Technology Wii Articles/Updates
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Evolving the Graphics
Artistic director Stephane Bachelet speaks in detail about improving Red Steel's visuals. Plus, 10 exclusive new screenshots!
by Matt Casamassina
August 17, 2006 - Publisher Ubisoft is working overtime to deliver Wii owners a ground-up exclusive first-person shooter called Red Steel in time for the launch of Nintendo's new generation system later this year. The developer offered gamers a first glimpse of the title in playable form at May's Electronic Entertainment Expo. Since that time, the team working on the ambitious project has been improving both controls and visuals for the better. Red Steel's artistic director, Stephane Bachelet, explains the process of updating the graphics in the write-up below.
IGN Wii has exclusively posted 10 new screenshots of Red Steel to complement today's article.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Where are you with Red Steel graphically speaking?
In terms of graphics, we proceed step by step for Red Steel.
First of all, it took a few months before we decided to use Japan as the main settings. So during this period, we researched different ideas and locations and the style that could be interesting to highlight it. As we did not have any technical info at this time, it was a very open minded period: any idea could be the good one.
Red Steel artistic director Stephane Bachelet
Then, once we decided to have the game in Japan, we started working on style and graphic intentions. Concerning the game's graphic style, we again made tons of research. We had a clear idea of what we wanted to do. But the challenge was, how could we do it? The console was in development, so we worked on Nintendo GameCube kits and PC and made projections based on the technical specs we started receiving.
The Wii kits actually arrived one month prior E3. The E3 demo had to be delivered so quick that we could not take time to implement the whole graphic chart we developed. So, the E3 version's graphics was a work in progress, just to be show-able, but not finished. We wanted to take time to see people play for the first time with our game, help them to handle the Wii remote and finally, let the door open to all useful changes that would be necessary for the gameplay.
Now we work on developing our complete style specific to Red Steel that will not only be a great support to the scenario and the gameplay, but also be the visual identity and signature for this new brand. We keep working a lot on the impact of the graphics and on the way the player plays as well.
Do you feel limited vs. the power of the console?
The relative power of the console set a limit, in fact. That is why we started working on a stylish realistic rendering rather than on a pure photorealism treatment, with shaders and other heavy effects. The idea is to provide eye-catching scenes that are really cool and emphasize the action of the game, rather than places that highlight impressive effect, which you do not pay any attention to in the middle of the action anyway.
Can you please tell us more about the style?
The game takes place in Japan, but Japan was not our only source of inspiration. In contrary, we wanted to focus on the experience of a US man in a foreign country and on the cultural shock of all the differences that can jump to his eyes. It was key for us to keep an occidental look. When a westerner goes to Japan, the most striking element is that there are tons of colors everywhere. A typical street in Japan is full of advertisements, flags, and neon lights. It is the same thing if you look at a magazine or inside a shop. For us, it was not interesting to render this heavy colored style as it would have been difficult for the player to rapidly identify enemies in a multi-colored background.
Therefore, we took inspiration from a completely different style where flashy colors are there, but not everywhere: 70s "films noirs" such as Straw Dogs. It was interesting for us as it is a very edgy, dark atmosphere with tons of attitudes and colors: a perfect inspiration for us. Moreover such references work perfectly with gangsters and mafia. We just adapted it to Japan and Yakuzas. Unfortunately, we did not have enough time to implement it into the E3 version
So how does it look?
To give the darker ambiance we use a lot a "de-saturation" treatment above this look. By de-saturation, I mean we lower all the colors and have more colored grey in the end than real colors. In parallel, we also push the lighting system. We implement tons of flashy colourful neon lights and objects. Sometimes, they are even blurred sources of lights, which shine with bloom within the grey atmosphere.
In addition, we contrast a lot the graphics: lights are more powerful, shadows are darker.
In the end, the goal is to look old but not black and white and flashy colors add a touch of modernism. We support a lot the "films noirs" side of the game, but we adapt it our way.
