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2019

2009

Being different has pros and cons. You obviously need to spend more time explaining what your game is and why gamers are going to like it. If you work on a shooter, you just need to show a screenshot and announce the number of levels, weapons, enemies, and everybody knows more or less what you are talking about.

I am sure players will find many references to movies, TV series or novels in Heavy Rain, but there was no conscious influence. This script is the first thing I write for a game, [and it] comes from my personal experience

Well all the technology is proprietary, developed by Quantic Dream. We've worked for quite a while on PlayStation 3 - we got some alpha kits, dev kits for PS3 a long time ago, maybe before other developers.

Also, purely from my perspective, most publishers today realise that it's not ideal to release a new IP or a new genre just before Christmas. It's a very crowded place to be, and certain games need more space to live their life. Everybody at working on the project, both at Quantic and Sony, believe this is the right time.

David (Cage) was asked a question at E3 by one of the journalists, asking ‘what if you lose all four characters?’ Well, this is possible. There is no game-over in the game. So you can actually lose all four characters. What happens then is, you still have an ending to the story. It’s a very sad ending but, as David says, it’s his favourite ending.

Deux choses me surprennent particulièrement dans les déclarations de Bioware : la première est qu'ils semblent prêts à une rupture avec leur public traditionnel de hardcore gamers. C'est une décision qui est extrêmement difficile à prendre parce qu'en terme de marché, on sait ce qu'on perd (dans leur cas, un public très nombreux de gamers avides de leurs jeux)* mais on ne sait pas ce qu'on gagne (conquérir un nouveau public est toujours un immense challenge).

I can only tell from my company, Quantic Dream, but 93 per cent of the turnover generated from our games is from exports - our publishers only generate 7-10 per cent in France, which is normal, as that's about the same as France's share in the market. So we're a heavily exporting company here.

Quantic Dream’s famed mo-cap studio is launched the Motion Kit Collection, an “evolving library” of animations and captured motions.

My greatest fear is very basic. Mostly that people may not like it. When you try to do something different, you can’t please everyone. If you do something like a shooter, you can make a game better than the other ones. It’s obvious and everyone can have their opinion. When you try to do something that’s a bit different, you’ll have people that love it and hate it. I always feel people can be a little unfair sometimes because we are very sincere about the way we make games.

Although having said that, we see Madison in her underwear in the teaser. Her ability is not just to appear in her underwear?

The very first name of Quantic Dream was "Extreme Studio." It sounded so bad that we had to do something about it. This is how I came up with Quantic Dream, referring to quantum physics, which seemed to me a mix of science and unexplained magic.

Non… Quand on est créateur de jeux vidéo, on a envie d’être dans cette position-là. On n’a pas envie de faire des jeux dont tout le monde ignore. On aime être attendu au tournant, donc c’est une bonne pression. Maintenant, il est vrai qu’on n’a pas le droit de décevoir… Plus l’attente est importante et plus la déception l’est également. On travaille donc dur avec les équipes pour être à la hauteur des attentes.

Omikron was aiming to be realistic with the technology of its time... I think that more and more creators want to tell stories that are closer to them, to situations or emotions they have personally experienced. It is easier to talk about something you know than imagining what it was to be a rookie during WWII... For me, it is much more about situations than about realism, more about my personal link to what I want to write than a will to tell stories set in a contemporary or realistic environment. I could work on a
non-realistic game in the future and still try to talk about subjects that matter to me and thus seem to me “real”.

Pour commencer, il a décidé de nous faire la visite des studios, du plateau de graphistes à la salle de Motion Capture, en passant par le coin son et les autres développeurs éparpillés sur les trois étages de ce bâtiment du XXème arrondissement de Paris, vous allez tout savoir de ce qui se trame à l'intérieur.

nous vous proposons un petit extrait - en vidéo - de notre tête-à-tête, et plus particulièrement de ce que David Cage pense à propos de l'avenir du jeu vidéo et du casual gaming. Selon lui, "l'avenir du jeu vidéo ne réside pas dans le casual gaming et certainement pas à travers ce nouveau public qui saute devant Wii Fit ou qui gesticule avec des Wiimotes".

It does not rely on the same mechanics. Point and click games are usually based on the same patterns: puzzle solving or object management to unlock the next set with more puzzles and objects. There is a story but it is certainly not the real backbone of the game. It is just a nice layer putting all these scenes together. I am quite tough with this genre because it is one I loved and played a lot. But I must admit that it has absolutely not evolved for a decade.

Heavy Rain is heavily influenced by the cinema, to the point that many film techniques have been incorporated in the implementation of the game. How does your title is different from a film?

2008

Hello everyone! My name is Guillaume de Fondaumiere, co-CEO at Quantic Dream and executive producer of Heavy Rain.

Heavy Rain boasts over 8 hours of gameplay, multiple storylines, and the elimination of "game over" mechanics.

Set of concept art, characters design, rendering

What is the origami structure on the front cover of Heavy Rain?...It's the most classical origami you can make, it's one of the easiest to create. It's a crane, I think.

