Sam Lake Talks In Depth About Alan Wake 2, Max Payne & Control
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- čas přidán 7. 06. 2024
- The creative director at @RemedyGames Sam Lake talks in depth about Alan Wake 2, Control, Max Payne and working for 28 years at the company. He talks about ideation, planning and execution of some of the biggest moments in Alan Wake 2, Control and Max Payne. He also speaks about The Game Awards and James McCaffrey
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Track Name : Track: Funky Retro Funk [Funk Music] by MokkaMusic / Old Tapes
Timestamps
00:00 Intro
01:31 Nominated for BAFTAs
03:07 Working in Remedy
05:47 Max Payne 1 & 2
08:34 Inspirations for Max Payne
11:11 Poets of the Fall & Old Gods of Asgard
16:53 Importance of music
18:44 Remembering James McCaffrey
24:29 True story behind Alan Wake
30:16 Another version of Alan Wake?
34:45 Alan Wake played by 2 actors
41:31 Beginning of Remedy Universe
49:57 Alan Wake 2 10 years ago
53:40 Why Saga Anderson?
57:06 Working with Melanie Liburd
01:00:24 Alex Casey as Max Payne?
01:03:44 Less live action scenes?
01:09:20 Nightless Night movie
01:13:23 Alan Wake musical & The Game Awards
01:22:41 Taking a break
01:23:51 Alan Wake 2 DLCs
01:26:31 Approach writing after being an actor
01:28:46 Collaborating with Hideo Kojima
01:30:16 From idea to a complete story
01:32:42 Taking inspiration from the community
01:35:09 Combating writer's block
01:37:38 Video game story that has inspired you
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Although Sam lake is trapped in the dark place ,he is enjoying his time in this interview .
Well I'm glad that I could be a change while he tries to get out of that dark place lol
In this reality the dark place is called "Finland". There is a lot people trapped in here.
@@discasting Facts. In a few months it turns into the Bright Place though.
@@discasting While Same Lake and the Remedy team are hunkered down in their HQ making games trying to fight the Dark Finnish Place, the "Road to Vostok" dev is making a game about him escaping.
Is sweetbaby the dark place or the hiss?...
Ahhh Mr McCaffrey 😢 just like how Alan Wake is Ilkka and Matthew, Max Payne for me will always be Sam and James
For me Gibbs too. Hopefully they will bring him back eventually.
Mr. Lake is like an excited kid telling us the most exciting thing in the world. And it is. Never change my man. Stay passionate
Right? He was so excited to talk about all these subjects. I love that.
Well said 💯
@@BehindTheVoicePod It was a trip to see you two share that energy! Thanks for all you do! Doing The Boards work ;D
This man is a joy to watch and listen. In any language. It's so easy to be happy for him.
It speaks volumes about what kind of guy Sam is to sit down for such a long interview with a relatively small CZcams channel. Great interview with a friendly informal touch.
He is the best
My top 3 moments:
1. Starting to play a game
2. Finishing a game
3. Restarting playing this game (final draft)
hahha lovely
I have never ever seen a developer so involved with their community before and after a game release, it means so much to me and I am sure the other fans as well that Remedy's staff and Sam Lake are doing all these interviews to give fans more insight and content about themselves and their game for fans to enjoy and learn. (Also Sam's reacting during questions about James is so heartbreaking to watch, we loved him as a great voice actor but Sam and James had a worked together for two decades, you can feel the genuine sadness)
Yaaa and I'm happy that he got to work with him and build these wonderful stories with him.
Even Sam Lake's lighting for his own IRL interview is so Sam Lake. God bless Sam Lake, you hack, and long live the Remedy-verse!
Right? It was awesome to see him in that lighting setup. I looked at my setup and immediately felt horrible lol
Ah man, love the lightning and look of the room Sam was in for this. That had to be a deliberate choice. Everything is atmosopheric with this studio!
I believe so too
For me, Alan Wake 2 is a masterpiece
Same here!
