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The Dark Sorcerer for PlayStation 4 Reviews

PlayStation 4

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SCEA
Release Date:
Canceled

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FROM THE MAKERS OF BEYOND: Two Souls, QUANTIC DREAM, COMES A HILARIOUS NEW TECH DEMO FOR THE PlayStation®4 SYSTEM. THE DEMO WILL ILLUSTRATE THE POWER OF THE PlayStation®4 SYSTEM TO CONVEY REALISTIC EMOTION AND PERFORMANCES.

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Quantic Dream
Genre(s): Action, Miscellaneous, General, General
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The Dark Sorcerer – a next gen comedy from Quantic Dream – PlayStation.

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We love prototypes.

In 2005 Quantic Dream started working on a short film in real time 3D called The Casting, using the PS3 graphic engine we had just developed. Our initial objective was to make a technical prototype to test the limits and performance of this new engine, but Sony, with whom we had not yet started working, quickly encouraged us to present it publicly at its booth at E3 in order to illustrate the graphic potential of the PS3 that was launched that same year.

Everything we learned from making the short, particularly the immense difficulty of creating emotion in real time, but also the importance of the actor’s performance, facial Motion Capture, the challenge of lip synchronisation and especially eye animation, would enable us to develop Heavy Rain.

After this somewhat fortuitous first effort (but which succeeded in attracting the attention of the press and players and largely contributed to creating interest in the small French company that is Quantic Dream), the idea of making it a recurring principle quickly developed.

After all, our prestigious and infinitely more talented big brother, Pixar, had taken the same path before we did by testing ideas and technologies in short films that later went public, which is, after all, much more fun than making austere technological prototypes.

We therefore decided, with the support of Sony, to work between each two games on a technical prototype that is destined to be shared with the public. Each time a small crew of ten people maximum would work on a demo lasting a few minutes for a period of four to six months in order to test ideas, technologies and concepts, while using the real time technology of our next game.

Real time emotion
Our second technical prototype was presented for the first time at the GDC in 2012. This prototype, called Kara after the main character, used our second-gen 3D engine (which would be used to develop our new game, BEYOND) and was supposed to enable us to experiment with Performance Capture for the first time. This movement capture technology can simultaneously capture the actor’s body and facial movements, as well as their voice.

To test our ability to reproduce different emotions in real time, I quickly wrote the story of this young android woman designed to be a multi-functional object and which becomes human before the eyes of the spectator.

This was an immense discovery for me and the team, a demonstration of something we had believed for a long time: it was finally possible to create strong and subtle emotions, to create empathy, to read a look, with game characters. Each time this short is projected, I observe the public as they watch it, hold their breath and share the emotions of the character on the screen. At long last, a new world had opened up before us, the end of the pantomime, the end of exaggeration and over-acting in order to make up for gross technology.

We would finally be able to start using this medium to say something.

The other lesson that Kara taught us was the importance of the actor’s performance. The young actress, Valorie Curry, who lent her features and her immense talent to the main character put in an extraordinary performance that was rich in nuance and subtlety. She succeeded in giving a soul to a character made up of pixels.

Kara confirmed our desire to work with exceptional actors, which played a role in our determination to approach Ellen Page and Willem Dafoe for BEYOND. This also made us more confident in our ability to faithfully transcribe the emotions that these actors would create through their performance in the studio.

The other great discovery was that although we had the feeling that we were setting the bar very high each time in terms of the graphics for these short films, by working several months on a few minutes, the quality improved automatically in the game that followed. Heavy Rain is much more accomplished than The Casting, BEYOND is much more accomplished than Kara, although it presents nearly 300 characters in more than 10 hours of play.

The lessons drawn from the prototype, the experience acquired and the rationalisation of the process enabled us to improve the graphic quality while simultaneously reducing the production time.

The Dark Sorcerer: An attempt at a next-gen comedy
When we started working on PS4 the question of the next short film arose. What could we do this time? What new field should we explore? Of course we were going to have a new Next-Gen graphic engine that would significantly improve the graphic quality. Of course we were going to try to push back the limits of performance capture, a technique that we are beginning to master after one year of intensive shooting for BEYOND.

For me, the most important question was what kind of new emotion could we test? Kara (then BEYOND) had demonstrated, for me, that it was possible to create dramatic emotion. It didn’t seem to be particularly interesting to recount another Kara-style story based on the same emotions and the same mechanisms. We had to test another limit, something radically different. We had to try comedy.

Making people feel fear is actually fairly simple. Creep up behind someone without a sound and suddenly shout, and you’ll startle them. Moving people by telling a sad story is more difficult, but if you have a moving story and you tell it the right way, you can manage to move your listeners.

The problem with comedy is that you need a good story, pacing and talented actors in order to get even a smile from your audience.

