Primo Session Magazine Issue 01

Table of Contents How we got here.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Page 8 Default Skater evolution.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . page 14 Trick & Tips.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . page 17 behind: NYC STREEts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . page 18 weeklies.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . page 28 skate team / scrub club.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . page 32 gear guide.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . page 42 behind: streets two . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . page 44 smuss pitt interview.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . page 52 behind: le dome . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . page 62 s1ghtUnseen Spotlight.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . page 70 gallery.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . page 84 wizardry with Rms.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . page 110 LAST / Southern_Discomfort.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . page 122

Cover: Soapy Sensei, From the stairs, Nollie flip over the ledge.

Here: MTL Ghost, Gap to Bs Nosegrind

SESSION MAG / ISSUE 1 / APRIL 2021

Editors GoldNoose JoshLav64 Writers doobeyboob Mr.E PoppySquidJr Design / Photo Editor MTL_Ghost Artwork PoloVision Senior Photographer s1ghtunseen Entwoane Contributions BaggyTony, FrankThePirate, SmUssPitt, GankSinatraJr, JustKilledaNoob, SoapySensei, SqueezeNJ, Vowll, Xrossings, BigHog, Kavras, DirtyWRXGuy, Dewski_Dude_520, Southern_Discomfort, SoapySensei, SqueezeNJ, GankSinatraJr, MAH.

ALL ADS ARE LINKed TO THEIR Social media just click on them Primo Mag is a group effort to promote SESSION, the skateboarding video game through social media & this magazine.

If you are interested in participating, join our Discord bit.ly/PrimoSM

How we got here

By Goldnoose

A

S1ghtUnseen, Hurricane

fter Session’s 0.0.0.5 update was released, Crea-ture took quite some time to work on their next version, which turned out to be a five month process.

To be fair, we were warned it would take time, but with only teasers and small pieces of information, it was hard not to get anxious. 0.0.0.5 was definitely a step in the right direction, but it left us with a couple annoying bugs. Saved replays no longer worked on PC, small input scoop no longer worked, and the notorious “casual grind” bug appeared, which made grinds and slides far more forgiving. These issues were not game breaking, just a nuisance at times, but everyone worked around it and still played the game we all love.

Within the five months of 0.0.0.5 a lot happened. We saw new communities form, amazing modded maps being dropped, and we received the news that Session is being published by Nacon. In December, the developers held a livestream hosted by JL Nightmare, in which they showed what they had been working on.

Along with all new physics and features, it was announced that Team EMU, creators of the Peitruss modded map, would be joining Crea-ture. The developers ended the livestream with a bang, announcing that an early version of 0.0.0.6 would be available for Kickstarter backers later the same day. Although the early version was a bit rough around the edges and was missing features such as primos and caspers, the community was ecstatic to be able to play the long awaited update.

There’s a lot of “new” when it comes to what Crea-ture gave us in 0.0.0.7 (now 0.0.0.9). New physics and core, new tricks, new add-on features for your camera, new brands, new spots and that’s not even half of it. I’m just not going to continue typing “new” because you get the point we got a lot of impressive shit this update.

The new physics gives Session vets a slight “learning to skate again” feeling that I’d like to think is what made a lot of people gravitate towards the game in the first place. The new physics provide a better learning experience for not only the returning players, but newcomers as well, giving them smoother core gameplay to hone their skills on. Another feature that may bring in a lot of fakeskaters is the Advanced Settings menu, which allows you to tweak the game to fit your play style.

With a long list of options to choose from, you’re getting a unique experience that no other skateboarding game has offered out of the box.

Although the long awaited replay editor overhaul is still yet to come, Creature offered plenty of improvements to the current system to make filming a better experience. The replay editor now works at the apartment which is a huge fix for PC players, and they blessed us with two fisheye lens options, a camera light, and a filter mimicking the look of the iconic Sony VX1000, fixing a decent amount of the replay editor’s shortcomings.

In addition to the core gameplay improvements, character customization has also received a huge boost. Among a vast list of customization options being added, one of the most important in my opinion is new skin tones, which open up further customization to allow you to feel like you. When it comes to all of the board and clothing customization options, you have to earn them. The newly added “quests” system enables players to either unlock items with in-game money, or work through a longer quest tree to get their items for free; however, this proved very challenging for many players. Donovan Strain’s challenges at the pyramid ledges quickly became infamous for being incredibly difficult, prompting Creature to tweak the challenges as well as adding a “give me my stuff back option” in the game settings to bypass the system. Don’t worry though, you can still do the challenges if you regret not earning them.

New professional skaters being added is another huge plus for Session. Prior to 0.0.0.7 we had Donovan Strain, Dane Burman, and the mystical Ribsman, with Jesse Lacroix playable as a silhouette of himself. We now have Daewon Song, a skateboarding legend, who had long been speculated to be joining the roster due to his comments about Session on social media. Long time supporter and content creator Jesse Lacroix, better known as JL Nightmare, was also finally added after raising money for the highest Kickstarter backer tier four years ago. It wouldn’t hurt to mention we are going to be seeing more pros in future updates, including Antiferg, Billy Marks, Manny Santiago, and Mark Appleyard.

The massive jump from 0.0.0.5 to the version we are playing now has laid out a solid foundation for the developers to build on, opening up endless possibilities for the future. With their newly secured publishing deal with Nacon and a wave of new players enjoying the game, the future is looking bright for Session.

Entwoane, Bs Noseblunt

The evolution of the de 2008

2015

Original Concept

The Teaser

The start of it all. This low poly skater was made as part of the original proof of concept for Project: Session all the way back in 2008 and was modeled after lead developer Marc Andre Houde, more commonly known as MAH. At this point in time, Session was only a concept for a game utilizing a two-stick control system, which had long been discussed on the EA Skatefluckit forums. Although no gameplay of original builds using this character has been seen, the character has been immortalized in the released version of the game as the “Session OG” character.

Jumping forward seven years, this character was the world’s first look at what was at the time called Project: Session. The original “VHS” teaser shows this character throwing a fakie bigspin heelflip (otherwise known as a Rick flip) down a fat gap, all of which is shown through the lens of a MK1 fisheye mounted on a VX1000. At this time, Session was still being built on the Unity engine and featured a character very different looking from what we see now, while also distancing itself from the original dread-headed model that came before it.

20

The Pris

Sporting a bright o covered in Gilbert toos, 2018’s “Pris ter was the first ver public. This skater free Kickstarter November 21, 201 could skate aroun set in a prison. Thi the hearts of skater wide, helping Sessi starter funding goa and allowing the and love to becom 2008 “Session OG Dude has been im current build of S character.

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orange jumpsuit and t Crockett-esque tatson Dude” characrsion playable to the r was featured in the demo launched on 17, in which players nd a small skatepark is character captured rs and gamers worldion reach their Kickal in only three days game we all know me a reality. Like the G” character, Prison mmortalized in the Session as a playable

2019

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Text by Joshlav64 PIctures by mtl_ghost & mah

2020

The Indoor Park

V0.0.0.9

Staying fairly true to the prison demo character, the Kickstarter backer demo from 2019 saw the skater ditch the prison jumpsuit and tattoos in favor of jeans and a Session branded baseball tee. This demo allowed backers to skate an indoor skatepark, now playable as the Crea-ture Park map, and introduced many of Session’s key features, such as the continuous flip mode and manual catch mechanics.