Sam Lake makes me excited, he's just so enthusiastic and truly loves what he does.
He is absolutely amazing!!
I would totally buy a novel by Sam Lake.
Me too!!
There is a novel called Alan Wake. It's been written by Rick Burroughs, who is a writer who doesn't seem to exist. He is believed to be Sam Lake.
@@SamiH42 Very interesting
@@SamiH42 got 2 copies 😁
Alan Wake 1 and Control have both sat in my game libraries unplayed for years, free giveaways from Twitch or Epic. The musical at the game awards was so weird it gave me the nudge to try them, and ive now binged the whole remedyverse and bought Digital Deluxe Alan Wake 2. Ill be there at launch for whatever remedy cooks up next, i'm a diehard fan now
So glad the sequence didnt get cut.
Wow that's wonderful! I'm glad you got to play these games and experience what Remedy has to offer.
I can listen to Sam Lake for hours but THIS interview is especially great. Most interviewers ask questions that seem pointless but every question here is one I feel like I would have asked him if I got to talk to him
Thank you so much!
What's above being considered a national treasure? That's what Sam Lake should be. Such an awesome dude.
He is an amazing dude
An international treasure!
Great work bro 👍
Kings supporting each other. Any plans on inviting anyone from the Alan Wake cast for interviews yourself Dan?
Thank you so very much Dan
I love Sam Lake. Remedy Games changed everything for me with Max Payne. The first game is so good because of that made with friends charm, it has so much heart. All the television shows on the side, the enemy NPC dialogue, the random humor, meta references, the nordic touch, the atmosphere they created is so good. And my God Max himself, James and Sam delivered such a character. I love this game so much.
Yaa Max Payne to this day remains to be one of my fav games
Sam always explains very well what his mindset was at the time of making something
Youre channel is a gift for Alan Wake fans, you had the GOAT of the game industry himself incredible !
Thank you so much for saying that. It is incredible that I spoke to Sam Lake. Still can't believe it.
Now we need an interview with Miyazaki and/or Kojima and we'll have all the goats of gaming lol
The thing about them simply not considering having a character being played and voiced by the same actor is probably my new favourite piece of videogame trivia :D Also glad they decided to leave it as is in AW II.
Fun fact about me and Nightless Night: I almost missed it too, because I took a break after the events that play out in the theater in the lobby and when I came back to the game I was ready to leave the cinema. It was only then when I noticed the subtitles that told me, somewhere someone was speaking. So I went back in and was able to watch it. :D
Fantastic interview once again and I am as always amazed by how sensitive James McCaffreys passing is discussed. It fills me with joy that he still got to see the love of the fans
Yaa I'm so happy he got to hear the positive response of Alan Wake 2. I'm glad you got to watch that movie in the game. It was mindblowing.
Such a great interview, I could listen to Sam talk for hours. His creative process and the places from where he gets inspiration are so interesting. You can really tell he's super proud of Remedy and he's very thankful of the teams he's worked with.
Yaa he is a creative genuis and I'm so glad he gets to create what he can
Sam Lake is an important person to me because he not only turns games into ART, but also shows by personal example that you can't give up on the path to a dream and you need to believe in what you're doing. Thanks to him for just being him and for the Remedy projects.
And another thing: I watch every interview you do (especially all the guests involved in Remedy Games) and I really like how you prepare for a meeting with a guest, the wording of the questions, your reactions and involvement in the conversation. Thank you for your hard work ❤
Thank you so very much for saying that. This means a lot to me and I'm glad you are liking these interviews. Sam Lake is def one of those guys that inspires me quite a bit.
I had never played a remedy game until i decided to give alan wake 2 a go. After finishing it i immediately bought alan wake remaster and control. For me remedy is up there now with Rockstar games. I will buy anything they put out on reputation alone. Sam is a mad genius, i love it.
I'm so glad you got to experience those games. Even the older games like Max Payne and Quantum Break are also great!
