“The problem with trying to build a new visual that has not been done before in entirety, is that you are having to imagine what it could be like, with no solid reference material to clearly specify it.”


STORMWORKS IS CLEARLY EMBEDDED IN THE DNA OF CC2, BUT TO WHAT EXTENT? WHAT TOOLS OR TECHNIQUES DO THE GAMES SHARE?


And we wanted to build upon the gameplay, and give the game that moodiness that is constantly reminding you how alone and in peril you are, and that every decision matters.


THE NATURE OF THE SEA IS AN IMPORTANT ASPECT OF THE GAME, BEING BOTH ALIEN AND FAMILIAR, ALMOST LIKE A VAST OIL SLICK - WAS THAT INTENDED? Yes, it is intentional. The sea is completely over the top, the ocean swell must be 30-40m. Adopting the narrative of another planet frees you of a lot of constraints, so you can do crazy things like tuning the colour of the water to achieve the right mood, or adding colossal waves to deter the player and add an extra dynamic to the strategy board.


HOW MUCH DID THE ORIGINAL GAME (OR ITS MORE RECENT REMAKE) INFORM THE VISUAL DESIGN? We are aware of the remake, we have played it, and some of the visual effects are really nice. But there was a conscious decision to ignore it and focus on developing a sequel for the original 1988 game. It was one of the first 3D games and there were not many triangles to spare, and they were very carefully spent describing the information the player needed to play. Gameplay was before graphics, and much of the screen was carefully considered UI for the various tasks. We took that concept but went diegetic, and from this point, we looked at a lot of different places to build the rest of the visuals.


Carrier Command 2 has an entirely original engine developed specifically for this game. There are many common effects and appearances that originate from being created by the same studio, but internally, most of the techniques are different. We started developing Stormworks seven years ago and are still updating it with major new features – but this takes its toll on any code base in any software company. Code does age, and re-writing takes much longer than writing it the first time did. When you work on Stormworks, then CC2, you feel like you are getting 4x more work done, because everything is simpler, better considered, and easier. It’s the effect of having many more years of experience and confidence.


HOW DID THE VISUALS EVOLVE DURING DEVELOPMENT? WHAT CHANGES, IF ANY, WERE FORCED UPON YOU DURING THAT TIME? The problem with trying to build a new visual that has not been done before in entirety, is that you are having to imagine what it could be like, with no solid reference material to clearly specify it. You simply cannot know how it is going to turn out. You have to press forward with some faith, and trust your process. So, we were thinking more about the process, than the result. For example, a big part of the visual of CC2 is the lighting and fog colours at different times of day. We drove this by a live-reloaded texture so the artist can sit there, editing a texture, and immediately seeing how that affects the mood of the game. I don’t think any changes were really forced. I think the only thing would be that we initially wanted more verticality to the islands, but the procedural process we developed didn’t really allow this.


January 2022 MCV/DEVELOP | 43


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