This was the last update we would see to this iteration of the skater before the official release of Session on Steam in summer 2019.

The one we all know and love. Session’s public release on Steam saw the introduction of a new character, which has stayed more or less the same throughout updates. This iteration of the skater introduced customization to the character’s clothes and board, and in more recent updates options for hair and skin tone have also been added. In addition to the default male skater, players also now have the option to play as a female skater, also equipped with a plethora of customization options. This character has served the community well for over a year, and continues to offer new customization features with every update.

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By Pop

Artwork by PoloVision

Hold Start button to Open Stats Menu

The new advanced stats menu is a huge new feature that opens up a ton of options for variety and personalization in everybody’s tricks and style. If you find yourself having to regularly adjust stats to get a trick looking just the way you want, or if you simply want to test out different settings to see what works best for you, you may find it useful that simply holding the start button down will take you directly to the Advanced Settings menu. This way you can very quickly get in, change what you need, and get back to the action.

Save replays and edit them from the apartment

This one’s for all the filmers out there stuck in the loop of filming tricks as soon as you land them, recording the footage, and saving the clips only to worry that your angle wasn’t the best or that you felt rushed. Ever since the update fixed a notorious bug, you can actually save raw replays and montages, then go back to the apartment to edit them as many times as you want. While in the replay editor, simply pause and go to the replay menu, then select Save Replay. Make sure your HUD is on when you do this, or else the box for naming and saving your replay won’t appear. After that, you can go to the apartment and choose New Montage to edit a raw replay, or Edit Montage to edit a montage you’ve already made.

Use pocket pop to choose your grind exit

Those familiar with double grinds and pop-overs in previous builds may notice that double tapping the triggers no longer does anything, and those unfamiliar with the process at all may simply not know you have the option of choosing which direction you pop out of your grinds. The new mechanic rather intuitively uses Session’s unique pocketed pop inputs for side-impulse just the same as it would off the ground. Due to its current implementation, you have to wait a minute before it registers, but the core of the mechanic is there nonetheless. Release the grind input and gently input the pocketed crouch controls, then pop as normal and you’ll find your skater popping the direction the pocketed ollie would normally. Getting the timing down takes some practice though!

Use riser pads to reduce wheel bite

The new wheel bite feature is a big step towards simulating the trials and tribulations of skateboarding. With looser trucks especially, landing certain ways or turning too suddenly can have your board scraping against the wheels and coming to a screeching halt. For those who want to be able to get a bit more lean on their turns without smaller wheels or tighter trucks, riser pads are another new feature to the game and they can help solve the problem, just like in real life. The higher the pad, the more clearance you’ll have between your board and wheels.

Double tap “Y” or triangle to throw down switch

This one’s been around a while, but for anyone who doesn’t know yet (or hasn’t realized this is one of the causes for it happening), you can immediately get on your board switch from walking by double tapping Y. This is very useful if you’re trying to hit a specific spot with a switch or fakie trick and don’t feel like reverting at the start of your runup constantly.

Visit the City

NYC STREETS DirtyWRXguy revisted his ol’ famous Jerome Ave map.

It was time for Primo to pay him a visit.

By Mr E

So firstly, how did you get into modding and what made you decide to make maps specifically?

Modding was due to Session, I’ve been making maps since Skate 3.

Oh dope, so the years of experience come in handy. Would you say it transfers over well to Session? I know it’s a whole different engine but is the approach the same?

What got me into map making was wanting to skate places or objects that I liked, getting involved with Legacy helped and I’ve been kicking it with them ever since.

Concept building from Skate 3 to 3D modeling is hardly comparable; before it was

Are there any other spots you have planned to work on or currently have in the works?

Kinda, I’m helping with a Legacy skatepark project in [Skater] XL for an unreleased park at the moment, also I want to make a subway and loading dock area similar to the maps I’ve made in Skate 3.

I use assets for decoration in Jerome for example, all the skatable stuff is modeled by me but the background and decor is usually free assets I’ve gotten online and even some paid for as I liked the work the creator did and decided to purchase it.

“the bottom of that area is a call back to the original Session concept art” “how can I take this random object and make it look like something entirely different than it is,” now its like “I can make this look exactly how I want it to be if I have the skill to do so.”

Yeah, it’s always good to have that consistency. As far as Jerome Ave is concerned, was there a specific reason you wanted to recreate that spot or did you just pick one of your favorite spots?

Typically I have made stuff based on pictures or skate videos, as for Jerome I saw that clip from the Volcom tour where Simon Banerot ollied down 4 of the 5 sets in a line.

Hell yeah I love that clip, I recreated it on my part with [JoshLav64 ].

That was the reason I chose Jerome originally.

Yeah that’ll inspire people.

That’s sick that you’re modding multiple games, and it’d be dope to get even a couple of those maps because a subway sesh sounds enticing already.

Yeah, map making is a tedious process...its a passion project mostly.

Absolutely, I’ve caught a few streams where guys are working on maps and the amount of work that goes into all the little details is insane. Those are looking sick already man.

Tengu God of Mischief inspired that along with the Skate 3 one I made.

Generally how long would you say it takes to get a map done? I’m sure the size of the spot plays a big part but there’s a lot of small things to be on top of.

Depends on how much of a perfectionist you

original crea-ture concept art

Joshlav64, Bs Crooked

want to be honestly. I’ve had maps that took six months before I considered it a finished map, and some that I’ve made in about a week.

Yeah as with most creative processes I’m guessing there’s plenty of revision for some spots you wanna get just right and sometimes everything kinda falls into place first go.

Though I’ve always collaborated with the Legacy guys with ideas and concepts.

That’s good though cause you guys get to bounce ideas off each other.

Yeah 100 percent, lots of trial and error when getting things to look and work just right.

Blitzkow modeled the side alley with my input and I thought it turned out pretty well.

Also, the bottom of that area is a call back to the original Session concept art if you didn’t notice.

Oh wow, I actually hadn’t noticed that myself, that’s wild!

Props to you and Blitz.

No worries, Ryedaddy was the first one to spot it.

Rye has the eye.

Do you have any plans outside modding as far as Session goes? Like should we expect an edit or maybe even you and some of the Legacy guys making a part together?

Oh yeah it’s only a matter of time, nothing to report as of now though.

Yeah patience is key lol but given the amount of work you guys put into maps I can only imagine that when a part finally does get made, we can expect quality work.

Yeah, could check out some of my previous work on Xbox, most of the edits from parks I’ve made are there along with other Legacy members’ content.

Thanks man! That about wraps up the questions I had, appreciate you taking the time to answer them!

Yeah, no problem, later.

Joshlav64, Kickflip

Top: Goldnoose, hardflip bottom: dth_cadboi, heel nose manny revert switch flip out

SPOT OF THE WEEK - recap week 1 to 12

We set the spot, you get the clips. This is “Spot of the Week”, Primo’s weekly sesh where your only limit is your imagination. Hit the spot naturally or get your DIY on, but by the end of the week we expect the spot destroyed.