The other challenge is cultural: although we can frighten or move a Japanese person, an American or a German with more or less the same things, laughter is eminently cultural. People in different countries don’t laugh at the same things. What is hilarious in one country may be considered to be sinister or vulgar in another.

My first task thus consisted in trying to find a subject that would amuse any kind of public of any nationality. The idea of a film shoot that backfires is a fairly well-known subject, and talking about a video game shoot particularly in an environment that is familiar to all players should guarantee us a universal subject. I also wanted to work with several actors in the studio (which we greatly enjoyed doing for BEYOND), because comedy is essentially a question of pacing between the actors.

I also wanted to test a character that, morphologically, would be not quite human in order to see how facial Motion Capture would adapt to a different morphology.

Lastly, and most important of all, I wanted to know if it was possible to make people smile with a real-time technology. I was certain my colleagues in the industry would vie to surpass each other with warriors, zombies, soldiers, aliens and next-gen orcs to great effect.

Better not to compete and try something radically different.

And that’s how I ended up in the studio with David Gant, a wonderful 70-year-old Scottish actor (in a kilt) as a Sorcerer, Carl Payne, who used to be in The Cosby Show in the role of Maurice (the first black Goblin in the history of Heroic Fantasy), and the hilarious Christian Eriksen (who has been in all my games since OMIKRON) as a demon, not forgetting David Gasman (another oldie, Paco in Heavy Rain and the policeman who questions Jodie in BEYOND) as the Voice Off Director.

PlayStation 4: Let the hardware shine
After a particularly trying shoot (it’s hard work making people laugh…), the implementation period began and it was time to start playing with version 1.0 of our new PS4 engine.

Then came the first surprise: the graphic quality obtained with relatively little effort was a spectacular improvement on PS3. We obviously expected this, going from the tech specs, but it’s one thing comparing the number of polygons per second, and it’s quite another seeing it on the screen.

What surprised us first off was the global quality of the images. We are so used to seeing games in 720p (the standard on PS3) that we had forgotten how much Full HD (1080p) changes life. If we add an anti-aliasing HD, HD textures, a real 3D depth of field and of course an avalanche of polygons and lights, we get an idea of the emotion that PS4 can produce in any normally constituted computer graphics artist.

On PS4 everything looks great because the machine offers power that was totally inaccessible up until now. We can feel that we are closing in little by little on the kind of graphic quality we find in CG films.

(NB: and now a very boring technical part, except if you’re a developer for the competition. Skip this paragraph if you’re like me and you find technical parts boring)

In the current demo, there are about a million polygons in the set, and a little less than a million per character on the screen (i.e. a total of 4 million when the three characters are on the screen). Each character has about 350 MB of textures and about forty different shaders. It’s all managed with Physically Based Shaders, volumetric lights, full HDR, Color Grading, Physical Lenses (particularly useful for chromatic aberrations and 3D depth of field), and translucence for more realistic rendering of the skin.

The change of set and all the lighting (and the behavior of the shaders) between the dramatic version of the set and the “studio” version is done in real time. The same holds true for all pyrotechnical particle effects.

(End of technical details, you can now continue to read normally)

Creating interactive images on PlayStation 4 is fascinating, but to maintain the same level of quality throughout a game all the studios in the world would have to reinvent themselves from the bottom up. New skills will appear (Director of 3D Photography, for example), the size of server infrastructures will have to be seriously reviewed in order to be able to deal with the size of the new full HD data and, most of all, we are going to have to rethink this medium and the games we create, because the technology now allows us to achieve a level of quality that was previously available only in the cinema.

The PS4 engine used for The Dark Sorcerer is only in its first iteration and most of the features scheduled for the final version of the engine haven’t yet been implemented. This demo is only a first test that is well below the visual quality we hope to achieve in our next game. The next game… which will not be based on this demo, obviously (I know, we’re a bit weird…), but on an idea that is completely different from what we’ve done to date. It’s incredibly exciting, and I wish I could tell you more… but I can’t.

To be funny or not
As I write these lines I have absolutely no idea what the reactions to The Dark Sorcerer will be. What I can say is that it is certainly the script that gave me the hardest time. The idea came very quickly, but then I had to fight with doubts up until it was too late to change my mind. I was ready to rewrite something completely different, something serious and dramatic like Kara rather than run the stupid risk of writing something that wasn’t funny.

And in the end of the day, I stuck with it. Life is too short to waste time doing boring stuff. Better to take risks and do something you believe in. Both the team and I had enormous fun developing these eleven minutes and transcribing as well as we could the performances of these four totally wacky actors.

In a few months we experienced something between Monty Python and Terry Pratchett (obviously without claiming to match their talent), and we laughed at each projection of the Goblin’s antics and the growing annoyance of the Sorcerer. We learned how attempting to produce beautiful images with such computing power is painstaking, how each second has to be worked out in minute detail, how light and shade became essential, how difficult it is to raise a smile.