Note that these contrasts between shadows and colors should also help the player to progress / to be guided through the levels. In the same idea, characters will be less desaturated in order to be more visible for more comfort.
How do you recognize Japan in the game?
You will recognize Japan because you're an occidental person and this game is designed with Japan being seen by occidental people. So we use the typical stereotypes: geisha, ideograms, paper rice, etc.
We made two trips in Japan to make pictures and notes. We present Japan as best we can as seen by our occidental emotions and vision. At the end it is like the Kill Bill Vol. 1 movie. It is a high concentration of stereotypes about Japan that are used in a very exciting way for a westerner audience.
It seems that you also work a lot on oppositions, can you explain more?
Sure! The "oppositions" are something we worked on at all levels for the development of Red Steel. This is the hearth of the game because it is cool but also really faithful to Japan and the game concept. For instance, the story of a US guy who discovers a new Asiatic culture and the mix of modernism and traditions presented everywhere in Japan. For all westerner, Japan is the country where you have ancestral traditions and looks (Geishas, kimonos, ninjas, etc.) and at a same level, top-notch technology with all the electronic devices you can find. At a graphic level, it gives us the opportunity to build the maps around this contrast. This can be illustrated with a Dojo lost in the middle of modern buildings.
What areas and characters were the most fun to create and re-create?
It was very fun to work on the Geisha pleasure level with small streets, both traditional and untraditional. The traditional side of Japan is really interesting to develop, such as the bamboo forest. In terms of characters, all of them were fun to develop, but the fisher men and the characters from the Gun Fighting map that we will unveil later were the funniest to create. Of course, Mama San was also very cool to create and design.
What is the link between the game style vs. the story vs. the atmosphere?
All points influence and complete all points. The game is all about style and edginess. This is rendered by this specific eye-catching style, the exotic locations and the fascinating underworld of Yakuzas. Everything goes together to build a really cool and exciting experience.
Check out new screenshots in the media section below.
Artistic director Stephane Bachelet speaks in detail about improving Red Steel's visuals. Plus, 10 exclusive new screenshots!
by Matt Casamassina
August 17, 2006 - Publisher Ubisoft is working overtime to deliver Wii owners a ground-up exclusive first-person shooter called Red Steel in time for the launch of Nintendo's new generation system later this year. The developer offered gamers a first glimpse of the title in playable form at May's Electronic Entertainment Expo. Since that time, the team working on the ambitious project has been improving both controls and visuals for the better. Red Steel's artistic director, Stephane Bachelet, explains the process of updating the graphics in the write-up below.
IGN Wii has exclusively posted 10 new screenshots of Red Steel to complement today's article.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Where are you with Red Steel graphically speaking?
In terms of graphics, we proceed step by step for Red Steel.
First of all, it took a few months before we decided to use Japan as the main settings. So during this period, we researched different ideas and locations and the style that could be interesting to highlight it. As we did not have any technical info at this time, it was a very open minded period: any idea could be the good one.
Red Steel artistic director Stephane Bachelet
Then, once we decided to have the game in Japan, we started working on style and graphic intentions. Concerning the game's graphic style, we again made tons of research. We had a clear idea of what we wanted to do. But the challenge was, how could we do it? The console was in development, so we worked on Nintendo GameCube kits and PC and made projections based on the technical specs we started receiving.
The Wii kits actually arrived one month prior E3. The E3 demo had to be delivered so quick that we could not take time to implement the whole graphic chart we developed. So, the E3 version's graphics was a work in progress, just to be show-able, but not finished. We wanted to take time to see people play for the first time with our game, help them to handle the Wii remote and finally, let the door open to all useful changes that would be necessary for the gameplay.
Now we work on developing our complete style specific to Red Steel that will not only be a great support to the scenario and the gameplay, but also be the visual identity and signature for this new brand. We keep working a lot on the impact of the graphics and on the way the player plays as well.
Do you feel limited vs. the power of the console?
