Talking LEGO Dimensions with WB Games producer Doug Heder

Angus Deacon: Since the launch of LEGO Dimensions, just over a year ago, what has the reception been like and are there any changes to these upcoming game packs based off feedback?

Doug Heder: Yes, we definitely take all the feedback from fans seriously. That’s pretty standard these days, especially with social media and the internet letting us keep in touch with our audience. It allows us to know what they’re thinking and what they’re playing and whether they’re having fun. That’s what most important at the end of the day. Are they having fun and are they engaged? And if not then we want to adjust and figure out what will work.

We’ve been doing LEGO Games now for over ten years so we know what works - but LEGO Dimensions is doing something new by bringing in that physical component. And not just the toys, but if you’ve played the game then you know it’s all about creative play - and that’s at the pillar of what a LEGO game should be about. We wanted our game to give as much opportunity as possible for kids to use their imagination and explore and be creative.

We’ve seen a lot of positive response to that and it’s given us inspiration to do more of these types of things with our second season of content. When you see the packs we have lined up you’ll see us building on that foundation even more.

There are some interesting choices for the new Dimensions packs coming out soon. Especially some of the 80’s inspired ones such as: E.T, The A-Team, Knight Rider, and Gremlins. A lot of kids won’t be familiar with these franchises - what is the process behind choosing these?

That’s a great question - there’s really no formal process about choosing them exactly. It really comes down to the fact that we’re all fans of these brands, and as a team we’re submitting ideas throughout the year, like “Hey, what about this?” or “If we did a pack based off this, what would it be like?”.

Some we remember as kids, and a lot of us have kids ourselves now - so they’re looking at new stuff and we’re learning from that as well. We definitely try to do a big cross section so there’s something for everybody in there. There’s properties for younger crowds, older gamers, the fan boys (and fan girls) and it spans so many different periods - and there is no rule in LEGO Dimensions.

It comes down to what the team is passionate about building and what we think fans will enjoy playing, and what’s going to really translate into fun LEGO experience. So yes, there are definitely a few titles in there, like the older Amblin properties - E.T, Gremlins and we had Back to the Future last year - but these are brands that, for me as a parent, I’m having so much fun introducing to my own kids. They’re loving them and seeing them for the first time, and it opens up these conversations and these dialogues about these great stories.

My kids see me playing a Back to the Future pack and what do we do? We sit down and watch the movies together and those are now among their top ten movies of all time. So as a parent, I get to share things that I loved as a child with my kids and vice versa - I didn’t grow up with Ninjago or Teen Titans - but my kids are playing them and now sharing them with me and we’re having a blast playing them all together.

Looking at the E.T set, that tiny LEGO phone is adorable, but what’s the play factor of it? You didn’t go with a UFO or a bicycle?

[Laughs] Well there are a couple of things we have to look at when we’re doing those models - and some of it comes down to the geniuses who design the buildable LEGO creations at the LEGO headquarters in Denmark. These guys, the master builders, are just incredible at what they do and what they can come up with. So the phone is what we call one of the “tag items” and each character comes with at least one tag item in the game. They all have to be able to transform into not only its default form, but a new additional form as well. And not only must it transform, but it must do so using all the same pieces. We don’t ever want to leave a loose brick on the ground, or on the floor. Using them all is an integral part of the LEGO brand and experience - so it’s really fascinating to go through the process.

We explore a huge number of different iterations which makes sense to the character - and we work closely with the brand, or license owners of the property - to come up with a short list of what could be an iconic model or toy that goes with it. Obviously with ET, the whole “ET phone home” thing is iconic, and if you look at what it transforms into - the second model is actually an interpretation of a home made satellite dish which he leaves in the forest that he used to communicate with his home planet. So there is an evolution there, it starts off as a simple 80’s push button phone - but it does upgrade into something more complex. And for us, it comes down to what bricks we can use, how it translates into different models and how compelling they are to the story and gameplay experience.

One of things we discovered many times, is the toy which seems so obvious to a particular character - we start with that and build it out - but then we realize that those bricks don’t work well for any other relevant model. We also want the different models to be completely different from one to the other, and not just an upgrade or slight variation to the previous one. We want each model to be really unique and special and important. We don’t want gamers to be building something that won’t be fun and purposeful in the game.

