We are the team behind Surgeon Simulator 2013. AmA

Are there any awesome easter eggs in the game like exploding testicles or 'insert finger into anus' buttons?

There is a tiny easter egg (not a 'real' easter egg, but a secret nevertheless) in the free version. One of the scalpels is special... In that it is specifically designed for removing hearts so there will be no resistance when cutting round the arteries and it wont cause blood loss ;)

Was it just a glitch and now you're calling it a "secret"?

nope, was planned :)

Which one?

that's the secret... ;)

I'm afraid not but if it's something you'd really like to see... I guess we could?...

About 20-25 years ago, I remember playing a surgery simulator that (to my 6 year old brain), seemed incredibly impossible/complex. However, it always amused me when my patient would end up with toe-tags at the end of my super failed surgery.

Do you happen to know the game I am talking about? Was this inspiration at all?

EDIT: After a little research, it appears that the game title was 'Life and Death', published in 1988. (I was 5)

I became a surgeon, and I like to think that the intrigue created by that crazy game was part of my inspiration to do so. Who knows, maybe you're inspiring future surgeons, too!

I wasn't aware of the game before we made ours, but the similarities have been pointed out since then and we've checked it out. I do remember playing Trauma center on the DS, that was my first thought when our brains went down the surgical route

:D Yeah I used to play that on my Atari ST. I really wanna go back to it and see how similar it is. I just remember drawing a face on some guys stomach with a scalpel knife because I didnt know what I was doing :P

Hi!

What do you think of Robbaz's video?

What's next on your agenda?

Why did you do this?

Where do you want your work to take you in ten years?

What's for lunch?

Thank you for the IamA.

Robbaz video was awesome. I'm a fan of the viking

Next on the agenda is rapid development of a much improved and expanded version of Surgeon Sim :)

For lunch... I had Chicken and bacon club sandwich and a gingerbread man.

We love all the videos of people playing the game, that moment when they discover where things are and what they do is hilarious to watch. We did it as part of the Global Game Jam 2013, the theme was on heart beat so we took it literally and made something we thought was funny. If in 10 years I'm still designing video games, I've got no complaints!

I had chicken curry for lunch. Thanks

How does it feel knowing that along with giving an enjoyable game experience, you could potentially be training a bunch of serial killers.

It's a harrowing thought :P

Is it even possible to complete the game? Like make a successful transplantation?

yep definitely possible, there's someone who's done it in 28 seconds

GOTY 2013

thankyou :D

Heart Surgeon here. How did you research how to accurately simulate such a complex surgery like open heart surgery? I too have problems with the rib cage shattering.

Gonna have to go with the TF2 meet the medic video again ;)

Are any of you actual surgeons? Because it is extremely accurate to the TV shows I watch.

Glad to hear it is authentic, that might be down to luck as we are definitely not surgeons... I'm actually incredibly squeamish and can't even watch hospital dramas, let alone films like Saw.

what's the longest skid any of you ever did on a bmx?

About 30 meters.

I gave it a try, ended up laughing hysterically for 15 minutes at the drunk surgeon who can't pick up a tool without knocking everything else on the floor.

exactly the response we were looking for :)

What kind of background experience, if any, do you guys have in video game designing and developing?

We all work full time at the moment in a games company (Bossa). James previously worked at Sony Playstation, I worked at EA, Luke was a QA chap at Sega and Jack worked at Marmalade

I've been a video game artist for the last 9 years.

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Not likely. You'll have to settle with stroking their face

I don't really have a question, just a compliment.

I lost a pet recently, and it hit me really hard. So hard that you struggle to find enjoyment in anything. One of the very few things that managed to give me a brief reprieve from my guilt and sadness was playing your ridiculous game. Nothing else could really reach me, but hacking away at Bob, watching the videos on youtube, it just brought me such joy I had to let you know.

All the best in the future.

And this is why video games are awesome, thanks for your story!

:)

I know the game is purposefully difficult to play in the same style as QWOP, but have you considered creating a version of Surgeon Simulator that uses some of the new motion control technology coming out? I'm specifically thinking it'd be cool to see a version adapted to the Leap Motion controller coming out this year. How might you adapt the controls to maintain the same level of difficulty that makes the game so amusing to play now?

I'm aware of the leap (pre-ordered on day 1) but didn't actually sign up for the dev kit... I would love to do some tests with the leap when my pre-order arrives.

Do any of the team have any experience of surgery: history of medical professionalism?

Not really, but between us we've seen several episodes of Casualty.

Soooo no, House?

Ang about, you said Casualty. Does that mean you're from the UK?

We are indeed English fellows, I was the (admittedly incredible) voice actor in the game. We all work and live in London.

If you could add another tool to the game, what would it be?

Lasers.

When are you going to add lasers?