The relative power of the console set a limit, in fact. That is why we started working on a stylish realistic rendering rather than on a pure photorealism treatment, with shaders and other heavy effects. The idea is to provide eye-catching scenes that are really cool and emphasize the action of the game, rather than places that highlight impressive effect, which you do not pay any attention to in the middle of the action anyway.
Can you please tell us more about the style?
The game takes place in Japan, but Japan was not our only source of inspiration. In contrary, we wanted to focus on the experience of a US man in a foreign country and on the cultural shock of all the differences that can jump to his eyes. It was key for us to keep an occidental look. When a westerner goes to Japan, the most striking element is that there are tons of colors everywhere. A typical street in Japan is full of advertisements, flags, and neon lights. It is the same thing if you look at a magazine or inside a shop. For us, it was not interesting to render this heavy colored style as it would have been difficult for the player to rapidly identify enemies in a multi-colored background.
Therefore, we took inspiration from a completely different style where flashy colors are there, but not everywhere: 70s "films noirs" such as Straw Dogs. It was interesting for us as it is a very edgy, dark atmosphere with tons of attitudes and colors: a perfect inspiration for us. Moreover such references work perfectly with gangsters and mafia. We just adapted it to Japan and Yakuzas. Unfortunately, we did not have enough time to implement it into the E3 version
So how does it look?
To give the darker ambiance we use a lot a "de-saturation" treatment above this look. By de-saturation, I mean we lower all the colors and have more colored grey in the end than real colors. In parallel, we also push the lighting system. We implement tons of flashy colourful neon lights and objects. Sometimes, they are even blurred sources of lights, which shine with bloom within the grey atmosphere.
In addition, we contrast a lot the graphics: lights are more powerful, shadows are darker.
In the end, the goal is to look old but not black and white and flashy colors add a touch of modernism. We support a lot the "films noirs" side of the game, but we adapt it our way.
Note that these contrasts between shadows and colors should also help the player to progress / to be guided through the levels. In the same idea, characters will be less desaturated in order to be more visible for more comfort.
How do you recognize Japan in the game?
You will recognize Japan because you're an occidental person and this game is designed with Japan being seen by occidental people. So we use the typical stereotypes: geisha, ideograms, paper rice, etc.
We made two trips in Japan to make pictures and notes. We present Japan as best we can as seen by our occidental emotions and vision. At the end it is like the Kill Bill Vol. 1 movie. It is a high concentration of stereotypes about Japan that are used in a very exciting way for a westerner audience.
It seems that you also work a lot on oppositions, can you explain more?
Sure! The "oppositions" are something we worked on at all levels for the development of Red Steel. This is the hearth of the game because it is cool but also really faithful to Japan and the game concept. For instance, the story of a US guy who discovers a new Asiatic culture and the mix of modernism and traditions presented everywhere in Japan. For all westerner, Japan is the country where you have ancestral traditions and looks (Geishas, kimonos, ninjas, etc.) and at a same level, top-notch technology with all the electronic devices you can find. At a graphic level, it gives us the opportunity to build the maps around this contrast. This can be illustrated with a Dojo lost in the middle of modern buildings.
What areas and characters were the most fun to create and re-create?
It was very fun to work on the Geisha pleasure level with small streets, both traditional and untraditional. The traditional side of Japan is really interesting to develop, such as the bamboo forest. In terms of characters, all of them were fun to develop, but the fisher men and the characters from the Gun Fighting map that we will unveil later were the funniest to create. Of course, Mama San was also very cool to create and design.
What is the link between the game style vs. the story vs. the atmosphere?
All points influence and complete all points. The game is all about style and edginess. This is rendered by this specific eye-catching style, the exotic locations and the fascinating underworld of Yakuzas. Everything goes together to build a really cool and exciting experience.