I'm so happy that they finally were able to release a "Greatest Hits" album on vinyl for Old Gods of Asgard. It's the perfect bonus merch for the Remedyverse =)
Sam 100% deserves his flowers so much. I’ve been a huge fan of his work since the original Max Payne and I could listen to him and his passion for gaming for hours and hours.
Alan Wake 2 was a masterpiece and you can clearly see how much it means to him. Hats off to you Sam. 😊
I asolutley agree with you. He deserves it.
It's finally happening. I can't wait ✌
Sam lake is a GENIUS! A true one.. Sam you are leaving Kojima in the DUST behind you!
Amen :)
I think they are both really good. We need guys like these in the game industry.
I believe both are incredible visionaries and it would be amazing to see them work together on 1 game.
I believe both are visionary artists that always push the medium forward, not many developers are capable of that.
You love to see channels and people like this get these kinds of opportunities. Thank you to Sam, and kudos to you for your interviews with Harewood and Villi (and years or work leading to those) which earned this. Can't wait to listen to this while I work today.
Thank you so very much. I hope you like this episode.
I enjoy Sam Lake interviews so much! Always great to hear from his incredible talent and just how passionate he is about video-games. Absolute legend!
He is an absolute legend!
Fantastic interview, you can see how passionate and happy he is when he talks about his works, and how many more hours he would've talked about it! Congrats again for getting him onboard, it was a very entertaining talk to watch!
Thank you so very much. He was definitely excited to talk about all of it.
We must protect Sam Lake at all costs! Great interview!
Absolutely!! Thank you so much for watching
Sam genuinely is proud of whay hemade on a deeply personal level
He truly loves Alan Wake in all its insane and weird glory ♡ hope he never changes
Oh yaa and it was his story so ofcourse he has that deep passion
Listening to Poets of the Fall on loop all day is such a mood lol!
Oh for sure!! I continue to do that
Well done. Great energy from Sam sharing a lot of stories behind Remedy and his creative process. I’m playing AW2 NG+, 6 months later. I’m not PS trophy hunter but I got the platinum. I love this game. Can’t wait for the DLC’s.
Thank you so much for watching. I cannot wait for the DLCs too.
When is the release for the DLC's?
love how sam is just a cool, chill dude
I would love to know how James passing is going to affect the max Payne remakes. It would be difficult hearing someone else play max, but either way I'm looking forward to the remake
Amazing interview, gosh there's nothing I'd love to do more than to just be able to thank Sam and the whole remedy team for their games. The worlds they create, the lore, and those epic moments you never expect, like Herald of Darkness. I just wish I could tell them how grateful I am for their work
He definitely knows how everyone is grateful for his work
I love these beautiful people, thank you Sam Lake and the team at Remedy.
They are just the best
Congrats brother. Getting one of the OGs on to the show. Keep growing
Thank you so much! I appreciate it
"You have to fiercely believe in what you make."
This was such a great interview. There will never be a day that passes that I'm not inspired by Sam Lake and the love and excitement he holds for his work and the rest of the Remedy team. Seeing his passion is contagious and makes me so excited for what's to come. I absolutely loved this interview and just being able to listen to you and Sam talk about all things Remedy and Alan Wake. Absolutely wonderful interview. Thank you for sharing this with us, Abhi
Thank you so much for watching and being inspired by this. That line that you mentioned is so important to me in my life and I hope everyone gets to have that as well
This was awesome dude! Very well done. I just wished you asked a couple of questions more like:
- Discussing about Alice Wake's entire section, arguably one of the most heartwrenching parts of the game and the actress was UNDERRATED, completely "shoved aside" by every awards etc.
- Ask if Sam will be the face of Max on the Remakes
- Who'll voice Max?
But I guess we can't have it all! Still, this was awesome!
Ya unfortunately that would've taken even more time and I cannot have Sam sit there for so long
Sam Lake is an invaluable treasure for videogames!! Unfortunately, he has not been recognised as much as he deserves.
I think he has been recognized for the work he and the team does.
