Award-winning video game developer Supermassive Games has earned a reputation for creating some of the most immersive gaming experiences ever made, in part thanks to a heavy emphasis on building from real performances that bring its digital characters to life. For its latest title, The Quarry, it went further than ever before, and turned to Oscar-winning VFX powerhouse Digital Domain to help create one of the most visually immersive, photorealistic games of all time. But to get there, the VFX studio first had to expand and grow its award-winning tools, and invent a new one along the way.
“Right from the start we were blown away by Supermassive Games’ ambition, and we knew our experience with feature films put us in a unique position to help,” said Aruna Inversin, creative director and visual effects supervisor for Digital Domain. “We started with the same tools we use to create movies and episodics, then adapted them for game development. Basically, we came up with a new, faster way to animate photorealistic digital characters.”
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The Quarry is an interactive survival-horror experience fueled by the performances of an award-winning, ensemble cast. Photorealistic digital versions of several well-known Hollywood veterans react throughout the story with the same level of nuance and emotion seen in a live-action film, but with the added bonus of having the players control the circumstances and actions. Will they choose to investigate the sounds in the distance, or hide? Will they help out the others, or try to survive on their own? There are several outcomes, and survival is far from guaranteed.
“It was important for us to make every movement and reaction as realistic as possible, to create an immersive experience where players truly feel the weight of their decisions and connect to the characters,” said Will Byles, game director for The Quarry. “We wanted to get as close to the likeness of the actors as possible, both in terms of the super high detail scans and the subtleties and nuances of their performances. With its history of award-winning VFX and pioneering digital human work, Digital Domain was the best choice for this.”
Expanding on the idea of The Quarry as an interactive cinematic experience, there is even a “Movie Mode” option that allows users to tweak the personality traits and actions of each character, and then sit back and watch it all play out. Additional filters can further enhance the experience by adding an 8mm-style “Indie Horror” film grain, a retro VHS “80s Horror” look and a black-and-white Classic Horror filter.
Building a Better Slasher
To help bring photorealistic facial animation to a new level, the VFX studio famous for its work on Spider-Man: No Way Home, Stranger Things, WandaVision and countless others, began by conducting a series of facial scans of every cast member. That gave the team at Digital Domain an accurate template to work from, as well as a comprehensive library of facial shapes and expressions for each performer. The data was then sent on to the artists at Supermassive Games, who created the looks for the in-game characters.