Heavy Rain director talks about film influences like Seven and Silent of the Lambs, the game's 2000 page script, total immersion within his game's universe, how all characters in the game look like their voice actors, and how the game will force the player to make choices as a human being.

2 Parts video interview with David

When the game was released, you guys wrote that the most interesting part was probably the first two-thirds where we were just following normal people in normal life, and we were just with them. Working on Heavy Rain, we just decided [the ending] is not a mistake we should do again. We can tell a real story about real people in real life, and we can make it as interesting as anything else.

...I think we found an interesting new solution by integrating symbols in 3D in the set and in animating them with the character or object they relate to. It's much less disruptive for the visuals, better integrated -- and, if well tuned, can be interesting to play. We also changed the pacing of the action, asking for fewer symbols but on a fast pace.

Here's the public presentation of Heavy Rain for the PlayStation 3 made by its Producer at Micromania Games Show 2008 in Paris.

French middleware company Omegame announced that Paris-based developer Quantic Dream licensed Menus Master, a user interface toolchain, for upcoming PlayStation 3-exclusive title Heavy Rain.

"Development is going as planned. We're currently recording all the dialogue for the game in our audio studio. No major worries, everything is going like planned... the game has been announced for 2009 - later, rather than earlier, but it's an end of summer, beginning of Autumn/Winter title."

“We’re still in the middle of production, so I can’t really tell you the exact time of the game, but we’re targeting a game between eight and 12 hours in gameplay for one walk through,”

“We worked very hard on motion capture, especially facial motion capture,” explains Cage. “As you know, eyes are incredibly hard to do: the minute movements they constantly make mean you can tell whether something is human or not. We created a technology to motion-capture that from actors.”

"Yes, of course, there will be a demo," said studio president David Cage...

Before the demo began, Cage ended his preface by touching on Quantic Dream's idea of a "bending story." You will have full "control" over the story, but the overall plot will never be changed through interactivity. Cage compared it to a rubber band. Although you can stretch and deform it, it will always be a rubber band. The same holds true for the plot of Heavy Rain.
And then the main menu came onto the screen. The subtitle of the demo was "The Origami Killer."

Ever since we showed a technical demo of Heavy Rain back in 2006, it was really WOW-ed by not just you guys but also the mass public as well. In a way it’s a surprise but it’s also just very obvious to us. We’ve been working hard on it and it’s going to be a real treat for gamers come mid-2009.

Heavy Rain is a dark, immersive and emotionally-engaging experience; one that expands upon the innovative ideas of 2005’s acclaimed Fahrenheit to create a noir-thriller where decisions are charged with importance and actions can have drastic and unforseen consequences. Breaking with traditional game conventions where necessary, the gameplay will be based around story, emotional involvement and the player’s decisions and interactions, rather than high-scores, combat and competition. Intuitive gameplay and controls are also fundamental to the experience – ensuring that the game is mature but accessible, and avoiding alienating players with obscure stats and complex interfaces.

Exclusive videointerview with Game Director David Cage about Heavy Rain, brought to you the day before they show it for the first time at Games Convention!

It is a video from inside Quantic Dreams studio recorded from M6 channel.
Here are very few frames from the Heavy Rain, it is a rainy street, and some face rendering frames.

...when I create characters, I try to start with an archetype. When I say "archetype," I don't mean "caricature". I mean archetype. An archetype is someone who very quickly you seem to know and you think you know him or her by the way he looks, talks, behaves, moves, and by his voice and whatever. What is interesting is to start with an archetype, because you create immediate empathy. And then you can add an extra layer of complexity to your character. So you seem to know him, but you discover there's extra depth. I think that's really interesting.

"Though Cage is intrigued by the possibility of real-time player-to-NPC conversation, the current impracticality of such technology means the game will, like its predecessor, use traditional dialogue trees.
It will be a heavily author-controlled story, eschewing the open world trend in favor of delivering a fuller, more directed, emotional experience."

“The main story will revolve around 4 different characters, and we’re putting the spotlight on their perceptions. The question ‘what is good and what is evil’ is the key here, that will be just a matter of viewpoint…I believe heavily in moral choices, I’m going to use them A LOT. They’re not about being good or bad, but about finding the right balance.”

"Multi-layered plotlines are a pure nightmare to write," admits David. "The writing of Fahrenheit has been incredibly difficult and painful for me, as I was writing a new format in its most complex dimension. My current project has been easier to write, which was a relief, as it means I start to have a better understanding of this specific form of interactive writing."

During the interview with Cage, he let TVG in on some golden nuggets of information about the studio's current title under development, Heavy Rain. We were also lucky enough to receive a couple of exclusive screenshots of the game's "real-time virtual actors".

2007

...co-founder of Quantic Dream Guillaume de Fondaumière tells GamesIndustry.biz in an interview at Game Connection about the studio's ambitious plans to deliver on the idea of virtual actors, it's dealings with the Hollywood A-list and why it believes the PlayStation 3 is the best option for the company's ambitious next-gen game...

