Quantic Dream head honcho, David Cage, has spoken to TVG as part of a new feature series called TVG.TripleTap. He spoke at length about his writing and directing responsibilities at the Quantic Dream studio (of which he is also the CEO and Founder).
The interview is all part of TVG's new TripleTap feature series, the first article of which will go live next Wednesday the 16th January. The first feature in the series will focus on the 'Art of Storytelling' in
videogames, including opinions on the matter from Rob Yescombe, Rhianna Pratchett and David Cage himself. All three have been involved in either
games writing or directing on titles such as Haze, Heavenly Sword and Fahrenheit respectively.
During the interview with Cage, he let TVG in on some golden nuggets of information about the studio's current title under development, Heavy Rain. We were also lucky enough to receive a couple of
exclusive screenshots of the
game's "real-time virtual actors".
The two Heavy Rain screens show, up close and personal, the astounding visual detail that Quantic Dream has been able to give the game's characters. Cage spoke about what is required to create such lifelike facial characteristics in their animations:
"Today, everything is visual, so yes, the hardware helps a lot to reach the visual quality that becomes necessary. Virtual actors, especially, are for me the most important part. I see them as the vectors of emotion; I need them to be as believable as possible in their acting performance and emotional response. Quantic Dream has massively invested over the past ten years in this aspect by acquiring a Motion Capture system internally and working very hard on facial animation and advanced rendering systems in particular."
Cage also remarked on his different experiences in developing Fahrenheit and his current project, Heavy Rain: "Multi-layered plotlines are a pure nightmare to write. The writing of Fahrenheit has been incredibly difficult and painful for me, as I was writing a new format in its most complex dimension. My current project has been easier to write, which was a relief, as it means I start to have a better understanding of this specific form of interactive writing."
Unfortunately, Cage wouldn't go into details about Quantic Dream's enigmatic title for the
PlayStation 3, saying only that gamers should "Expect to be surprised."
Keep your eye on TVG next week for the first in a line of new TVG.TripleTap features, which take an in-depth look at the important topics from the people that matter.
