Week Beginning April 13
As E3 draws near the pressure begins to mount. The Atlanta fair is an event that Omikron cannot afford to miss. We have to be able to present the first playable version, which means having solved practically all the technical problems posed by the game. We need to give them adventure, Motion Capture dialog, Shoot and Feet/Fists combat.
The week got off to a bad start because of unexpected technical problems with facial Motion Caption. For some unexplained reason there was commotion of some kind during the shoot and the sensors tended to tremble. For a while we even thought we would have to recommence the whole shoot, which would have been particularly difficult to manage.
However, after a few days spent analyzing the situation we managed to come up with a software solution to the problem. The first files resulting from this technique are particularly impressive. The characters come strangely to life as soon as they speak. Their facial expressions, the perfect synchronization of their lips, smiles, batting of eyelids – everything has been rendered faithfully.
For the first time in a video game the actors can really act with their faces, not just with their voices.
Last week an English film crew came along to shoot a presentation film "the making of Omikron". It will be shown at E3 and distributed on CD to visitors.
This caused major upheavals in our offices, cameras all over the place, interviews in English, outdoor sequences, all in 16 mm. It looks like it will be an original piece of work.
The English crew was closely followed by John Kavanagh, the man who signed Omikron for Eidos. John is an important member of the managerial team at Eidos and he again assured us of his faith and support. Like us, he has great hopes for the project. While speaking of John I would just like to say how pleased we were to work with him. He is professional, experienced and enthusiastic, and has great respect for the freedom of the developer. Moreover, he knows all the hot spots in Paris. A perfect partner. John is one of the reasons why we are so happy to work with Eidos.
Philip Campbell, our Irish designer from San Francisco, is just beginning his third week in our premises. He has really done a great job of designing the first shoot sequences for the game. This week he will be working on the game play for the last sequences. He gets on fine with everyone and works well with the team, in spite of the language problem. The fact that he designed the levels for Tomb Raider Gold (at present number 2 bestseller for PCs in the US) immediately won him everyone's respect.
Apart from that, Francois is making progress with the artificial intelligence for the enemy in the Shoot part, as is Antoine for the Combat part. We have every hope of having a quality demo ready for E3. But these last few weeks will be very short for us, as will the nights and weekends.
We no longer have any choice in the matter. We've just got to hang together and get on with the job.
Still lots of e-mail coming in to encourage us and telling us how much you look forward to playing Omikron. Thanks for your enthusiasm. We continue to post up your messages in our coffee room so that all can appreciate them.
Watch this space.
Autor: David Cage
Source: Quantic Dream
11/01/1999 Eidos Interactive ships Omikron: The Nomad Soul
09/23/1998 September News 2
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06/08/1998 Week Beginning June 8
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Monday, April 13, 1998