Gaming Havens has updated the Return of the King Coverage with Designer Diaries and some Exclusive Concept Art of Minas Tirith. [More]
Month: June 2003
Designer Diary by Level Designer Paul Pettross.
I’m responsible for the paper design and scripting of several levels in The Lord of the Rings, The Return of the King, as well as some general design duties. This covers everything from early level design and planning to actually assembling the levels in the game environment.
Paper design is an early stage of level design in which we map out the general game space and plan the player’s experience in various sections of the level. We’ll go so far as to specify enemy types, special props, and combat setups. This stage of level design is really exciting because in our heads we start to see the levels and the surprises they’ll hold.
Scripting involves actually implementing the things we call for in paper design. We use an in-house tool that works in conjunction with a 3D authoring tool to place elements in the level. We’ll place enemies and plan their movements as well as placing animated doors, bridges, catapults and other objects the player can interact with.
One really exciting aspect of The Return of the King is the co-operative multiplayer (co-op) gameplay, which I’ve been working on. I wrote the documentation for co-op play, and I’ve been testing new co-op features as they come online. We built a special level just to show off the multiplayer action, and that level was featured in the demo at E3.
Players will be able to fight co-operatively against hordes of enemies as they make their way through the game. They’ll have the ability to choose characters that complement each other’s fighting styles, and we’re even discussing the possibility of offensive combo moves and defensive back-to-back positions that players can deploy together. Players will also be able to help each other out by picking up power-ups that boost the other player.
We’d also like to have certain props in the game that both players need to work together to activate, such as large gate winches and powerful projectile devices like ballistae or catapults. However, since we know a lot of siblings are going to play the game, we decided that some objects that are activated by one player should be able to inflict damage on another player. This will lead to some good “gotcha” moments and slightly competitive gameplay.
I think co-op gameplay will have a tremendous impact on the game’s “fun factor.” It will allow players to truly immerse themselves in the experience—because they will not only “live the movie” themselves, but also share those moments with friends. It’s certainly a hit with our team. It’s been a treat to see other team members shouting and laughing as they play co-operatively and fight off swarms of Uruk-Hai. They’re obviously having a good time, and the experience is only going to get better and better as development continues.
I hope you found this informative. It’s always a pleasure to share my work with the people who love it, and to generate some excitement for a great project like this.
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Stay tuned for next month’s design diary!
My name is Glen Schofield and I am the Executive Producer on The Lord of the Rings™: The Return of the King™. I’m here to tell you a little about what I do and the work we’ve done on the The Return of the King demo that was shown at E3.
My responsibilities change from time to time but right now I am directly responsible for getting the game levels designed and completed. The process we go through to create levels starts with a great design and then continues with pre-production for each level. We recently finished designing the levels and are starting the process of building them.
Here’s an example of the steps we take to build a level. First, we look at the movie script and determine what the highlights from the film will be for that level. Then we determine what mission or missions will be included and how much action we want for that particular level.
Once we’ve determined what elements will be in a level, we sit down and have many brainstorming meetings. After throwing around a lot of ideas, we determine the main bullet points for the levels, design a map, create many drawings, and grab all the references from the movie. Based on these ideas and references we create an animatic for the level, which is like an animated storyboard showing the level’s key moments. We try to do as much design as we can on paper so that when we get into the building phase we have most of our questions about the gameplay answered. This also allows us to troubleshoot a lot of problems in advance.
Right now, the biggest challenge we are encountering is just trying to match the breathtaking look and feel of the movies. The movies are so grand and beautiful that we need to create something just as spectacular to do the films and Peter Jackson, the movie’s director, justice.
The focus on movie authenticity has been challenging because it enters into all aspects of the design process. Because of this, we’ve been working very closely with New Line Cinema, getting the actual reference photos, drawings, models, and other props from the movie and using those as our guide. We go so far as to get lighting studies and motion-capture data from the creators of the movie themselves. We even hired the same stunt doubles from the movie to help us render the most realistic movements in the game. We are always trying to outdo the work we did on the last game.
