Tag Archives: Uncharted 3

An interesting look for Train2Game students behind the scenes of Uncharted 3

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Uncharted 3 screenshot

While new UK No.1 game – as reported by the Train2Game blog – L.A. Noire may have hit the headlines recently thanks to its impressive Art & Animation techniques, it isn’t the only game out there using motion capture.

The PlayStation blog not only recently revealed the secrets of the motion capture techniques behind the upcoming Uncharted 3, but also the writing techniques used to optimise the Game Design.

The post provides some real insights for both Train2Game Art & Animation and Game Design students.

”We’ve developed a unique process for motion capture and performance capture for games,” Uncharted 3 Creative Director Amy Hennig explained  in  post about the cutting-edge new mocap studio in Culver City, California. “We’re kind of ahead of the pack.”

Moving onto how the game is written, Hennig said:

We don’t have the luxury of writing a big script in an ivory tower, we have an outline that we work from and we write the scenes as we go.”

The approach means it’s easily for Hennig and her team to make changes to the script as and when they need too.

“As the writer, I get to learn the actor’s voices — their cadences, their idiosyncrasies, and I write them right in”

“Their characters become infused with their personalities.” She added, echoing Naughty Dogs previous comments that Uncharted 3 is being produced like a Hollywood film, as reported on the Train2Game blog.

For the full behind the scenes look at Uncharted 3, Train2Game students should head over to the PlayStation Blog.

You can also find out even more about how Uncharted 3 is written here on the Train2Game blog.

So Train2Game, what are your thoughts on techniques behind Uncharted 3’s production? Did you ever imagine games development becoming so complicated? Would you like to work in such an environment in future?

Leave your comments here on the Train2Game blog, or on the Train2Game forum.

[Source: PlayStation blog]

Writing Uncharted 3 a ‘collaborative effort’

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Uncharted 3: Drakes’ Deception – one of the Train2Game blogs most anticipated games of the year – features a ‘collaborative effort’ when it comes the storytelling element of the Game Design.

That’s what Naughty Dog’s creative director Amy Hennig told Edge Magazine when asked how the team go about achieving the levels of polish in Uncharted games.

“I think there are a few factors that allow us to do a good job. One is that Sony gives us the time and the money to do it, and takes it seriously. And Naughty Dog takes stories seriously, too, rather than leaving them as afterthought,” she said.

“So that means we spend a lot of time talking about story, narrative and how we integrate that with the gameplay. And then the other blessing that we can’t forget is that the time we spend with the actors: It’s huge. This is a collaborative process that involves revision and improvement.

Hennig also talks about the amount of work the actors put into getting into their characters.

“Going through those drafts, having rehearsal time and table reads with the actors, letting them improvise – and get to know their characters over a long period of time, it all contributes to raising the bar.”

Earlier this year, the Train2Game blog reported on how Naughty Dog are using the latest techniques to produce Uncharted 3, with motion capture a huge part of the Game Development process.

Uncharted 3 is set for release exclusively on the PlayStation 3 this November.

So Train2Game, what are your thoughts on the amount of effort that goes into writing Uncharted 3? Do you think the ‘collaborative effort’ with actors will become more prominent in the games industry? And are you looking forward to Uncharted 3?

Leave your comments here on the Train2Game blog, or on the Train2Game forum.

[Source: Edge] 

The Train2Game blog Top 5 most anticipated games of 2011

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2010 was a great year for video games and 2011 looks set to be even better. With that in mind, the Train2Game blog presents a run down of our top 5 most anticipated games of the year. Some of these may not be absolute blockbusters, but represent what we’re personally looking forward to in the coming year.

5. Fight Night Champion


This might be a controversial one to begin with because previous comments on the Train2Game Facebook page suggest that the excellent Fight Night Round 4 wasn’t everyone’s cup of tea. However, as a fan of the sport myself I thought it was an excellent game that truly represents an accurate simulation of boxing, without forcing you to step between the ropes.

Fight Night Round 4 looked great and played even better and it felt great taking a created boxer to the top in the career mode. If the trailers that have already been revealed are anything to go by then Fight Night Champion isn’t just an update with a few new fighters on the roster, the game looks like it’s been updated in every department.

If the screenshots we’ve seen are anything to go by then not only does it look better, but fighters will react more realistically to damage during fights. Noses can be broken, eyes can be bruised and the new stamina system where each limb has its own energy means you’ll need to do more than just throw right hooks for 12 rounds.

Not only that but the new story based champion mode means that the latest incarnation of Fight Night is set to become the first EA game to have a mature rating thanks to a gritty tale involving corruption, drugs, and prison. It should be excellent entertainment for boxing fans.

Fight Night Champion is due for release on March 4th.

4.  Portal 2

Train2Game blog Portal Image

The original Portal was released in 2007 and was perhaps the biggest surprised to come out of the rather amazing Orange Box. The charming little puzzler based around the use of portals may not have been very long, but it stole the hearts of many. (Over three years later this tribute recently turned up in Minecraft!)

Now, 2011 sees Valve release a full sequel to Portal that not only is at least twice as long as the original, and a lot of new features, but also full length game co-op game mode. As we’ve seen in previous posts on the Train2Game blog, Portal features a lot more character interaction for silent-protagonist Chel in the form of Wheatley, a small robot voiced by Stephen Merchant. Portal 2 also apparently features 13,000 lines of dialogue which points towards there being more conversations rather than listening to the oh-so-adorable sentry guns talking at you.