In our first couple weeks, we saw Trust Won, s1ghtunseen, SmUs Pitt, real_slinky13, and our very own PoppySquidJr lead the pack with heavy hitters*. Trust dropped a 360 flip backside noseslide at the Pyramid Ledges double set. S1ght hit us with some grind tech when he got a back tail shuv back into a back tail at Love Park, and SmUs got his DIY on with a couple of benches. Slinky flexed his balance at our week 3 spot with a long nose manual covering half the plaza, while Poppy gave us his signature steeze two weeks in a row.

As the weeks heated up, we saw BeRT402, FarringtonSessions, Doob, Raqyee, and SoapySensei deliver the goods**.

BeRT got a smooth blunt into some transition in Philly. Farrington showed us that a tre nosegrind can be beautiful. Doob came by after hours and gave us a solid nighttime line. Raqyee brought his nollie and switch game with full force in a ‘blink and you miss it’ sequence. Lastly, Soapy hit one of the most insane tricks we’ve seen in all our time doing Spot of the Week.

click here to watch the recap For the closing weeks to our maiden voyage here at SoTW, ForeignEye, miniFREEDOM, DTH_CadBoi, Fleep, waterbottle7M1, and seshinaround sent us out with the proper tech***. ForeignEye took a big leap to hit a crook at the week 9 gap to rail, while mini dropped a smooth 270 kickflip lipslide at our Philly spot for week 11. DTH pulled out a buttery nose stall into the bank. Fleep came out at night to sneak in a tre noseblunt while no one was looking, while fellow night owl waterbottle got a sick angle for their 50-50 360 flip out. Last but not least, seshinaround hit the storefront spot in a satisfyingly creative manner that requires a couple of run backs to truly appreciate.

While our first couple months here at Primo are over, we look back at what the community has done with pride knowing that you guys will continue to bring the hammers to Spot of the Week. So hats off to everyone who has participated and we’re hyped to see how you come at our next spots! *Trust Won Weeks 1 & 4, s1ghtunseen Weeks 2 & 3, SmUs Pitt Week 1, real_slinky13 Week 3, PoppySquidJr Weeks 2 & 3 **BeRT402 Week 6, FarringtonSessions Week 8, SoapySensei Week 6 *** ForeignEye Weeks 9 & 10, Fleep Week 11, waterbottle7M1 Week 12, seshinaround Week 11

If you’ve been lurking the community Discords and streams, it would be a big surprise if you haven’t heard of the Scrub Club. Their squad is deep and can be seen tearing up New York and Philly in their community edits, but only four members have become brand ambassadors and earned their name on a board. I spoke with Soapy, Ghost, Squeeze, and Gank and got to know about them and their relationship with the Scrub Club.

Soapy Sensei

Left: Fs Noseslide Nollie Fs Bigspin out Right: Bs Bluntslide

“A lot of streamers these days would say “Welcome to the whatever stream” and I just started saying Scrub Club” How did you get the name?

I like to make my tricks clean and I love sharing the stuff I learn about the game with others.

How long have you been skating?

I skated for around fifteen years, it was kind of off and on towards the end, but even after I stopped skating I still had a passion for it. I still keep up with the culture of skateboarding throughout all these different outlets like The 9 Club and The Berrics.

How do you feel about your first part?

Honestly man, it’s funny talking about it. Thinking back to it, I remember being so nervous premiering it because I’d never premiered something like that. I didn’t know what anybody was going to think.

I had seen so many Session videos and I just didn’t know how mine stacked up to those. What gave me peace about my video was that I really liked everything in it. All the tricks I put in may have not been the hardest tricks to do but they are things I’d actually want in a part. After it was done I felt good about it and I feel like it was received well.

How did the Scrub Club start?

It’s something that started on stream. A lot of streamers these days would say “Welcome to the whatever stream” and I just started saying Scrub Club. Then I wanted a place where I could share my D.I.Y stuff. At one time I was trying to share my stuff on Discord servers but I would lose track of it. So I eventually made my own server with a channel dedicated to “Soapy’s D.I.Y” and it started growing.

It eventually became a place not where I was just sharing stuff but

everyone in the community started sharing stuff. I’m enjoying it and I hope everyone in the community is enjoying it too.

How did you meet Ghost?

Oh man. I met Ghost when I started streaming and that was around the time Session dropped on Xbox. I just remember him coming into my stream and I think it was just me and him for a while. It was great, Ghost is such a cool guy and he would just hang in my stream and we would bounce ideas back and forth about the game. He is just so knowledgeable about skating, it’s crazy.

Did you start off hardcore?

I started off on auto catch with a bunch of custom settings. I was more focused on a certain type of style rather than the difficult settings.

How did the community edits start? I really enjoyed the “My Friends” video, it’s always nice seeing a group of people skating in the same spot.

Ghost and I both collaborate and come up with ideas for the Scrub Club, but Ghost had the idea for everyone to submit clips. We opened it up to everybody and set rules for the edit. I wasn’t even sure what the turnout would be like and I was kind of nervous about that hoping I had enough footage for the edit. Even though we don’t have multiplayer, with the right type of editing and making sure everyone is in the same place it can look and feel like we’re at the park together.

MTL_Ghost

How long have you known Soapy?

June 2019, which was the Session release on Xbox. I started to stream it, and he was in my chat lurking.

So your friendship kind of started with both of you supporting each other’s streams?

Yeah exactly. We weren’t even on Discord yet. I started to lurk Twitch without an account since the Steam release. I did an event with MAH where people got to play the game, it was the indoor park build at the time. That was right before the Kickstarter and that documentary about Session.

The Soapy x Ghost edit is one of the best Session edits out there in my opinion. What was the process behind that?

It started naturally. When Session released on Xbox, I was trying to stack clips with no reason or goal. Since I’m a photographer IRL it just became natural to play with the replay editor, even with the bugs. At some point I had a shit ton of clips and started to piece together an edit. Throughout that time Soapy and I were hunting every fucking day for new spots, we spent so much time finding spots people didn’t think were skatable and we made it work.The creativity came naturally since we started to DIY more. Around July I released my first edit after 2 months of “work.” I was proud of it , but too lazy to put much effort into the editing. I did it all from my phone, and at the time I was in a pole jam phase so I tried to pole jam everything I could find. Half of the edit is only pole jam tricks. After a while I was pushing Soapy to start an edit but it took time. He had many ideas for spots but wasn’t sure how people would receive them. He finally stepped up and we’ve never stopped making edits since.

Pretty solid first edit for being “lazy.” Some people tend to just give up with the editor in its current state, which is understandable, but for those who work through it they get another level of respect.

[Laughs] It’s all good! It’s super old by now, and very noob.

Do you have any favorites from the Scrub Club community edits?

I don’t have a favorite clip or best part, I like the community vibe. I think it’s super awesome to have people that you barely know from all over the word put some energy in a project just for the sake to be stoked on the results. From my side, even if I love the editing process and the struggle to get clips at the end, the very best part is when we release it and having all the homies stoked on the premiere. I love every single member in the Scrub Club, each of them bring something different into the mix skating and vibe wise. It’s still crazy to us [Soapy and I] to have so many people who keep following us in our projects and proudly wear our logo in their game. Scrub Club started as a joke when I was making fun of Soapy trying to figure out any play on words with “Soap.”

I couldn’t remember who found the “Scrub Club” name but it started by accident.

I figured you didn’t have a favorite, but I feel it’s a good question to throw out there. I understand though, creating a community for something you love is a great feeling especially when people are heavily involved.

At the beginning we weren’t sure if we should join a crew or make our own due to us having many ideas already and not being so sure if people would be down with it. The freedom to do what we want is priceless and seeing Scrub Club members making brands and crews is awesome to see. The more brands and crews, the healthier the community will get.

Oh for sure, I’m expecting to see a lot of teams pop up this year and it’s only going to help the community.

Yeah most definitely. I think when Session is released on Playstation the community will be way bigger, but at the same time it’s cool to have the young small community because it feels like you know everyone.

It definitely is nice having a small community because everyone knows each other, so that would be an odd thing to get used to once it gets the full release.

Yeah exactly, we get to appreciate these special moments we are lucky to witness. Just seeing the evolution of the game is exciting.

I know at some point we will look back and go “holy shit” just from how far the game and everyone’s skills have progressed from filming, editing, and skating.

Yeah, someone pointed out that we thought Session was hard on 0.0.0.5 and now on 0.0.0.9 it’s a constant brain melting game in a good way. Looking back at 0.0.0.5 gameplay it looks and feels too easy.

Oh yeah! The update brought the “learning to skate again” feeling that I didn’t think I’d get to experience in Session again. That’s the main beauty of this game, you have to work for things and that’s something a skateboarding game hasn’t really been able to tap into.

The game really makes you think now way more than you’ve had to think with 0.0.0.5 Honestly the struggle to get a trick IRL and in Session is super close, at least for the brain. Minus the hurt and the pain obviously. When I go for a trick I’m exactly in the same mood and focus. The process is the same when figuring out your run up, figuring how to get into that ledge or rail and then when you get the confidence you commit and hope for a land.

You’re pretty active when it comes to the community. How do you balance Session and real life?

I don’t sleep. [laughs]

“At the beginning we weren’t sure if we should join a crew or make our own due to us having many ideas already and not being so sure if people would be down with it.”

Left: Kickflip to fakie Top: Nose Bite Slide Bottom: Bs Overcrooked

So how did you find out about Scrub Club?

A while back someone named Gizmo Senpai, had changed their name to Soapy Sensei. You might need to ask him about that story. Along with that came the soapy skate puns. We might say you need to scrub that ledge cause it needs soap (wax).

Then it evolved into us calling each other scrubs, I remember Soapy streaming and seeing Ghost and Soapy kind of say the “Scrub Club” in some way, as the term for our friend group that was naturally forming around this.

In that moment, I just felt that I understood exactly what they meant. We were kinda like The Goonies, homies that just love everything about Session.

We are scrubs for skateboarding.

Soapy definitely told me about his OG name haha. So you were lurking in the early days?

For sure! There’s a shout-out to Gizmo in one of my weekly edits, he was inspiring me to actually do some double grinds that week.

You guys are such a tight knit group that supports each other 100% and I love that.

It really is special coming from such a dark time (Covid and everything else in life) and being able to find happiness and comfort along with all these other people that share the same love you do.

The pandemic brought a lot of weird things good and bad. Gaming has definitely benefited from this unfortunate event.

No man I hear you! I second that! It has definitely formed new communities and gaming is huge right now. It’s been tough for sure, that’s why I’m so thankful for Session.

When did you start playing Session?

June 17th. The day it was released on the Xbox Game Preview program!

There was a two hour trial that had been released the week before. I was streaming about everyday and making weekly edits at the same time.

What’s your favorite thing about the Scrub Club?

The friendships that have formed.

Do you have any favorite members in the Club?

No favorites! Some people definitely have had a great impact on me. I love how different everyone is and how we

all get along in various ways. When I think of the Scrub Club I think of the saying “When the world needed to be apart, we came together.” It feels like a blessing to have met people all over the world who care about the things I care about.

Top: Swit Bottom:

Favorite brand in Session?

Schlaudie of course! The brand is sick and he is such a good dude who is actually active in the community as well.

First Session edit you saw?

I’m not really sure! I remember hopping on YouTube and looking up videos all the time though! PoppySquidJr comes to mind.

Are you planning on making the switch to PC? I definitely want it so bad. I always wanted a sick hand built PC but never really had that luxury of gaming. I want my first build to be a legit PC, but in these Covid times it’s really difficult with companies not making enough parts combined with scalpers. I’m not willing to let the scalpers win.

Should we be expecting anything new from Squeeze?

I’d say keep an eye out for a Squeeze part and maybe an encore even.

Any shout outs?

Basically the first people to believe in me were FearthePitbull and PoppySquidJr. I basically documented the whole learning journey on Session and they really believed in me and encouraged me, even being terrible at the game and being on Xbox. Having scuffed streams and making YouTube videos, they always seemed to comment and support me. It only went up from there! The next to support and inspire were definitely Gnarkilly, Gank Sinatra Jr, Soapy, and Ghosty. Everyone else I’d like to thank is in the Scrub Club in some way or another. Everyone in there supports each other just the same way that I felt Pitbull and Poppy did for me. These people are family. All the OGs like Tempo and the new homies like StarLit. Always growing! Also definitely shout out to my significant other, Rebel Princess Leia Organa. She is my ultimate hype man, number one supporter, and believes in me even if it’s just playing a skateboarding simulator [laughs]. It’s so fun to express creativity and to have Session is a blessing. Shout out to Crea-ture Studios for making the best skate game ever.

Squee

NJ

tch Bs Noseblunt Switch Ollie

eze

J

“We were kinda like The Goonies, homies that just love everything about Session.

We are scrubs for skateboarding.”

“If you guys make a team I’d love to be a part of it.”

Not too long after that conversation they kind of said “why not?”

Top: Curvy Nollie Nosegrind Bottom: Switch Bs Lipslide

Gank Sinatra J r

What’s it like being the newest member of the team?

It’s been a lot of fun so far! I’m really enjoying having a group of people to talk with more consistently, to bounce ideas off of and work together on projects. Up until this point I have kept most of my work and processes to myself, so it’s been exciting to have those conversations with other people and to build on some of the ideas as a group.

One thing I’ve noticed with the Scrub Club is how tight knit everyone is. How long have you been around? Did they reach out to you or did you reach out to them?

I feel like the Scrub Club is so tight knit because it is so inclusive; you can join the community and immediately feel welcomed! The Scrub Club will always be a community first and foremost! SqueezeNJ was one of the first people I met in the Session community. I stumbled into one of his streams in June 2020 around the time Session first hit Xbox and found SoapySensei not too long after that. I’m pretty sure I met Ghost through Soapy’s stream, but I lurked pretty hard when I was on Xbox because I was too lazy to type with my controller. Once I got my PC I started chatting more and getting to know them better.