And there was also, somewhere in all this, a desire to distance ourselves from the clichés of video games with their stereotyped themes where the bad guys are really evil, where sorcerers summon up demons, where heroes have big muscles and girls have big boobs. A little distance from our tendency to take ourselves seriously and believe that we are saying something original or important, whereas the stories and universes of many video games are no more than the echoes of things that have been done better a thousand times before us. Howard created Conan the Barbarian in 1932, and Tolkein wrote Lord of the Rings in 1954, and nothing our industry has created so far can even hold a candle to the genius of Frazetta or the visionary talent of someone like Peter Jackson.

The Dark Sorcerer is also about what video games are like today, an extraordinary and fantastic world where anything is possible, but also a world where everything remains to be invented.

Famous last words
To conclude, the whole team and I hope you like The Dark Sorcerer. We put our hearts and souls into it and we are happy to share the result with all those who keep track of and appreciate our progress. I hope you enjoy those eleven minutes as much as we enjoyed creating them.

If you smiled even once while watching this short film, our work has been worthwhile.

One last word: if you liked The Dark Sorcerer, don’t forget to have a look at our next game, BEYOND. Although it’s a totally different genre, the game was made by the same team, with the same passion and unreasonable enthusiasm for trying to do something different. I hope that like me, you will be bowled over by the performance of Ellen Page and Willem Dafoe.

And lastly, a big thank you to all those who have stayed with us, write to us, come to meet us at conferences and fairs, to all those who buy our games. It’s your support that enables us to continue to create and experiment.

Blizzard: Diablo III Class Resources

Blizzard has updated the official website of Diablo III by posting a blog explaining the game’s new resource system. (Post on the official website)

Whether you know every nook and cranny of the grim world of Sanctuary, or you’re playing Diablo for the first time in your life, information about the resources of the game classes will not be superfluous. The ability to efficiently allocate resources, such as, for example, rage from a barbarian or mana from a sorcerer, is a key element of the game, on which your success in the fight against crowds of demons and other evil spirits will depend.

Live and let die!

Health will play an extremely important role in the hero’s life. Undead in the cruel world of Sanctuary is full, of course, but it is not befitting for real heroes to take an example from her. As the damage is taken, the hero will lose health, and when the health sphere is completely empty, your hero will die.
When you send the crowds of demons back to the Underworld, do not forget about the spheres of health, which instantly restore a certain percentage of your hero’s health. . These crimson spheres will appear at the place of death of almost everyone. As in previous Diablo games, you will also be able to carry various health potions with you. However, use them wisely — the potions will have quite a long cooldown!

Barbarian: unleash your rage!

Barbarians are battle-hardened warriors who prefer close combat. They use rage as their primary resource, and in their anger they are merciless. The barbarian gains rage on successful attacks and also when he takes damage. If your hero does not fight, his rage will gradually fade. Therefore, the barbarian must always be in the thick of things, and then he will be able to use the most destructive abilities. When using Crushing Strike and Cleave, rage builds up over time. If rage is needed in large quantities, then Jump Kick and Stomp will help you. Rage-absorbing abilities can be divided into two categories. On the one hand, these include a number of defensive skills, such as Threatening Shout, which reduces the damage dealt by nearby enemies. On the other hand, these are deadly attacks such as Whirlwind, which will deal massive damage until the barbarian runs out of rage. Effective use of abilities that generate and expend rage can make a barbarian one of the most brutal and dangerous melee fighters.

Demon Hunter: A Balance between Hatred and Focus

Driven by a lust for vengeance, the Demon Hunter is an agile fighter with brilliant combat tactics and accurate death blows. This class has to balance between two resources: hatred and concentration. Hatred is generated very quickly, and the Demon Hunter spends it generously on offensive abilities in the heat of battle. The concentration is restored more slowly, but it allows you to use tactics and control opponents at the most suitable moments in time. For example, a hatred-based Throw Bol envelops the target and then explodes, dealing extensive damage in an area. On the other hand, after much training and careful preparation, the Demon Hunter will be able to use Focus-consuming abilities that allow him to keep his opponent at a distance or set traps for them. Focus-consuming Smoke Screen, available only to the most trained hunters, allows the hero to disappear from the field of view of enemies for a while. Hatred helps hunters deal damage directly, while concentration helps them make important tactical moves and lure opponents into set traps. Ruthless and dangerous, demon hunters will not rest until they send all evil spirits back to the Underworld.

