Feature
Those were some of the ideas that the developers at Naughty Dog threw around at the conclusion of Jak 2's production. Yes, Naughty Dog had already started prototyping ideas for their first "next-generation" console title way back in 2003; though, Naughty Dog co-president Evan Wells elaborates, "When Jak 2 closed, that's when we started thinking about it. But then the PlayStation 3 got delayed, and we back-burnered all those ideas for about a year, and picked it up again right after Jak 3."
Two weeks before Uncharted 3: Drake's Deception hits shelves, I find myself in a conference room in Naughty Dog's office in Santa Monica. For two and a half hours, I get to hear developers discuss topics such as the creation of the original game, and some of the major hurdles in creating this next installment. Sitting down along with Wells is fellow co-president Christophe Balestra, creative director Amy Hennig, lead designer Richard Lemarchand, cinematics animation lead Josh Scherr, and actor Nolan North.
FROM ZERO POINT TO PROJECT BIG
Hennig briefly shows me the title page of the May 2005 concept document for "Zero Point," while Scherr describes that pitch as focusing on "zero point energy, eco-terrorism, dark energy, and all sorts of crazy nonsense." He continues, "At one point we wanted to set the entire thing in a vast underwater facility or city type of thing. We didn't do that, and when we saw BioShock come out, we breathed a sigh of relief and said, 'whew, dodged that bullet.' So obviously it was a good idea: just not for us." Even when Zero Point transformed into Project Big (the internal codename for Uncharted: Drake's Fortune), the underwater base was planned to constitute about 75-percent of the game, with the tropical island environment serving as the first 25 -- a far cry from how Uncharted ultimately went 90:10 in terms of island-to-base ratio.
Hennig points out, "What's interesting is that the fundamental idea has always been the same: third-person action adventure. [We had to think] about what's the genre, and what are the pillars: gunplay; brawling hand to hand combat; action stunts; chase sequences; big action setpieces; and partners and allies. This has been our roadmap ever since. What we do now is say, 'We got 10 percent of the way down our goal, and now we're 50 percent of the way down that goal.' It's [all] to the service of saying, 'how do we best replicate that action adventure movie experience?'"
See Also
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Comments (36)
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Big Deception
Posted: userComment.createdDate by PedroGama
ND is, in fact, the BIGGER deception I found on this game. This one is a real fortune hunter, not the other one. I got the game on it's release and never got more than 5 minutes of game without a crash. Tons of people blaming my ex80gb (actual 1tb) backps2 model with this so calling over heat issue, forcing people to fan it, change it's thermal liquid processor etc etc etc... and, in the end, all we see is a very very very BAD and anti profissional work of ND people. I dont want my money back, I want this game on my shell, just to show all (with L.A. Noire that have the same problem), how LAME a software house can be.... NAUGHTY DOG NEVER MORE!!!!! And P.S. Thanks for this GREAT article!!!
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Im torn
Posted: userComment.createdDate by jaeger-danger2
I would really like to see them make an Uncharted 4, and maybe base it around pirates and the Sea (I can dream), and I would also like to see a Jak and Daxter Future a la what Insomniac did with Ratchet and Clank; what I really and truly hope they're doing is developing a new IP that I can grow to love just as much as I love their past two.
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Rage
Posted: userComment.createdDate by Foggen
Having found this article due to researching the severe and game-breaking streaming issues I'm encountering (during sandstorm: no dialogue, no music, can't save, plus frequent system hard-locks) this revelation fills me with the fury of a thousand suns. My launch-model PS3 has a few-month-old 320GB hard drive in it and the game simply breaks down about halfway in. I've never felt so betrayed by a game developer. At this point I'm less worried about losing the ability to play the game than this physically destroying my PS3's already weakened laser. My first PS1 and first PS2 both had their optical drives die, and it's starting to look like my PS3 is going down the same path.
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this is why i like 1up
Posted: userComment.createdDate by ultimatepunchrod
I just officially joined 1up the other day because of this article and others like it in the past. These great insights into how games are made are extremely interesting. Thanks and keep up the good work.
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Awesome
Posted: userComment.createdDate by Timberwolf8889
Great article, really intersting what eventually made it into the final game. Small nitpick ADR is Automatic Dialogue Replacement, not Additonal Dialogue Recording =p
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It's both crazy and funny
Posted: userComment.createdDate by frootlooped22
how last minute and frantic these guys seemed to be to finish these games. I wonder if other big studios do stuff so last minute...but hey I feel for ND..I can relate! :P
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GOTY?
