Learning how to bring characters to life with all the nuances of personality, habits, quirks and mannerisms was really Sony Bend’s first and most important job when we started to work on UNCHARTED: Golden Abyss. We have an awesome example in the UNCHARTED series, and we wanted to give the characters a level of depth that transcends the screen. These videos shows just a glimpse of our process and how we worked with our eclectic cast of characters.
I’m no stranger to writing, having written all the Syphon Filter games, but this title taught me some new tricks. By the time we started shooting in February 2011, I had gone through over 40 revisions, changing everything from setting, characters, names, dialogue and action. If we count all the in-game VO dialogue, we ended up with over 400 pages of script for UNCHARTED: Golden Abyss.
Of course, writing and performance capture was just beginning. What followed was an intense year of motion capture clean-up, animation, camera work, set building, lip-synching, prop building, editing, sound and music, by a team of over 50 artists working across five different studios.
Yes, UNCHARTED’s stunning visuals require next-gen hardware, but in the end, Uncharted’s charm comes from its characters, their friendships and chemistry. The great thing about story is that it’s hardware independent. Players can tell a good story from a bad one, great production values from not-so-great. We knew that the end result – all of that effort by all those people – would pay off in an UNCHARTED experience that would lose nothing simply because it was on a portable console. It’s the main reason I was so excited to learn the UNCHARTED approach to cinematic storytelling. On February 22nd, you’ll be able to see for yourself.
27 CommentsAdd Yours
1
Posted on 20 January, 2012 at 4:18 pm by Cube1701
Who did the voice acting for Nathan Drake? In the demo I played he sounded (the Vita Room Manchester)…different.
2
Posted on 20 January, 2012 at 4:24 pm by Carnivius_Prime
Heh. Played the series so much I can easily imagine what the scene will look like with the Drake and Sully models in place of North and McGonagle there. I shall need me a Vita and this game. Though I think my money’s going on driving lessons first.
3
Posted on 20 January, 2012 at 4:28 pm by samuelcd1997
“OH CRAP. Sully, I had the map upside down! Paddle backwards, paddle bacckwards!”
I lolled.
4
Posted on 20 January, 2012 at 4:35 pm by kool-chris93
I LOVE Uncharted, cant wait until U4!!!!!
5
Posted on 20 January, 2012 at 4:39 pm by jakster123x
This is great, good to see Sully’s in the game, but it’s a little spoiler-ish, don’t you think?
6
Posted on 20 January, 2012 at 4:41 pm by jakster123x
@3
Same xD
7
Posted on 20 January, 2012 at 4:50 pm by WillPG1212
A SonyBend guy mentioning Syphon Filter!! seems like its been a while.
any chance we get this awesome franchise back too one day its been forever since Logan’s Shadow.
on topic GoldenAbyss is looking great
8
Posted on 20 January, 2012 at 4:57 pm by kivi95
1# Still the same guy.
9
Posted on 20 January, 2012 at 5:21 pm by Connor_mufc_1985
Looks like il be missing out on uncharted golden abyss as i cant justify buying a vita just for this 1 game even though it’s probably amazing oh well i can still hope and pray for a ps3 port one day :/
10
Posted on 20 January, 2012 at 5:49 pm by Wraxend
@Connor_mufc_1985 well looking at the poor sales the Vita is having at the moment in Japan I don’t think it will be long before they are porting the Vita games
11
Posted on 20 January, 2012 at 6:28 pm by andrewsqual
Oh well looks like we will be looking back at these times, with retarded comments such as “well looking at the poor sales Vita is having in Japan” (PSP wasn’t the biggest in Japan) and “I can’t justify buying a vita just for this 1 game” (just as well there is more then 1 game coming to it then), and laughing when it takes the world by storm and everybody wants one. How much was a 4gb memory stick in 2005? Oh yeah €120.
12
Posted on 20 January, 2012 at 7:14 pm by Agamer2006
@11 Its there loss, dont think some of them realise that Japan is a completely different market compared to EU and alot of the vita games at the moment are directed towards the west.
13
Posted on 20 January, 2012 at 7:38 pm by DAYDANNY666
CGI OMG!
