Creating First Person Movement

for MIRROR'S EDGE

Creating First Person Movement

for MIRROR'S EDGE

• Tobias Dahl, Lead Animator• Mikael Lagré, Programmer

Agenda

Intro

DICE The Vision

Team structure

Prototyping

Tools and pipeline

Iteration

Final Thoughts

Located in Stockholm, Sweden Owned by Electronic Arts since 2006 260 employees Battlefield and Mirror’s Edge

Located in Stockholm, Sweden Owned by Electronic Arts since 2006 260 employees Battlefield and Mirror’s Edge

Intro DICE

The Vision Team structure

Prototyping

Tools and pipeline

Iteration

Final Thoughts

Agenda

The Vision

Through the character experience

First person free running The chase – “fight or flight” Heightened senses experience ∂

The KAOF’s

The KAOF’s

Through the character experienceThrough the character experience

Redefine 1st person True immersion Became a mantra on the

team

The Vision

More like a 3P adventure game, translated to 1P perspective

Parkour-like moves Allow the things you always wanted

to be able to do in your ordinary FPS

First person free running

First person free running

The Vision

The Vision

Momentum is rewarded Assess the situation When the odds are

against you – the chase begins

The chase – Fight or flightThe chase –

Fight or flight

The Vision

How Faith percieves the world

Focus on whats relevant, the rest become peripheral

Clean and fresh

Heightened sensesHeightened senses

Agenda

Intro DICE The Vision

Team structure Prototyping

Tools and pipeline

Iteration

Final Thoughts

Team

stru

cture

Team

stru

cture

Team Structure

5-6 people Team seated together Always one designer, one animator and one engineer assigned to a feature at the same time

Agile development, using scrum The movement team was a perfect fit for the scrum format

2 Week cycles, 2-3 moves Allowed for fast iterations, design adjustments etc.

5-6 people Team seated together Always one designer, one animator and one engineer assigned to a feature at the same time

Agile development, using scrum The movement team was a perfect fit for the scrum format

2 Week cycles, 2-3 moves Allowed for fast iterations, design adjustments etc.

Agenda

Intro DICE The Vision

Team structure

Prototyping Tools and pipeline

Iteration

Final Thoughts

Prototyping

Initial concepts First pre-visualization

Animate perception First Person Mesh The Whiteroom

Initial concepts First pre-visualization

Animate perception First Person Mesh The Whiteroom

Initial Concepts

Previsualisation

Fir

st

Itera

tion

Fir

st

Itera

tion

Previsualisation

Secon

d

Itera

tion

Secon

d

Itera

tion

Previsualisation

Fin

al V

ers

ion

Fin

al V

ers

ion

First idea, do some mocap, parent the camera to the head, done!

Animate First Person Perception

Animate First Person Perception

Animate First Person Perception

Animate First Person Perception

Second idea, put some aim constraint on the camera.

Animate First Person Perception

Animate First Person Perception

Third idea, animate it by hand and make it look cool and believable!

Animate First Person Perception

Animate First Person PerceptionSame goes for all 1p

animations

First Person Mesh

Realistic appealing First Person mesh

No volume loss Muscle and tendons Something happening under the

skin

Realistic appealing First Person mesh

No volume loss Muscle and tendons Something happening under the

skin

First Person Mesh

Com

pari

so

nCom

pari

so

n

First Person Mesh

Fin

al

Vers

ion

Fin

al

Vers

ion

The White Room

Intro DICE The Vision

Team structure

Prototyping

Tools and pipeline

Iteration

Final Thoughts

Agenda

The Tools

Support all projects on DICE

Support different engines like Frostbite,

BF2 and Unreal3 Scaleable rigs Created for Maya in MEL and API

Support all projects on DICE

Support different engines like Frostbite,

BF2 and Unreal3 Scaleable rigs Created for Maya in MEL and API

Design to fit first/third person animations

Both realistic and stylized animations Deal with many characters for cut

scenes High frame rate (no playblasts) No Maya referencing

Design to fit first/third person animations

Both realistic and stylized animations Deal with many characters for cut

scenes High frame rate (no playblasts) No Maya referencing

The Tools

Agenda

Intro DICE The Vision

Team structure

Prototyping

Tools and pipeline

Iteration Final Thoughts

Iteration

Movement was a key area of focus

Most moves iterated on 5-6 times

Attention to detail Motion sickness

Movement was a key area of focus

Most moves iterated on 5-6 times

Attention to detail Motion sickness

Context sensitive animations

Layered landing animations

Heavy landings / skill rolls

JumpingJumping

Wall runsWall runs Impact animation Guided camera Aiming Dynamically triggered

Fixed metrics at first Became fully dynamic Choose animation based on

height, speed and obstacle shape

VaultingVaulting

Agenda

Intro DICE The Vision

Team structure

Prototyping

Tools and pipeline

Iteration

Final Thoughts

Final Thoughts

Successful production methodology Strong belief in the game concept from the

beginning to the end First person restrictions sometimes very

challenging

The whole production – a learning experience

Successful production methodology Strong belief in the game concept from the

beginning to the end First person restrictions sometimes very

challenging

The whole production – a learning experience

Q

uestions?

Q

uestions?