Our work on the E3 demo was difficult, but rewarding. Like I said, we are always trying to create a bigger, better game experience than ever before. For E3, this meant that players got to see even cooler moments, more expansive scenes and levels, incredible explosions, a brand new lighting scheme, and a state-of-the-art camera design. I think we blew people away.
This year the E3 demo featured six playable characters instead of three. We have added Gandalf as a playable character, complete with his own range of magic effects and weapons. We have even added a two-player, cooperative mode. These new features, we expect, will be huge, and we’re definitely very excited about them.
Obviously we hoped to impress any E3 attendee that experienced The Return of the King demo but we also hoped that attendees walked away from the demo thinking we have created one of the most spectacular games they have ever seen. For us, the hours are long and the work sometimes seems endless, but everyone knows the rewards are worth it.
Well that’s about it from my end. I hope you’ve enjoyed learning about this fantastic game we are building and the steps we took to bring fans the exclusive demo for E3. Stay tuned for next month’s designer diary!
The official site has announced the specific features on the 4-disc package to be released in November. In addition to over 40 minutes of new footage, discs 3 & 4 are to be jam-packed with design/photo galleries, an interactive map guide to shooting locations, an up-close look at Massive, and much, much more! [View the full list]
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Collector’s Boxed Set LOTRShop.com: Collector’s Boxed Set |
The official site has announced the specific features on the 4-disc package to be released in November. In addition to all the goodies below, the Platinum Series Collector’s version will also contain an awesome Gollum statue from Sideshow/Weta Collectibles!
DISCS 1-2: THE FEATURE
FEATURE (approx. 214 minutes)
A new version of the second installment in the epic trilogy! The film includes over 40 minutes of never-before-seen footage incorporated into the film, made especially for this video release:
— Widescreen (2.35:1) version of the Special Extended Edition
— Dolby Digital EX 5.1 Surround Sound
— DTS ES 6.1 Surround Sound
— Stereo Surround Sound
— Four audio commentaries by director and writers, the design team the production team and the cast featuring more than 30 participants including Peter Jackson, Elijah Wood, Sean Astin, Orlando Bloom and Academy Award® winners Richard Taylor, Howard Shore, Randy Cook…and many more
— Some speculation on what the extra 40 minutes footage might include
DISCS 3-4: THE APPENDICES
Two discs with hours of original content including multiple documentaries and design/photo galleries with thousands of images to give viewers an in-depth behind-the-scenes look at The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers:
DISC 3
— Adapting the book into a screenplay & planning the film
— Designing and inspiration for locations in Middle-earth
— Storyboards to pre-visualization
— Weta Workshop visit – See sculptors in action as they create the weapons, armor, creatures and miniatures from the film
— Atlas of Middle-earth: Tracing the journey of the Fellowship
— An interactive map of New Zealand highlighting the location scouting process
— Galleries of art and slideshows with commentaries by the artists
— And much more!
DISC 4
— Sending actors to battle – preparation for sword fighting
— Principal photography: Stories from the set
— Digital effects including motion capture and “Massive” (a program to create armies of Orcs)
— “Bigatures” – A close-up look at the detailed miniatures used in the film
— Galleries of behind-the-scenes photographs and personal cast photos
— Post-production – editing it all together
— Sound design demonstration
— And much more!
DVD-ROM CONTENT: Includes access to exclusive online features
Remember, pre-ordering through TheOneRing.net sponsored links will help TheOneRing.net stay online and pay our bandwidth bills coming December! Thank you in advance!
Pre-Order Links:
Amazon.com: Extended Edition Only Collector’s Boxed Set
LOTRShop.com: Collector’s Boxed Set
Johnny Depp, Orlando Bloom, and the stars of the $125 million Pirates of the Caribbean film have joined about 1,500 guests at Disneyland for its first ever movie screening. [More]