Monk: Fortitude is the main weapon

Like barbarians, monks prefer melee combat. However, unlike their furious cousins, they do not benefit from enemy attacks and cannot withstand the same level of incoming damage. To carry out a series of lightning strikes or use defensive abilities honed to perfection, a monk uses the power of the spirit. This resource is generated by using melee attacks and special skills, and it does not decrease with time, but only when the monk uses abilities that require the cost of spirit. Thanks to this, the monk can carry out a series of powerful and beautiful blows — and his enemies simply do not have time to realize how they managed to be on the verge of death so quickly. Using the power of the spirit, you will be able to use the ability with the mysterious name «Seven Directions of the World», which will allow the monk to move from enemy to enemy in the blink of an eye and deliver seven accurate and powerful blows. Other abilities, on the contrary, help the hero to restore the strength of the spirit. One of them is Fists of Thunder: the monk makes a series of very fast strikes that deal lightning damage and have a chance to interrupt enemy attacks. It is the strength of the spirit that makes the monk a deadly opponent.

Sorcerer: mana boost

The sorcerer is widely known as a dark spellcaster who uses voodoo magic and summons various creatures that help him keep enemies at a respectful distance and in every possible way contribute to their destruction. The sorcerer embodies an entire army of various creatures that can be summoned with the help of mana. Mana is gradually restored on its own, but the sorcerer has some useful abilities that can greatly speed up this process. These include mana or spirit leech, which, in combination with powerful passive abilities, restore the resource spent by the sorcerer. With the help of mana, you can not only summon troops, but also deal serious damage and avoid attacks. «Fire Projectile», for example, is a skull that, when exploding, deals damage in an area. Using a spell such as «Horror» can cause enemies to flee for a while. What’s more, high attack and defense values are sometimes combined into one spell that wreaks havoc and destruction, such as Universal Madness, which causes enemies to become paranoid and start attacking each other. Mana-consuming sorcerers readily use various unpleasant spells that allow them to easily arrange a real bloodbath on the battlefield.

Sorcerer: Power over Magical Energy

Like the sorcerer, the sorcerer uses powerful magical powers to destroy enemies, often from a distance. But unlike the sorcerer, the sorcerer is much less likely to call on various creatures to help him, does not use sinister spells, and also does not use mana as a resource. The source of the sorcerer’s strength is magical energy, with which he can use spells of various schools. The spent magical energy is quickly restored and allows the sorcerer to use spells such as, for example, Frost Ray. The wizard attacks enemies with an ice beam that deals massive cold damage to the affected enemy, while reducing their movement and attack speed. Magical energy is also very well suited for defensive spells, such as Energy Armor, which absorbs a certain amount of damage for a short time, increasing the sorcerer’s defense at the expense of reducing magical energy. Other spells that the possessor of magical energy can use help the sorcerer to leave a dangerous place or avoid curses. For example, the spell «Teleportation» allows you to move in space, and «Slow Time» warps reality, reducing the speed of movement and attack of opponents and their projectiles. Arcane sorcerers’ strengths are lethal spells, magic that keeps enemies at bay, and first-class defensive abilities that mystically mitigate damage taken by the sorcerer.

Superhero

Despite the fact that the abilities used by the hero are quite rigidly determined by the resource at his disposal, the strategies for using them can be very different — it depends on the passive abilities that actively affect the speed and efficiency of replenishing the resource. You will have access to various skills, as well as an almost infinite number of combinations that runes give, so you can allocate your hero’s resources to your taste. It’s up to you! Choose your favorite class, learn how to make the most of the resources at your disposal and create a powerful hero who will give a worthy rebuff to the dark forces.

Torturer Warlock will be available in Module 4

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Here’s the news you’ve been waiting for! We’re excited to announce the addition of a new class to Neverwinter, the Tormentor Warlock. The new class is the first feature of numerous changes in the new Tyranny of Dragons expansion.

Appearance of the Warlock and his equipment:

The Warlock knows many ways to deal massive damage to opponents, both on a single opponent and in a group of enemies. One of the main skills of the Torturer Warlock will be Curse, which not only weakens his enemies, but also increases the destructive power of other spells. Unlike the Wizard-Overlord, the Warlock does not aim to destroy his target with a series of powerful spells, but prefers to watch his victim’s agony, dealing even damage over time. This dark sorcerer will be a valuable ally for any group of adventurers who venture into contact with the lord of the dark elements.

We can’t wait to tell you about the Warlock in more detail, so stay tuned to our site for updates.

But that’s not all the news! We are happy to announce a new community campaign: Season of the Dragons. This campaign begins today with the announcement of a new class and will continue after the launch of Tyranny of Dragons. The Season of the Dragons is a campaign that will include in-game events, social media promotions, and other important announcements related to Tyranny of Dragons in one way or another. A lot of surprises are waiting for you, with which we will delight long-time fans of the game, as well as those who have just begun their journey through the Forgotten Realms.

We’ve got a lot in store for you, and we hope all adventurers join the Season of the Dragons. In the meantime, head over to the forums and let us know your expectations for Tyranny of Dragons.

On 6 апреля, 2023 By alexxlab

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