We’ve heard rumors of a few more packs in the works, such as the Goonies, Teen Titans and a personal favorite, Powerpuff Girls - can you tell us what we can expect for these?

Yes, Powerpuff Girls is coming in 2017! So we haven’t released all the details for those packs yet, but we’ve just announced last week our, I’m calling it our 7.5 Wave... [laughs] It was all meant to be one big wave, but we wanted to get something out in March so we ended up splitting it in half, but it actually makes a lot of sense as the LEGO Batman Movie is coming out in February and we wanted to make sure we had sets out in time for the movie.

So we have some really cool sets lined up for February 2017 and then more in March - and those two combined make up Wave 8. And then we’ve got a Wave 9 which we’ve announced will have packs from Teen Titans GO, Powerpuff Girls and Beetlejuice. We just haven’t announced all the details about these just yet.

Powerpuff Girls has me a bit worried too though, as the characters are known for massive heads and tiny bodies. They’re 75% eyeballs - how on earth will this be achieved in minifig form?

[Laughs] Yes, so their heads will be new moulds, they won’t be standard minifig heads. If you look at the E.T. figure, he’s got a new head mould on a standard minifig body - so we’re following the same formula.

That’s something that’s really cool for us, and we hope it’s fun for our audience - if you look at what we had originally, there wasn’t really a lot of unique moulded elements in the first few Dimensions packs. We had some cool elements, but a lot of the pieces were available already in LEGO sets. This time around LEGO has given us a bigger budget to create unique moulds and pieces that are unique to the game, and that’s really exciting because that means what you get in LEGO Dimensions won’t be available anywhere else. So you look at Mr. T - he’s got this amazing mohawk wig piece for his head - that’s a unique piece that you won’t get anywhere else. The Adventure Time sets coming up, they translate really nicely into LEGO minfigs, but they had to work hard to create completely new moulds to get some of the characters looking just right.

Earlier this year we were saddened to hear that Disney Infinity was closing up shop - with the toys-to-life similarity, did this have any impact on you and your team (or to the game’s vision)?

You know that’s interesting - I can’t talk on behalf of the development team or the publishing company behind the game, and it’s hard to know the reasons why a property had to close down. We respect the work those guys did and we are sad to see them out of this space.

But that being said, we’ve built a game that plays to the strengths and the core values of what LEGO bricks and toys are all about and so, I would say that it hasn’t really impacted us in a major way, at least from a design and critic standpoint because we’re making the same game whether Disney were in that space or not.

What’s your favorite LEGO Dimensions pack, or add-on and why?

Ooohh.. Man, that’s hard to answer. I love the Portal 2 pack from year one - that set was just so much fun to work on and it’s such a great property that translated so well to LEGO form. And I think it surprised a lot of people we were doing it - a lot of people were like “LEGO and Portal?! Why?” but then you play it and it’s really like peanut butter and chocolate. It makes so much sense. The guys at Valve software were great collaborators and top notch professional guys to work with.

Also the Back to the Future and Doctor Who sets allowed us to do some cool time travel elements which worked really well. The great thing about the way we’re doing LEGO Dimensions is that we’re continuing to add to these sets - there’s new Portal content and more that you’re going to find scattered around.

If you could have any set made into LEGO Dimensions that isn’t already LEGO, what would you love to work on?

[Laughs] Well, let me see. That would have to be... LEGO Spartacus! Maybe LEGO Ben Hur? Like a real epic, Roman, sword and sandals game? That would be amazing. [Laughs] Chariot races, and gladiator arenas - that would be so cool.

Considering how LEGO found massive success with the Star Wars franchise, it does seem odd that we haven’t had any LEGO Dimensions content for it - is there a political reason behind this? Do the other LEGO Star Wars games prevent this?

Er, well. [Pauses]. Well, there isn’t any plan to have Star Wars content for LEGO Dimensions currently. You’re right, Star Wars has had an ongoing relationship with LEGO for some time and we have a lot of great games already in that series. Will Star Wars appear in LEGO Dimensions one day? We’ll just have to wait and find out.

Schizophrenic Conspiracy Theorist Shirt $21.68

Homeless People Are Sexy Shirt $21.68

Schizophrenic Conspiracy Theorist Shirt $21.68

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *