Quantic Dream Game Engine
French developer Quantic Dream's latest project, a tech demo that shows the progression the studio has made since 2010's Heavy Rain as well as laying a foundation for its next game, is to be unveiled today - and you'll be able to see it first here on Eurogamer. Quantic Dream's founder and CEO David Cage will take to the stage at San Francisco's GDC later today to unveil the tech demo and talk about the philosophy behind it. It's similar in purpose - and in impact - to 2006's The Casting, the PlayStation 3 tech demo that served as the foundation for thriller Heavy Rain. Yeah, the QTEs get in the way for some people still. The story also disappointed many because they found holes.
Nonetheless, the team is adept in coercing the user, getting him/her involved subtly, and coming up with scenarios to challenge the player. I think the premise of the game is its most powerful ally. I don't know if the game will impact me that much if I wasn't married with a kid.
I suspect the game may have significantly less impact on my younger, carefree self. Hope you like it though. EDIT: As I understand, Indigo Prophecy is very different from Heavy Rain although they do share some mechanics.
Thinking of Blade runners replicants when I see this. And Id love to see something along those lines Heavy Rain just dint grab me. It swapped between doing boring chores trying to connect you to your son or something like that and then skipping forward which made me wonder why I even bothered. I felt punsihed for stuff that happened between scenes and I wasnt responsible for and dint know at all. On the other hand Indigo Prophecy did a good job throwing you in a mess and making you care a great deal about whats happening. Pity the game got very shallow and the plot jumped around too much (oh yay - a sudden love interest with a guy which is cold as ice, ufos, etc).
Click to expand.Well they have to do that because these games are aimed at older gamers. I admit myself that Heavy Rain may not have been perfect but as far as being a game that did not feel like 'oh hey yet another kiddie thing here' that was great.
Quantic Dream Kara
Quantic Dream has unveiled Kara, a stunning tech demo that paves the way for the studio's next game. CEO and founder David Cage gives us the inside story.
I sold my copy but quickly bought Heavy Rain the directors cut right away, I had some female friends play the investigation of the taxidermist and their reactions were of very high interest, I mean I guess I'm desensitized being able to play Mortal Kombat (yet that series gets populated by 12 year olds on xbox live makes you wonder) but Heavy Rain at least with the girls I spoke with who are not heavy gamers, they really were able to show interest and not feel offended or bored. Kind of like a few of the old Silent Hill games. I am really looking forward to QD's next game, definetly buying it day one, that 'tech demo' has me sold, my expectations are low though, I don't want to imagine this as some game beater when other games will sell higher numbers but at least I know I'm not buying more kid stuff.
At his 'Technologies To Support Emotion' talk at GDC, Quantic Dream's David Cage showed off a year-old demo of the company's new 'Kara' motion capture engine. What we saw during the presentation was running in-game on Kara v1, but he says it's 50% more powerful in its current v3 state. Cage mentioned that the capture technology seen in films like Avatar and TinTin is ideal, but prohibitively expensive for game production. Quantic Dream wanted something that was 'high quality, very fast, and very cheap.' Their solution was Kara, a motion-capture system that pipelines actors' performances directly into the game engine with little editing needed. With it, they're able to shoot footage on the motion capture stage and almost immediately see how it appears in-game. Whereas the company had 28 cameras in the Heavy Rain capture sessions, Kara uses 65.
Ninety markers are placed on the actors' face, and ninety more are placed on the body. Cage clarified that the Kara demo is not indicative of the company's next title, as it's strictly a demo for the engine. The video shows a robotic female being assembled and describing her functions. She states that she doesn't need to be fed, her battery lasts for 173 years, can take care of kids, clean a house, and is available as a sexual partner. After prompting by the unseen 'Operator,' she speaks fluently in French and German before singing in Japanese. Once the Operator has heard enough, he states that she's ready to be sold.
Initially confused about this statement, she quickly realizes she's a piece of merchandise. The Operator is discouraged by this self-awareness, and orders robotic arms to start disassembling the 'defective' model. 'I thought I was alive,' Kara says. 'I've only just been born. You can't kill me yet. Stop this, please stop! As she says this, the robotic arms pause, retract, and the Operator tells her to 'go and join the others.'
Dream Chronicles
She's placed in a box with several identical models and whisked away. With help from this engine, Cage wants to bring a potentially new demographic into gaming. He says that three markets exist right now - casual (with Angry Birds as an example), family (Wii games), and hardcore (Call of Duty). 'We believe there is a space for adult games. Delta a321 fsx. Meaningful experiences for a mature audience,' Cage said. 'We don't need to deliver messages or whatever, we just need to create a moment in time that leaves an imprint on your mind.' Watch the demo below.
So in the next several years finally QD will have another game out that's basically something Vivid already created. A Porno video game.
Best Quantic Dream Game
Cage go ahead and you play with your new 65 cams and kara-gina i'll continue to play other games and not even bother to pay attention to QD ever again. I am very glad i have heavy rain but for one thats attempting to have 'AO' games come out will receive so much backlash that it will be the New 'Nightrap' of the Next gen consoles. Until you release/publish a x-men chick fight with nudity and sex I'll never send money your way again. /sarcasmn off.
While this is just a tech demo by a games company, it raises an important question. If an android exhibited total emotional awareness during testing how would the human operator react? Would he take pity, or mercilessly rip it apart to be analysed? Would he let it out into the world with a warning or would he keep the Android for himself to protect or use. Machine self awareness in an inevitable moment sometime in the future and one that will truly show the Human race's nature beyond the primitive savages we once were and to some extent still are.