Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/6960
February 2010 20 ■ ■ ■ ■ Gaming maintaining a good-looking animation." To help Alan gain a foothold or handhold on his environment as he navigates his way across precarious bridges, strides across a forest fl oor strewn with rubble, logs, and bracken, or scales the rocky mountainside, Remedy built a custom layer of tools on top of Havok phys- ics, to help constrain the character's hands and feet to the surfaces. Best of Both Worlds Indeed, in an era when game development seems focused on abandoning its roots in cine- matic storytelling, like crutches it needs to lose before standing on its own feet, Remedy is not so quick to see the two mediums diverge. Perhaps they can co-exist, and gaming can be stronger for it. "To deliver that thriller experience, we can use a cinematic or add emotional punc- tuation to a cliff hanger moment with a pro- cedural camera. Also, as Alan is the writer, his narrator's monologue of the manuscript pages that foreshadow the terrible events that seem to be coming true can also tell the story," contends Lehtinen. "We can incor- porate non-playable character interaction, and even sudden and brief fl ashbacks of the previous forgotten events during Alan's sei- zures. All of this we can do, and have the emotions of the gameplay intensifi ed for it. is is interactive entertainment and story- telling at its best." Whether the two mediums will eventually diverge into their own separate entertainment species, never to mate again, is a question only the future can answer. Right now, however, Remedy Entertainment's Alan Wake certainly represents the best of both worlds. ■ Martin McEachern is an award-winning writer and contributing editor for Computer Graphics World. He can be reached at martinmceachern@hotmail.com. In the cinematic that unfolds as the main character Alan drives up the mountain road to Cauldron Lake cabin, he recounts, in voice-over, reaching a point in the novel where he picks up a hitchhiker, who kills him. It's at this point that he fi nds himself actually picking up a hitchhiker, who has the uncanny ability to read his mind and fi nish his thoughts. As Alan struggles to make sense of the coincidence, he stops at the scene of an accident located around a blind turn. Getting out, he fi nds a body lying face down in a pool of blood, seemingly dead. Turning the body over, the face of a woman is partially revealed. His wife? Before he can answer the question, a truck comes barrel- ing around the blind turn, striking his car with the hitchhiker inside. Then he passes out. Waking up, he fi nds a fl ashlight in his hand. Panicking, he dashes across a rope bridge and, stopping halfway, hears a voice calling his name from behind. The POV switches to the hitchhiker coming toward him. And then back to Alan. All this action is heavily directed, framed with close-ups, gentle push-ins, slow motion, and insert shots that grip you with suspense. Enfolding cinematic action into the gameplay without un- dermining the interactivity is always diffi cult but has become Remedy's specialty since Max Payne. If the philosophy by which the fi lm world lives has always been "show, don't tell," then, according to art director Saku Lehtinen, that by which the gaming world lives is, "let the player do, don't show." Indeed, Remedy is keenly aware that the key reversals in a game's story are meant to be played, not watched. However, Lehtinen says, "cinematics, in themselves, are not good or bad; rather, how you use them will defi ne the result. There are many emo- tions one can convey with gameplay, but some challenging and key story bits are best delivered with cut-scenes to make sure the player hears and sees everything necessary." When cinematics are used incorrectly, Lehtinen continues, "they become merely a device for moving the player in time or location, with typically poor acting or writing. Yes, long cut- scenes can feel disturbing and interrupt the fl ow of the game- play, especially if the transition from 'active' game medium to 'passive' cinematic is done badly. That's why we paid special attention to these transitions, so that the cut-scenes serve to deepen the emotional impact of the game, complementing the in-game storytelling and action. That being said, of course, the priority is always 'rather than tell, show, and rather than show, let the player do.'" –Martin McEachern Modelers took great care in creating the characters, making sure their faces are detailed to where the smallest bit of emotion can be detected. Do, Don't Show and even sudden and brief fl ashbacks of the I became increasingly afraid to go to sleep. I was convinced that I would wake up changed, darkness having seeped in through the cracks in the oor, crawled up to my bed, and made its way inside, through a nostril or an ear. I barricaded the door of the cabin. I kept the lights on at all times. I taped a note on the door (I had forgotten so many things already): 'Don't go out.'