Also, as they are in a systemic environment (simulation), they needed to be able to have every component closely linked to the environment. They decided to create their own system to have maximum flexibility with their game intention. The fugitive’s art is improvisation, and using his environment as an inventory was the key to translating this art. They needed a very strong dynamic environment to sustain the fugitive experience they wanted to create. In terms of middleware, Havok was used to work closely for physics, but they developed their own animation and interaction system with physical objects. Changing an environment is a complex topic technically, but making this progression believable through AI and other component is a great achievement they were very proud of. Innovation needed to be part of these technical challenges and they made it happen. Being able to pick any object in the environment to use it as a weapon or as a defensive tool was not an easy task when the time came to deal with physics, animation, AI behavior and consistent lighting. They concluded that he needed anything he could use in the environment to survive, so they developed a full dynamic environment. Since lights and shadows were not the core gameplay for navigation the developers needed to think of how a fugitive would behave. They also wanted to propose more fun, more quickly, and enlarge the fan-base by proposing an experience that was more accessible but not less exciting. While they were very cautious about the Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell universe and continuity in the brand, they wanted to change the core gameplay and be proactive to new opportunities in the industry. Their ambition was to propose a never before seen gameplay experience, supported by new technologies and new game philosophies. This stealth relation with the environment remained an important factor but tools and mechanics for the gamer were completely supportive of this new fugitive context: the player would need more than just shadows to stay alive. They called this new gameplay: “improvisation”. Only, as a fugitive, the relation needed to be faster and the player also needed to think faster. For Conviction, they wanted to keep the particular relationship the player was developing with his environment through his experience. This was the major innovation of the original Splinter Cell, supported by a new technology, to achieve technological feats that were not unimaginable on previous consoles. Splinter Cell's core mechanics used to rely on lights and shadows. One of the ambitions of the Splinter Cell team for Conviction was to take the same opportunity of next-gen consoles to provide gameplay that was not possible before. They also realized this was not the best strategy when the environment was not designed this way. When the developers played Splinter Cell and began looking for shadows in other games, they realized that now, they were looking to interact and make some of their strategies in other games involving all the elements in the environment. ConViction would bring the same benefit, but this time through the dynamic environment. When they developed the light and shadow gameplay, they offered gamers a new approach, a new way to “read” and interact with their environment. Basically, Splinter Cell had always been strong as it was very environment centric. They knew the strengths of the gameplay, as well as things they had always wanted to address. The first thing they did when they thought about rejuvenating the gameplay was making sure the core team would be made of long time veterans of Splinter Cell. He also closely monitored the Splinter Cell brand evolution, especially since Conviction is based on new core gameplay innovations and new setup. His role was to support the producer and development teams with all high level issues they may encounter. Mathieu Ferland was the senior producer on Conviction when development began. Once development of Splinter Cell: Chaos Theory was completed in 2005, the Splinter Cell team in Ubisoft Montreal's studio started the conception and R&D for Conviction. Original 2005 version Conception and R&D
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