@@BehindTheVoicePod I hope you are right! The gaming medium needs artists like him! Congrats for the amazing conversation 👏
So much dedication and love for his work. Sam is definitely too good to be true. May it never change!💖
He is extremely dedicated and kudos to the entire team to work through all these projects
@@BehindTheVoicePod Remedy is a bright gem in game industry!
This interview has been an absolutely joy to listen to!! You're incredible with questions and talking with the guests. I love hearing about how Remedy games are put together and the thought processes behind them, it's been so great to listen to this. Thank you!!!!
Thank you so much! That means the world to me.
Cant wait
Man, I gotta say that you're really becoming the best channel for gaming interviews, I've stumbled on your content I think with the Ikka Villi interview and been loving it ever since. All the best to you from Brazil man, keep on keepin' on!! Haha
Thank you so much! I truly appreciate you being so kind.
What an amazing interview, this was great to watch! I really enjoy how natural your podcasts come across as. You ask great questions that give us more insight into how creatives work.
So much stuff happens behind the scenes, it really makes me appreciate all Remedy games even more.
Thank you for setting up these podcasts and interviewing all the people you do.
This might sound silly but it's inspiring and you should be proud of yourself. I'm looking forward to future uploads too!
Everything in Alan Wake 2 was done so beautifully, if I had to choose my top 3 moments, they would probably be:
1) Meeting Thomas Zane for the first time
2) The whole side story of looking into Saga's family relations
3) Saga entering the overlap in Valhalla Nursing Home
Oh wow this means a lot. Thank you so much! I'm so glad that it inspires you.
I loved meeting Zane for the first time too. What an amazing, free, no care in the world, sort of character and also the Saga's family relations was amazing to know.
Great interview, super interesting all throughout! Thank you!
Thank you so much!!
Another great interview of yours. Enjoyed every bit of it; 'tis was very nice to see whole Alan Wake crew interviewed, and Sam Lake especially
Thank you so much. Well the whole cast hasn't been interviewed yet since there a few remaining however I'm glad I was able to talk to these 3.
Must've felt surreal talking to him. As always you did an amazing job!
It was surreal. I couldn't believe and kept on laughing for like 3 hours that I spoke to him. I became a lunactic that night lol
Sam Lake is my spirit animal, what a guy
Sam is amazing
Congratulations for the brilliant interview!!! ❤❤❤
Thank you so very much!!
A really great interview. Thanks for making this!
Thank YOU for watching!
im so happy for you bro!! awesome interview
Thank you so much! That truly means a lot.
What a great interview! Super entertaining and plenty of stuff I hadn't heard elsewhere. Thank you!
Thank you so much. I really appreciate it
Congrats on this interview. Your work shows. I truly hope Sam and the remedy team know how high they set the bar with this game/wonderful peice of media. Not just for horror but narrative games as a whole. As a fan of the first, i had high expectations and was STILL blown away. Never expected what they delivered. Ive had a lore discussion with my gf about this game almost every day since playing it. 🖤
Isn't it crazy that they continue to top that bar even though they don't realize it? It shwos how much dedicated they are to do something different and take risks.
another great interview! keep em' coming and you'll get the following you deserve in due time ;)
Thank you so much for that. I'm glad you liked this interivew
Starbreeze put an entire feature film, To Kill A Mockingbird, in their game The Darkness that the protagonist can watch with his girlfriend. But that was an existing older movie that they could get for cheap. Yötön Yö is a custom production for the game and it's amazing... also the song Yötön Yö that Ahti sings is also great. I spent probably 20-30 minutes just hanging out listening to Ahti (Martti Suosalo) singing in Finnish =)
It is such a great talk, enjoyed it immensely. I love how passionate he is! It was a real treat, thank you!
Thank you so much. He's very passionate
When the original Max Payne came out in 2001 just having full voice acting at all for characters was still quite a new concept. The first game I saw with voice acting was the CD-ROM version of Indiana Jones and the Fate of Atlantis and I got a CD-ROM drive in 1995
Ya Remedy already started doing something more with video games since Max Payne
Really glad we got to know part of the creative process behind the writing and directing of Control and both Alan Wake
This was an amazing interview, and you’re always on point, Abhi !
