World Building

Every game requires the development of its own special environment. Whether it's a high fantasy epic, a shooter set in 2020 (or 1820), or a 2D platformer, a gamer rapidly senses the world's 'parameters' and the credibility of his environment. 

A game world continues to deepen and become richer over time (like Ashan, the world of Ubisoft's Might and Magic games), so it is not necessary to have an entire world "bible" created for the first title. What is necessary, however, is to define the overall structure of the world, its major "rules", and key historical trends.

Examples of world 'bible' elements:

  • Basic history and / or timeline of events
  • Major factions, nations, or races
    • Socio-political structures
    • Relations with outsiders
    • Military capabilities and techniques
    • Arts and traditions
    • Language and culture
  • Major or important geographical elements
  • Unique or important flora and fauna

Simplified world building:

  1. Horsez (DS)
    For this DS game set in the south of France, we developed a series of characters, events, and competitions -- none of which exist in the real world -- to add a sense of time and place to the simple gameplay of raising and racing horses.
  2. GRAW
    For this military shooter set in the near future, world building revolves around giving credibility to the fictional "Ghost" unit and its members, to the events of the game (a North American security treaty), and to the weapons and technology. 

Complex world building

  1. Ubisoft's Might & Magic games
    Here, the Ubisoft team is creating an entirely new world with its own cosmology, history and nations. Together we have created a thousand years of history, nine distinct nation-factions, magic systems, cultures, characters, prophecies, key events, and everything else necessary to give the games a sense of reality in time and space.