Ubisoft had to “redefine development” for Assassin’s Creed

  

In an interview with Develop magazine, the developers of Ubisoft Montreal sat down for a much-needed lowdown on the design and production of the game they hope to redefine the next-gen core of games. Together with producer Jade Raymond and technical director Claude Langlais, creative director Patrice Desilets spilled the beans on what they’ve been up to with the highly-anticipated Assassin’s Creed (for the PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 and PC).

According to Desilets, the game, including the engine and tools, were built from scratch to reflect a game that was a blend of freedom, open-ended interactivity and randomness. At length, Desilets described the game as “a sports game with swords and free running.”

“Personally, my own grail is to give action players the same freedom of movement found in sports games, but also a similar experience where no two ‘matchesÂ’ are the same,” Desilets explained. They had set forth to create a world where the player should be able to interact “with no suspension of disbelief.”

So they wanted to make the world of Assassin’s Creed as a fully interactive, living and breathing world where a sneaky, mobile assassin could traverse with limitless possibilities. In order to shelf a game with that open-endedness, they had to redefine what is accepted as the normal course of art and level development.

Artists have to “learn” the level design and coordinate with level designers and other artists to create the intricate details of the city. And they don’t only make sure it looks good: the artists first make sure that the design and the art actually works with the character and stay within the level design rules.

  

In an interview with Develop magazine, the developers of Ubisoft Montreal sat down for a much-needed lowdown on the design and production of the game they hope to redefine the next-gen core of games. Together with producer Jade Raymond and technical director Claude Langlais, creative director Patrice Desilets spilled the beans on what they’ve been up to with the highly-anticipated Assassin’s Creed (for the PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 and PC).

According to Desilets, the game, including the engine and tools, were built from scratch to reflect a game that was a blend of freedom, open-ended interactivity and randomness. At length, Desilets described the game as “a sports game with swords and free running.”

“Personally, my own grail is to give action players the same freedom of movement found in sports games, but also a similar experience where no two ‘matchesÂ’ are the same,” Desilets explained. They had set forth to create a world where the player should be able to interact “with no suspension of disbelief.”

So they wanted to make the world of Assassin’s Creed as a fully interactive, living and breathing world where a sneaky, mobile assassin could traverse with limitless possibilities. In order to shelf a game with that open-endedness, they had to redefine what is accepted as the normal course of art and level development.

Artists have to “learn” the level design and coordinate with level designers and other artists to create the intricate details of the city. And they don’t only make sure it looks good: the artists first make sure that the design and the art actually works with the character and stay within the level design rules.