It was kind of a mutual reaching out? Squeeze is the homie and we’ve had a DM set up for a few months where we just kind of shoot the shit from time to time and it kind of just spawned from some of those conversations. He had recently been announced as a Scrub Club Ambassador and I was curious to know if that meant they were starting a team. I definitely said something along the lines of tand made a team. So when I announced I was looking, I reached out to them again and they were down!

When did you start playing Session?

I got it released on Xbox, so June 2020 I believe? I moved

from Xbox to PC in July and started making edits in September, and I’ve been on the grind ever since!

It’s crazy seeing people switch to PC just from playing Session.

Yeah it’s crazy! I had been wanting a PC to game on for a few years, but Session was the game that made me commit to getting a PC. I also like that having a PC gives me options for editing programs that aren’t on a phone [laughs].

It blows my mind that people do edits on their phones. It really shows the commitment they have for this game.

Mad respect for people who do it. That shit is nuts.

You recently dropped Gank Stash Vol. 8, how are you feeling about it?

I’m feeling pretty good about it! I went for a slightly more laid back edit, but still ended up with a final product that I’m proud of.

You came to the scene with a unique image when it comes to your game character and parts. I always enjoy watching a Gank part.

I appreciate that! To be honest I cringe a little when I look back at the Gank Stash Vol. 1 compared to now, but I’m really appreciative of the growth I’ve made since that first one. Recency bias would have me say Vol. 8 as my favorite, but Vol. 5 and Vol. 6 also hold a special place for me.

I was really trying to make a statement with Vol. 5 and felt like the quality of tricks was pretty high for the time.

I also really like Vol. 6 because the Guardians of the Galaxy song I used has basically become my unofficial theme song.

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CT_Actual Y GoldNoose WRITTEN B

PORTED BY

Why Streets 2?

Jean Olive was the first to hit me back when asking for permission to port maps.

Was he happy to see someone port it to Session?

I’m not sure to be honest, he was definitely a super chill dude so I hope he liked it. He did give me permission to do all his maps that aren’t owned by Easy Day. How long did it take to port the map?

Like 3 weeks of on and off work. Most of the time was spent retexturing and collision.

How long have you been into skateboarding?

Since I can remember really. Had an older family member that was into it at a young age so I was always around it, but when it clicked was maybe like the World [Industries] and Blind era, that’s when I got super into it.

bos. You’ve definitely played a plethora of games, but I’m sure there’s something that just made you really get into modding. When did that happen?

So I got into modding/mapping/3D art or whatever recently with GTA and FiveM, then me and a few people wanted to start a server.

All I wanted to do was build custom vehicles and shit, then shortly after I found out you have to know a bunch of other shit as well like basic programming. It kind of snowballed from there.

I got obsessed with seeing my own shit in my favorite games. It was super fun (for the most part) to challenge myself to learn something new. Then with Covid totally taking my business I had tons of time and motivation to learn and try to transition into a new line of work.

I can’t even imagine having fun with what you do. Modding just looks stressful as hell. You know what they say about assumptions, but I’m going to assume you mod more than play?

One hundred percent.

“99% of the time porting from XL to Session is way more difficult than if let’s say I made it from scratch”

What about video games? [laughs] I had Skate or Die so when was that?

Oh man I couldn’t even tell you.

Well I definitely wasn’t playing it in 87 [laughs] so like early 90s.

Did you get into any other games?

Definitely. I was into all the Marios, Sonics, Street Fighter, Mortal Kombat and any sports games. I went from casual to hardcore around the time M.A.G and Battlefield 3 were popular, also around that time I “cleaned myself up” in real life and video games played a huge part in that.

Who’s your favorite MK character?

Damn that’s a tough one man, I’d probably have to go with Scorpion or Raiden. I did get down with the Cyborgs too.

All good picks! Scorpion has crazy com-

The patience it takes is out the window for me, but I’m glad there’s people like you that exist.

It’s definitely a learned “skill.” I still want to break shit all the time [laughs].

You’re really pushing the boundaries when it comes to what we’ve seen with modding in Session. Things I didn’t think you could do. How do you feel when someone says “you can’t do this.”

So that’s actually one of the first things told to me when I came over. I look at that statement as a challenge. What I’ve learned about games in general is they are like 99% illusion and anything is possible. It’s just finding out a way to make it work. At the end of the day man I’m just doing this to learn and it’s great I get to make mods and stuff for a game I’m actually into.

I know when it comes to porting maps, some people may look down on it. I don’t ask this question to stir drama but I’m curious about your view on any type of

Previous Page: S1ghtUnseen, Fs FiveO Right: PoppySquidJr, Fs PopShove it Nosegrind Bs 360 PopShove out

hate you’ve possibly received.

I mean the way I look at, if it was as easy as dragging and dropping a map from one game to another, then I could see where people make that judgement. To be honest, almost 99% of the time porting from XL to Session is way more difficult than if let’s say I made it from scratch. I like to take what was there and make sure it runs right in Session by fixing all the collisions, scale some things to fit the playstyle and updating the materials so it fits the engine. I also don’t claim it as my own. I think most people have this image that porting maps is somehow super easy, but for me I’m using it to jump head first into Unreal Engine to learn it. I do have a few custom maps in the works as well.

What’s next?

Mod or map wise?

Left: JoshLav64, Switch Heelflip Right: JoshLav64, Fs Lipslide

Both.

I’ve definitely slowed down on map making while I learn the character animation side of things. Map wise I’m thinking a West Coast map, or Bust or Bail [from Skater XL] for the port side of things. I have a few originals I’ve been slowly working on. I got a shit ton of gear dropping soon as well. From custom meshes to full custom characters made from scratch. The end goal for me has always been making a game.

I’m not sure if it will be skate related but I’m sure it will have a lot of skate elements in it.

Very thankful you decided to give Session a try and bring more to this community.

I’m excited to see what’s to come.

Appreciate you.

By doobeyboob

Fs Smith grind

SmUs Pitt has been a key player in the fakeskate scene for a very long time. For those who don’t know, SmUs has been around since the Skate 3 days, where he showed his amazing DIY skills while also giving props to everyone making content at the time.

In a community where everyone is taking likes or comments, SmUs is usually the one giving them.

It should then come as no surprise that he continued this trend with his DIY in Session, giving us some of the best DIY builds the community has seen.

Despite Session’s object dropper still being a work in progress, SmUs has managed to master the system, all without menus translated to his native tongue.

Ladies and gentlemen, SmUs Pitt has arrived in Session, and he’s making quite an entrance.

You’ve made some pretty elaborate parks in Session and I think everyone can attest to how difficult the object dropper can be.

What was it that inspired you to build these parks?

Good question. The inspiration to build this skatepark once more comes from the community and their support because I unfortunately never managed to completely present the park in version 0.0.0.5 in any form (except for a few pictures and clips there is not much to see) and due to the constant growth of new experiences and ideas.

Have you ever built anything IRL? Yes, I’ve actually done that before. At that time we had some abandoned warehouses and various spots made of old steel doors, pallets, bricks...... everything we could use we used.

I remember in Skate 3 days I saw that you rebuilt your hometown park, Griefswald. I assume from this that you also skate in real life. How long have you been skating?