Currently working as senior character artist for a French games company, Loic appears to be able to turn his hand to 3D, photography and digital painting with ease! Then combining all 3 to create some stunning images. Take a look for yourself...

Our next project is probably more personal. I continue to explore schizophrenia – what it means to be different persons – but the game will also be about love, fear, and how both can interfere. It will really be about moral choices, and the difficulty of knowing the difference between the good and the bad.

En tant que développeur, ça explique peut-être aussi notre choix entre un fabricant, avec une console bien déterminée, et un éditeur généraliste qui nous aurait forcément demandé de développer plutôt sur PS3, Xbox 360 et PC. Pour nous, c'est vrai que c'est beaucoup plus simple, ça nous permet de concentrer tous nos efforts sur une technologie, sur une console bien donnée. D’ailleurs, je pense que le marché est en train de se transformer profondément. On va de plus en plus voir des types de jeux émerger sur des consoles bien précises. Je ne suis pas sûr qu'à l'avenir on continue à avoir du multiplateforme. Tout le monde ne parle que de ça aujourd'hui parce que les deux principales consoles que l'on attendait, c'est-à-dire la Xbox 360 et la PS3, mettent du temps avant d'avoir une base installée suffisante. En plus, il y a la Wii qui vient un peu brouiller les cartes. Donc tout le monde patauge un peu dans la semoule et tout le monde se dit, vu les coûts de développement, il faut qu'on développe sur les trois plateformes. Maintenant, on va voir des choses se dessiner autrement d'ici deux ans.

On a encore fait le casting d'à peu près 350 personnes la semaine dernière. En fait, c'est un vrai processus, il y a énormément de recherches liées à ce qu'on est en train de faire sur les acteurs virtuels. C'est vraiment un travail de longue haleine pour arriver au niveau de qualité que l'on recherche et surtout, au-delà de ce projet sur lequel on est en train de travailler, pour en faire un outil pérenne que l'on pourra exploiter à l'avenir sur nos jeux ou sur de futurs jeux conçus par d'autres sociétés. On loue déjà notre studio de motion capture et à l'avenir, il n'est pas impossible que l'on aille plus loin en proposant vraiment un service clés en main sur les acteurs virtuels. D'où la nécessité d'avoir un maximum de profils, pour s'assurer de la versatilité des outils qu'on développe. Ce n'est pas tout de créer un acteur virtuel et de le faire parler pendant quatre minutes. Ce qu'on veut, c'est d'être capable de créer des acteurs virtuels, des grands, des petits, des gros, des minces, des jaunes, des blancs, des noirs, et avoir un pipeline de production qui nous permet véritablement de produire tout ça dans des budgets raisonnables.

Sony Computer Entertainment Worldwide Studios (SCE WWS) is pleased to announce that it will be collaborating with developer Quantic Dream on an exclusive PLAYSTATION®3 (PS3™) title – more details of which are to
be announced soon.

This is just a resume of facts we knew before, but Alexander research in short a complex of the future title.

... check Heavy Rain page. You ll see something new. TIP: the game cover first. Phrase opens the idea of the game. You'll see also the virtual names of starring.

2006

Le développeur français Quantic Dream (The Nomad Soul, Fahrenheit) fait savoir qu'il organise les 29 et 30 septembre prochains un casting destiné à sélectionner divers figurants pour son prochain jeu Heavy Rain.

I read, that Heavy Rain, from its creation, will cancel TNS2, because Quantic could not work on the 2 projects at the same time...

Initially, this demo was a purely internal technical prototype that was not supposed to be shown outside the company. Our original goal was just to define if it was possible to create a next-gen character able to express complex emotions and what it would take on a technical point of view. David Cage wrote a script where the actress would go through different emotions in just a couple of minutes, from the very shy and naïve actress of the beginning to the drama at the end with real-time tears. He also wanted to know if we could make the audience listen to her, care for her and react to her emotions in a similar way than with a real actress.

The following video is captured from our real-time PlayStation 3 demo as unveiled yesterday on the Sony Computer Entertainment booth at E3

With his next title, Heavy Rain, Cage's goal is to give the player the illusion that he is telling a story. He wants to tell narrative in an invisible way. He also hopes to tell it in a more mature way, arguing that censorship restrictions on games should be equal to those of feature films.

The official video of the real-time PS3 demo presented during E3 will be available for download on Monday, May 15th.

“Our objective was to recreate not only the likeness of a living actor, but its complete acting performance, in particular in its emotional dimension” says David Cage, the founder of Quantic Dream and director of Heavy Rain. “At Quantic Dream, we believe that emotion will be a key component of Next Gen games and we are heavily investing in technologies to create Virtual Actors since several years. By expanding the range of emotions video games have to offer, they will be able to reach a far wider audience. This demo is just the beginning of what can be achieved, but I hope it already shows the fascinating new possibilities this media will offer in the coming years”.