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MediEvil (1998): Difference between revisions
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==Development== | ==Development== | ||
{{See also|List of all MediEvil releases}} | {{See also|List of all MediEvil releases}} | ||
Development of ''MediEvil'' started in 1995 at independent developer [[Millennium Interactive]]. Chris Sorrell, previously known for the ''[[wikipedia:James Pond|James Pond]]'' series, created the original concept for ''MediEvil'' and served as the game's creative director. Prior to the development of ''MediEvil'', Sorrell had endured a rather torrid time working on some edutainment products that Millennium Interactive had signed up to create. "Once these products were finally complete, I think management took pity on me and rewarded me with the chance of making my dream game" he recalls. According to Sorrell, the first design proposal for the game described it as a fusion of [[wikipedia:Capcom|Capcom]]'s ''[[wikipedia:Ghosts 'n Goblins|Ghosts 'n Goblins]]'' with the art style of [[wikipedia:Tim Burton|Tim Burton]] – especially the look and feel of ''[[wikipedia:The Nightmare Before Christmas|The Nightmare Before Christmas]]'', both of which were things that he was a huge fan of back in the mid-'90s. Lead artist and designer Jason Wilson shared his interest in dark, Gothic influenced artwork and they worked together to define the look and feel of the game. Wilson was particularly inspired by [[wikipedia:German Expressionism|German Expressionism]] from the 1920s and credits films such as ''[[wikipedia:The Golem (1915 film)|Der Golem]]'', ''[[wikipedia:The Cabinet of Dr Caligari|The Cabinet of Dr Caligari]]'', ''[[wikipedia:Nosferatu|Nosferatu]]'', ''[[wikipedia:Metropolis (1927 film)|Metropolis]]'' and ''[[wikipedia:Sunrise (1926 film)|Sunrise]]'' as his main sources of inspiration.<ref>{{Icon|Facebook}} {{cite web|author=Jason | Development of ''MediEvil'' started in 1995 at independent developer [[Millennium Interactive]]. Chris Sorrell, previously known for the ''[[wikipedia:James Pond|James Pond]]'' series, created the original concept for ''MediEvil'' and served as the game's creative director. Prior to the development of ''MediEvil'', Sorrell had endured a rather torrid time working on some edutainment products that Millennium Interactive had signed up to create. "Once these products were finally complete, I think management took pity on me and rewarded me with the chance of making my dream game" he recalls. According to Sorrell, the first design proposal for the game described it as a fusion of [[wikipedia:Capcom|Capcom]]'s ''[[wikipedia:Ghosts 'n Goblins|Ghosts 'n Goblins]]'' with the art style of [[wikipedia:Tim Burton|Tim Burton]] – especially the look and feel of ''[[wikipedia:The Nightmare Before Christmas|The Nightmare Before Christmas]]'', both of which were things that he was a huge fan of back in the mid-'90s. Lead artist and designer Jason Wilson shared his interest in dark, Gothic influenced artwork and they worked together to define the look and feel of the game. Wilson was particularly inspired by [[wikipedia:German Expressionism|German Expressionism]] from the 1920s and credits films such as ''[[wikipedia:The Golem (1915 film)|Der Golem]]'', ''[[wikipedia:The Cabinet of Dr Caligari|The Cabinet of Dr Caligari]]'', ''[[wikipedia:Nosferatu|Nosferatu]]'', ''[[wikipedia:Metropolis (1927 film)|Metropolis]]'' and ''[[wikipedia:Sunrise (1926 film)|Sunrise]]'' as his main sources of inspiration.<ref>{{Icon|Facebook}} {{cite web|author=Wilson, Jason|published=November 3, 2014|title=Reference and inspiration for the game ''MediEvil''|site=Facebook|url=https://www.facebook.com/JayGunnArts/posts/587295241397225}}</ref> As development progressed, Wilson pushed the game into more of a ''Zelda''-like direction as opposed to the original arcade-style concept. Sorrell approved of the new direction and said that he would liked to have expanded more on it. | ||
From the outset, Sorrell wanted his game to possess a unique lead character. They worked with a script doctor named Martin Pond when looking for more of a backstory for the lead protagonist, Sir Daniel Fortesque. Pond came up with the idea that Sir Daniel could have been a pompous failure in life whose reincarnation was his one shot at redemption. | From the outset, Sorrell wanted his game to possess a unique lead character. They worked with a script doctor named Martin Pond when looking for more of a backstory for the lead protagonist, Sir Daniel Fortesque. Pond came up with the idea that Sir Daniel could have been a pompous failure in life whose reincarnation was his one shot at redemption. | ||
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In addition to bringing together a brand new team – none of whom had really made a 3D game of this scale before – they were in 'sell' mode almost from day one, with the future of the studio riding on their ability to attract a major publishing deal as quickly as possible. They were initially working on multiple platforms including [[wikipedia:Windows|Windows]] and [[wikipedia:Sega Saturn|Sega Saturn]] as well as PlayStation before finally having the chance to pitch an early demo to Sony, who were so impressed with their work that they bought the whole studio and became Sony's second United Kingdom development studio. Late in the game's development, Sony requested that ''MediEvil'' should support the (then) new PlayStation analogue controller, which Sorrell described as a "particularly fortuitous