“Why didn’t the Eagles just take the One Ring and drop it into Mount Doom?” Well, as developers working on a “Lord of the Rings” game, let me tell you exactly why: because it gave us the opportunity to explore and immerse ourselves in a rich and complex universe!
In creating The Lord of the Rings: Gollum our motto has been to honor the way J. R. R. Tolkien looked at the richness of the world he had created, using his vision as a guidepost for our visual interpretation of his world.
Tolkien always wanted other artists to bring his writings to life and continue the creation of his great English myth. Of course, he didn’t have video games in mind back then. But his passion for meticulous detail, the history, languages, and names that he used to populate Middle-earth has always inspired our industry. Whether we realize it or not, all game creators owe a lot to Tolkien’s writings.
Following Gollum’s journey, we had the opportunity to explore parts of the world that we had never seen in such detail before. We started with everything we could find in the lore. Then we filled in the gaps with our own ideas and knowledge about the cultures and peoples who lived in these places.
For example, for the mighty fortress of Barad-dûr, we wanted to emphasize the huge scale and the stark contrast to our small hero. We imagined that the fortress was constantly expanding and changing. The builders could not keep up with the speed and size of their ever-growing walls and towers. Everything around the perfectly shaped main tower became increasingly chaotic.
One example is this service bridge that crosses the tower’s enormous moat, and that the builders probably meant to be straight:
While Mordor is an iconic and recognizable place with its dark volcanic rocks and reddish lights, designing Thranduil’s palace in Mirkwood was more challenging.
The contrast is intentional. While Mordor is spiky, Thranduil’s halls feature round shapes. While Barad-dûr tries to dominate and transform its environment, the Elvish buildings preserve and respect the shape of the mountain. It’s a harmonious interplay between architecture and nature. Welcoming instead of threatening. A place that repels Gollum but attracts Sméagol. Water, his native element, is everywhere and comes alive in different forms.
King Thranduil’s chambers were another fascinating place to create. The King likes to ride out at night and hunt under the stars. His rooms are decorated like a dreamy night forest, more symbolic than functional. The King’s bed is like a ceremonial boat on a river, where he only occasionally boards to have dreams and visions.
Working on this game has been both a great honor and a big responsibility. We felt a lot of excitement and nervousness when we started this adventure together. How would it all turn out? Would it feel right in the end? And we feel a similar excitement and nervousness now that we are about to share it with all of you.
Un-leash. Get it!? Dog-gone it! Anything? To be more on the nose, you play as a Shiba Inu in Humanity, available on PS5 and PS4 starting tomorrow and available as a Day 1 release in the PlayStation Plus Game Catalog. With the game’s launch less than a day away, we wanted to celebrate and maybe inspire you to check out the Stage Creator by sharing this PlayStation logo-inspired stage with you.
Building a PlayStation logo-themed stage
Using Humanity’s ultra-intuitive editor, you can let your imagination run wild. Whatever you’re in the mood for, a perplexing puzzle or a relaxing work of art, it’s easy to make it inside Humanity. The absolute best part is when you’re finished, you can share your creations with the world!
Get to know the Palette menu, which has everything you need to construct a stage. The basic building blocks of any level are…well, Blocks! To create the PlayStation stage you see here, we used the static (non-moving) and motorized (can be made to move along a pre-planned route) types, but many more options are available for your custom level. All you need are some Blocks, humans, and a Goal to send them to. If you have those three things, you’ve got yourself a working level! If you get stuck or need some help, the Stage Creator includes an extensive library of tutorial videos to assist you every step of the way.
We’ll start by drawing the ‘S’ in the ‘PS’ logo. This will be the base for our puzzle. Next, we’ll create a pathway for the humans to walk on while avoiding the Others walking below and trying to stop us from collecting that precious Goldy. Finally, the ‘S’ snakes around and attaches to the back of a towering letter ‘P.’
That’s one giant PlayStation logo!
Ahhhh, we forgot to add an essential piece! So, let’s bring up the Palette and drop in a Boulder. There, now it looks like it’s got a “registered” symbol. You didn’t see that one coming, huh? Get creative and don’t forget to have fun when designing your level!
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Hey y’all! This week, Executive Producer at Enhance Games Mark MacDonald stops by to discuss Humanity and strategy for the unique puzzler. Plus the team dives into their personal approaches to challenging puzzle games.
Stuff We Talked About
- DualSense Edge wireless controller
- Gran Turismo World Series 2023
- Players’ Choice Winner – Star Wars Jedi: Survivor
- PS Plus Catalog May
- MLB The Show 23 Season 2 – Kaiju Series
- Interview with Mark MacDonald (starts at 10:20)
- Humanity
The Cast
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Last week, we asked you to turn your Focus on Seyka, Aloy’s newest companion from the Horizon Forbidden West Burning Shores expansion using #PSshare #PSBlog. From portraits to action shots, here are this week’s highlights:
Callyforniaa_ng shares Seyka crouching in grass in front of the aged Hollywood sign.
RevolutionAndre shares Seyka using her Focus to reveal something.
AreeLyBadPun shares Seyka mid-leap, aiming her bow and arrow.
