Chris Brettman

Former Level/Mission Designer for @helldivers2 🚀
Current Level Designer for Gate Zero 🪨

[Chris Brettman @ChrisBrettman]

How do you pin tweets

[Chris Brettman @ChrisBrettman]

@yoanpetkov Make that 1001 wishlists, Deputy 🫡

[Chris Brettman @ChrisBrettman]

I'm a massive Grand Theft Auto fan, and the current discourse about #GTAVI rubs me the wrong way.
Call it cope, delusion, rose tinted glasses, or other whatever your preferred phrase is.

As someone working in the games industry, from my perspective, there's a lot less of the "woke" mentality coming from devs. Not necessarily an ideological shift to the political right, but a business call because there's a bipartisan fatigue of preachy politics and social commentary.
That being said, I don't think people need to worry about the tone of GTA 6's humor and parody. Sure, Rockstar said some stuff earlier in the current '20s that indicated a shift, but times and culture have changed since then. We have to wait and see, but ultimately I don't think there's much to worry about here.
What I would be more concerned about is the quality of the humor with folks like Dan Houser and Lazlow having left. The tone of the humor can still be there, but at a lesser quality. But it remains to be seen.

The talk around Jason has me really perplexed. Jason is a character that will have had character development by the time we reach the end credits. Both he and Lucia will change over the course of the game, just as Arthur did in RDR2. That's writing.
Jason had a military background, part of his character could be that he's just checked out after witnessing horrendous stuff in war.
Maybe he is more of a pushover in the early game. White guy with a Latina GF meme. If that's the case, there's probably a reason for it and there's probably gonna be development beyond it.

Regarding what some say about the tech, teleporting bottles, this or that, IMO the biggest issue here is that GTA is too popular. Many people who know nothing about game development will see this stuff and post rage bait or trash it out of sheer ignorance or joy in rage baiting (rage baiting can be fun, I can't knock ya'll too much on this).
Now, if I was the marketing team, I'd probably want to avoid angles where you can catch these quirks that all games have, but at the end of the day it's the biggest nothing burger on the menu.

Games are meant to be fun. Game, play, and fun all mean the same thing to me. Let's just play fun games and have fun doing it.

[Chris Brettman @ChrisBrettman]

@uhhtgnkolll Thank you for being there! I'm glad you enjoyed it

[Chris Brettman @ChrisBrettman]

IMO, one of the best things you can do is bring junior devs into your bug triage meetings. It turns into on the job training when it comes to prioritizing and whatnot

I love hearing juniors (and all devs) argue passionately for fixing bugs. But, for juniors especially, it's a good way to introduce the reality side of game production
Some stuff just ain't worth it, but I love the literal love of the game!

[Chris Brettman @ChrisBrettman]

I'd love to watch a presentation on that! Sacrament has such a good, streamlined flow to it.
Working in LD for AAA really showed me how many people focus on the level art. It was tough to get feedback on the actual design in playtests due to devs forgetting what the discipline actual is

[Chris Brettman @ChrisBrettman]

@michaeljknowles Same

[Chris Brettman @ChrisBrettman]

San Francisco used to be our crown jewel of the West Coast. My mom used to fly down there from Seattle just for shits and giggles, it was a cultural icon due to shows like Full House, and has so much great history.
It's sad to see what's happened to it and most major American cities in recent years.

I'm a small town Florida boy that never really experienced the big city decay. Just saw it from afar. But I've been living in Scandinavia for awhile now.
While the cities here are clean, the hospitality of what I grew up with is severely lacking here. But when I visit Germany, I see many more similarities in how I grew up and how people treat each other.

I'd love for you to visit middle America, the so called "fly over states". I think you'd get a kick out of it and might even find some familiarity with German/Austrian culture!

[Chris Brettman @ChrisBrettman]

@thomasmahler I played Ori during my flight to Japan a couple years back. Great on SteamDeck for a long flight!

[Chris Brettman @ChrisBrettman]

@thomasmahler Sent ya'll an email! I'm sure whoever you find will be a kickass addition to the team/game!

[Chris Brettman @ChrisBrettman]

@miitchimus Don't worry, everyone, we cleaned up after.
Clearly, I still have much to learn from your pro ways, Mitch 😂

[Chris Brettman @ChrisBrettman]

The days before environment artists told me my cluttering is ugly and tech art told me performance is bad due to too many draw calls 😔✊️

[A-a-ron @AaronGameMaker]

No one:
Level design students placing clutter in their first level:

[HELLDIVERS™ 2 @helldivers2]

Helldivers, the anniversary surprises are not over!

It has been a year of hard fighting: of high stakes, of victories, and of losses. To commemorate this momentous year, we call on you, Helldivers, to pay your respects to all that has transpired.

Comment "F" on any of our social media channels. Should the respect quotient be met, High Command may reward you all for your dedication. The required quota remains classified.

[Chris Brettman @ChrisBrettman]

@lexfridman You should for sure talk to @Pilestedt, creative mind behind Helldivers 2. Ya'll would have a great conversation and hit it off I think!

[Chris Brettman @ChrisBrettman]

@SomeCronzaGuy Am I pulling an all nighter to watch us win? Yes, yes I am!

[Chris Brettman @ChrisBrettman]

@joesimss Proud of you

[Chris Brettman @ChrisBrettman]

@SomeCronzaGuy That's my immediate go-to whenever I go to England

[Chris Brettman @ChrisBrettman]

@SomeCronzaGuy Absolutely GOATED place. My first stop whenever I swing by England

[Chris Brettman @ChrisBrettman]

@Dezinuh @helldivers2 This is so awesome to hear, Emil! I got my start in game dev by modding Skyrim, so knowing that you're digging my game is so surreal and makes things feel like they've come full circle!

[Chris Brettman @ChrisBrettman]

I worked on this mission as the owner, with a team of immensely talented level designers and artists who produced some magic. So proud of what this team created! #Helldivers2

[HELLDIVERS™ 2 @helldivers2]

MAJOR ORDER: Activate the Terminid Control System, Helldivers!

[Chris Brettman @ChrisBrettman]

@SomeCronzaGuy I'd recommend CellarDoor if you're in London. It's an...experience to say the least