"Making Nightmares"
By Ben Wanat (Production
Designer): When
I was little, I used to have nightmares all the time. I can remember being
jolted awake from a bad dream in the middle of the night and stumbling down the
long, dark hallway to my parents’ room. I had to be careful to cling to the wall
opposite the bathroom as I made my way down the hall. Evil Things lived in the
bathroom at night, and if they managed to grab me while I was passing by… well,
I don’t know what would have happened, but I didn’t want to find out.
Exclusive pic: Enemy Leaper.
Evil Things
were everywhere back then. They hid under my bed at night. They crept quietly
across the orange shag carpeting in the darkened family room. They emerged from
the cabinets in the bathroom once everyone had gone to bed. They ruled the
garage. Even before bedtime I could sense them amassing in there.
As I grew
up, I think they lost interest and went searching for other households with
children small enough to eat. At the time, I was glad to see them go. I didn’t
realize those irrational fears would come in handy one day. Dead Space is full
of Evil Things – so many that we’ve had to cut a few to fit them into the scope
of the project. It’s been a lot of fun dreaming up terrifying looks for them
all.
They all
start the same way – Bret writes up a document describing what the enemy’s
abilities are, how you kill it and what sort of game play he hopes to introduce
with it. We get together and discuss it, and then I go off to create some
sketches and gather ideas. When I’m really stumped, I run ideas by my wife,
Molly. She’s been blessed with an exceptionally twisted mind and I take
advantage of that as often as I can.
ME
(eating dinner): “I need something distinctive about this enemy – something
disturbing that sticks with you, makes you remember it.”
MOLLY:
“What if his head was split lengthwise, but it was still attached at the neck so
it could flop open and reveal what was inside?”
ME
(putting down the fork): “I’m going to sleep with the lights on tonight.”
Once I have
a concept ready, I run it past Bret, Glen and Ian. If they approve, it goes to
the people who have the often-daunting task of making the creature actually
work.Veronique Garcia, the Lead Character Modeler, looks at the concepts or the
3D mesh I’ve created to see how long it will take to create the game model. The
number of limbs that can be cut off and the complexity of the model are factors
in the production time allotted.
Chris Stone,
the Animation Director, evaluates how expensive the animations will be. Because
of the unique nature of our dismemberment mechanic, the more limbs a creature
has the more complicated it becomes. If it normally gets around on three limbs,
what happens if you cut off one of them? How about two? Can he still claw his
way after you? Engineering also weighs in. If the creature can shoot an
intestinal harpoon appendage out of its mouth, how do we make it line up with
the player? What happens if it misses? Can the enemy crawl on walls and
ceilings? What does it do in zero gravity?
This step is
always the most difficult. We spend a lot of time figuring out how to jump all
of the technical hurdles. In the end, we either solve it or I go back to the
drawing board for another try. As of today,
I’m happy to say I’m finished with all of the enemies in the game. I just spent
the past week finishing the final boss, and I’ll hand it off to the character
team tomorrow. I’d like to apologize to Veronique in advance for making this
enemy the most massive, hideous and complicated monstrosity in the entire game.
I always knew this was what I would find if I opened the door to the garage at
night, so I’m glad I was never stupid enough to try.
Click here to watch the Dead Space trailer!
VISIT THE OFFICIAL
DEAD SPACE SITE HERE