11 years. This skate park [Greifswald] is something

very special for me because 15 years ago the skaters from our city requested to finally have an official place to skate. They approached our mayor and after a negotiation we finally had our park.

What’s the skate scene like in Germany?

I don’t notice any differences to the USA [skate scene]. The same problems, the same fun. We have competitions and sponsors (if you are interested you can find one under “Baltic Brett Battle 2011” on YouTube) Who’s your current favorite skater?

I don’t really have a favorite because there are just too many crazy skaters.

I feel you, I’m the same way to be honest.

I just want to know who Smus has his eye on right now?

Nyjah Huston If there was one thing you could ask the developers to put into the game that

would help park building, what would it be?

I would like you to take over the building functions of Skate 3 and there should be no limit to the number of objects.

And I wish that there is a possibility with which I can make my DIY construction accessible to everyone.

Is there anyone else in the community who does these types of builds who people may not know of ?

I don’t know anyone in the community the way I built it. There are only a few who specifically deal with DIY. The first guy that comes to mind is Soapy Sensei and Scrub Club. But lately the posts with DIY have increased and interest is growing. I am always looking for new designers and am ready to meet everyone into DIY to support.

Thank you Smuss!

Switch Bs Smith grind

LE DOME

Ported by Rico Suave Pictures & Text

BY MTL Ghost

Since the last update, a lot of Session players from the early days have come back and fallen in love with the game again. Kickstarter backer Rico Suave Games, proudly wearing his Crea-ture t-shirt on stream, spent three straight days playing the Kickstarter backer build in December, Barely leaving his seat to eat, sleep, or pee.

Since then he has never stopped, and brought his XL squad to Session to slowly take over the community with all their mods and maps ported from XL. The Suave Squad is a breath of fresh air in the community, and their dedication to modeling new stuff every day is a great source of inspiration.

Tell me about the background of the map.

Well, when the early version came out in beta of SkaterXL it wasn’t fully finished until just a few weeks ago, but I wanted to port it over since you know, I came over to Session.

Yeah!

And I asked Goya, the dude who made it, if I could port it over, and he said “Of course!” and shared his files with me.

Nice!

He actually skates there with another dude, so they went there and measured everything to get all the scale, real life textures, everything.

What was the most difficult task to do for porting it?

That would be setting the Blueprint for the triggers for the spots to spawn. Some of the material work was a bit tricky.

When did you start to port it?

Actually I started the porting in late February, to see all it go, and got a really rough version, then when I got the source files, a lot of stuff was in the wrong location, and he did a lot of work in the engine, so I had to replicate the work he did in the [Unity] engine, but for Unreal.

Ever been to France?

I haven’t, actually.

If you got two free tickets to Paris, who would you bring with you?

My mum, definitely. And I would bring my daughter too, yeah.

Besides your phone and your skateboard, what would be your most important object to bring with you?

I have to say a new deck. I know I would break it.

What spot would you hit first at Le Dome?

Probably that little flat bar [laughs] and the 3 stairs.

Red or white wine?

I dunno, I have to say red.

Cheddar or Camembert?

What? [laughs] The first one.

Camember t! It’s a classic French cheese. It’s probably the most smelly one ever.

What is your favorite French word?

Shit.

That is not French!

You put me on the spot, I don’t know much of French actually. Banana?

Banana? No, it’s not French either.

An Anana?

Previous Page: Fs Bluntslide / Right: Switch Bs 180 Backward Nosegrind

Click here to watch the teaser

An Ananas, yes for pineapple!

Yeah...

Who is your favorite French skateboarder?

Probably PLG? PLG? He’s not French, he’s from Montreal, he’s Canadian. Almost!

Pffffff.

Second try.

Damn, hmm, Bastien Salabanzi?

There you go. He’s French That dude is sick.

Have you watched his last part from Thrasher? It was a week ago I think.

I think so.

There was also a thirty minute retrospective video, super cool.

I have to rewatch it, yesterday I spent like 7 or 8 hours watching a ton of skate videos.

Which ones were on the top of it?

Top: Kickflip, Ollie / Right: Fs Flip

I watched Baker 4 with the homies, Vato. He had never seen Baker 4.

That’s a good one, it’s the transition video from the VX to HD format. It’s their first one fully in HD. Yeah, I like that one.

What do you need to be a part of the Suave Squad?

Really, there is no requirement. Just be friendly and respectful to all the members.

That’s about it.

What is next for the Suave Squad?

A bunch of new maps. I’m thinking about starting my own original project. But I want my porting to be finished first. A lot of mods coming up.

And I was thinking about doing a community video from the Suave Squad.

A Suave Squad video, that would be actually super sick!

Let’s go!

Thank you Rico, that’s it!

Thank you Ghost!

s1ght Unseen

s1ght Unseen

SPOTLIGHT

BY GOLDNOOSE

Session has been out for a bit over a year and although we’ve seen a plethora of amazing edits from the community, it is still rare to see great photos. Luckily, there are a handful of people like s1ghtunseen lurking around and making good use of their F12 key. S1ghtunseen has been making waves for months with his masterful camera work, and has also had some footage in community projects.

Being one of the few Session photographers, he was most definitely deserving of a spotlight.

Previous Page: Frontside Lip a curvy rail Here: Bs Nosegrind

When did you start playing Session?

I started playing Session last May. I bought the game on the eighth if I remember correctly.

Okay so you started in 0.0.0.5 Yeah, almost a year now.

I’m assuming you skate in real life but is it a safe assumption to say you are a photographer in real life?

I do skate, but no photography. Only Session screenshots [laughs].

Oh damn. So do you just have a thing for photography? Your pictures really stand out compared to others.

I got myself a DSLR camera about seven or eight years ago, but was never that interested in photography. For the most part, I just try to recreate skate photos in Session or make Session pictures look like real life skate photos.

You’re definitely killing it when it comes to photography. You have an eye for it. Did you have any favorite photographers or pictures in any magazine issues?

Thanks! It’s all inspired by skating, I love seeing a good skate photo and no favorites really. I just like going through magazines or checking photos online, I usually don’t pay that much attention to who shot the photo. It’s hard to pick favorites in skate photography, there are so many good photos and photographers out there.

Were you into the EA Skate scene?

I was a bit late to the party with EA Skate, I got myself a PS3 and Skate 3 in 2018. I was playing Tony Hawk games on my old PC before that. Online freeskate in Skate 3 was super fun though, hopefully we see something like that in Session down the line.

I feel that. I missed out on the EA Skate days. Did you get into [Skater] XL? I have twenty five hours in XL. I bought Session and XL around the same time, but didn’t really like XL. Creature’s vision for the game was always more appealing to me.

What got you into skating?

Honestly, I’m not even sure if I can recall what got me into skating. I remember one of my

neighbors had a board and I tried it a couple of times, then my cousin also gave me his super old complete that had plastic trucks and could barely roll. There was Rocket Power and Police Academy on TV at the time. I used to go to a local spot to watch skaters and BMXers as a kid too. I used to break my bones quite often doing stupid shit as a kid. There was at least a couple of years between my first introduction to skating and me seeing a skateboard then me getting my first board. So a lot happened during that period, but once I got my own board I was instantly hooked.