event" as it allowed them to capture much more fluidity and intuitiveness within the game. | In addition to bringing together a brand new team – none of whom had really made a 3D game of this scale before – they were in 'sell' mode almost from day one, with the future of the studio riding on their ability to attract a major publishing deal as quickly as possible. They were initially working on multiple platforms including [[wikipedia:Windows|Windows]] and [[wikipedia:Sega Saturn|Sega Saturn]] as well as PlayStation before finally having the chance to pitch an early demo to Sony, who were so impressed with their work that they bought the whole studio and became Sony's second United Kingdom development studio. Late in the game's development, Sony requested that ''MediEvil'' should support the (then) new PlayStation analogue controller, which Sorrell described as a "particularly fortuitous event" as it allowed them to capture much more fluidity and intuitiveness within the game. | ||
Sorrell said that ''MediEvil'' presented a mountain of challenges due to the fact that, like many other developers at the time, they were still very new to 3D gaming. Things like camera and character control presented many interesting new challenges and required the team to try out a number of approaches before settling on solutions that seemed to work. He said that they spent many long nights without sleeping, trying to finish the game. There were also many levels and ideas from the original concept that they were forced to remove because of time and budget constraints. In most cases, the best of what they had already created for those levels ended up being spliced into the levels that they shipped with. There was also intended to be a platform-oriented section of the game where the player would control the worm that lived in Daniel's skull. Concept art and a level ost was created for this section, but it never materialized into the game. Even so, Sorrell said that the game still came very close to the original concept and he was most proud of how the team pulled together to finish the game without compromising on the quirky attention to detail or scope of the game.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://blog.us.playstation.com/2012/09/07/behind-the-classics-medievil/|site=PlayStation.Blog|title=Behind the Classics: MediEvil|author=Fred | Sorrell said that ''MediEvil'' presented a mountain of challenges due to the fact that, like many other developers at the time, they were still very new to 3D gaming. Things like camera and character control presented many interesting new challenges and required the team to try out a number of approaches before settling on solutions that seemed to work. He said that they spent many long nights without sleeping, trying to finish the game. There were also many levels and ideas from the original concept that they were forced to remove because of time and budget constraints. In most cases, the best of what they had already created for those levels ended up being spliced into the levels that they shipped with. There was also intended to be a platform-oriented section of the game where the player would control the worm that lived in Daniel's skull. Concept art and a level ost was created for this section, but it never materialized into the game. Even so, Sorrell said that the game still came very close to the original concept and he was most proud of how the team pulled together to finish the game without compromising on the quirky attention to detail or scope of the game.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://blog.us.playstation.com/2012/09/07/behind-the-classics-medievil/|site=PlayStation.Blog|title=Behind the Classics: MediEvil|author=Dutton, Fred|published=September 7, 2012}}</ref> | ||
===Tools=== | ===Tools=== | ||
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==Soundtrack== | ==Soundtrack== | ||
{{main|Les musiques de MediEvil}} | {{main|Les musiques de MediEvil}} | ||
The original soundtrack of the game was made using [[MediEvil#Music|electronic synthesizers]] to simulate an entire orchestra and organ. Paul Arnold and Andrew Barnabas composed the tracks. Chris Sorrell, the game's director, asked them to compose a Danny Elfman-style score, similar to those of ''Beetlejuice'', ''The Nightmare Before Christmas'' and ''Batman Returns''.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.gsoundtracks.com/interviews/arnold.htm|title=Interview with composer Paul Arnold|author=Oliver | The original soundtrack of the game was made using [[MediEvil#Music|electronic synthesizers]] to simulate an entire orchestra and organ. Paul Arnold and Andrew Barnabas composed the tracks. Chris Sorrell, the game's director, asked them to compose a Danny Elfman-style score, similar to those of ''Beetlejuice'', ''The Nightmare Before Christmas'' and ''Batman Returns''.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.gsoundtracks.com/interviews/arnold.htm|title=Interview with composer Paul Arnold|author=Ittensohn, Oliver|site=GSoundtracks|retrieved=18 May, 2012}}</ref> | ||
Although there's no official soundtrack release, the 71st issue of the french magazine Joypad featured a CD named "Les musiques de Medievil," which contains ten tracks from the game and is the only "soundtrack" ever released for it. | Although there's no official soundtrack release, the 71st issue of the french magazine Joypad featured a CD named "Les musiques de Medievil," which contains ten tracks from the game and is the only "soundtrack" ever released for it. | ||