Interview: Petit Planet dev team talks life vs management, and the ultimate introvert's dream
Time to stop and smell the roses, so to speak
So-called "cosy" life sims are a dime a dozen these days, but HoYoverse is looking to throw its hat in the ring with a different kind of approach to your average entry in the genre. For one thing, it's supposedly a true life sim, not a management sim. And for another, it's really all about slowing down and unwinding at the end of the day, not looking for an alternate life apart from your own.
Honestly, that kind of low-pressure vibe feels like exactly what I need at the moment to help me deal with the hustle and bustle of everyday life, and over the past week, we've had the pleasure of spending a few days with the Petit Planet team to share with us what that's all about.
It was a privilege to hear lead game designer Murphy and lead artist Yinli Huang's thoughts at the roundtable discussion we had during the media tour in Seoul, South Korea, including their own hopes and dreams for the life sim (I've edited their answers for clarity and brevity, by the way). It's interesting to see such a different take on the genre, for instance, especially since the entire "world" is structured into mini-planets rather than your typical town or city. It was initially made as a flat space, but it wasn't in line with the team's core design.
"As a life simulation game, we decided to use some rendering techniques to present a feeling of that sphere. That indeed brought a lot of challenges technically and visually." One of those challenges was actually how to make it so that players don't feel any kind of motion sickness across this spherical world.
And it's certainly a very different style when compared to other HoYoverse games. "It's very important for HoYoverse to explore different genres, and with a life simulation game, it's the kind of genre where we can build an emotional connection with players and the community. And from HoYoverse's past experiences, we've accumulated a lot of knowledge in terms of technology and the ability to build out narratives and characters. We believe that those capabilities developed from our past games can bring brand-new experiences for players of this genre."
This is evident in the difference from, say, Animal Crossing, as the team believes Petit Planet is, as I mentioned, a life sim and not a management sim. It's meant to be cosier and less pressure-filled, which, as someone who doesn't have the patience to grind through a management sim, I greatly appreciate. But what makes Petit Planet still inherently HoYoverse is, as the team puts it, that quality that players have come to know and expect from the brand.
"We always try to provide high-quality games to our players, and that is also what Petit Planet wants to do. And in Petit Planet, we've also tried to explore something new - the multiplayer gaming experience and also a social system - and that is something unique to this game."
Still, from what I've played, it did feel like the single-player aspect is robust enough as it is, which is interesting for a life sim like this. "For us, it's very important to provide a good gaming experience for both types of players. For those who prefer to play solo, there are always settings that will allow them to turn off those multiplayer experiences, but once they feel comfortable or they want to explore the social part of the game, they can always go to the Galactic Bazaar and also use the Epistolarian's Desk. But the core gameplay will be largely the same for both types of players," they explained.
"We have adopted certain technical measures to make sure the multiplayer experience will go as smoothly as possible. For example, when a player gets to the Galactic Bazaar, the multiplayer settings will adjust dynamically based on the number of players. But there will also be some limits when players visit other planets - you can choose to allow or ban players from taking resources from your planet."
Which actually brings me to the most interesting bit for me with my hands-on experience, which is the aforementioned Epistolarian's Desk. I asked them what the inspiration or story behind that was, because I felt like that was what resonated with me the most as an introvert. I really like the idea of writing a letter and the uncertainty of whether or not you'll receive a reply, and seeing all the letters that all of the people have written so far.
There's just something so heartbreaking and tragic - yet still so inherently beautiful about it.
I told the team that the system felt very considerate, as you're always asking for permission if people are allowed to reply or if you're going to accept their reply. I just wanted to know the inspiration behind the idea, because I don't think I've seen that anywhere else before.
"It's a kind of asynchronous design on purpose, because that kind of system won't bring our players, especially introverts, too much pressure. We've also looked at similar references in other places, but we found that players will message randomly, so we tried to set up a formal setting in the game to make the action more like a ritual. This means that people can then write a letter and take it more seriously," the team shared. "We designed the exchange on purpose because we found that the constant need to interact might put pressure on players. Once you become friends online in a game, you will need to invest a lot of energy and time to sustain the friendship, so we want to avoid that in Petit Planet."
This actually extends further to dailies and seasonal content - with Petit Planet being a live service sim, how can the team make sure the dailies aren't a grind and still keep seasonal content fresh? Mobai, the NPC sheepdog, even jokes that there's no mortgage here, after all.
"We'd like to use the fishing system as an example. So, in some other games, you might develop skills and levels for your fishing skills. But for Petit Planet, whether you're a new player or a veteran player, the fish that you get is the same - it's random. So there's no growth curve; we want to make it simulate real life, so the fish you get will vary depending on the season or the weather. Our purpose is to provide a little surprise for players every time they log in to the game, so that they will have the incentive to log in and enjoy the experience."
The narrative goes hand in hand here as well. "Unlike other HoYoverse games, there's no such thing as a 'main plot'. The whole narrative will be more fragmented - for example, if you look at the descriptions for the items, there will be a lot of content or stories behind them. We've also developed a very comprehensive backstory of each of the Neighbors - that is also part of the main narrative, because we want to make this a more livable world."
Now, all that cosiness is all well and good, but one of the things I was also curious about, especially with my experience of the beta, was how the controls worked in this supposedly more intentional, mindful world. I know that developers said they designed some of the controls to be "less automatic" - for lack of a better term - to force players to pay closer attention to what they're doing, which is something I also observed while playing.
For instance, I noticed that you really can't simply jump across ledges, as you really need to go around to find the door or the right pathway should you need to. So I asked them how they're able to balance those "less automatic" controls with making sure things aren't frustrating for players when the controls start to get wonkier than usual.
"In terms of controls and cameras, we did a lot of research and considered different solutions, from the most limited ones to allowing players to freely explore the landscape and environment. We thought of different degrees of freedom for players while also keeping the imperfections for the life simulation. The team debated different solutions for, say, climbing. Initially, internally, we discussed how many layers a player can climb, but there will be different creatures on the lower level and higher level, so if players can jump multiple layers at once, that will remove the joy of exploring and the sense of surprise. So there are deliberate considerations behind the control of players in Petit Planet."
With that, we wrapped things up - and I do have to say that so far, Petit Planet is shaping up to be a dream come true. I've never really connected with life sims and management sims before, as I've always found the fetch quests and social aspects a tad too grindy for me. Thankfully, Petit Planet seems to be offering a gentler way for us all to enjoy a virtual world without the demands that usually come with it, and with its launch on December 4th, we'll get to see if that is indeed the case.
For now, if you're curious about how it plays, I did a quick preview of Petit Planet when it was in its beta phase earlier this year, and I'll have a proper review ready in time for its release soon too. And since its monetisation is supposedly purely for cosmetics only, I'd say it's worth giving a go - especially if you're the ultimate introvert like me.
