The implementation of the divided animation system on the Flex models also worked really well. We used 3D Studio Max to create all of our static world objects, as well as the simpler animations. Softimage was used for almost all our animations, which were not - contrary to popular belief - the product of motion capture. The new model type was called a Flex Model, and was a product of Softimage. The new format also supported code reference points on the models so that we could create special effects at a specific point on the model, such as Corvus’s hands or feet. It’s a nice bit of realism, and added a lot to the feeling of character immersion. A backbone was necessary to allow Corvus to look around when the camera was moved. We modified the whole modeling system so that we could have models with rudimentary backbones. Our models aren’t your run-of the-mill Quake 2. But this was in our favor because it forced us to tighten up and examine our code more thoroughly than we might have done otherwise. When it came to quality assurance, QA at Activision was especially tough on us because they’d just released a product that wasn’t as bug free as it might have been. We did have some worries about the in-game cinematics, but Rick Johnson came to our rescue with a scripting system he was developing for the fledgling Soldier Of Fortune. After that, we hit crunch time hard to get the game done. E3 came and went, along with the display of our demo (which brought a lot of surprised and enthusiastic reactions). We hemmed and hawed over a pre-release demo until we finally decided to do one (ultimately, we were a couple of days late with it, mainly due to a malfunctioning load/save option ). We commissioned a Russian group known as Creat to do our pre-rendered sequences. We recorded voice actors to portray Corvus and the tome. Traditionally, fantasy games have a strong following in Europe, so building a game to meet European considerations was important for us.ĭevelopment progressed over the year in spurts - as development does. At this point, the marketing department at Activision got involved and informed us that a software renderer was a requirement because Europe is traditionally about two years behind the States in hardware, so most Europeans would not have 3D acceleration. We had many discussions about the wisdom of attempting to implement a software renderer. Pat Lipo decided on the critical systems we would need to address, and development commenced. Brian Pelletier took over as project lead, and the team drew up the project design document. Once we showed our demo to Activision, the publisher gave us the green light, and we hammered out a delivery date so that we could be done by Christmas. The camera was actually one of the easiest things to build. Next, the company commissioned a technology demo to ascertain whether or not it was possible to use the Quake II engine to build a third-person game with an intuitive camera. This art helped shape the direction and flavor of the worlds and the creatures that would inhabit them. We’d always intended for it to be an action game - we wanted cool worlds, cool monsters, and exciting ways to hand out death.Īfter the company decided to go ahead with the project, we quickly commissioned the fantasy artist Brom to create some conceptual art. After seeing what Core had done with Tomb Raider, we decided to see what we could do with that original idea and id’s Quake II engine. So we shelved the idea until it could be done right. It had actually been proposed a while back here at Raven, but at the time, the technology to do it convincingly just wasn’t there. We designed Heretic II as a third-person action game from the word go.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |