Interview with Ricky Cambier, designer on The Last Of Us

Interview with Ricky Cambier, designer on The Last Of Us

Ricky Cambier is a Game Designer on The Last of Us at Naughty Dog.  He has been making games since age 12 when he first learned to program in BASIC on an Apple II computer.  

Ricky returned to his video game roots in 2005 and has shipped eight titles including The Sims Stories, Wii: Ghostbusters, Wii: The Force Unleashed II, Cook Or Be Cooked, and Uncharted 3: Drake’s Deception. 

Ricky was in New Zealand recently for the launch of The Last Of Us and was good enough to grant me some time for a chat about life in general - and the world they've created in new game, The Last Of Us.

You’ve been designing games for a while – what was it that drew you in initially?
I designed games for quite a bit just for fun; when I was young and about 12 years old, I just loved making stuff that people could play and seeing that enjoyment and I liked programming and the logic of the idea. The kind of moments like if someone does this, then that happens, and you have that experience. I just wanted to use that to tell stories with. Story-telling is key to Naughty Dog. You want people to get invested and you want the player to get invested with these characters and their journey, much like the book, much like the film, you want to know what's going to happen. With video games, you have this interactive medium now which is totally different to the other mediums, so we put that in the player's hands and they get to drive the story..

How much time did you spend developing the back stories of the leads Ellie and Joel? You've mentioned the concept took over three years to bring together and I'm keen to know how much of that we actually don't see in the final game?
There's a lot that you don't know. When Neil, our creative director, started working on the story, creating these characters and the world, his mind is always turning for what fills in the world. In The Last of Us, we just want to reveal in the moment what's necessary, so it's an ongoing process, fleshing out the world, what questions to ask and answer, what hints do we want to drop about where Ellie was before this, what Joel did - it kind of becomes a full process where we have to go capture a scene, get the text down in detail and cover each moment.

How much creativity do you bring to the smaller moments within the game?
Those are the kind of moments we really encourage you to explore and knowing that we've had these characters and they're going on a journey. But we want you to get as interested in them as much as is possible, so think about the back stories and moments like Joel seeing a movie poster, and then acknowledging that he's seen the film. Ellie has a wonder to life and we want that to be everywhere. We want that to be a crucial part of the game - you turn a corner and a new world is there wherever you go. 

How difficult was the AI for Ellie and to ensure that it was spot on?
It was centre to our goals from the very beginning. We knew we were going to have this partnership, we knew you'd be spending a lot of time with Ellie and we're all gamers, we don't want you to have to worry all the time but we still want a balance of knowing that you are with a 14-year-old, albeit a very resilient one, so finding that right balance and ways that work is core to the game. We want you to feel what it's like to survive the world, but when it comes to Ellie, just treating her like a resourceful human is key. She is someone that can be vulnerable if you get in a really bad situation but at the same time, can also surprise you with her choices and her actions - she can really help you out.

What did Troy and Ashley bring to the roles of Joel and Ellie – and what extra above and beyond the script did they proffer up?
They got really invested and I think that was really important. They even influenced the scenes - they're thinking about the characters a lot, they're bringing ideas, they're affecting each moment. There were times when Neil would re-think some things because of Troy or Ashley. They'd even call us up when we were hanging out in the studio away from them and working on the game or send a text message, saying "What if Joel/ Ellie did this?" So they're incredibly passionate and we've created a rich enough character for them to get that excited about is a great thing. That's what we love - the collaboration.

What’s your reaction the overwhelmingly positive reviews?
Definitely a bit of jubilation! It was just when the embargo lifted and watching Twitter and chatting with the staff back at Naughty Dog, we were watching the scores, reading the reviews, getting excited - we were on baited breath as we had no idea really how it would be received. We had what we loved in the game, but we were also doing something new in the game - there's a lot here that people hadn't seen, there's a lot to the story that we hadn't revealed. There's so much to this game that nobody had experienced, so you're nervous. You're always nervous with something so different.

How difficult is it keeping the game's content under wraps, given the spoiler world we live in now?

You get that first core experience but it's also impressive given that we fight hard to protect things; we think very carefully about what we show, the clips and the videos. Just enough to paint a picture of the world, and maybe give you hints as to what to expect but not spoil anything. We also get inspired by the fans buying into that too - internet blackout was called for by some and others were saying they wouldn't go online until after the release date, and that's kinda inspiring too to see that kind of dedication. I think the game has a wonderful breadth to it - there are so many moments that are going to surprise and shock people. But we just want that sense of survival and tension, which is very palpable, to come across in the game. This character arc, the journey these two go on together - it's all key. In the office, we played through the game towards the end - even those who hadn't played much of the game at all and we had this guy who had completed it and he was watching them play with a sense of surprise seeing Joel and Ellie at the start and how different they are - that gave us all a sense of pride.  There are moments which are unique in the game - did you make that shot, do you need to craft that right now, did you just miss it so you're out of ammo - when you play again you'll have different supplies and the enemies will be in different positions as they're making different choices; all of that leads to situations feeling unique. It'll be exciting to see people in the forums discussing their choices, how they survived the way that they did, what they did here and why - that'll be cool. We strive for a lot of rich choices in the game as it plays out, then after that, you can play how you want to play. For those who want to investigate the game again and see the story choices, that appreciation is that it won't feel the same given what you face each time you play it.

And there's a multiplayer mode as well?
Yep, and you can see how all the core elements and characteristics of the single player game come into use for it as well. You see the high lethality, you see how important crafting is going to be - and then we've got this idea of a meta game, where you're trying to grow a clan, you're trying to survive for 12 weeks. So, each time you're playing, you're also collecting supplies and trying to accomplish the goals to help you survive. It's going to add a new depth to the survival genre.

Given the size of the world, and the fact it's a global pandemic, do you have limitless possibilities with this world?
It's fair to say that - but right now, we're just focussed on getting the game into people's hands rather than anything else yet. We've created a rich world and hopefully, people will love it. If we end up thinking we can tell interesting stories again within it, then, who knows? It's a wonderful world.

How do you rate the gaming world at the moment with the unveiling of PS4?
I think it's exciting times - for us to be able to deliver a fourth title on a console, that's amazing and speaks to how important having really strong hardware is.  I see how they push to that vision with the next console - so we're getting inspired by the hardware and platform choices which are being made. Me, just as a game designer, I get excited for those things and it's really just an exciting time for the industry in general.  I play a lot of games for fun, some for critical eye to analyse; it's hard to say what we at Naughty Dog will explore next. We'll continue to push character stuff and I do know as soon as I finished The Last Of Us, I had to take a look at Ni No Kuni as I just wanted to see Studio Ghibli's input onto a game and that beautiful world aesthetic they use; it was very different to The Last Of Us I can say!

What's next for you and next for Naughty Dog?
We've got the DLC for The Last Of Us -next for me is scuba diving and bungee diving and then taking a break. We worked really hard over the three years to deliver this game. The critics have it, that's awesome, but let's get it to the fans, that's the most important thing to us. Then after a break, we'll take a look and see where next we can push the game industry - that's what we always want to do.

The Last Of Us is out now on PlayStation 3

Read a preview of The Last Of Us here

Read a preview of The Last Of Us beta demo here

Look at concept art from The Last Of Us