BEAR PARKER TALKS LEGO WORLDS

Interviewed by Culture Coast Talks editor Daniel John. Interview transcripts might have been edited for length and clarity.

From being just a mere fan of 'Lego Worlds', how did you actually end up getting the job as community manager for it?

It’s actually only been four months since I joined TT Games, which was just before 'Lego Worlds' came out, so I’ve been here for four months now, helping out with all the different games as I’m meant to. Before that I was at Xbox as a community manager, and even before that, I worked with community and moderation at PlayStation, and prior to that, I was in quality assurance at Rockstar Games. But here today I’m focusing entirely on 'Lego Worlds'.

But you were already very familiar with the game before joining right?

Yes, I had spent quite a lot of time playing it, which may have influenced my chances of getting the job. I played the game at home already during the Early Access period. For a fact, I even played it back during the PlayNova days, so I really saw the game when it was still in its infancy.

Do you remember the first thing you built in it?

Yes! And of course, this was before I started at TT Games! I recreated 'Metal Gear Solid', the first game from twenty years ago, and I built the entire Shadow Moses Island. It actually became really popular on YouTube. I think that particular video might have been one of the main reasons I managed to land this job when all was said and done! (laughs) And I am still building today.

Since you've been playing since the beginning, how far do you personally think the game has come since the Early Access days?

The game has come a long way since then and obviously the developers have done their part but much of the progress has come from our community’s support. We’ve listened closely to what players have had to say. I think we have updated the game three times since release, and we also release free DLCs every week, all based on specific feedback we’ve received from fans. So yes, Early Access played a huge role for 'Lego Worlds', because at its core it’s a game built by its community. And that’s how it will remain, for the rest of its lifespan.

Can you point to something specific?

That’s a tricky one but I’d probably say the amount of content overall. There's so many more elements and Lego bricks now. You can basically build anything you can imagine. And development team has also done an amazing job with the controls. I remember struggling a bit during the Early Access to fully grasp them, but now it just clicks, you pick up the controller and it makes sense. That’s especially impressive since the game is, at its core, a 3D-building tool. You are dealing with X, Y, Z! All these dimensions! But now, it feels intuitive! The path from picking up the controller to starting to build feels natural. I think the controls might be the single biggest improvement. They’ve really nailed it.

Do you still approach feedback from the community the same way now that the game has officially launched?

Absolutely! Every piece of feedback we get is incredibly valuable. Oh, actually, I have a good example for you! We released the game on Nintendo Switch just a week ago. And we did our usual deep dive online to see what everyone was saying on Reddit. And people were not very happy, which is never good on launch day. So we looked into it and discovered the issue, the game’s icon, the one in the home menu, didn’t say 'Lego Worlds', it was just an image of a Lego brick. And this had become quite a big thread, lots of people talking about it! I brought it up with the developers, we had a quick chat, and by the end of that same day, we had changed the icon. Just for those people in that specific thread. We then told them on Reddit, and it completely blew up, “What? Yes! Amazing! We got them to change the icon!” They were thrilled. Our follow-up post even got more upvotes than the original one. We totally turned the situation around. There is a shiny new logo now, because we listened to what our community wanted.

There are always lots of playable characters in Lego games. James Burgon told me that there are one hundred one in 'The Lego Ninjago Movie Video Game', is there hundreds of characters here too?

Yes. There are tons of mini-figures in 'Lego Worlds', and you can even create your own, so you can play as a lot of different characters! And as I mentioned, we have weekly free DLC which sometimes includes new characters to download. And occasionally these characters come with quests, quests you can complete to unlock others. Once unlocked, you can then play as those as well. So, yes, if you like creating your very own mini-figures this is definitely your kind of game!

Can you build your own vehicles as well?

There’s no vehicle-building yet but we’ve definitely discussed whether we can add it in the future. It would be amazing if we could! That said, there are already tons of vehicles in the game, so nothing stops you from building, say, a race track or two. But at this moment, there’s no vehicle customization. Maybe in the future. We’ll see!

If I build something really spectacular, can I share it with others?

Right now, there’s no built-in sharing. I mean, you can take screenshots and so on, but there isn’t yet a true way to share your worlds. However, we are looking into it. There’s actually a guy named Chip Rose who’s taken it upon himself to figure out how players could export creations from the game to share with their friends. So yes. It’s on the horizon! We definitely want people to have that feature. If you build something amazing, of course you'd want to share it. So it’s just a question of when.

The game has just launched on Nintendo Switch, that's not really all too surprising, I guess?

Work on the Switch version actually started before I joined but I think the discussion began about six months ago, shortly after the Switch console was released. People started requesting it a lot. PS4 and Xbox One were the initial priorities for the team, but as soon as those versions were done, it was, “All hands on deck! Let’s look at Switch!” And they’ve been focused on it day and night since then, for months, just to get it ready. And that effort really paid off. It is a great experience. I actually played it on Switch on the flight here, I built myself a little cabin in the woods.

Does the Switch—version use the touch screen, HD Rumble, or any of the new unique features?

Nothing exclusive, no. The game needs to be in full parity across all platforms to ensure the best possible experience. So there is nothing unique to one version. If there is an update for Xbox, there’s one for PlayStation too. We aim to keep things consistent across every platform. So Switch, Xbox One, PlayStation 4 and PC all get the same content and functionality, the same treatment. It’s exactly the same game, no matter where you play. No experience is better or worse than another. It’s simply 'Lego Worlds' everywhere. That said, of course, with the Nintendo Switch you can take it on the go and that’s valuable in itself.

If you could, magically, add anything to the game what would it be?

