Remember the announcement trailer we got at E3 for Skulls and Bones? Where we were treated to fantastic ocean scenes and dangerous pirates? No? Well, here it is again in case you missed it:
Skulls and Bones is set to feature the best water we've ever seen, according to an interview that Gamasutra did with some members of the Ubisoft Singapore team behind this development, namely Marlo Flor (Senior art director), Bill Money (Game director) and Justin Farren (Creative director). As per Flor, who was involved with AC Origins and Syndicate too:
The ocean is physical; it reacts to lighting pretty much how you would expect water to react. So we have a lot of parameters that contribute to the color and transparency of the water. We don’t simply think how transparent it should be, we have several types where we can create muddy or clear water or replicate how the ocean, Indian ocean, actually, looks in terms of the color and how it changes color through depth as well. So that creates a really convincing look for the ocean. Whatever time of day you see it in.
It is no surprise that they would have someone like Farren involved, who worked on the creative development of AC Black Flag. Flor indicates that there is a dedicated artist just for the water. JUST FOR THE WATER! In case you didn't get that the first time. That shows you just how much commitment is going into the water scenery for this game.
Here's a fun fact from Farren that I found quite amusing:
So, you know, we are historically inspired, but we are creating a world that has its own internal logic and most pirates didn’t even want to shoot their cannonballs because they’re expensive. And so what they wanted to do was fear, make the other crew be so afraid that they would surrender without having to have any bloodshed. What we want to do is create a logical reason for why pirates fight. It’s about the resources that are in the world. So those are probably the rules that we want to reinforce that really make conflict valuable, meaningful, and impactful for the player.
If I wasn't excited for this game already, I'm even more now. And you? What are you looking forward to the most in this upcoming pirate game, me matey? Here are some awesome water screenshots for you to enjoy, compliments of Ubisoft and Gamasutra.
