Creating Horror and Immersion with the Art of Dead Space

(which could be canceled any minute)

Ian MilhamDead Space Art Director

Lullabye Trailer

Outline• Where we started• Horror vs. Sci-Fi• What We Did

– Color and Lighting– User Interface– Environment Design– Player Character– Weapon Design– Enemies

• What Went Right / What Went Wrong• Work-in-Progress Examples• Q&A

DEAD SPACE GOALS (JAN ‘06)

• Create new survival horror franchise (not a lot of competition compared to market, EA had none)

• 85 Metacritic

• Don’t get cancelled and screw up new I.P. green lights for others

LET’S NOT GET FANCYRisk tolerance already maxed out before starting:

• New IP vs. Simpsons, Lord of the Rings, Godfather

• Small Team • Almost No engine when we started

• Stylization works against horror

HORROR VS. SCI-FI ACTION

HORROR

(Little Competition)

Slow Movement, Exploration

Less Combat, More Lethal

Environmental Storytelling

More Mystery

Fragile Everyman Player

SCI-FI ACTION

(Tons of Competition)

Fast Movement

Frequent Combat, Less Lethal

Action Storytelling

More Explicit

Superheroic Ass Kicker

ALWAYS EMPHASIZE HORROR!

keys to horror art direction

Accessible, Believable, and Relatable• Games already a step behind film “reality”• Not too many logic leaps required • Easy to relate to• Keep magic tech to a minimum (No Lasers or force fields)

Immersive• Once we’ve got them, don’t let go• Don’t remind them it’s just a game

Must Move Away from Sci-Fi Action!

RIGHT, SOUNDS EASY ENOUGH

“ACCESSIBLE, BELIEVABLE, RELATABLE, and IMMERSIVE”

• Color and Lighting• User Interface• Environment Design• Player Character• Weapon Design• Enemies

RIGHT, SOUNDS EASY ENOUGH

“ACCESSIBLE, BELIEVABLE, RELATABLE, and IMMERSIVE”

• COLOR AND LIGHTING• User Interface• Environment Design• Player Character• Weapon Design• Enemies

COLOR AND LIGHTING

DAVID FINCHER

Ambient Texture Only

+ Ambient Occlusion

+ Lights

+ Shadows

+ VFX Light Source Textures

+ VFX / Bloom/ FSAA

+ Color Look-Up

Using color to show progress and build emotion

Using color to show progress and build emotion

Using color to show progress and build emotion

Using color to show progress and build emotion

RIGHT, SOUNDS EASY ENOUGH

“ACCESSIBLE, BELIEVABLE, RELATABLE, and IMMERSIVE”

• Color and Lighting

• USER INTERFACE• Environment Design• Player Character• Weapon Design• Enemies

WHY WE HAVE NO HUD

Typical game HUD elements were found to work against horror. It killed our believability and immersion.

WHY WE HAVE NO HUD

Scary! Not Scary!

No World Interface

First Round

Added Door Halos

Added Directional Signs

WIN!

RIGHT, SOUNDS EASY ENOUGH

“ACCESSIBLE, BELIEVABLE, RELATABLE, and IMMERSIVE”

• Color and Lighting• User Interface

• ENVIRONMENT DESIGN• Player Character• Weapon Design• Enemies

NEIGHBORHOOD LOOKS

Industrial Public Clean

INDUSTRIAL

PUBLIC

CLEAN

RIGHT, SOUNDS EASY ENOUGH

“ACCESSIBLE, BELIEVABLE, RELATABLE, and IMMERSIVE”

• Color and Lighting• User Interface• Environment Design

• PLAYER CHARACTER• Weapon Design• Enemies

RIGHT, SOUNDS EASY ENOUGH

“ACCESSIBLE, BELIEVABLE, RELATABLE, and IMMERSIVE”

• Color and Lighting• User Interface• Environment Design• Player Character

• WEAPON DESIGN• Enemies

RIGHT, SOUNDS EASY ENOUGH

“ACCESSIBLE, BELIEVABLE, RELATABLE, and IMMERSIVE”

• Color and Lighting• User Interface• Environment Design• Player Character• Weapon Design

• ENEMIES

Outline• Where we started• Horror vs. Sci-Fi• What We Did

– Color and Lighting– User Interface– Environment Design– Player Character– Weapon Design– Enemies

• WHAT WENT RIGHT/WHAT WENT WRONG

• Work-in-Progress Examples / Q&A

RIGHT: PUSHED INTERNAL PR HARD

RIGHT: 3D CONCEPT ART

RIGHT: 3D CONCEPT ART

RIGHT: DID LESS, POLISHED MORE

• Polish and Presentation highest scoring aspects of DS• Controlled what problems we tackled• We cut off rendering features early.

– Relatively modest rendering (no HDR, basic shading)– Artists had final tools early, learned them well

• We cut off content early– Engineering Alpha 4/18– Content Alpha 5/31– Content Lock 7/31 (No A or B bugs)– Audio Lock After Everyone else (huge win)– Ship 10/14

• Tons of Focus Grouping, time to properly respond

WORK IN PROGRESS EXAMPLES / Q&A

• Dismemberment Prototype (Spring 2006)• Xbox Whitebox Capture (Summer 2006)• Pregnant Necromorph Pre-Viz (Winter 2007)• Lurker Necromorph Pre-Viz (Winter 2007)• Leaper Necromorph Pre-Viz (Winter 2007)• Infector Necromorph Pre-Viz (Winter 2007)• Grabber Necromorph Pre-Viz (Winter 2007)• Greenlight Demo Capture (Spring 2007)

Thanks!