You know what! Of course there are tons of amazing Lego sets we could add, but for me, it’s something more functional. I’d love to add some kind of “Machinima” tool so players can jump in and create their own videos or films. Some players already do this with other Lego titles, pulling out cool bits and turning them into trailers and such. But with 'Lego Worlds', since you can build your own cities and characters, it feels only natural to want camera control too. Xbox, PlayStation, and PC all have DVR–features now, and it’d be fantastic if we could build something that lets people play around with that even more. Imagine making your own Lego movies, that would be incredible! I’d love to see that.

I find the concept of this game fascinating, it’s classic Lego building, but digitalized, was that TT Games’ original vision from the start?

I can’t speak for those who were there at the beginning, but to me, yes. This game is the purest definition of what Lego is. It’s like when you’re a kid with a big bucket of Lego bricks, dumping them out on the carpet at home and having fun, that’s 'Lego Worlds'. You’ve got every brick imaginable, infinite Lego's, and you can build whatever you dream up. If you want to build a giant train for no reason, you can! It’s crazy. The only limit is your imagination, and maybe your time. But mostly your imagination! So, yes, if you love building things, 'Lego Worlds' is definitely worth checking out.

What’s the best thing you’ve seen another player build?

Oh wow, there are so much. Recently someone built a gorgeous lakeside house with a little pier and everything. Another person built the train from 'Thomas the Tank Engine', which was both hilarious and amazing. I mean, people build incredible things every day. There’s even a guy right now recreating Disneyland, the entire park, it’s stunning! The creativity of our players is mind-blowing. We see something new every single day.

Have there been challenges as the game continues to grow in size?

Oh, challenges! (laughs) I mean, of course, every game has them, right? I guess for 'Lego Worlds', it’s about scale. There’s just so much we could add, and we constantly have to decide what comes first. As I’ve said, community feedback is extremely important, and we act on it. But sometimes we also need to figure out internally what is most meaningful, there is so much we could add, but what comes first?

How big is a world in the game?

I think we currently have four different sizes and that’s the same across all platforms, PC or console, they’re identical. Players can choose between small, medium, large, and very large-worlds. Maybe the draw distance is a little shorter on Switch, but for the most part, it is the same experience.

How many players can be in one world at once?

We support two local players and two online players, and potentially, that could expand. There’s talk about increasing it to four players online but nothing’s decided yet. As I said, there are things we need to prioritize in a certain order and “four players” is on that list. But right now, our focus is elsewhere.

What does the world-building process look like?

We have “Biomes”, which are basically themed environments, like a Woodland Biome, a Winter Biome, a Candy Biome, and so on. You discover them in Adventure Mode, and in Sandbox Mode you can mix and match them to create your own themes. Technically, you can combine Woodland and Candy into your world, and when it generates, it’ll mix those, making your world somewhat unique to you. There are essentially infinite possible worlds. We currently have around fifty different themes for players to experiment with and we will keep adding more over time, like we just did with Classic Space recently. Up next we’ve got some monster-themed content coming out at the end of October. Actually, in a year’s time, 'Lego Worlds' could be ten times bigger than it is now, and that’s really exciting!

Is there a story to follow in the Adventure Mode?

Not in the traditional sense, Adventure Mode more about finding and solving different conflicts, collecting bricks, and striving to become a Master Builder. There's two main modes in 'Lego Worlds', the Adventure Mode and Sandbox Mode. Sandbox is the more traditional one, unlimited bricks, total freedom to build anywhere. While in Adventure Mode, you have to discover new items and complete missions to earn golden bricks. You do quests for the mini-figures in your world, earn points and Lego pieces, discover new biomes and tools that you can later use in Sandbox Mode. That is what Adventure Mode is, and that is how you unlock trophies.

How do you balance the game between players who want to build, and all those who just want to adventure?

That’s a great one! Because yes, obviously there are kids who love building and adults who love it too, but we all have our quirks (laughs). I’m a creator myself, so I’m always in Sandbox Mode. That’s the only one I play. I like to create my own customized biome, no animals or people, nothing to interrupt me. But a friend might prefer running around and exploring. They might jump into Adventure Mode and chase golden bricks, or whatever else they enjoy doing. They can still build if they want, but they might also get attacked by a bear or some monster, which adds excitement! You can explore caves and all that.

But the two modes are not separate from each other?

From the main menu, you choose which mode to play. If you go into Adventure Mode, you start as an astronaut travelling through space, and then, boom! A comet. Your spaceship is destroyed, and you crash down to a planet. As you are falling, you start customizing your character, because of course, that’s important! Then you land on what’s like a deserted island, complete your first quest, and unlock your first tool. In the next world, you'll unlock more, like the copy tool and paint tool, and the further you go, the more you gain access to. You also collect golden bricks and level up. I mean, who would not want to be called a "Master Builder" or earn trophies? You really want to jump into Adventure Mode and raise your gamerscore! (laughs) So that’s what that mode is for! (laughs)

And there’s a third mode coming?

Survival Mode! You end up stranded on an island and have to manage your inventory, basically, survive with minimal resources. In Sandbox Mode, everything’s unlocked, but in Survival nothing is, you have to use your wits to get by. The team’s been working hard on it, and we’ll have an update soon with more details and a clearer release window. So yes, we’ll have to talk again! Come back to me on that soon!

This game stands out from other Lego titles since it doesn’t rely much on licensed content. Any plans to include more branded material in 'Lego Worlds'?

We’ve definitely had discussions about bringing licensed stuff into the game. But for now, and in the near future, I think we’ll stick to Lego-only content, meaning sets that are directly owned by Lego. I think we want 'Lego Worlds' to stay within that space, at least for now. We’re not ruling anything out, but for the moment, we’re steering clear of other brands, leaving those to the other Lego games that all handle them so brilliantly while we focus purely on Lego.