The Dark Pictures Anthology’s first episode Man of Medan narrates a story of four friends trapped in a ghost ship in the middle of nowhere. Supermassive Games, quite recently, has explained the process that went into developing the ghost ship and its technicalities.
In a video uploaded today, Supermassive Games Production Designer Lee Robinson, Audio Director Barney Pratt and Art Director Robert Craig talk about bringing Man of Medan’s ghost ship to life. The ship is designed and modelled based on its architectural drawing, packed with proper camera angles, lighting and atmospherics to create the tension, suspense and claustrophobic environment the game demanded.
The team did extensive research on old ships, how they rust, decay and age in order to replicate the experience for the player. Supermassive gained access to a periodic military vessel for the process.
The sound recording process really fascinated me. Supermassive went on to recording sound effects including latches on the doors, sounds made in different rooms and recording impulses for identical environmental reverb.
“We wanted to make sure that we’re guiding the player right in those environments in a satisfying way as well as transmitting the mood that we want them to feel when they’re in there”, Art Director Robert Craig said.
There are certain spotlights and cinematic lights throughout the game implemented to make the characters look heroic, menacing and suitable to match with the demands of those particular scenes.
The environment is designed in a way to make the player feel the terror that one might experience if they were actually on the ship. Although the visuals aren’t absolutely stunning as of now, I’m looking forward to seeing more gameplay in the coming months.
I’ve also contacted Supermassive Games for an interview. If you have any questions you’d like me to ask, feel free to leave a comment.
Man of Medan has no specific release date yet but is scheduled to release next year. This is also Supermassive’s first cinematic experience coming to multiple platforms – PC, PS4 and Xbox One.
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