In a comprehensive article published on the PlayStation Blog, Guerrilla Games has revealed that it has an entire team of developers dedicated to making Horizon Forbidden West‘s living world feel “authentic and alive.” This includes the game’s tribes and settlements, and the people residing within them. The studio wrote that everything in Horizon Forbidden West‘s world has an intention behind it.
“When you walk through the Forbidden West, everything should feel like it belongs there,” Guerrilla Games explained. “The Living World team at Guerrilla works on aspects of the game that make the world feel authentic and alive: the tribes, the settlements, and the people within them. There’s an intention behind everything we place within the world.”
Senior Writer Annie Kitain used the example of the Tenakth tribe to illustrate the Living World team’s approach.
“Take the Tenakth, for instance. Many of their beliefs are influenced by the ancient ruins of the Forbidden West, and unlike other tribes, they’re comprised of three distinct clans,” she said. “Their shared history, convictions, disputes – all of that is important to developing the characters that Aloy will meet on her journey.”
“Our main challenge is translating this narrative framework into visuals that are integral to the world itself,” added Lead Living World Designer, Espen Sogn. “For example, the Tenakth are known to be competitive and combat-focused, but so are other tribes. So how do we distinguish them, and how do we communicate that visually?”
In Horizon Forbidden West, players will see the Tenakth working out within their settlements and getting ready for battle, among other things. According to Sogn, “it then becomes all about the details, the animations, and the behaviors.”
“‘Ultimately, our goal is to make sure NPCs feel connected to where they live, and we work closely with other internal teams, such as Narrative, Quest, and Environment, to make sure that every location feels authentic,” Sogn concluded.
Horizon Forbidden West will launch on February 18, 2022.
[Source: PS Blog]