I might do it tomorrow, you'll see them in the full game ;)

Will you make a sequel with different levels P.S I love you

The Steam version we're trying to Greenlight at the moment will be an expanded version of the game, with more levels, tools, settings and achievements.

:D right back atcha!! We're actually trying to get it greenlit on steam so we can make a load more content, and get some of the ideas we originally had into it. Check it out!

http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=123715746

So what is it like knowing you built a game that is worshiped by Reddit?

We no where near expected the reaction that the game has gotten, we were 4 guys sleep deprived in a room over the weekend, making something that made us laugh, we presented it on Sunday to the other game jammers and it got a good reaction.

We got in to the office on Monday, uploaded it and a few tweets later it had basically blown up.

What kind of software did you use while making the game and what influenced you to go ahead and pursue making the game?

The artists used Maya 2012 and I used Unity for the development.

The main influence was the game jam's theme which was "A human heartbeat".

Who is the best looking member of the team?

Our photo's are in the description, you decide!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v2XkTIYhQC8

Have you seen this video? If you have what was your reaction?

Robbaz is a hero. I became a viking right around his battlefield 3 sniper shotgun hilarity

Hello! And congratulations on the game's success!

Something that always intrigues me when indie games get this kind of exposure: How are you feeling about the game becoming this popular, and are you glad that the way it did so was through the Let's Play community?

Also are any of you followers/contriburtors to the (or any) Let's Play community? After-Action Report forums and generally gaming-related comedy/entertainment applies.

And my final question, what's the future of Surgeon Simulator? Moreso, what's the future of your crew - are you wanting to make an entirely new kind of game, or will you continue on the "Simulator" path of games?

Cheers!

Hi! Thankyou

The popularity is amazing. It's great to know people are having a blast playing the game. The lets play community is great as it actually lets us experience them having a blast first hand.

I'm a bit of a let's play fan (big love for Robbaz, Nerdcubed, JonTron, Egoraptor and Dopefish being my favourites).

Yes! A full version is planned with different surgeries to perform and obviously more tools, new environments etc.

I couldn't say whats in the distant future at the moment, this has all taken us a bit by surprise so pretty much all our energy is going into this :)

More environments? I think you need a moon surgery level with zero gravity.

... are u stalking me? I was playing with this idea TODAY...

Awesome news that you are looking to take the game further its a real laugh to play and even more impressive that it was done in 48 hours :D

My question is what other types of operation would you be looking into putting into future versions of the game? Amputation comes to mind for me... :P

There's quite a lot of options available for us to try out, one idea we'd really like to play with is simply changing the setting, so we're gonna play around with performing a heart transplant in the back of a moving ambulance, people from England will understand the hilarity that ensues when going around a roundabout.

Do you think the publicity from youtubers like pewdiepie, robbaz and nerd cubed helped a lot with expanding the audience.

absolutely. A big part of the lets play community jumped on this, and we saw tremendous publicity from it

What are some other games you guys have worked on?

I've been doing independent stuff outside of my day job for a couple of years :) Shameless self promotion

I've worked on: QuBIT (mobile) Fable:Coin Golf (mobile) Merlin the Game (facebook) Lara Croft and the Guardian of Light (mobile)

Probably the most notable game I worked for (before Surgeon Simulator 2013) was Eye Pet for the PS3

Thanks for getting me addicted the week of finals :D

no problem, good luck!

If you could preform any surgery on any person alive or dead, who and what would you pick?

I'd transplant the hands from the robot devil in Futurama onto myself. Those would really speed up game development.

Love your game by the way. Played it online. Great stuff.

Is there plans to do future games like this? Besides heart surgery I mean?

Will there ever be a colonoscopy simulator 2013?

Ok but seriously, other surgeries than heart surgery planned? Brain Surgery might be fun.

Thanks, as you've brought it up, we will be adding Brain Surgery along with other surgery's and features such as emergency surgery in the back of a moving ambulance.

Is everything on Poppy's desk/work area pink?

yes, even the desk

Which is the funniest Let's Play you have seen on YouTube?

I cried when he tries to get the patient to sign the forms in the Inside Gaming Extra one

How many heart surgeons did you consult before making this game?

less than 1

Are you happy with how the game turned out? Is there anything else you want to change/add? Why does it feel like I'm in a dream while playing it?

Initially I was happy with the hand mechanics and feel. But wasn't sure it was funny enough, as when your making something you get pretty good at controlling it so it often didn't feel like it was as out of control and haphazard as we had planned. It wasn't until we got one of the other guys on the team to try it out who was useless when we realised we had something really funny.

deliberately silly physics and a floaty camera are probably the main reason it feels like a dream.

How will Suregon Simulator 2014 be?

It'll be 1 better!

Please improve the "grabbing things" thing :P its horrible. and maybe more organs ;)

The grabbing has been tweaked slightly. But it's not meant to be easy ;) There will be more organs yes.