Mirror's Edge, Metroid Prime Devs Talk Creating Physical Realism

Author: by Staff

Creating player immersion is a surprisingly complex, fine-detailed process, and today's Gamasutra feature brings together developers on Mirror's Edge, Metroid Prime, Killzone 2 and other next-gen titles to discuss how they built a sense of physical realism into their games. One factor addresses the player's first-person point of view, as Slightly Mad Studios did with Need For Speed: Shift: "The key aim with the cockpit view was to translate that raw intensity that you feel in a real-life race car to a player holding a control pad," says Slightly Mad's Andy Tudor. "At high speed we do a combination of things; blurring the cockpit out to make you concentrate on the upcoming apex, camera shake, and even having the driver's hands shake and grip the wheel tighter as they try to control the car," he explains. "All these combined give you the cues you need to get an exhilarating sensation of speed." There are also ways to blur the line between the first-person interface and the experience of the world, as Retro Studios did with Metroid Prime. "We wanted the player to feel as if they were actually inside Samus' helmet," says Retro Studios president and CEO Michael Kelbaugh. "Our first idea was that beads of water could appear on the faceplate when Samus moved into and out of water or steam. When this test worked so well, we began to look for more opportunities to use this function, like enemy goo, Samus' reflection, and so on." The environment can also be imbued with subtle cues that inform players of their circumstances without them necessarily being directly aware. ""The police siren follows, and the players become aware that they are under desperate circumstances," says Kentaro Noguchi of Darkside Chronicles developer Cavia. "A song being played at a nearby shop confirms that there was normal human life happening just moments before the zombie invasion occurred." The full feature contains numerous developer anecdotes and examples of techniques used in games to create the illusion of physical, sensory experiences.