In "Ecco the Dolphin: Defender of the Future" for example, released in 2000 for the Sega Dreamcast, "the camera rolls and goes crazy," says Nava. "Our rule is that the camera never rolls and it never goes upside down.
Nava says he mostly turned to the world of flight simulators for ideas about how to make free navigation in a three-dimensional space feel intuitive. And, yes, to figure out how to make "ABZÛ" control well, they also had to play some pretty terrible games to figure out what not to do. "So solving that 3D space, how control a character in 3D space is a very tough problem." One thing "that's really hard about making underwater levels is that the controls are fully 3D," he says. He thinks that since they've designed "ABZÛ" from the ground up to center around underwater navigation, Giant Squid Studios can conquer a lot of the issues that usually plague these gimmicky stages. Underwater levels are usually terrible because "they're kind of the side level, they're not really the focus of a lot of games," says Nava.
Between the illustrative art style and the score from Grammy-nominated composer Austin Wintory (who also scored "Journey,") "ABZÛ" looks to be just as affecting. Perhaps this is a statement on meditation and how you need to cede control, but in this instance I am being encouraged to look at the fish and thus I am not interested in ceding control and careening around an area, feeling progressively more nauseous as I try to take a look at a puffer. "It’s inspired by the real world - all the fish in the game are based on real life creatures - but my feeling is that you can get at the essence of things more directly from an illustrated look because you can focus the user's experience."īoth of the games that Nava has worked on - "Flower" and "Journey" - were praised for their emotional and artistic impact, something many people don't typically associate with video games. Abzu 31 Wot I Think: ABZÛ Plenty of fish in the sea. To get at this idea of making "ABZÛ" about more than just the physical act of diving, and more about what it means on a more metaphorical level, Nava turned first towards finding an art style that reflected that. "We wanted to focus on this dream of scuba diving, and get at the heart of what scuba diving is all about." There's no limit to how long you can stay underwater, so you don't have to worry about looking at an air gauge, for example. "It’s not a simulator," Nava is quick to point out.