The important design choices around the hot farts of 'South Park'
How do serious conversations even happen behind the scenes on South Park: The Fractured But Whole? Even the game's title feels like a dare. Can you say it without laughing?
"Even before we had officially come up with the title, we would have meetings where we talk about really objectionable or uncomfortable stuff," senior producer Jason Schroeder told Mashable.
"Really quickly we had to develop of team culture of just having it as a business conversation."
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The problem with laughter is it's infectious, even behind the scenes when everyone's trying to just get the job done. If everyone keeps a straight face, work goes on, but work comes to a halt as soon as there's a crack in that facade.
"There's a little bit of 'laughter chicken' about it," Schroeder explained. "As soon as one of use breaks, the meeting is just gonna go off the rails. Then you're all shaking your head, going, 'This is so stupid. We're all so stupid.'"
Here, Schroeder acts out a little scene to demonstrate how the business of building South Park often plays out. He's sitting with a developer and they're talking about a particular character's special attack: a mighty fart.
Developer: Well, you've seen in this trailer we have a fart cloud building up behind this character.
Schroeder, looking at the cloud: No, I want it to build up. Like, thunder clouds coming over a horizon. And I want flashes.
Developer, firing back: You mean lightning flashes?
Schroder: Like heat lightning.
Developer: Literally?
Schroeder: I want it to look like the hot fart is actually sort of incinerating the air around it.
No one's laughed. This is business as usual behind the scenes at Ubisoft San Francisco, where South Park: The Fractured But Whole is coming together.
"The number of hours I worked on that cloud from a director perspective is comical. But it's also extremely serious," Schroeder said.
"I have to put on such a straight face because otherwise [co-workers] don't know if I'm joking or not. No, I'm deadly serious."
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Adam Rosenberg is a Senior Games Reporter for Mashable, where he plays all the games. Every single one. From AAA blockbusters to indie darlings to mobile favorites and browser-based oddities, he consumes as much as he can, whenever he can.Adam brings more than a decade of experience working in the space to the Mashable Games team. He previously headed up all games coverage at Digital Trends, and prior to that was a long-time, full-time freelancer, writing for a diverse lineup of outlets that includes Rolling Stone, MTV, G4, Joystiq, IGN, Official Xbox Magazine, EGM, 1UP, UGO and others.Born and raised in the beautiful suburbs of New York, Adam has spent his life in and around the city. He's a New York University graduate with a double major in Journalism and Cinema Studios. He's also a certified audio engineer. Currently, Adam resides in Crown Heights with his dog and his partner's two cats. He's a lover of fine food, adorable animals, video games, all things geeky and shiny gadgets.
