“We, as bewitched, looked at the screen”: How the authors of InFamous created the world of “Ghost of Tsushima”

An exclusive project will go on sale in a week PS4Ghost of tushushacoming out in Russia under the title “Ghost of tsushima“. Soon after a long wait and postponement of the release date, players will be able to go on a trip to feudal Japan.

The protagonist of the project is Jin Sakai, a wandering samurai fighting for the salvation of the native island of Tsushima, which actually exists. It is located between the main territory of Japan, the mainland and the Korean Peninsula.

PlayStation Official Blog Leading Artist of Studio Environment Sucker punch Joanna Wang tried to talk more about working on the game. In particular, it turned out that the developers visited Tsushima several times, where they enjoyed beautiful landscapes with mountains and dense forests.

“The island is surrounded by greenery, forests grow from the foot of the mountains to the ocean shore,” says Van. “And yet, our version of Tsushima does not repeat the actual island with photographic accuracy – rather, it is our declaration of love to the way we see it.”

The authors took as a basis the characteristic elements of the island and added their own impressions of Japan, during which the world of Ghost of Tsushima was born.

Sucker Punch calls the “Tsushima Ghost” his biggest game. The map in it is divided into three areas, in which there are more than forty different biomes and hundreds of points of interest. In their work on the open world, the developers used the motto: “if you see this, then you can go there.”

The world of Tsushima can be divided into two components: the pristine beauty of nature and created by human hands.

The first plays a very important role. She creates a lively and rich palette of colors that defines the artistic style and personality of the game. At the beginning of the development, nature seemed to the authors as a general background, however, when they started creating meadows, it became clear that it is a full-fledged component of the world and can have a huge impact on the perception of the plot.

“We, as bewitched, looked at the screen, and there the waves of tall grass swayed in the wind, and white fluffs soared above them, shining in the sun …”, Van recalls.

In their travels, players can go through the gates of Torii to a forgotten temple, attack a fortified castle, accidentally pick up a forgotten fishing hut near the water – Tsushima has many secrets and has hundreds of places to explore.

Different parts of the island have their own characteristics. For example, the city of healers in Akashima is located in marshy lowlands. Moss grows everywhere, and fog spreads over the ground and incense is smoked by a large bell … You can even hear the croaking of frogs. It is a mysterious and beautiful land.

Sucker Punch spent a lot of effort creating foliage. Trying to leave a lasting impression, the developers worked out the game landscapes as they should – limited the variety of foliage in biomes, changed colors, increased transparency levels, reduced texture noise – these are just some of the steps they took to achieve their goal.

“In the end, experimenting with color in landscapes became part of the characteristic style of our game. The fact that in each biome its type of foliage prevails allows us to emphasize the uniqueness of the locations and make the landscapes memorable. ”

The wind plays a very important role. The unique mechanics of the “Ghost” allows players at any time to cause a gust of wind, which will tell you in which direction to move on. When he starts to blow, everything around him reacts to his impulses: foliage, clothes, particles – everything indicates the right direction.

An indelible impression is exerted by the wind on the worked foliage. When players see the classic cinema scene recreated in the Ghost of Tsushima (two samurai are standing on the grass field opposite each other, raising their swords), they will remember it for life.

“The heroes look into each other’s eyes and, holding their breath, wait for the enemy to take a step. Both are completely motionless, but around – a sea of ​​movement. Grass is swaying, leaves are flying in the wind, the wind is blowing clothes, raindrops are falling from the sky … The tension of the warriors is growing, and the world around us is increasing anxiety, contrasting stillness and movement. ”

Over the years, Sucker Punch has faced many challenges, the largest of which was the scale of the game. The developers came to the aid of modern tools that made it possible to quickly build a huge world. Fortunately, they did not have to draw each blade of grass by hand and do everything in a new way, creating denser vegetation.

The tools helped the studio take a more creative approach, including expressive artistic solutions. The work done by Sucker Punch can be evaluated below with a few animated pictures.

Foliage growing in the forest:

Ability to draw grass:

Millions of grass stems loaded together:

“Tsushima is a rich and diverse world that is constantly changing. You stand on a cliff and look at the storm raging on the horizon; walking along the bridge, suddenly clouds obscure the sun, pouring rain; make your way to the Mongolian camp on a foggy night or stand on the shore and admire the first rays of the sun over the sea waves … And all this is developing dynamically. “

The nature of the island is abundant and beautiful, and its exploration of the world occupies an essential part of the gameplay. Sucker Punch refers to nature as an acting character that breathes, moves and has its own character.

Ghost of Tsushima has a lot of stories that players have to learn, and secrets that need to be solved. The game will be released exclusively on Ps4 July 17, 2023.

Read also: PlayStation 5 turned out to be a giant console – a Sony employee explained the reason.

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