We still remember Dead Space very well: its dark atmospheres and unprecedented mix of metaphysical horror and raw science fiction at the time have made it an icon of videogame survival horror, thanks to the special artistic vision of Visceral, who first and foremost made a game. starting with himself, he has an extremely strong identity graphic characterization.
The hard-working choices made between the direction and technical limitations lurking in a challenging and claustrophobic level design made the vision of a world still so vivid in the minds of those who played it. To tell the truth, for these reasons it can be hard to understand the necessity of a remake, at least compared to the possibility of a real new episode, but look at what the team has put together. motive Compare with actual footage of the first episode for this project and to understand its impact.
Mind you, the first Dead Space still holds itself very well, but it’s easy to see that there’s a lot of room for improvement on the technical front outside of the memory filter. This Remake of Dead Space therefore, it is structured as the purest realization. original artistic vision By Visceral’s unwavering loyalty to the original project, which Motive showed in fulfilling this task, which was also made possible by his extreme respect for the starting material. On the other hand, the constituent elements of the horror of Dead Space have such a strong character that they cannot be changed much: Isaac Clarke with his heavy and clumsy armor, the dirty and noisy technology of USG Ishimura, dark corridors and dark corridors. The creepy necromorphs are all still in place, but they’ve never been more lively and impressive.
restructuring process
Starting from a game with a solid artistic direction, the stylistic foundations of the graphics have already been defined, and it’s just a matter of trying to apply modern technologies to original ideas. As described by art director Roy Tuazon, Environmental Artists Xaiver Perreault and Evan Yovanovich during its last live stream presentation, Dead Space Remake’s creative process goes through several phases, all focusing on Visceral’s initial work, reworking and integrating parts of the original level design. . . with old and new concepts and works of art, to enrich it according to something vision faithful to the classical, but also keeping up with the times. It’s about taking scenarios and breaking them down into modular elements, perfecting each of them with new high-resolution assets, taking advantage of much more advanced material reproduction and cutting-edge light and shadow effects, enhancing scenes with additional elements. it also provides elements of narrative value and then reassembles new sets following the old pattern, but with a clearly different outcome.
It is a completely focused study. detail: the level design remains largely original, mainly because the structure of USG Ishimura is an integral part of the game, but everything is much richer and more realistic. The final effect is much more effective than a simple resolution increase, because the settings are actually completely reconfigured, the originals used as the basis, but fragmented, modified, enriched and reshaped to expand the evocative power of the scenarios. new elements that are only seemingly secondary but serve for greater identification with the game world, while also providing ideas for a deeper environmental narrative.
Lights, shadows and effects
Dead Space’s aesthetic is historically linked to its strategic management. lights and shadowsis used in a way that increases the tension and the irritating effect. The original was developed on a Visceral proprietary engine that did a great job at the time at managing pre-baked lights and placed dynamic shadows to give the scene dynamism, but the Remake can count on significant technological advances at this point. . Motive is working on the Frostbite Engine, which seems to have been further refined to achieve some Dead Space-related special effects, paying particular attention to the management of the lights. As reported in the video by Mike Yeomans, Mathieu Tetrault and Guillaume Goudreault, the engine allows the management of multiple sources of light and reflection through tools that have been perfected specifically for the game, providing dynamic shadows and differential color rendering depending on settings.
It is not a matter of ray tracing, but of pre-calculated lights through a scenographic work of considerable precision, very specifically for each different setting. The difference with the original is clear, but the most interesting thing is that this reinterpretation actually returns a more faithful version of Visceral’s original vision for Ishimura, Valor, and other settings.
Also in this case it is a rework that is very focused on details such that individual lamps are built into the ships’ lighting system to create a reliable and realistic light source.
A significant evolution has also been implemented visual effectsincludes a dense use of volumetric mist that significantly enriches and enlivens each scene, as explained by expert Greg Hird-Rutter, as well as a very convincing depiction of the fire and zero gravity phases. With the different conditions in which Dead Space scenarios present themselves, there is a large area devoted to the application of effects: sparks, flames, flowing liquids, it is the order of the day among the bent plates of the ships in which it is located. Location. The game features all that VFX has much more action than the original.
Characters and necromorphs
Finally, some of Motive’s detailed video focused on reworking characters and necromorphs, other elements that have undergone significant evolution but are still highly relevant to Visceral’s original vision. For what concern protagonist Isaac ClarkeIn , character artist Sam Compain-Eglin has clearly focused on the character’s iconic armor, which is a distinctive element of the entire game. Also in this case, the improvement work began from the original concepts and artworks, now able to make the 3D rendering of the preparatory drawings much more faithful and advanced. Every technological element of the luminaire is clearly visible in this new version, which is well defined and sensitive to light with reflections and shadows. Even the animations are more believable, but everything retains the typical style of the original: Isaac’s armor is a work tool, just as the protagonist himself is a technician, not a soldier, these essential elements remained unchanged in the remake.
This necromorphs Have a design that has been studied according to the gameplay of Dead Space, and this obviously should be preserved in the remake: the limbs and various elements that make up the targets in the bodies of the monsters have been faithfully reproduced according to the typical “strategic”. fragmentation that characterizes the combat system”. Also in this case, the maneuvering area of \u200b\u200bthe graphics then focused on the details: each anatomical element of the monsters has been recreated with impressive precision, making the creatures as much more realistic as we can, and therefore more disturbing than in the original. see video in full In the section dedicated to the new “slasher” section.
Source: Multiplayer