Thank you so much :)
Thank YOU for watching. I appreciate this
Sam Lake is an unbelievably wonderful man.
That he is!
thank you sam lake for incredible game Alan wake 2 !!
Such a great episode! Sam is such an interesting person and seeing legit 20 seconds of the We Sing section made me buy the game and play most of Remedy’s work!
That's awesome and thank you for watching
I'm glad they don't incorporate fan theories into the main game, actually. It's more gratifying when the clues they leave for us can be followed to their original vision, even if it's difficult to put them together. Storytellers that start moving pieces around just because the audience figured something out, either to use the theory or avoid it, are the worst. I've seen shows completely abandon earlier foreshadowing because the audience figured something out so they changed it, ugh. If we see the clues, that's not a writing failure, that means the story is making sense! An easter egg would be fine, but nothing in the actual storyline.
I totally agree. I wouldn't say they are the worst because I understand what they are trying to do. However I'm glad that Remedy continues to create something that's unique and its also crazy that the community is eventually able to figure it out.
I believe they're already so far in the future with planning stuff for new games (or, I hope so!), that fan theories can't be taken into account without changing everything
Sam Lake is a videogame god and I love all of his games, but Alan Wake 2 is something on a different, higher level for me. It's something else.
It's like the White Pony of his discography.
Ya Alan Wake 2 is def the best, if not one of the best games of Remedy
Awesome interview as always❤
Thank you!
Gratulation!
For having Sam Lake on this show. Quite a big achievement. International Treasure he is.
Grüße
Thank you so very much
Sam Lake is a national treasure
He absolutely is!
love this!!!
Thank you so much!!
Such a great interview brother. Killing it
Thank you so very much!
I also wish that remedy could be their own publisher, so they can always make the projects they want to make.
Its very hard for a studio to be its own publishers. Having a bigger publisher helps in spreading the word and at the same time provide more options to work on a game
@@BehindTheVoicePod oh of course and I certainly do understand that, but like Sam was saying in the interview next year they hit 30 years of being a company that’s really rare in the gaming industry at this point. Another thing he mentioned that I can 100% agree upon especially seeing as I was like eight or nine years old when I first played Max Payne was that having real people in the scenes continue to evolve throughout remedys games it’s always been something that’s drawn me in. I’d even list one of my top three favourite things in Alan Wake 2 being live action and facial capture performances, just stunning.
I’m going to lump my second favourite thing as both the start of Alan Wake two and just the loud boom as Alan, Wake, 2 appeared on the screen as well as saga and Casey finding Alan on the shores of cauldron lake and then wide-awake chapter song, finally my third favourite part of the game is just the whole we sinf chapter.
As I’ve continued listening through your interview as well it reminded me that I’ve created my own head canon for the remedyverse. Since Alan has been trapped in the dark place he’s been trying to write escapes for himself and weighs for the story to work so he can be freed Ala American nightmare, but that method obviously doesn’t work for him so he tries writing a new story (quantum break) which I haven’t played so I can’t specifically see how that plays out, then we get to control and organisation specifically designed for dealing with essentially the paranormal and that we end up learning that The 2010 Bright Falls incident happened and the AWE expansion heavily implies That Alan wrote Jesse Fadden to go to the FBC.
the hapiness here is infectious
IKR!
Sam is such a treasure, great interview!
Thank you so much for watching!
Great Interview!!! 🙌🙌🙌
Thank you!
Sam is such an inspiring personality. He really is a kind of Finnish Kojima and his way of telling stories is unbelievably good. For me as a writer, he is always an inspiration.
That's so cool and yea even I see him as like a finnish kojima but at the same time I don't want Sam to be like compared with Kojima. They both have some really different choices when it comes to storytelling
Damn! kinda extraordinary that you were able to pull this off! not to downplay your other work, but like damn! 💯
Thank you
I look at both Sam and Ilkka and they both look amazing for their age! Must be whatever they’re putting in that Finnish water!