Personally, what I’m looking forward to most is the new co-op mode, especially when you take Valve’s track record with co-op and team based games into consideration.  You may have heard of two little games called Team Fortress 2 and the Left 4 Dead series both of which make co-operation the utmost importance.

And if for some reason you need extra convincing that that Portal 2 should be one of the best games of the year, then remember that it’s from Valve, the team behind Half Life 2. (Of course, there will be some of you who’d hope that Half Life 2: Episode 3 or Half Life 3 will at least appear this year!)

Portal 2 is released on April 22nd. If that’s too long to wait, you can check out these trailers on the Train2Game blog.

3. Tomb Raider


No, Train2Game blog reader you haven’t angered a wizard and been sent back in time to 1995, Tomb Raider is coming out this year. Tomb Raider is simply a reboot of the entire franchise that see’s a 21 year old Lara Croft stranded on an island and fighting for survival.

From what we’ve seen so far this open world adventure not only takes a number of elements from the world of survival horror, but will also require the player to sustain Lara with drinking water. It’s another game that looks set to have a mature rating with Lara able to suffer a number of brutal deaths if the player isn’t careful enough.

The open world nature and change in tone from previous games in the series certainly marks Tomb Raider out as one of top prospects of the year.

You can check out some artwork for the upcoming Tomb Raider here on the Train2Game blog.

There’s no official release date for Tomb Raider yet, but it should be with us before the year is over.

2.  Uncharted 3


Uncharted: Drake’s Fortune was an impressive video game, while Uncharted 2 was arguably even better.  Will Uncharted 3 continue the trend and trump them both?  It looks like we’ll be getting a lot more of the fantastic character interaction that features in all of the Uncharted games thanks to screenshots and gameplay footage that show Drake and mentor Sully playing a bigger role in the game.

The intense action sequences, the game play and the dialogue between the characters have all helped make the Uncharted games classics of this generation and have near enough made Nathan Drake the icon of the PlayStation 3.

Uncharted 3: Drake’s Deception will see our protagonists spending a lot of time in the desert and from what we’ve seen so far it looks visually amazing. Expect fast paced action, an epic story and lots of twists and turns when Uncharted 3 is release for the PlayStation 3 on November 4th.

1. Dragon Age 2


So, given that how much we at the Train2Game blog have praised Dragon Age: Origins in previous posts, we may get called out as biased here, but Dragon Age 2 lets set to be amazing.

OK, some people aren’t happy that we’ll no longer be able to ‘truly’ create our own character anymore thanks to us now being restricted to a human called Hawke. But we’ll still be able to make decisions through now fully voiced dialogue and decide which class our main character will be. The Dragon Age 2 team recently released this video saying why focussing on one character will make it a better game.

Some PC gamers are also worried that Dragon Age 2 has been ‘dumbed down’ for the console market but Bioware have been keen to show that the tactical option is still available for players who want to experience Dragon Age 2 as a true role playing game.

But looking at any of the trailers for Dragon Age 2 that have appeared which demonstrate shiny new graphics, a new visual style, both old and new characters and lots of huge battles, it looks like Dragon Age 2 is sure to be very impressive indeed.

Personally it’s a PC release for me, but when Dragon Age 2 is released on March 11th, it’s also available on PS3 and Xbox 360

Of course, this list is just my opinion, and will focus on the sort of games I like. Perhaps you’re looking forward to other games in 2011? If so, why not leave your thoughts here on the Train2Game blog, or on the Train2Game forum?

Mass Effect 3 & Elder Scrolls V among new games revealed at VGAs

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Mass Effect 3

The Spike TV Video Game Awards in Los Angeles has revealed a number of new games we can expect to see arrive in 2011 and beyond, and the excitement is already evident on the Train2Game forum.

The biggest announcements included Bioware showing off a trailer for Mass Effect 3 (So the teaser that featured on the Train2Game blog last month WAS for the third game in the series) and Bethesda revealing Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim.

The Mass Effect 3 trailer see’s London overrun by an alien species, while a sniper inside Big Ben pleads for Commander Shepard to return to earth. The commander is looking down on the planet from space while huge alien machines lay waste to London. You can see the Mass Effect 3 reveal trailer for yourself on the Train2Game forum. The game will be coming to PC, Xbox 360 – and yes – the PlayStation 3 towards the end of 2011.

The VGAs also saw the revealing of another much rumoured RPG title in the form of Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim. You can see the trailer for that here on the Train2Game forum. Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim is a direct sequel to Oblivion and will be released on 11th November 2011. Another reveal included that of Resistance 3, with a trailer featuring a mix of live action footage and gameplay. The Resistance 3 trailer is also available in the VGA thread on the Train2Game forum.

Batman: Arkham City and Uncharted 3: Drake’s Deception also had extended trailers shown off. The Uncharted 3 trailer – available on the Train2Game forum – shows what we can expect from Naughty Dog and reveals the game will come at the start of November.

Meanwhile, the Arkham City trailer reveals Doctor Hugo Strange as a villain and Train2Game students can watch it below.

Other reveals included Prototype 2, Guillermo Del Toro’s game InSane, but the latter not being scheduled for release until 2013!

So Train2Game, which of the VGA reveals and announcements are you most excited about? You see all of the trailers and leave your thoughts about them here on the Train2Game forum. Alternatively, you can leave your thoughts here on the Train2Game blog.