ForgottenJasmin shares Aloy’s contemplative gaze towards Seyka.
teeparty_s shares an action shot of Seyka about to fire her bow and arrow.
dande__lion55 shares Seyka in front of a colorful hologram display.
Search #PSshare #PSBlog on Twitter or Instagram to see more entries to this week’s theme.
Want to be featured in the next Share of the Week?
THEME: Star Wars Jedi: Survivor
SUBMIT BY: 11:59 PM PT on May 17, 2023
Next week, we’re returning to a galaxy far far away. Share epic moments from Star Wars Jedi: Survivor using #PSshare #PSBlog for a chance to be featured.
MLB The Show 23’s Season 2 Rewards Program drops today*, bringing an amazing array of new content including, but definitely not limited to, the Kaiju Series.
Inspired by the Kaiju, or “Strange Beast,” film genre, the Kaiju Series features some of the most devastatingly effective MLB Legends and Superstars of the past and present, such as Monte Irvin, John Franco, and Corey Kluber.
Kaiju Series Program
The Kaiju Series Program, available in Other Programs, is the perfect way to kick off your Season 2 Rewards Program and begin adding Kaiju Series players to your Diamond Dynasty squad.
Play brand-new Moments and complete Missions spotlighting Kaiju Series Program players including Hunter Renfroe, Brandonw Lowe, Stephen Strasburg and Billy Williams.
- Take on the three Kaiju Events starting today with “Kaiju, Part I” Then on May 19th, play the “Kaiju, Part II”, followed by the final “Kaiju, Part III” on May 25th.
- In Showdown mode, stand your ground against Showdown boss Stephen Strasburg to earn progress in the Kaiju Other Program.
- In Conquest mode, complete the Kaiju Conquest Map to earn packs, Stubs, and progress.
Not only will completing each of these tasks provide you progress in the Kaiju Other Program, but they’ll also give you ample opportunity to earn XP towards the Season 2 XP Rewards Path.
Kaiju in Stadium Creator
Along with the monstrous amount of Kaiju content to play and rewards to earn, you can also find all-new Kaiju props in the Stadium Creator on current-gen consoles, including PlayStation 5. Create your stadium with imposing Kaiju looming directly behind the outfield walls. Combine these new Kaiju props with existing props such as the t-Rex, boats, or the UFO Mothership, among others, to create the ultimate Kaiju-inspired setting for your games to take place in.
More to come in Season 2
All of this Kaiju content, while undeniably cool, is just the tip of the iceberg for the new content
Player choice is a core tenant for PlayStation 5’s DualSense Edge wireless controller. The ultra-customizable, high-performance features unlock a wealth of options to tailor gameplay to players’ preferences. The array of choices to select from excites both gamers and developers alike, so who better to share insights on tuning your DualSense Edge wireless controller than the people making the games?
A new Developer Experience Series featuring perspectives from devs at Santa Monica Studio, EA Sports, and Bungie highlights game-specific ways to optimize gameplay with the DualSense Edge wireless controller. From adjusting trigger heights to rapidly blitz on the pitch in FIFA 23 to modifying back buttons for seamless weapon toggling in God of War Ragnarök, here’s a look into how you can make the DualSense Edge wireless controller work for your style of play.
God of War Ragnarök
Developer: Santa Monica Studio
In God of War, you’re hitting the triggers a lot because that’s where your primary attacks and aiming are, so I ended up using the low stops for the triggers to make them feel more like regular buttons.
Jason McDonald, Design Director, Santa Monica Studio
In God of War Ragnarök, you want to move the character fairly quickly, especially in the middle of combat, so the left analog stick I set to the Quick setting, and I did the inverse of that on the right analog stick, which is used for camera movement, aiming, etc.
Mihir Sheth, Lead Combat Designer, Santa Monica Studio
Hello, PlayStation! It’s us, Panic! Publishers of Firewatch, Untitled Goose Game, and the upcoming Nour: Play With Your Food. We have a veritable bevy of upcoming PlayStation games news to share, starting with despelote, coming to PS5 in 2024. The game will also be part of Tribeca’s 2023 Festival Selection, which we’re deeply honored by.
Despelote is a beautiful slice-of-life adventure about childhood, and the magical grip that soccer held over the people of Quito, Ecuador in 2001. Right from their first pitch, we were instantly transported by the work of its creators, Julián Cordero & Sebastian Valbuena. As a semi-autobiographical story of Julián’s childhood, it feels deeply authentic to a specific time and place – while also managing to feel universal in many respects, as you wander the streets of Quito, getting caught up in mischief and soaking in the local culture.
Despelote’s gameplay leans on many of the verbs you’d associate with soccer – dribbling, passing, and kicking (and all feeling great from a first-person perspective!) – but used for a variety of playful, funny interactions as you explore the town, as well as affecting storytelling, as you’re swept up into the fervor of Ecuador’s first qualifying run for the World Cup.
As you can see from the trailer, the game has a very distinct look – one created in part from both reference photos as well as actual textures captured on-site in Quito. This is true for the audio as well, as Julián and Sebastian recorded real conversations and city ambience to create the soundscape within the game. And appropriately, the game is fully voiced in Spanish, with localized subtitles depending on your preference.
Whether you’re a casual soccer fan, someone who enjoys being immersed in other cultures, or just have a lo