Tell us about the dynamic environment
You are changing some core elements, how do you maintain the Splinter Cell Spirit.
MF: The first thing we did when we thought about rejuvenating the game play was making sure the core team would be made of long time veterans of Splinter Cell. We knew the strengths of our game play, as well as things we have always wanted to address. Basically, Splinter Cell has always been strong as it was very environment centric. When we developed the light and shadow game play, we offered the gamers a new approach, a new way to read and interact with their environment. I remember playing some FPS after long sessions of SCCT, and becoming really ineffective as my first reflex was to look for shadow in the game not to be seen… not a very efficient tactic when the system was not supporting this feature.
ConViction will bring the same benefit, but this time through the dynamic environment. Just like when we were playing SC and looking for shadows in other games, we have realized that now, we are looking to interact and make some of our strategies in other games involving all the elements in the environment. Again, not the best strategy when the environment is not designed this way.
Splinter Cell has also always been on the smart side of the action adventure gaming. While we offer a more accessible experience with ConViction, playing with a strategic mind will always bring a richer experience to the gamers, be it through stealth techniques, or more action driven techniques. The player’s ability to read effectively his environment in some tense situations will be key, just like it was in previous SC titles. You could have been going through SC pretty straight forward but SC fans experienced something different, trying to find hotspots for reverse break necks or alternate route to increase their experience. We will provide a very similar experience with ConViction, you can play the game in a very compelling way pretty straight forward, however if you want to invest more in the game, the bounty will be even higher.
Click for larger image
Click for larger imageBasically the main element that we changed is usage of patience. We really wanted to push the player and provide another sense of Tension. While previous SCs were creating tension in the action (moving for a stealth kill) it was still based on patience and release of tension. We wanted to put pressure on the gamer and provide a more dynamic pace while preserving the strategic and environment driven approach. The fugitive concept, and the way we modified the tempo of the game are strongly and intrinsically tied.
Have you developed a special engine for this version?
MF- Yes and no. Many modules of the engine needed to be redesigned in order to support this new core game play. Since the Engine developed for SCCT was already proposing many next gen features, and because Splinter Cell engine evolved so much through years of experience, we wanted to maintain these knowledge and be more productive.
What are the specific technologies you developed for this episode? Are there any particular achievements you’re proud of? On which basis do you consider that this Splinter Cell episode will be truly next-gen?
MF- Since lights and shadows are not the core game play for navigation; we needed to think of how a fugitive behaves. Basically, we’ve concluded that he needs anything he can use in the environment to survive, so we’ve developed a full dynamic environment. Being able to pick any object in the environment to use it as a weapon or as a defense tool is not an easy task when comes the time to deal with physics, animation, AI behavior and consistent lighting. Innovation needed to be part of these technical challenges and we made it happen. Changing an environment is a complex topic technically… but making this progression believable through AI and other component is a great achievement we’re very proud of (more info about dynamic environment below).