I’ll be honest, I’m a whole bitch and I never broke a bone as a kid cause I was always scared of getting hurt. I never tried anything crazy on my bike, just some bunnyhops here and there.

I never did anything that crazy either, most of my injuries were just accidents, like slipping on ice, stuff like that. I guess I just had weak bones as a kid. One time I was trying to do some “parkour” and broke my leg jumping over a waist-high fence while I still had a cast on my arm, that was dumb.

Favorite skater?

All time favorite is Heath Kirchart.

Favorite spot in Session?

There are two at the moment, Veterans Plaza and Muni.

Favorite time of day for pictures?

Favorite time is whenever I can get good lighting for the spot [laughs]. But I do like early mornings, seven to eight.

Do you have any edits out?

I have one, filmed back in August. These days I just try to get a clip or two for the Scrub Club community edits or for online challenges like Spot of the Week. I’m waiting for that replay editor overhaul. I do prefer free skating most of the time.

Thank you for taking the time and chatting man, I really appreciate it.

Sure man, no problem.

Previous Page: Backside 50-50 Here: Fakie Kickflip

Ollie, Bump to Hydrant

Photo gallery

Previous Page: MTL_Ghost, Pole Jam to Fakie Here: doobeyboob, Bs Crooked

Top Left: Entwoane, Bs Feeble Bottom Left: SoapySensei, Bs Hurricane Here: S1ghtUnseen, Fs Flip

Left: JoshLav64, Halfcab Crooked Top Right: DewSki_Dude_520, Fatty to Flatty Fs Flip Bottom Right: RyeDaddy16, Fakie Treflip over the Hydrant

Top Left: Vowll, Bs 50-50 Bottom Left: RyeDaddy16, Gap toBs Tailslide Top Right: BaggyTony, Fs Heelflip The Stairs Bottom Right: JustKilledaNoob, Bs Smith PoleJam

MTL_Ghost, Hippie Flip

Top Left: doobeyboob, Gap to Fs Noseslide Bottom Left: Xrossing, Fs Blunt Top Right: BigHog, Bs Feeble Bottom Right: RyeDaddy16, Switch PoleJam Gap

FrankThePirate, Nollie Flip Bs Tailslide Bigspin out

JustKilledaNoob, From the Pool, gap to Fs Crooked Stale to Switch Crooked.

Left: Kavras, Bs Feeble Right: Entwoane, Bs Noseblunt

DirtyWRXGuy, Ollie

kinky Bs Feeble

Text & Photos by MTL Ghost

Wizardry with

RMS

Remember the last time you had an idea in your head, and it seems to be a great one, and then when you tried to explain it to someone or put it on paper, it looked like crap? Well to me, it happens all the time. But with people like RMS, that’s not the case. He’s the kind of guy who never gives up until the job is done. He’s also the kind of guy that will push his own limits constantly, creating new mods that nobody thought were possible. RMS is the kind of guy who is precious to our community, and his knowledge and motivation can make big waves.

All the pictures are made with the RMS Tool Suite Mods

How long have you been in Montreal?

I moved in 2016, so it’s been five years.

Was it your career path that brought you here?

Yes, I really wanted to travel, to see something else. I found a job opportunity here, so I moved here with my wife.

Guess you must be in the video game industry, because you seem pretty good at it?

No, I don’t work in the video game industry [laughs].

Really? That’s crazy!

In fact, the first time I opened Unreal Engine was when I decided to work on my first map. A map that never came out, just before “Hometown.” It was a test that I had done, to then do “Hometown.” I learned Unreal Engine by working on it.

It’s been a short time then, was it last year that you released [“Hometown”]?

Yes that’s right!

So it’s been one year since you opened Unreal!

It’s crazy [laughs].

How did you first find Session?

I discovered it a bit by chance, on a news site I believe. The Kickstarter was already over. I followed the news, and as soon as the game arrived in Early Access

Shredding throughout the Season is now possible

[on Steam], I bought it. And I really tripped! Then I saw more and more custom maps coming out, and I thought it didn’t look that complicated, so I wanted to give it a try and I did. When I made my first map it was funny, but I wanted to make a more interactive map. I wanted to challenge myself a bit.

I said to myself “why not add a little story around?” and “[Hometown] Chapter 1” came out like that, finally.

The bar was already high.

I am a very stubborn person.

The production value is even higher on “Chapter 2” than the original, which is amazing.

What made you go with these characters and this story?

In fact, when I started “Chapter 1” I wasn’t sure where I was going. It’s really new to me. The story originally was about a skater going back to his childhood skatepark, and it brought back memories. I wanted to make an open skatepark, but it was going to be complicated, I would have had to do all the buildings around. So I chose an interior decor, and the factory was a pretty interesting setting. I thought about all of the story modes in other skateboarding games and wanted to try something else. Mixing genres, and so I went in that direction

What is special is that you not only do the maps, you also make the music!

Yeah, well I do it all [laughs].

It’s interesting, because you don’t just do 3D design, people can have skills in Unreal and be crap in the rest, but you are talented in everything [laughs].

The music is very cinematic and dramatic, was that a choice from the start?

As I did “Chapter 2,” I told myself that I had to do something fresh, I wanted to surprise people, I wanted everyone to say to themselves “wow, what is that! “ I really wanted people to say “I really didn’t expect to play this at all!”.

A friend told me that I will have to make the music myself so that the people who stream your map on Twitch or Youtube won’t have copyright problems, and I thought why not, and went for it. But I used to make music before!

Yeah, you won’t tell me that you learned music at the same time as Unreal [laugh].

[Laughs] Not at all, but I had never composed a score for anything. It was super fun, but it was a big challenge.

How much music did you compose for “Chapter 2?”

Including the music in the trailers, there were eight to ten tracks.

“Chapter 2” was a big wake up call for everyone, how was the feedback for you?

It’s funny, because I got more feedback for “Chapter 1” in the end. When it came out, I think people were surprised that there is a story mode in Session. There are quite a few people who wrote to tell me it was a good idea.

“Chapter 2” was over six months of hard work. I really had no free time during those six months, I was just doing that! But when it came out, I had almost no feedback; I admit that it was pretty hard to live with.

Really? It seemed to me like a lot of people reacted to the release of “Chapter 2.”

I got zero feedback. That’s why I said to myself, if I wanted to continue modding, I had to have some motivation, and that’s where the idea for Patreon started.

In exchange for a few dollars, you offer some really original mods that the world wanted to have and that didn’t exist.

I told myself that I was going to stop modding, it was

Gap to Wallride. RyeDaddy did it first, its called a homage

too much energy to spend for not enough return. But since I’m quite a keen guy anyway, I tried to look at how POV mode was implemented in Session vanilla maps. And when I got there, I thought to myself, what am I doing? The Patreon, it’s not really for the money, because I put very very low donations, but it was to have some motivation. To have a small community which gives me feedback and which motivates me to continue on these projects that take a lot of time and a lot of energy.

I needed to feel like I had people with me, and the Patreon came from there. Otherwise I would have stopped modding.

You just started it [the Patreon], but you’re already starting to have a lot of people on it, like around 40?

