David Hellman

I was recently interviewed by a Brazillian games podcast, Now Loading Round #45. My Portuguese being weak, the interview was conducted in English. The podcast includes both the original and translation (although it’s mostly Portuguese!).

English language readers can view the page translated by Google.

We talked about Braid’s art, the sometimes confusing marriage of gameplay and storytelling, and I even fielded a few questions that were obviously written for Jon!

The soundtrack to Braid was assembled from existing compositions by several talented musicians. Jon collected the songs from various albums, but now you can download all the songs that were in Braid as a single album. This collection also includes two newly created remixes by Jon Schatz.

Check out the Braid soundtrack at Magnatune.

And here’s some more information about the artists, like which albums these tracks are originally from.

On the eve of Braid’s Windows PC release, here’s a new trailer. For the innocent, it will spark wonder. For others, it will deepen the lines of bittersweet remembrance.

You can buy Braid for PC at Greenhouse, Steam, Impulse or Gamers Gate. All these stores will make Braid available some time on April 10.

The PC version has the same content as the xbox version, except that you can play with a keyboard or an Xbox 360 controller. (Finally those blocks in the bathroom mean something.) Also, it has the level editing tools used by Jon and me. So you can make your own Braid levels and stuff. Jon wrote a little about that here.

More info may be available at www.braid-game.com and Jonathan Blow’s blog.

This will only mean anything to you if you have already seen this.

Made by Action Button .net Video.

There’s a Braid Premium Theme for XBOX available on the XBOX Live Marketplace. You can download it for 250 space bucks (roughly $3.10) and make your XBOX all Braidy.

To find it, turn on your XBOX 360 with an internet connection, go to Game Marketplace > Explore Game Content > Themes & Gamer Pictures > Browse > B > Braid > Braid Premium Theme. Wow, that looks complicated! It should also be in New Arrivals for the time being.

Here are some screenshots so you know what you’re getting yourself into. We used the city background from the beginning of the game as the main wallpaper, and created vignettes from the different worlds for the Friends channel. Honestly, we took our time and tried to do a really good job. Hopefully fans of the game won’t be disappointed.

Also, there’s no logo anywhere. We figure that people who buy the Braid theme probably already know about the game!

More screenshots follow …

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I’ve been asked to explain some of my recent actions.

At two conferences in early ‘09 I will be sharing my side of Braid’s development process.

Animex - February 2-6, 2009, Middlesbrough, UK.

Game Developers Conference - March 23-27, 2009, San Francisco, CA.

I’ll let you know when I have more specific times.

Surprisingly, my session is one of three highlighted in GDC’s Visual Arts track. In a recent entry to her Bosslady Blog, Meggan Scavio wrote: “One of the highlights, and a session I’ll be in for sure, is ‘The Art of Braid’, presented by David Hellman. Braid was a two-man show. Jon Blow, the man behind the Experimental Gameplay Sessions at GDC, among other things, designed it, and David Hellman made it really freaking pretty. Everything Jon touches has multiple layers and deeper meanings, and it will be really interesting to hear (and see!) how David visually translated Jon’s philosophies.”

It might be wise for me to do one or two practice lectures in small venues, perhaps in January. If anyone knows of an opportunity of that sort near San Francisco, feel free to get in touch: davidlesson … “at” … gmail.com.

Time magazine has included Braid in its list of the top 10 games of 2008, slotting it into the high-ish position of 2. In his blurb, Lev Grossman strongly implies that Braid offers “near-infinite entertainment.”

Grossman’s list favors big-budget, well-marketed heavies like Grand Theft Auto IV, Little Big Planet and Rock Band 2, although it notably includes three exceptions. Besides Braid, those are Hunted Forever, a graphically spartan yet evocative Flash platformer at #8, and Fieldrunners, a tower defense title for iPhone at #9.

Here’s a segment from Spike’s recent indie games feature where Geoff Keighley talks to me about Braid. Will Wright also appears. This video is actually part 4 of 4.

The music is very dramatic!

You’ll notice I’m shy at first because Geoff was sitting very close to me for a man.

Below are parts 1 through 3, which feature Dylan Cuthbert (Pixeljunk Eden), Dylan Fitterer (Audiosurf), and Kyle Gabler and Ron Carmel (World of Goo).

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Spike has nominated Braid for Best Independent Game, alongside World of Goo, PixelJunk Eden, and Audiosurf.

If you’d like to vote for your favorite, go here.

There’s something about “fuel,” which I don’t really agree with.

Earlier this month, a Spike TV crew came to my apartment to shoot an interview which is going to run close to (or perhaps immediately before?) the awards. I’m told it will be part of a half-hour feature on indie games of 2008. The crew left a huge number of Capri Sun juice pouches and Odwalla bars in my fridge.

Well … A Braid Song. Wouldn’t want to prohibit the possibility of future Braid songs. This is a nice one, though! It’s by The Ex Box Boys. Their other songs are about things like Call of Duty 4, Gears of War, and Rock Band.

Here’s a statement from The Ex Box Boys about Braid - Counting You Up:

This song we wrote about a game that I am absolutely addicted too. It’s called Braid. I just got the game a few days ago and we ran into Robert Lang Studios in Shoreline and tracked what I think is our best song. I thought the story line was really cool and the game is filled with little puzzles and he needs to save the princess. Perfect back-drop for a love/pop song. We spent alot of time on this one and I hope that you like it.

The song can be heard on the band’s web site.