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Hello everyone, there is a small disclaimer. When writing the text, the task was not set to create a monstrous work covering all aspects of the development of the game. Rather, there was a desire to talk about those small, sometimes even invisible moments that affect development and which seemed interesting to me as the author. For those who do not like letters there is a video version, and for the rest-a pleasant reading.

Already at the early stage of creating the game, the designers of Ori set themselves a difficult task. Make a game with the maximum emphasis on the visual, beautiful, bright and unlike other platformers. The sources of inspiration were the soft, but at the same time sharply detailed works of the Theo of the Prince. Waib Pastoral landscapes Jamie Jones and Craig Mullins. The study of the visual, lighting, palettes and at about the same time was the first artistic problem.

Okay, all this is wonderful, but how to make it so that against the backdrop of all this variety is hardly lost most important in the game – its hero? How to make it so that it does not merge with the environment, because a bright and memorable protagonist for history is no less important. What the environment should be?

Hello everyone and today we will briefly talk about how Ori and the Blind Forest was created.

In search of answers, the authors went through many options, but in the end, as the final reference, he served one, inspired, suddenly, by the ribbons of Hayao Miyazaki. To describe briefly, let’s contact this picture:

Here we see a bright, richly detailed background, the main character in the foreground. Both objects are most pronounced, visually do not conflict with each other, but do not merge with each other. Why it turns out? To understand this, let’s remove extra details like folds and textures of clothes, hair, color, leaving only a minimum of lines. What we get in the end? Correct silhouette:

We can say that the heroine of Miyazaki, as for, for example, the spirit of Caonashi – these are silhouettes, flat textures that set emotions with the help of eyes, the simplest facial expressions and gestures. But at the same time, they still remain readable, thanks to the general simplicity and deliberate primitiveness. As a result, many artistic solutions from the tape were taken as a basis not only of the visual image of the heroine, but also the game as a whole.

Instead of a difficult study of appearance – a simple white texture that only slightly highlights itself to give volume, instead of complex front animation – a minimum set of details to read the emotions and language of the body. Later, the hind legs received a hock, like cats to explain jumping, and a tail appeared to visualize the direction of the jump

The prototype of the main https://non-uk-casinos.co.uk/review/betfoxx/ character of the game was Kodam, mythical creatures from Princess Mononoka, also living in the forest. And another important object for inspiration, according to the animator of the game James Benson, was this frame from Princess Mononoka. Here, a two -dimensional character interacts with snakes that imitate two -dimensionality, although in fact they are voluminous. And, as you already guessed, it is from here that the visual style of the game originates.

Well, now, when we finished with the character and the environment, you can talk about something no less important. And how, in fact, this environment will sound?

The fact is that already at the early stage of the creation of the game, the main paradigm of the sound in it was adopted. Where the music was not just a background, but as if creating a general environment for the entire environment, it became an important part of the emboss. And the sound itself, that is, the rustle of foliage, wind, splash of water, protruded small, but important strokes that complement the general picture and are rather separate tools in the general mix.

Anyway, in many reviews they appreciated Ori music, noting how good it is, beautiful and how dynamically the gameplay changes in time. Only a funny detail lies in the fact that there is no dynamic or adaptive musical accompaniment of Ori. From the word completely. There are no pre -written layers and the rhythmic basis on which they are superimposed. This is partly due to the artistic solution of the team and personally the composer of the game Gareth Coker.

And also, because in his words, he himself, in general, did not know how to create such music. Therefore, about 125 compositions were written for Ori, and such a quantity already creates the illusion of interactive support, which is rigidly thought out and tied to triggers. And the composer himself personally spent about 500 hours in the game only to clearly put music in the storyline.

And then, somewhere in the process, the developers intentionally abandoned the so-called “combat music”, which usually appears in other games during shootings and, as it were, makes you move, pushes to attack.

And the whole point is that already in the process of creation the authors realized that fights in the game can occur oh-oh-very often and a constant change of musical accompaniment would look terrible. Therefore, it was decided that combat music should be included only in those moments when you really need to kill someone according to the plot, and most of all the fights in the game can be ignored. That is, the game deliberately does not stimulate aggression in you and, as it were, hints that the main thing in it is constant contemplation, research and … movement.

And it was with him that the next task of the composer was connected.

The fact is that already at the early stage a decision was made, as far as possible, to refuse percussion. Firstly, pronounced drums, according to Gareth Coker, shot down a general mood and smooth atmosphere. And secondly, because the heroine herself turned out to be a small percussion, giving out the necessary sounds when moving. And all would be nothing, but there were problems here.

The fact is that Ori is suddenly a platformer, where movement plays an important role, Floo. And it is very important to convey to the player a sense of dynamics and speed. But how to add movement to music and encourage activity in a game, where the main rate is made at a smooth and measured pace?

The solution was found simple and elegant, to “collect” from the sounds of tongs, plates and piano a kind of impulses that would ask the necessary movement to the player, only occasionally standing out from the main music. Impulses that are more felt than heard, as if emulating a rhythmic basis in its complete absence.

And this approach was justified, Ori did not lose its smoothness, while telling the player the necessary dynamics and movement. At the same time, the lack of percussion was reflected in the very narrative of the game, leaving more airiness and space for subtle sounds, such as the rustle of grass, wind, crunch of stones when walking, through the details immersing the player surrounded and setting him the right mood.

By the way, about him. Ori is a striking example of how important it is to connect the composer at the very early stages of development so that he can directly affect the sound design, receiving feedback on the go and honing the result. This is what Garetht himself says about this:

“My main idea is that the composer can and should test those elements that an ordinary tester is not able to.

The fact is that there is always a person who will pay attention to technical bugs, absent sound, glitches, etc. But who will ensure that the emotions in the game do not sag from the first scene to the final credits? Who is responsible for this? That’s right, composer. And the only way to make your job is good to play the game on which you work.

And yes it takes a lot of time, I spent hundreds of hours on Ori, but this is part of my work. Even if you are not so good in games, you can always hire a student who will be happy to pass it for you.

And yes, there are many examples when the composer has not seen the game that works on, but it seems to me that you will feel the maximum return, the team will feel your return when you are actively involved and think through its emotional experience from A to me."

I can only add on my own that the first part of the AGE turned out to be a great game. Beautiful, bright, original and source of inspiration for her, served, suddenly for me, a huge cultural layer, ranging from Japanese animation and ending with Hollywood composers. And plunging into this topic, I myself have repeatedly been surprised at what little things sometimes affect the final result.
And against the background of the release of the second part, I wanted to talk a little about creating the first and I hope you liked it.