The way developer Ninja Theory is building a photorealistic experience for its experimental Xbox series X horror game details a new project Mara Dev Diary.
In the video titled Capturing Reality, lead creative ninja Tamim Antoniades goes into detail about how the studio is re-establishing a real-life apartment for Project Mara. He says: “We are trying to do a lot of things that we have never attempted to do before and one of those things is to hold reality vaguely.”
To achieve these objectives, the art team is looking to completely remodel a real-world apartment based on footage of the engine they reveal in the Dev Diary.
Part of the process involves taking samples of the material from the apartment and scanning and using them and creating “procedural shades and detail maps” to recreate these items in-game.
Antoniades also discussed how the team built the entire apartment in-game using a company called Clear Angle Studios, which helped create a “point cloud” of the apartment using a leather scanner. Antoniades describes it as “some of the best references we’ve seen”.
The result, outside of the impressive engine footage above, is that Ninja Theory is in the process of changing the way they create art in their games. As Antoniades explains: “Artists are not just there to create an object, they are there to create systems that can create an object and infinite variations of that object.”
Project Mara was originally announced last January, with commercial director Dom Matthews describing the experience: “Based on real lived experience accounts and in-depth research, we aim to capture the horrors of the mind as accurately and realistically as possible.” Re-create. Project: Mara will be an experimental title and could become a new storytelling medium. “
It seems that Project Mara’s photorealism will be severely depleted. Here’s hoping that we get more information about a possible release date in the coming months.
For more information on what to expect from Xbox this year, check out our guide Upcoming Xbox Series X Games.