Find out even more about Fort Solis
Fort Solis Game Director - James Tinsdale - had a passionate interview with The PhotoMode magazine, and it's a must-read for all Fort Solis fans and virtual photography enthusiasts! The PhotoMode is the first free virtual photography e-magazine composed of team who share their love for digital art and everything related to it!
Check out the full issue of The PhotoMode magazine here and explore it's full content!
You can also read the interview with James down below (provided for your convenience).
You could argue Fort Solis leans more towards an interactive film rather than a traditional gaming experience? Was this intentional from the outset or did it evolve over time? Additionally, what challenges does this approach pose compared to gameplay experiences?
From the outset we knew we wanted to make a game that blurred the lines between film and game. With great stories being told across many streaming networks we felt that creating an experience closer to that format would allow us to explore not only the format itself but different elements of Unreal 5 that could showcase fantastic performances.
This type of experience creates a new set of challenges that perhaps are more polarized. An example of this would be the narrative. Just like a show on TV, if the narrative isn’t for you then it can greatly impact your enjoyment. Here, the story of Fort Solis was something we knew people would love but was also completely ok for those that didn’t. Our answer to that was to make sure that the quality of everything that we did would be there so you could see the intent.
When watching a movie, you watch the main character go through various emotions, but with a game you are the main character feeling those emotions. With Fort Solis especially you are living and exploring a sense of fear and panic on a desolate planet thousands of miles from Earth. Was capturing the sense of isolation and a constant state of anxiety a tough job to portray throughout the game?
When making a thriller, the challenge is always to make the player feel tension. This can be done in a number of ways but with game development, a short time after you have seen the content multiple times it becomes harder to know if you're on the right path of achieving that. You become reliant on external testing and reactions to inform your changes.
We had such fantastic performances from our cast that it created such a contrast when the player was alone. We simply didn't have the budget to make a 20 hour game so we had to really choose our impactful moments and use isolation as a tool to create intrigue and tell the story of the crew in creative ways such as video logs. This placed a lot of emphasis on our ability to edit facial data, choose our lines carefully and hope that it felt natural. Facial mocap is incredibly expensive and to the fidelity we wanted to achieve, it became hard to choose which logs to go with. I think the ones we went with added energy, humility to the crew in a way that felt like you knew these people. I think the team did an incredible job of delivering the quality of those moments to accompany the isolated exploration of the core story path.
From concept to execution which ideas / visions of the environments changed the most drastically?
We had a couple of locations that we simply had to cut. One was a space for the crew to spend personal time in. Whether that was prayer, to watch a private video from a loved one such as a birthday message or anything else, we wanted this space to house a great moment for Troy's character Wyatt that I really wanted in the game. However, we simply couldnt make the space work in a way where it didn't feel like it was created specifically for that moment. We ended up turning that moment into a post credits scene.
In terms of concept through to creation the space that perhaps changed more drastically was the Greenhouse. It just kept getting bigger! We wanted it to be the hero item of the base and really have a presence over everything. However, when we first imagined the space, it was smaller and more of a makeshift space that Helen had put together. As the scene with Jess, Jack and Wyatt grew, so would the space that needed to house that scene. Once we completed the mocap for that scene we simply wanted to show the whole scene and extended the space accordingly.
The hard work that goes into creating games is incredible. We believe photo mode allows gamers to see and appreciate the environment in more detail, is this something you and others like seeing from those who share in game images? How do you balance creative freedom within a photomode with the need to maintain the game’s storytelling integrity?
From the start I knew that we wanted to have a photo mode. Whilst we were creating a contained story, we wanted players to be able to showcase how they saw the story. Story is personal to everyone and how they interact with the story can be shown through images.
Photo mode allows players to notice elements and explore spaces that perhaps they normally wouldn't. This not only allows world building moments to occur outside the context of the gameplay but for people to feel empowered to share their story of Fort Solis. Which moments were important to them, moments they wanted to retain or showcase.
We had technical challenges to achieve the fidelity we wanted given how early in Unreal 5 we were; however, the team did an incredible job of persisting. I think everyone on the team knew that it was important for players to share their journey. The decision was easier given the format we wanted to make and how people digest TV content.
We actually made no real effort to balance the creative freedom and we wanted players to communicate their journey however which way they wanted. We live in a world where most people are respectful of spoilers but also there are many levers to not see those spoilers, so we didn't want players to feel limited when trying to be creative. Just as we were as developers, it was really rewarding to see players enjoy the game and share it. We actually joked in the office how well it actually shipped given the quality of photos people were taking! Ours were terrible compared to some of the ones shared. It was great to help inspire creativity in others.
Do you have a favourite memory from the creation process?
I remember watching the final scenes before we sent the game to certification. The team didn't see me look out at them, but I was so incredibly proud of what we achieved. The journey we went on. My favourite memory was simply my team and how fortunate I felt to be working with them. I'm so proud of what we achieved as such a small indie team.
And if you share passion for digital photography, we highly recommend to follow TPM and their social media, and maybe even join the VP community seeking the best possible shot in Fort Solis and other games.
Some of them already joined our Discord channel and shared some gorgeous captures of Fort Solis.
You wouldn't believe how exquisite they are! Feel free to join us here as well and see for yourself 👀
https://store.steampowered.com/bundle/37379/Fort_Solis_x_The_Invincible/
Thank you for reading. Until next time!
The Fort Solis Team
PS Special thanks go to Malin for allowing us to use her brilliant shots from Fort Solis to illustrate the interview.