Check out new screenshots in the media section below.
also:: Red Steel Trailer by UbiSoft: http://www.navig8.to/?http://media.ubi.com/emea/redsteel/videos/Red_Steel_GC_trailer.wmv
^^^ pitiful cards fan...musta spent alotta his tax money on the new busch stadium...such a beautiful stadium with such a homo team..
sucky baseball teams aside, i honestly see no compelling reason to buy the Wii....the price really shouldnt be too much of an issue....just cuz it's cheap, you buy it??? i mean....what is different about what N said about the GCN that it hasnt said about Wii??? its the same crap..."it's gonna compete with the big boys...blah blah blah....it's cheap".....hey, so are japanese hybrid cars....doesnt mean you should go out and buy one.... im still gonna wait this console war out...i've learned from my Gaycube....dont trust N......
to be honest with you, im more of an xbox fan than a nintendo fan....xbox 360 or a Wii and someone was giving it to me for free?? right now, i'd take a gamble and say that the 360 would be my choice, regardless of what the Wii's launch lineup is..... 360 will be like its xbox predecessor..... take a year to warm up the engine, then come full blast on all 12 cylinders...that's right..12...plus it has a turbo...so its hauling ass...keep in mind...this one year mark is coming up in about 3 months or so...the other two are a year behind....
sucky baseball teams aside, i honestly see no compelling reason to buy the Wii....the price really shouldnt be too much of an issue....just cuz it's cheap, you buy it??? i mean....what is different about what N said about the GCN that it hasnt said about Wii??? its the same crap..."it's gonna compete with the big boys...blah blah blah....it's cheap".....hey, so are japanese hybrid cars....doesnt mean you should go out and buy one.... im still gonna wait this console war out...i've learned from my Gaycube....dont trust N......
to be honest with you, im more of an xbox fan than a nintendo fan....xbox 360 or a Wii and someone was giving it to me for free?? right now, i'd take a gamble and say that the 360 would be my choice, regardless of what the Wii's launch lineup is..... 360 will be like its xbox predecessor..... take a year to warm up the engine, then come full blast on all 12 cylinders...that's right..12...plus it has a turbo...so its hauling ass...keep in mind...this one year mark is coming up in about 3 months or so...the other two are a year behind....
I can see you point about the Gamecube, when it was released all it had going for it was new Zelda and Mario games, That was it. It pretty much had no online support, thrid party support was terrible and it had no other features, it couldn't play DVD's or CD's. I have a Gamecube and I've enjoyed it, Zelda: The Wind Waker, Mario Sunshine, Metroid Prime 1 & 2, Resident Evil 4, Eternal Darkness, and Metal Gear Solid: The Twin Snakes are all great games. And the reason I got it was to play great games.
The Wii will have on-line support, and it will be free. How good it will be remains to be seen, also you'll be able to download NES, SNES, N64 and Sega Genesis games from their "arcade" but it's not yet known weither it's free or will cost some buck. The Wii intrigues the hell out of me, it's giving you something completely new and innovative, where it will have you react to almost anything you're playing also, there's a speaker in the remote that will transfer certain sounds from the remote to your television. That's fucking impressive. Also it's launch day line-up comletely shits on the PS3 and the 360's. Zelda: Twilight Princess, Metroid Prime 3, Red Steel and Wii Sports, and after that they'll have Super Smash Bros. Brawl, Prince of Persia, a Sonic game made speficially for the Wii and Super Mario Galaxy. Also the games are rumored to be staying right at the $50 range. It can't get here any faster.
Well 5 years from now, I think the 360 is going to be on top, but I wouldn't be shocked if the Wii was, I have that coming in second and the PS3 doomed. I'm not even thinking about the PS3 right now. The price of it has completely turned me off, and it's going to have so many problems, possibly more than the 360 did after it's launch. I'm not the only one who thinks this. I look at long term, and it'll be about 2 years before the price drops and it won't be a significant price drop either. You're looking at shelling out $600 for the console, $40 for a second controller and 2-4 games at $60 bucks each. That's over $800 right there. If you have bills to pay and food to buy, the PS3 is out of the question.
I have a 360, and there are good games out right now(Oblivion is a great game), but Gears of War is going to heat things up, that's a game that will sell 360's and it's coming out 5 days before the PS3. It's going to have alot more games with alot of buzz around them right after that.
