cuphead is headed to PlayStation 4! And you won’t have to wait to get your hands on it, because the game is available today. Like so many of you, we grew exploring the worlds of classic PlayStation titles, from Resident Evil to Vandal Hearts. So it’s surreal to think about players adventuring through Cuphead today with a PlayStation controller in hand.

    Cuphead is a run and gun action game set in the fantastical land of the Inkwell Isles. In either single player or local co-op, you play as Cuphead and Mugman as they seek to save themselves from The Devil by collecting the souls of massive, screen-filling bosses. While the game was heavily inspired by the arcade action titles of the ’80s and ’90s, something that we think makes Cuphead unique is that its visual style is inspired by the classic animated movies and cartoon shorts of the 1930s.

    In fact, we went as far as to use many of the same techniques of animation studios of the era. All of the game’s 50,000+ frames of animation were drawn on paper and inked by hand to capture the texture and imperfections that were a hallmark of classic cartoons; each level’s background is an authentic watercolor painting; and Cuphead’s soundtrack is made up of over 3 hours of orchestral, big band jazz music recorded in-studio by live musicians.

    To celebrate the launch on PS4, we worked with Toronto-based studio Stop Motion Department to create a brand new animated short.

    When we brought them the idea of announcing our PlayStation 4 launch with a “stop mo” trailer, we were thrilled that animators Philip Eddolls and Evan DeRushie were on board. But more than that, we were blown away by how similar our approaches to animation were.

    Inspired by our love for the eerie, off-kilter style of 1933 experimental short The Peanut Vendor, Stop Motion Department went the extra mile to ensure that they were holding themselves to many of the same techniques as stop motion animators of the era. Puppet Fabricators Karen Valleau and Lauren Craig built the King Dice and Cuphead puppets with wooden heads, leather hands, and lots of primary shapes to reflect the children’s toys of the 1930s, which were made with simple manufacturing like drill presses and saws.

    Meanwhile, the film itself was animated without the assistance of the computer programs that allow modern stop motion animators to preview their shots and correct errors. Instead, Philip and Evan limited themselves to drawn-out charts and metal gauges to record the position of each puppet, before lining them up to their next position. This mimicked the “try your best and see what happens” limitations of the early stop motion productions.

    Finally, the whole thing was filmed using real lenses from 1930s known as “C Mount” lenses, which blow out the footage and give it a deliberately vintage look. Each shot was used as-is, with no corrective editing or compositing, meaning that if you look closely enough, you will see supports and other animation implements in the background.

    The whole process was designed top to bottom to feel like the cheery, slightly creepy films and toy advertisements of the 1930s, and we couldn’t be happier with how it turned out.

    To all the impassioned PlayStation community that has sent us so many heartfelt messages over the years: we can’t wait for you to experience this swell battle.

    Website: LINK