Yeah, and the feedback is good, and people seem to like it. It helps me to develop myself, because I am a very bad player on Session [laughs]. I spend more

tion of the game.

It’s a permanent battle! It’s very, very hard to mod the vanilla game. You do tests in your corner, compile some code, and it doesn’t work. And you don’t know why it’s not working. And think about why it didn’t work, and think about other solutions. It’s very hard.

The features you managed to do, you managed to get your mods to work on the vanilla game, which is extremely difficult on Unreal. And not just on a custom map, where you could have created your blueprint from scratch to make it work.

The main challenge was the POV, which I had already done in my maps, but I had to think a lot about how to integrate it into the vanilla maps. I tried a lot of things, and found a way to force my mods into the maps, but it was really hard!

I’ve tried lots of different ones, and I don’t even know if it’s the best way! In any case, it’s the one that works [laughs].

“I told myself that I had to do something fresh, I wanted to surprise people, I wanted everyone to say to themselves “wow, what is that! “ I really wanted people to say “I really didn’t expect to play this at all!”.

time modding it than playing it. So that I have feedback from the world which is very interesting with features that I would not have thought of.

99% of the mods in Session are maps or cosmetics, and you are one of a handful of people who are able to modify the engine in Unreal.

Why did you go in this direction, instead of just making a map like everyone else?

What I wanted more than anything was to tell a story, and “Hometown” is just an excuse to do that. People would be like “When I play a game of skateboarding, that’s not the kind of story I play.” I wanted to do something different.

After that, when I decided to do the Patreon, POV is good, but I wanted to push my limits and think about what features would be cool to have that are not available in the vanilla game. And so I made a list of lots of features, and I try to do them, one after the other.

I knew I could do the different weather because I had done it in “Chapter 2.” I had done rain, but I didn’t think I could go further than that [laughs].

It’s crazy how far you’ve already managed to go! And to think that you don’t have access to the original game files. That’s just a modifica-

Since I have access to nothing in the game, I had to think outside of the box. Instead of telling myself that this mods the official way is that, I thought about what I could do to use another way, diverted and had the same result. Sometimes you have to try silly things, and sometimes it works.

Besides being stubborn, is there some luck involved as well?

Luck, not really, because you have to code everything yourself. You have to think about it to make it work.

But sometimes there are happy accidents.

What are your next challenges?

I have a lot, like I told you, I made a list! The idea for the Patreon was that too, I’m going to work in my corner on features, and when I feel that something is achievable, I’ll do some votes on the Patreon, for example, “What would you like to have? NPCs? Or this other feature?” And people can choose what they want first. And like that, I can develop things that people want, eventually.

What feature would you like to see in Session?

A feature in the game? Or someone who could help me mod? [laughs] A bit of both [laughs].

Anything that could help me mod, but they can’t just give me the source code of course.

Honestly, the thing I love about Crea-ture is that they see what I’m doing and tell me if they think it’s cool or not. That’s enough for me! And if they tell me that it gives them ideas to develop a better version [of a mod for the vanilla game] later, that’s great! I’d like to think I can help hold people over between updates [laughs].

[Laughs] The Appetizer!

It’s exactly that! For example the Photo Tool, I know very well that they are going to make one, it is obvious!

Yeah, chances are, especially with the new replay editor being in the works right now, it could happen soon. Are you ever afraid to spend some time on a mod which might end up in the game before you have time to release it?

That is the risk of the Early Access game! Things are going to change. But for me, if they see the Photo Tool, with the overlays and think it’s a good idea, that’s a mission accomplished for me.

Anything that will make the game better, I would be happy.

Before I got started on Unreal, I was doing code in Python, just for myself. To entertain myself in my spare time.

Just for fun! [Laughs] The last time I opened Python, I immediately closed it, not for me!

[Laughs] That was at a time when I wanted to challenge myself. I am very challenged as a guy. But in the end it helped me, because when I think about my mods, I think in code. The code is still that, how to find devious ways to find the same result. It helped me!

Blueprint mode [in Unreal Engine] was very easy for me, so I was able to find and test things easily.

Are we going to have a “[Hometown] Chapter 3?”

The “Chapter 3” is written, there is everything, there is the history, the settings, I know where it’s going to happen. I have a lot of very ambitious ideas. It would be appreciated by people more, because it will be more realistic. Less Epic & Fantasy like in the second chapter. And I have multiple endings. But honestly that would be such a huge job that I don’t think I will do it [laughs]. “Chapter 2” was six months of hard work, and I know if I want to jump into something this big.

Why not set up a team of several people to make it happen?

That would be the solution. But people should be aware that it is very demanding!

For “Chapter 2” I put my life on hold [laughs]. It’s hard work!

In any case, you did a very good job!

I thank you.

Click here to join the RMS patreon and get access to his mods (POV, DRONE, PHOTO TOOL, Weather changing is available)

Backtail in philly. Depth of field on point, you can thank RMS for that.

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Gap to long ass Fs Crooked

Last game you’ve played Battlefield V, on stream earlier today. I suck, but it gives me something else to play other than Session.

Last thing you’ve bought to upgrade your computer Bluetooth desktop speaker, last Christmas.

Last food you had Mexican food. A beef taco, enchiladas, rice and beans.

Last time you’ve broken your controller out of anger My controller is currently broken, so every single days. Every time on 0%.

Last movie you’ve watched Let’s say Shrek 2, it’s the one I remember watching.

Last book you’ve read The Hobbit.

Last time you’ve streamed 15 minutes ago.

Last time you’ve hit the gym 7:30 this morning.

Last map in Session Pyramid Ledges.

Last trick you’ve tried It was a ledge to handrail gap. Five-O to noseslide.

Last comic you’ve read The Batman Who Laughs.

Last country you visited Barcelona, Spain in 2015.

Last city you’ve visited Dallas, Texas.

Last Deck you’ve bought MikeMo, Girl Skateboards.

Last time you’ve shaved your mustache Monday.

Last time you’ve watched the Starlit video Oh man, you make me feel bad! I think 3 days ago.

Last time you got scared by a game In October, Layers of Fear 2.

Last time you ate a burger?

Tonight actually. I’m grilling some burgers, if that counts!

Last time you’ve skated I’m gonna go on record right now and say that I’m a fucking poser. I grew up in a small town in Texas and you could only skate in your driveway, but also my small town is really really really into football and other sports. There was a rule with the coaches where if you were skating and they saw you were skating, you’d be kicked off of the team because they didn’t want you to get injured. You’d start the year by getting your position and you skate on the side, and if you get injured and can’t play, that will hurt the team.

That was the whole mentality. I liked skateboarding, these guys looked cool, and [they were] doing a bunch of cool shit. By the time I was able to get out of school and not doing sports anymore, I had broken my spine twice.

Me going out skating is not the best, but I still go in my backyard and do some ollies and shuvs. I’m just not going to a skatepark or anything. I’m at a point in my life where if something goes wrong, I’m so fucked [laughs]. I’ve always watched old VHS and DVDs, but I can’t ever go out and do it. I live vicariously through Skate 3, Tony Hawk games, and Session. But I’m a fucking poser.

But the last time I’ve touched my board was last week.

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