The Wii will have on-line support, and it will be free. How good it will be remains to be seen, also you'll be able to download NES, SNES, N64 and Sega Genesis games from their "arcade" but it's not yet known weither it's free or will cost some buck. The Wii intrigues the hell out of me, it's giving you something completely new and innovative, where it will have you react to almost anything you're playing also, there's a speaker in the remote that will transfer certain sounds from the remote to your television. That's fucking impressive. Also it's launch day line-up comletely shits on the PS3 and the 360's. Zelda: Twilight Princess, Metroid Prime 3, Red Steel and Wii Sports, and after that they'll have Super Smash Bros. Brawl, Prince of Persia, a Sonic game made speficially for the Wii and Super Mario Galaxy. Also the games are rumored to be staying right at the $50 range. It can't get here any faster.
Well 5 years from now, I think the 360 is going to be on top, but I wouldn't be shocked if the Wii was, I have that coming in second and the PS3 doomed. I'm not even thinking about the PS3 right now. The price of it has completely turned me off, and it's going to have so many problems, possibly more than the 360 did after it's launch. I'm not the only one who thinks this. I look at long term, and it'll be about 2 years before the price drops and it won't be a significant price drop either. You're looking at shelling out $600 for the console, $40 for a second controller and 2-4 games at $60 bucks each. That's over $800 right there. If you have bills to pay and food to buy, the PS3 is out of the question.
I have a 360, and there are good games out right now(Oblivion is a great game), but Gears of War is going to heat things up, that's a game that will sell 360's and it's coming out 5 days before the PS3. It's going to have alot more games with alot of buzz around them right after that.
i really havent kept track of video games as a whole...madden caught by surprise this tuesday, but is the ps3 out in japan?? i know the japanese would buy it right away as they would the Wii...but over here, tastes are different...we don't want innovative... i dont want innovative...i want something that's comfortable to play, and fun too...the Wii maybe the latter, but i really dont like the control...still, i cant say anything about it until it comes out, but then neither can anyone else supporting it
PUNCTUATE, for crying out loud.
Anyway, the reason to buy a Wii is pretty simple.
Wii: For people who want to play new, innovative and fun games.
PS3/360: For people who want to play the same games they've been playing for the past 6 years, only with better graphics.
And you can say you're not sure about the controller, but all the feedback from E3 was positive. Besides, you can always use a peripheral to turn it into a more traditional controller.
Anyone who wouldn't like to play a Star Wars game and actually swing the lightsaber around has no soul and deserves to spend all eternity in a lake of fire playing all the generic FPS's, war games and sports titles that the other consoles have to offer.
Anyway, the reason to buy a Wii is pretty simple.
Wii: For people who want to play new, innovative and fun games.
PS3/360: For people who want to play the same games they've been playing for the past 6 years, only with better graphics.
And you can say you're not sure about the controller, but all the feedback from E3 was positive. Besides, you can always use a peripheral to turn it into a more traditional controller.
Anyone who wouldn't like to play a Star Wars game and actually swing the lightsaber around has no soul and deserves to spend all eternity in a lake of fire playing all the generic FPS's, war games and sports titles that the other consoles have to offer.
5 years ago, those would have the words of the nintendo fanboys trying to persuade everyone on the boards to get a gamecube....
what if people dont want innovative games?? different systems are for different styles of gamers....the Wii is for the more enthusiastic gamer.....the games that are made for it and promoted by nintendo, first party games included, are all games taht use "innovation"
but what if i just wanna play madden, nba live, a baseball game and then some shooting game like halo?? or a multiplayer game like halo and whatever else is out there?? why would i wanna be a faggot and pretend im luke skywalker with a game controller?? some people do...and that's ok... i, however, dont... fine...im not an innovative game..or person, for that matter..i want the same mundane game, with just prettier graphics and a new cover, and i will buy it....and i can promise you, a good majority of the US gamers, at least, do too...
