GDC - SotC session

[pipo]

Hajime Sugiyama, lead programmer for SotC, and a few members from his team held a panel discussion detailing the emotional impact and landscape from the game. The panel touched on a variety of topics such as character movement, art development, and the collision system.

http://www.gaming-age.com/cgi-bin/specials/page2.pl?spec=gdc_2006&pagenum=8

 

[liverkick]

Yeah I was checking this out earlier, translation is a little rough but its very interesting nonetheless. This slide summed up what I love about Team Ico's approach to animation.

http://www.gaming-age.com/cgi-bin/img.pl?image=/specials/gdc_2006/sotc/27.jpg

That nuanced expression of gravity and inertia really sets Ico/SotC apart from other games for me. I know some complain about a lack of "immediate responsiveness" with this rubber-band esque approach, but personally once you get the timing down its very intuitive. Ico, Yorda, Wanderer, Agro, and the Colossi themselves all move and react so naturally within their environment that it gives the interaction with these characters another level all its own.