Page 33 - Developer

done using keyboard shortcuts. In used in a wide variety of gameplay
order to use GenAnim, you have to situations. Without this research,
memorize the keyboard shortcuts. the design team was practically
While the lack of proper tools flying blind until enough content had

did not necessarily make the been created to justify the decision
quality of the game any lower, what or, worse, prove it wrong and send

it did do is make life more difficult things back to square one.
for the team, meaning production Some of the gameplay elements

was not as efficient as it could have that were created ended up being
been with the proper tools in place. far less reusable than others, which
This point was not exactly clearly resulted in a large time investment
recognized during actual production, on the art side, the programming
as the team had been working in the side, and even the level-design side,
basic engine since the beginning. since we needed to experiment
Only when we started developing with each element before drawing
the follow-up game RAYMAN LEGENDS conclusions on how useful it was.
was it increasingly clear that the This is not necessarily anything new
team needed better tools. There were or surprising for game developers,
many small issues in the engine that and considering the sheer amount

forced the level designers to find of different gameplay elements in
their own workarounds just to get the the final game it would have been

functionality they needed in place, impossible to experiment with all
but with the simple addition of proper of them back in pre-production.
tools and engine improvements the However, this doesn’t change the

work was clean and finished five fact that had the team focused on a

times faster than before. broader range of different gameplay
elements from all the proposed
4. LIMITED PRE- worlds in the game rather than
PRODUCTION SCOPE focusing on every element in the

Earlier, I mentioned that RAYMAN first world, we would have been able
ORIGINS spent a signifi cant time in to make the rest of the game more
pre-production, producing a very smoothly and throw less work away. when the bosses were being created. which, through a few simple design
solid base for the game (the UBIart A boss should also be there to choices, could have ended up far
framework, the three Cs, GenAnim). 5. BOSS FIGHTS challenge a player’s understanding more understandable, relevant,
Since it took so much work to build It is more or less safe to say that of the gameplay mechanics they and, ultimately, a lot more fun.
a solid core for RAYMAN, we had to out of all the content that RAYMAN have been taught during the previous
choose what we wanted to focus ORIGINS boasts, the boss fi ghts are far world. Let’s take the punch power FROM ORIGIN TO LEGEND
on. During pre-production we had from the best part of the experience. RAYMAN learns in the Jungle world Many things went right with
built the beginnings of a jungle Apart from the odd chase sequence of RAYMAN ORIGINS. The fi rst boss of RAYMAN ORIGINS, but there was
world, complete with gameplay or Moskito shooter boss fight, the the game, Poor Little Daisy, should plenty of room for improvement,

elements for the characters to rest are quite lackluster and require have been designed to challenge too. Luckily, the team has the
interact with, but beyond that little skill to defeat; the player simply players to master the punch ability opportunity to create a follow-
the team decided that the engine has to meticulously memorize an in high-tension situations. That way, up title, RAYMAN LEGENDS, on the
and characters were the most otherwise unpredictable pattern, players can walk away feeling like Nintendo Wii U. We’ve been given
important areas to take care of and then hope that there isn’t they have mastered the punch ability, the opportunity to not just improve
before production started. This another phase afterward. and no matter what is thrown at them on the base of ORIGINS, but instead
meant that we couldn’t start The other issue with the boss in future levels, it will not be their lack reflect on our shortcomings

investigating gameplay elements fights is that there is a lack of clarity of ability to use the punch that will and craft a better, cleaner, and

for the other worlds until the not only in the patterns, but in the slow them down. Instead, Poor Little ultimately better RAYMAN title that
production phase began. creatures themselves. For example, Daisy simply required the player to is new and creatively refreshing for
When the production phase each boss has its own weak spot employ the wall-run ability learned in both the team and our players.
started, we had concept art for the that appears from time to time. This the sixth world of the game to avoid
other five or so worlds in RAYMAN weak spot is always placed on top of Daisy’s patterns until she hurt herself CHRIS MCENTEE was a level and boss

ORIGINS, since we needed that to the creature, whose entire body is and revealed a weak spot, which designer on the production of RAYMAN

define the final art style of the game. otherwise deadly upon contact. What could also be jumped on, rendering ORIGINS, having previously attended

But concept art alone does not this means is that even if the boss the punch entirely optional. college in the Netherlands (NHTV Breda
satisfy the requirements for pre- is in a temporarily stunned state, if The bosses were developed by University of Applied Sciences) where he
production on a world. We needed the player misses the weak spot and a more isolated space of the dev discovered a strong passion for game
to know if the powers the player touches the boss, they are hit and team, where some consistency design. He continues to work at the Ubisoft
unlocks in each world are strong possibly killed. This is very unclear for issues were able to go by the Montpellier villa, currently as a game and

enough to define the gameplay a player, and something that should wayside. Unfortunately, this left level designer on the upcoming Wii U title

experience and flexible enough to be and could have been addressed the player with subpar boss fights RAYMAN LEGENDS.

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