therefore, the Wii may not flop, but it sure as hell wont be #1....and i think its safe to say #2 is a stretch too.... then again, sales dont matter.... but dont say one system is better than another becuase of the "innovative" design of the games or controller...some people dont want that shit...i dont want that shit...i wanna just pick up the controller, play madden for an hour, hour and a half, and then go do some homework (school started), and then go to bed....
i dont want to be stuck trying to beat a boss on zelda for three hours and then talk about it at school with my peers.... that's not how i am..but once again, many people are like me, and arent avid gamers.... just something to pick up and play...
and if you want to talk about mundane games, reccled from generation to generation, somewhat like the madden series, tell me when a mario game felt new and good...the past two console releases of a mario game have been rehashed pieces of shit....
The GameCube didn't have the games to be a success. The launch line-up for the Wii looks infinitely more impressive.
Besides, the GameCube itself wasn't an innovative console in the way that the Wii is.
I don't know what you mean by "enthusiastic gamer"? The whole appeal of the Wii is that it's fun, that anyone can pick it up and play it. You're supposed to play it with your friends, your family, your girlfriend...people of all ages and all tastes. It's supposed to encourage everyone to play games with each other. It's aimed at people who like to have fun while playing games, rather than people who sit in their bedroom. Alone. Playing Madden. Again.
Well gee, I guess you'd have to find a console that has those games on it. I don't know if such a device exists. Try Google.
Good for you. What's your point?
...
...seriously, what's your point? I understand that some people won't want to buy a Nintendo Wii, I understand that some people prefer mundane, run-of-the-mill, formulaic games to new, different, innovative games. I understand that you're one of those people. Other people (gamers) enjoy playing games that are fun, challenging, interesting etc. etc.
The last two Mario series games were Mario Sunshine on the GameCube and New Super Mario Bros on the DS. Sunshine got 95% on IGN and 94% on GameSpy and sold more than the highest selling Madden game did. New Super Mario Bros got Game of the Month in Game Informer and EGM, and it got Editor's Choice on IGN and Gamespot. Prior to that we have the truly revolutionary Super Mario 64, widely regarded as one of the best games of all time. Then we have Super Mario World on the SNES, hailed as the greatest videogame of all time upon its release. Need I go on?
That's not to mention the ground-breaking and genre-spawning Mario Kart games and the Super Smash Bros. series.
So yeah, where exactly are these piece of shit rehashes you were talking about, because I don't see them.
Besides, the GameCube itself wasn't an innovative console in the way that the Wii is.
I don't know what you mean by "enthusiastic gamer"? The whole appeal of the Wii is that it's fun, that anyone can pick it up and play it. You're supposed to play it with your friends, your family, your girlfriend...people of all ages and all tastes. It's supposed to encourage everyone to play games with each other. It's aimed at people who like to have fun while playing games, rather than people who sit in their bedroom. Alone. Playing Madden. Again.
Well gee, I guess you'd have to find a console that has those games on it. I don't know if such a device exists. Try Google.
Good for you. What's your point?
...
...seriously, what's your point? I understand that some people won't want to buy a Nintendo Wii, I understand that some people prefer mundane, run-of-the-mill, formulaic games to new, different, innovative games. I understand that you're one of those people. Other people (gamers) enjoy playing games that are fun, challenging, interesting etc. etc.
The last two Mario series games were Mario Sunshine on the GameCube and New Super Mario Bros on the DS. Sunshine got 95% on IGN and 94% on GameSpy and sold more than the highest selling Madden game did. New Super Mario Bros got Game of the Month in Game Informer and EGM, and it got Editor's Choice on IGN and Gamespot. Prior to that we have the truly revolutionary Super Mario 64, widely regarded as one of the best games of all time. Then we have Super Mario World on the SNES, hailed as the greatest videogame of all time upon its release. Need I go on?
That's not to mention the ground-breaking and genre-spawning Mario Kart games and the Super Smash Bros. series.
So yeah, where exactly are these piece of shit rehashes you were talking about, because I don't see them.
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