We have one of the purest water in the world, so maybe it is what we are not putting in the water. 😄
That must be it
I watched all of Yotun Yo! Loved it, wish it was longer 😅
Well Matthew Porretta who voiced Alan Wake talked about how Remedy does this in a way where you want more otherwise everyone would be satisfied
Night Spings and The Lake House are the DLCS. WOW
Yaa pretty excited about these DLCs
WHAT?!
Do u have any other channels or sth? Your content quality is insane for such a small channel.
I am super impressed!!!
Well thank you for saying that and this is my one and only channel
Hit set up is so amazing.. I need it 😂
I need that too....obviously
I always love listening to Sam Lake talk, and its heartbreaking listening to him talk about James. Great video.
Yaa it was heartbreaking
You're a great interviewer!
Thank you so much!
No way! 🤩
Yes way!
Thank you Sam Lake for taking out the time to talk.
One day I wish I could work with him.
Yaa big thanks to him for doing that and agreeing to sit and talk to me for that long. Even I wish one day I can work with him
The Witch in the Woods was inspired by Babayaga. I thought the same thing. To hear Sam say that is so cool.
Yaa it is quite interesting that Babayaga was the inspiration
HYPE!!!
35:52 It's Payne! Whack him!
Sorry, obligatory MP joke is always needed under a Sam Lake video. Really happy that you got the opportunity to talk to him, it was pure joy to listen.
hahaha thank you for watching!!
OF COURSE SAM LAKE IS ONE OF THE BEST WRITER'S AND CREATIVE DIRECTORS IN VIDEOGAME INDUSTRY HE always LOVES TO TELL EPIC STORYS with CHARISMATIC CHARACTERS thank you for this lovely podcast ❤
Thank YOU for watching. He is visionary and I'm so glad that his visions comes to life in such a grand manner
It's a great pity that James left us so early, I think it would have been an amazing interview with him...
Yaa it would've been. But I'm glad that he gave us some of the best performances and characters.
@@BehindTheVoicePod facts
Absolutely lost it when I heard that Bohemian Rhapsody was one of the inspirations for Herald of Darkness, and the Peacemaker opening choreography was an inspiration behind the iconic dance. Love it when some of my favourite works of art influence other favourites!
RIght? Its so crazy to know all of that what inspired the musical.
So amazing
Thank you
good stuff!
Thank you
It's sad he doesn't talk about Max Payne 1&2 Remake, I was hoping for some info.
Oh him saying Peacemaker inspired Harold of Darkness even if it’s just in a minor way makes me SO happy
Yaaa same here! Didn't expect that
I want Sam Lake do a Clint Eastwood western movie starring Sam Lake as Clint Eastwood
That would be awesome
Next? Old Gods of Asgard? Great Job Man!
If he does, I hope he interviews the other guys rather too than just Marko, Marko is already the band's spokesman but I'm sure the other guys have their stories to tell!
I would love to if they would be interested. Although I don't know how to reach out to them
I finished Alan wake including the final draft OMG, my fav moments are spoiler alert ((tom zaine and DC darling on tv), saga fight vs the 2 cops, Alan struggle to get inside back to the dark place after finally got out. Sam and whole remedy are geniuses and as gamer and lover of arts wi appreciate a lot.
Oh yaa this game surprises me everytime
Gotta play Max Payne Remastered later when they come out to support Remedy. Alan Wake 1/2 and Control show that games can be excellent, intellectually stimulating and have soul as well. Sam and Remedy imbibe them with it.
A most informative interview.
Thank you so much for watching this
It was a great choice to have the game start with a main character that was not Alan Wake (well after the intro bit). Even though I played Alan Wake 1 back in the day and loved it and soaked up the story, it definitely felt good to start off the sequel with a new set of eyes, a fresh perspective and slowly but surely bring in Alan Wake.
Yaa I liked that idea as well