GZ Interview: The Legend of Zelda guilty of having revolutionary graphics; authorities say Maya is to blame

The Legend of Zelda guilty of having revolutionary graphics; authorities say Maya is to blame

by Louis Bedigian

 

The wait is finally over – The Wind Waker is finally here!  And with it comes a technological achievement unlike any other.  Alias|Wavefront’s Geoff Foulds explains how Nintendo was able to create this visual masterpiece.

 

 

Nearly two summers ago, Nintendo shocked the world with the unveiling of The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker.  Using what Nintendo calls a “toon-shaded” graphic technique (it’s known as cel-shading to everyone else in the industry), The Wind Waker traded the realistic graphics of the Zelda tech demo for a cartoon-like style that would inevitably make the game more approachable to children.  That’s something no adult hardcore gamer wants.

 

But Zelda creator Shigeru Miyamoto insisted that it was about the art, the experience – not childish excuses – that made him choose to go for this unique visual style.

 

Regardless, people were disgruntled by the fact that their favorite Nintendo series looked like it was going to be dummied down to the level of Yoshi’s Story.  I too was quick to judge The Wind Waker for having character faces that look like they were ripped out of Samurai Jack.

 

My view of the strange graphic style changed when I played the game.  Seeing it in action on a computer screen wasn’t enough to make me or anyone else realize just how brilliant this game really is, not only in graphics, but in music and gameplay as well.

 

Zelda’s incredible graphics were created by several talented artists who used a phenomenal, ultra-powerful CG tool called Maya.  Maya was developed by Alias|Wavefront, and has been used to create the spectacular effects in the latest Star Wars movies, as well as Rogue Squadron II and Grand Turismo 3.

 

Swept away in the peaceful world that exists within The Wind Waker, we hopped on a boat and sailed to a hidden island where Geoff Foulds awaited our arrival.  Geoff is a games industry marketing manager for Alias|Wavefront.  Upon our arrival, Geoff greeted us with swords, rupees and details on how one great graphic tool and one great developer can create an unbelievable, unforgettable masterpiece that stands as one of the best games of all time.

 

Question: Nintendo is known for using homemade engines to develop most of their games.  How did they come to use Maya for The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker?

 

Geoff Foulds: 3D tools like Maya complement the game engine. Besides having strong tools for modeling, texturing and animation, the key to success for Maya is the closeness of the integration between it and the game engine.

 

Maya proved to be the most extensible 3D tool. So, Nintendo was able to replace the multiple 3D tools that had been necessary in the old production pipeline with one tool - Maya. By standardizing on Maya, resources could easily be moved from one part of the project to another, reducing bottlenecks and further accelerating production. And Nintendo was able to work with external sites much more easily, not only elsewhere in Japan, but around the world.

 

 

Don’t be a hog, share The Wind Waker with…on second thought,

be greedy and enjoy the game all by yourself.

 

 

What advantages did Maya give Nintendo over other powerful engines?

 

GF: Maya competes with other 3D tools to be the most complementary to the engine used by the game developer. Because of Maya's nodal architecture, clean API, powerful scripting language (Maya Embedded Language, or MEL) and the overall stability of Maya, Nintendo was able to replace the multiple 3D tools that had been necessary in the old production pipeline with one tool -- Maya.

 

Nintendo was able to produce the huge quantities of art required by GameCube with a team size and production schedule equivalent to the Nintendo 64 console.

 

Obviously Zelda's graphics have been greatly affected by Maya's ultra-powerful visual tools.  Has it had any affect on the gameplay?

 

GF: Because of the integration between Maya and the game engine, the developers were able to focus on game play and spend less time tweaking the art. Maya's stable architecture, proven over hundreds of thousands of production, was able to support whatever was required by the game designers, technical directors and artists.

 

How were the 2D graphics applied to 3D characters and a 3D environment without losing the game's unforgettable cartoon style?

 

GF: The exact process for creating the Zelda art is confidential. What we can say is that Nintendo, like many companies, is finding that Maya is flexible enough as a 3D tool that it can be adapted to the needs of toon-shaded styles. Auto Modellista, a racing game, is another example of this kind of toon-shaded output from Maya's 3D art tools.

 

 

Do you see an island in the background?

No? There’s a reason for that.

 

 

Aside from being toon-shaded in some of the most realistic graphics ever seen in a video game, what visual treats can gamers expect to feast their eyes on?  What will be seen in The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker that has never been seen in a video game before?

 

GF: Nintendo may be able to give you specific information on how they create their effects as they hold it as confidential. What we can point out are the aspects of the game that reviewers have complimented, such as: the visual clarity and detail of the massive worlds; the animation of the characters, especially facial animation; and the effects such as smoke, real time lighting.

 

Were any alterations made to Maya before it was used to develop The Wind Waker?

 

GF: In any game project, in pre-production, tools and plug-ins are created. Nintendo keeps exact details confidential, but using MEL and Maya's API, some functionality was added to Maya that had previously been provided by the other 3D tools used in past productions. In addition, certain processes were automated using MEL and batch mode.

 

Has Maya been used to render any computer-generated sequences in video games?

 

GF: If you are referring to cinematics or other pre-rendered content, Maya is frequently used in this way. One very high profile example is the cinematics in Final Fantasy X and XI which are all created and rendered in Maya. The Final Fantasy team is now using Maya for the real-time art as well.

 

 

What would a Zelda game be without these kinds of puzzles?

 

 

In all, how many games have utilized Maya's revolutionary technology?

 

GF: We estimate that there are between 175 and 250 titles published a year that use Maya in the production. We don't have specific numbers.

 

What will be the next game to use it?

 

GF: There are many games in production with Maya right now. One of the most anticipated is Tomb Raider Angel of Darkness from Core in the UK. This is just one of several high profile games that have entrusted the ongoing development of "franchise" characters to Maya.

 

Thank you for your time.

 

For more information on the GameCube gaming event of the year, read GameZone’s full review of The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker.