Today’s interview goes behind the scenes of a passion project from a veteran in the game industry. We talk to James about the choice of procedural animation over traditional, what kind of gameplay you can expect from Infinitesimals, and what working in the game industry does for his passion that so many of us share.

 

You’re making Infinitesimals with one other person. Have you worked on any other games in the past? What’s your background in game development? What was the driving force behind becoming a game developer?

I’ve been in the games industry since 2003. In that time I’ve worked on quite a few games, mostly triple A stuff. Most recently I did FX for Crackdown 3 and Snake Pass. I got into games because I wanted to be able to eventually make my own game. It’s taken somewhat longer than I’d hoped 😉

Infinitesimals has you playing as 2mm aliens in a world that is very much like Honey, I Shrunk the Kids. Did this movie play any part in you wanting to make this?

I always like that film. There probably is an inspiration there, but it’s not a direct one. I’ve always liked the natural world, and in particular liked seeing it up close, so that interest was the primary force. It’s probably a common childhood fantasy to imagine being a tiny creature.

How long has the idea for this game been kicking around in your head? Does it continue to expand each day, or has it pretty much been set for a while now?

The idea of being in nature at a tiny scale has been there for many years. My original idea was more fantasy than sci-fi, but the idea of Infinitesimals with the alien piloted POD came into form in early 2013.

For the macro close-ups of the environments and creatures that you see, what kind of research did this require? Was there a lot of photography on your part? Are you utilizing photogrammetry in conjunction with UE4?

We’ve not used Photogrammetry so far. It may be useful at some point, but in general I take a lot of reference photos and generally just model everything by eyeballing it. I did purchase a microscope so that I could properly analyze the smaller details because sometimes a macro lens didn’t quite have the reach I needed.

What made you choose UE4 over other engines available, such as Crytek, Unity, or something like Amazon’s Lumberyard?

Primarily it’s because my day job projects were using UE4, so I had become comfortable using it and really like the blueprints system for visual coding. Of course you can get VS for other engines, but I appreciate that it’s built into UE4. Also, having access to the source means we are able to make custom tools and modify the engine if needed.

 

You’re using a type of animation that most games don’t, although it seems to be something people are learning to use more (Overgrowth is probably the biggest name people would recognize for this method). Was the intent to always use procedural animation, or was it decided later on in production?

Very early on it became clear that procedural animation was going to be the best approach for the POD. It’s not just about how it looks, but by making the POD animated physically opens up many opportunities for gameplay mechanics. Cameron Angus joined the project a bit more than a year ago and we’ve been working hard on developing the prototype of the game since then. The design of the POD, the terrain it would encounter and how it should be controlled meant that fully procedural and physics simulated was the correct choice for this project. However, procedural animation is not a simple task. For many types of games you will get better results quicker by doing things the old fashioned way with some procedural layers on top I think.

I’m unsure if you’ve seen the clip with Hayao Miyazaki, but he was shown a video of procedural animation and was absolutely disgusted by it, calling it an insult to life. If it was you showing him your work, would you have a rebuttal for the choice of animation?

I haven’t seen the clip, but I suspect part of the reason he viewed it negatively was perhaps due to how it was presented to him (i.e “Look what a computer has created!”).

With procedural generation, it’s often misrepresented as something “automatic” that a computer is “creating.” This gives a warped impression of the work involved in creating it.

This notion of crediting a computer with vastly more capability than it actually possesses relates to a wider problem with how technology is marketed/reported on. You just have to look at all the rampant AI hype the media is peddling in recent years for example.

Hyperbole is nothing new of course, but it’s one of the reasons my tolerance for consuming media has been eroded to almost nil. Now the only reason I even have a TV in my home is to play Breath of the Wild on 😉

To put this in perspective, we have been working on getting the POD just walking and running around for more than a year and we still have a ways to go. We have to animate the POD via physics and every aspect of its motion is created by us. The way it leans into turns, its gait during different locomotion speeds, how it handles terrain changes and falls, every detail of how it moves must be considered and created in detail. I created the original hand animated 2D concepts as a benchmark for us to aim for, but the procedural animation systems are just as hand crafted as they were. We are the animators/creators and the computer is simply our tool.

 

The overview trailer shows one portion in 2D which almost looks like a tutorial for the aliens in how to take down threats. Is the game going to be strictly 3D, or will it feature any 2D sections such as this?

It’s a full 3D game. Back in 2013 the original plan for the game was to be a 3D side-scroller. Ultimately I considered that a side scrolling game would limit some of the game design aspirations and decided to switch to full 3D.

Outside of the vehicle, we see very little of the aliens traversing the land – but what we do see is almost a ragdoll, humorous type of physics situation with a jetpack. How will the bipeds play in comparison to the vehicles?

You can think of the POD as your vehicle that you use to traverse out into the world; when you go out on foot, you will likely never want to venture a long range from it. It’s much safer in there than on foot.

However, being on foot will play an important part of the game. I haven’t decided on the split between being on foot and in the POD yet.

What kind of experience are you hoping for people to get out of this? Is there anything you hope they take away from it?

If we can make a game that finds an audience who enjoys the experience and gets immersed in the atmosphere of the story, then I’ll be very happy! If I could make people feel the way I felt playing the games I enjoy.

How many hours do you put into the development of the game per day?

It varies but this has been a part-time side project since it began. However, that will likely change early next year as it feels like it’s time to ramp up development and enter full swing production.

What are your top 3 games of all time, and your top 3 from the last 5 years?

Some of my favourites of all time, off the top of my head:

• The original XCOM UFO Enemy Unknown (the 90’s one, I still play that to this day)
• Little Big Adventure
• Thief 1 and 2

It’s funny, but since working in games, I found that I ended up actually playing them far less than I used to. I suppose it’s lack of time generally, as there is so much work to be getting on with. The most recent PC titles I really enjoyed were from the Dishonored series. I just bought a Switch and have been playing Mario Odyssey and Breath of the Wild. I think they are both excellent (and the Switch is the first console I’ve owned since the SNES!).

If you could only choose one band/musician to listen to for the rest of your life, who would you choose?

I think if I had to choose it would be all of Jerry Goldsmith film music 🙂

Do you have a favorite rodent? And considering the game’s theme, what about an insect?

I like all creatures really. We’re all just fellow travelers trying to live. I had a wasps nest under my balcony decking a couple of years back and everyone was telling me I had to get them exterminated because you cannot just leave a wasps nest! I left them be and despite the nest being a couple of meters from my open balcony door they never caused one issue the whole time. When the time came they simply migrated away to a new location. So I’ll put a vote in for the much maligned Wasp.

Thank you so much to James for his time, between his own project and the day job of making things we play and love. And thank you for the screenshots and videos to showcase the game. For more on Infinitesimals, we implore you to check out their Twitter. Lots of cool updates in regards to progression clips on the game’s development. They also have a Facebook and YouTube page, depending on your social media preference.