Wine is mellow, and the best video games are the result of years of hard work by the development team, and the whole process can be very complicated and requires extreme attention to detail.
For many years, the creative team of the Hitman series had wanted to design a tango-centric scene, and "Hitman 3," which just went out last month, fulfilled that desire. In the early stages of production, a scene artist proposed a winery estate as the location of the mission. After discussion, the team felt it would be appropriate to place The Farewell at Mendoza, a province in Argentina known for its wineries and lush mountain landscapes.
"In the wine country, I have seen the Gaochu shepherds riding horses and eating barbecue meat in the Patagonia region." "Killer 3" level designer Martin Skov Ansdahl recalls. In 2018, Ansdahl traveled for 4 weeks to Argentina and Chile after the release of Killer 2, tasting some of the best local wines and grilled meats. It wasn't a formal research trip, but it came in handy when conceiving a new work.
The charming Mendoza in Killer 3
<h3>Make your vision a reality</h3>
Many development teams use South American countries as the backdrop to the game's story, but rarely see Argentina as the first choice. One of the missions in Call of Duty: Ghosts is set in Santa Cruz, and one of the stadiums in FIFA Street Soccer was inspired by a street court in Buenos Aires, but apart from these two examples, players have little chance to explore Argentina and learn about the local culture.
The protagonist of the "Killer" series, Codename 47, has previously been to Colombia and Chile (in Hitman 2 and Hitman: Money, respectively), and in the recently released Hitman 3, the bald man finally arrives at Mendoza, taking a walk around the wineries and vineyards of the fictional location of Viñedo Yates, home to argentine natural beauty and customs.
"At first we had two ideas, to design the checkpoints at the wineries in Buenos Aires and South Africa." Ansdahl said, "Then we combined the two. Mendoza seems to be the best choice as it is one of Argentina's most well-known wine regions in the world. The ski resort in Bariloche also sounded interesting, but we didn't think about it at the time. ”
Real-life Mendoza vineyards
The team then began to sketch out the scene of the mission: in a luxury distillery, don Akipod Yates and Tamara Bidal, the targets of the assassination code 47, were holding a ceremony, and the local architecture was reminiscent of the Villavicencio Nature Reserve in Mendoza Province.
They collected dozens of reference photographs from Mendoza, hoping to find places with large height drops and more vegetation. The Villavicencio Nature Reserve is likely closer to demand, but they prefer to design a site that feels more original. To achieve this goal, the scene artists studied the local trees and soil to make sure to give the player a real feeling.
Io Interactive co-producer Pablo Prada also offers a lot of practical advice. "I'm An Argentinian and I remember we discussed the experience of living in Argentina, prepared a playlist of popular tango music for him, and provided reference photos of local landscapes and architectural styles for the scene art."
The scene design reflects the typical wine origin elements
<h3>Tourist traps</h3>
In Killer 3, the Farewell level revolves around a tour. Codename 47 disguised himself as a grape-collecting worker, and later followed the assassination target as a tour guide, bothering to explain the winemaking process. This brings with it some interesting tempo variations that allow 47 to try to complete tasks in a variety of ingenious ways.
"I visit the vineyards a lot – for a tourist, it's an important part of the wine country sightseeing experience, so we have to put it in the game." "You subconsciously think about the various ways the killer can accomplish tasks, and when I started designing this level, I knew I wanted codename 47 to be able to creatively use a grape press or a fermentation tank," Ainsdahl said. ”
From a story perspective, this is not easy, as Codename 47 and his mission allies are not real tourists. However, the team managed to make this process closely related to the plot, giving 47 the opportunity to create a variety of death traps. "Sometimes, I do wonder if players like our detailed description of the winemaking process. But then again, if you're interested in wine yourself, you'll be happy; even if you're not interested in wine, you'll get a whole new experience. ”
At the same time, the team came up with various ways to perform tango dance in the mission. When players arrive at the event's reception, they are greeted by a live band. If codename 47 escapes from the main escape route after clearing two assassination targets, he will also reveal his tango skills in a cutscene.
Couple dancing tango in the afternoon
Ansdahl said it's hard for development teams to make sure their clothes don't get bugs while NPC dances — wearing molds seems inevitable, which is part of the challenge they face, especially given that animation can be interrupted by players at any time. In addition, when the mission is nearing the end, code 47 can wear many unlockable costumes to dance, and each costume must be paired with complex dialogue... In order to accurately restore the core of tango in all aspects, the company hired professional dancers to participate in the animation design and consulted them on many questions about music.
<h3>Attention to detail</h3>
In addition to providing tango music, Prada shared some cultural details with the Killer 3 team. If you pay attention, you'll see that the guards talk about football while on patrol, and many NPCs drink yerba mate, a traditional South American drink. Some Argentine players have pointed out that NPCs do not use a metal straw called Bombilla when drinking yerba mate, but Ansdahl confirmed that the development team did animate this suction control.
"It seems that the game is still using the placeholder animation of drinking coffee... This bug is annoying and I'll definitely fix it in the next patch! ”
Charming Viñedo Yates countryside
Some Argentine players were also disappointed by the strange accents of the NPCs in the game, which Ansdahl said was due to the development team being constrained by the project's budget and time. In addition, the epidemic also made it more difficult to invite new voice actors to record than in the past, and the team finally decided to devote more resources to the voice-over of characters in the Chongqing level (rather than the Argentine level).
"We thought it would be slightly better to reuse Colombian and Mexican accents than to have the British voice over."
While Hitman 3 isn't perfect, it still takes a way that no game has ever tried before, allowing players to explore Argentine culture. Even codename 47 seems to enjoy the journey — the player can sip a glass of wine and see him chat with a bartender about the flavors of the wine.
"We tend to think that codename 47 is well prepared before any mission, proficient in all the tricks that might come in handy." Ainsdar concluded, "Wine is a common hobby of the rich, so he must have done some research beforehand." Personally, I think it would be interesting if he stayed in some dark room with all kinds of weapons and costumes and recorded the taste of Malbec (a wine grape variety) with a pen and paper — if needed, he would do that. ”
This article is compiled from: inverse.com
原文标题：《HITMAN 3'S ARGENTINA MISSION MARKS AN IMPORTANT FIRST FOR VIDEO GAMES》
Original author: DIEGO ARGUELLO