Posted: userComment.createdDate by Bluberrybangbang
Just wondering how many of these it'll win. This is the action game that everyone can play, because of the endless testing, quality assurance, and polish. Can't wait for these desert graphics in 3D!
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Game of the Year
Posted: userComment.createdDate by MysteriousPants
Just a week and two days until I get to sit down for about "10-12 hours" (PlayMania) and enjoy the finest crafted single player experience in a long time.
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Rip off after Tomb Raider
Posted: userComment.createdDate by SuperMarioWorld
Neext!
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@Joboo
Posted: 10/23/2011 by frootlooped22
It does action and plot better than TR but not the exploration, puzzles and openness of past TR games
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Hot Damn!
Posted: userComment.createdDate by Maver1ck_Zer0
You guys can write some awesome articles, that was just plain intriguing to read. Thanks for thinking outside the box when you guys put out some of your stuff!
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Freakin' sweet!
Posted: userComment.createdDate by UnleashedSonic
Superb article, awesome read. A great insight to the developement of the Uncharted games that isn't really avaliable anywhere else, thanks! If Naughty Dog could delay the game a couple of weeks, I wouldn't mind in the slightest! It would give me more time to play Battlefield 3 AND ND could make 3 even more spectacular!
Good luck ND!
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The best action series of this gen
Posted: userComment.createdDate by CloudStrife_ca
I almost passed up on playing the series all together, from an outside point of view from never having even glimpsed at what Uncharted was all about it seemed like a Indiana Jones knock off, just something I wouldn't normally play.
It was the hype from Uncharted 2 that got me to take a closer look at Drakes Fortune, the hype machine for Uncharted 2 was EVERYWHERE and in high gear! store shelves, the message boards here, even a trailer I caught late night on Jimmy Fallon (who I later on would meet at work and have a small discussion about this with as he passed through airport security after the Vancouver 2010 Olympics) The push I needed to get into the series was Drakes Fortune had just been bumped down to $29.99(cnd) so I took a chance and picked it up, I guess I wanted to buy into the hype and I wasn't to be disappointed.
At the time Uncharted: Drakes Fortune played like the biggest summer blockbuster movie one could hope to see. The visuals were bright, crisp and a welcome alternative to the grey's of Resistance & Fallout, the controls felt great, there was an instant likability to the characters, to Sully, Drake and Elena. The persona of the "everyman" in Nathan Drake felt legitimate and I think makes players care about what happens next to the character, it makes us wonder how he'll handle the next situation because he approaches it like a regular guy with some belivability rather than a plasma gun, materia or some other special power. I ended up playing through Drakes Fortune non-stop, I couldn't put it down because the story was that good, the difficulty was challenging at times but not impossible, it flowed well throughout the entire game and made me want more...
Needless to say immediately after finishing Drakes Fortune I went out and bought Uncharted: Amongst Thieves the very next day, I had received messages from other friends telling me how great the games was and the main point everyone brought up almost unanimously was that "Among Thieves does everything that Drakes Fortune did well but with more of it" and they really weren't kidding, it ended up being brilliant.
The train sequence, the tank sequence through the small village, the rooftop sequence and the mystical aspect of the Yeti chasing you through ice caves and snow filled mountains were all unforgetable gaming moments for me. I didn't play straight through Among Thieves like I did Drakes Fortune but I also didn't have the luxury of a new Uncharted game waiting for me at the end of my journey, so instead I savoured it, I think I managed to stretch it out for about a week or two.
Now with Uncharted 3: Drakes Deception less than 2 weeks away, awaiting me to dash in and pick-up my recently paid off collectors edition pre-order, this is easily my most anticipated game of the year. I played alot of the beta when it was active and I even made the trip across the border, down to the States to visit Subway for dinner and an early access multiplayer code! and from what I've played so far it seems that Drakes Deception won't disappoint me either.
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Great job
Posted: userComment.createdDate by NorthernTorch
One of the best articles I have read here.
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Great article
Posted: userComment.createdDate by Landmine_Salesman
Already pre-ordered Uncharted 3, can't wait for it. Love Naughty Dog
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More of these types of articles
Posted: userComment.createdDate by CaptainBarronVonDean
It's quite interesting
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Sweet Article.
Posted: userComment.createdDate by challenge9000
I didn't know that part about them almost going with an underwater city or world similar to Bioshock. I don't know why they say they dodged a bullet on it though, maybe because they would have been accused of "me too" game design?
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Doubling
Posted: 10/26/2011 by orionstar5
Doubling up on a similar setting almost always gets it compared.
And perhaps, some people would have brushed off Uncharted as a Bioshock clone (as it would have come out after Bioshock) and it wouldn't have gotten the attention it did.
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