14
Posted on 20 January, 2012 at 9:47 pm by Wraxend
@11&12 Wow sorry for having an opinion we’ll all just think the same, then the world be fun won’t it lol. Or it might just be that I thought the same as you guys when it came to the PSP, hell even picked one up on its midnight launch, and look how well that turned out.
15
Posted on 20 January, 2012 at 11:53 pm by CoolRichy008UK
il tell ya something funny
i was in ps home earlier about 3pm and i was in my cool japaneze costume robe thingy and went to home square and said Ahso and 3 people thought i was swearing but i told them to look it up cuz its japaneze and it means
AH SO >> Informal phrase which means “Oh, I see.
im gonna try learn japaneze and yes i cant spell that word well lol
16
Posted on 21 January, 2012 at 1:05 am by hayzink
@15
whats that got to do with uncharted or the psvita?
im going to wait to get this, im getting my vita at launch but everyone seems to be getting this so ill wait and scoop it up pre-owned at a big discount off gumtree or something like that.
17
Posted on 21 January, 2012 at 2:22 am by chrisandsheva
@ hayzink
Thats a good idea, though is a bit of a gamble, ie how long before it reaches a acceptable price, and by then after having your fun with it just how much will you get back on it if you decide to trade it in towards something… of course you could do it the opposite way, ie, buy it for best price at launch, Give it a decent playthrough then trade it in whilst it’s still a newish release, getting way more credit towards another game, though as before that to is a gamble, but personally i’d say it’s the safer bet… Again though this is a whole new territory for both these strategy’s, so it’s kinda like flying blind untill the gameshops set out there strategies concerning pre-owned and trade in on vita games… I seen someone post earlier that it won’t be possible to use a vita on a tv screen, if true then i doubt i will be bothering with one.. was he right?..
18
Posted on 21 January, 2012 at 4:28 am by Immortal-Wolf-
UNCHARTED: Golden Abyss Won”t be as good as Uncharted 3 reasons theres no Co oP in UNCHARTED: Golden Abyss plus theres no online multiplayer in UNCHARTED: Golden Abyss
PS vita don’t do online multiplayer!!
19
Posted on 21 January, 2012 at 8:22 am by Mellors86x
I’m really excited for this game, getting it day one. It’s nice to see the game getting lots of coverage on the EU blog too. Maybe someone will sort out remote play for UC3 one day…
20
Posted on 21 January, 2012 at 10:05 am by hayzink
@ Immortal-Wolf-
go away the vita does do online multiplayer some developers just choose to not use it.
@chrisandsheva
never knew this until you said it but after a quick google it turns out thats true, not gonna effect me as i would not hook it to tv but for those that wood it kinda sucks
21
Posted on 21 January, 2012 at 10:09 am by hayzink
would even……..why cant we have something as simple as an edit button on blog posts???
22
Posted on 21 January, 2012 at 11:41 am by Connor_mufc_1985
@ immortal-wolf uncharted golden abyss campaign wont be as good as uncharted 3 campaign neither but still even though golden abyss isn’t made by naughty dog its probably excellent in its own right and that’s why im hoping for an eventual ps3 port.
23
Posted on 21 January, 2012 at 5:31 pm by Bovrillor
Well, the second video was a bit spoilerific. I guess it doesn’t matter though, no way I can afford a Vita and my interest in handheld gaming is nil anyway. Here’s hoping for a PS3 port somewhere down the line, like Rockstar did with the portable GTA games.
The writing seems a little weak, the joking with Sully doesn’t even make sense. Primary writing team is needed for that UC magic.
24
Posted on 21 January, 2012 at 8:27 pm by CoolRichy008UK
looks like there are new moaners on the eu blog and (im not one of them anymore LOL
25
Posted on 22 January, 2012 at 11:28 pm by SamTheSkater
Getting this game day one, of course. And yeah, you guys should bring back Syphon Filter! Or at least some SCE studio should.
26
Posted on 24 January, 2012 at 8:56 pm by nfskingrlinworld
i like new uncharted on ps vita
27
Posted on 24 January, 2012 at 10:32 pm by tekkenguy612
Uncharted the golden abyss will rok but it is apart of number 1 or sumthin coz ur back in the jungle and I also think that they should of put it on ps3
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