Behind the Scenes: Deck Nine Developers Dish on The Expanse Accuracy

The highly anticipated game, The Expanse: A Telltale Series, serves as a prequel to the critically acclaimed TV series with a storyline centered around Camina Drummer, the Executive Officer on the Artemis. Recently, Game Rant interviewed the art director, Emerson Oaks, and lead environmental artist, Tommy Spampinato, where they discussed the inspiration behind the game, its vital design elements, and the accuracy to the TV series. The edited transcript follows for clarity and brevity.

A: The experience of working in such a vast space environment was exhilarating for me as an environment artist. Creating sci-fi corridors and similar elements is always a pleasure. To meet the game's deadline, we had to depend on modular artwork extensively. Despite that, we enjoyed the process. Being able to prototype levels swiftly made it feel like a game from the start. It allowed everyone to comprehend our direction.

Tommy and his team have a unique talent for designing theme parks, which was evident in their creation of a space that is easy to navigate and filled with exciting points of interest that draw players to different areas of gameplay.

During Zero-G, we faced a challenge of ensuring that the player does not get stuck on surfaces and that the gameplay flows smoothly. To achieve this, we focused on smoothing out the collision and strategically damaging the walkable spaces. While we considered color-coding certain surfaces, we found it to be too patchy. Instead, we relied on a HUD for landing, which displays a reticle to indicate where the player can land. With the assistance of the designers, we were able to overcome these challenges and create a seamless gameplay experience.

I took inspiration from these different styles and incorporated them into the design of the Rocinante. We wanted to make sure the Rocinante looked like a ship that had been through a lot, but still had a sense of functionality and practicality to it. So, we added some exposed wiring and rusted patches, but also made sure all the buttons and switches looked like they had a purpose. Overall, the style of The Expanse definitely played a role in our approach to designing the Rocinante.

Oaks praised the team's ability to accurately depict each faction's ships in the game, allowing players to easily identify which faction a ship belongs to. With the game being a prequel set years before the events of the show, the team was given more creative freedom to work with the art.

When designing for The Expanse, authenticity to the IP was a top priority for us. While there was some variability in the designs of Belter ships, we made sure that everything remained consistent with the overall look and feel of the show. This allowed us to comfortably express ourselves from a design standpoint while still staying true to the source material. Watching the series and understanding where it was headed also played a crucial role in our design process. Having that rich history to draw from made it easy to imagine the characters and their journey as we built the space and environment around them. We had a wealth of references to work with, which eliminated any guesswork and ensured that our designs were true to The Expanse.

Q: How did you approach the art of making blood in a space vacuum for The Expanse?

Spampinato discussed how they incorporated scientific concepts into The Expanse while still keeping the artistic aspect in mind. They utilized science videos about blood in a vacuum and referenced scenes from sci-fi shows to inspire their storytelling. The team collaborated to ensure accuracy in their portrayal of scientific concepts, which were then integrated into the overall narrative and visual design of the show.

To ensure fidelity to The Expanse, we took into consideration both the artistic and scientific aspects of the universe. Tommy and other members of the team were diligent in pointing out important details such as the need for mag boots, necessary sound effects and lighting, and realistic movements in space. Additionally, we carefully considered how ship-to-ship combat would be monitored and portrayed in order to accurately reflect the realities of space combat. Ultimately, our goal was to use art to serve the needs of the game and to ensure that players were fully immersed in the world of The Expanse. As for the suits, we worked through numerous iterations to achieve a cohesive and authentic look.

It's difficult to quantify the number of changes we've made to our backpack design over time. We are constantly tweaking and adjusting to ensure it meets our needs and the needs of our players. Recently, we made a major overhaul to the design because we realized we needed to incorporate additional functionality that we didn't have space for previously. This required us to go back to the drawing board and consider how we could make the backpack more functional while still staying true to our game design process. As with any game development project, we adapt and evolve as time goes on.

We don't necessarily approach the development process differently just because the game has an episodic structure. Our goal is to solve similar problems concurrently, which means we often group tasks together.

A: The impact of player choices on art decisions, such as managing whether one of the twins would have a leg or a prosthetic, was taken into account early on by designers and the narrative team to determine which choices would be most meaningful in the game. Planning around the costuming of a character losing a body part was also considered, as it is a noticeable detail.

The upcoming episodes promise to showcase an array of diverse locations and experiences for the characters. According to Oaks, the conflict between the characters will provide visually stunning scenes, making it a treat for the fans. The first episode was just a glimpse of what is to come, as things are only going to get better from there.

The most challenging aspect for me was creating the destroyed environments. It was crucial to depict the ship wreckage realistically without compromising the player's ability to navigate it. Striking a balance between the two was no easy feat. On the other hand, the entire game was a thrilling experience for me. I found the characters and situations towards the end of the game particularly captivating.

From my perspective, it was evident that The Expanse enthusiasts are incredibly passionate. This is unsurprising since many of us at Oaks are also fans of the show. This level of passion comes with high expectations for the game's quality, resulting in a mix of excitement and anxiety. It's for this reason that we strived for authenticity in our development process, to demonstrate our shared love for The Expanse with fellow fans.

The art style leans towards being slightly exaggerated but not excessively so, especially when it comes to facial features. Can you share how the decision to go with this particular stylization was made?

Oaks: It largely came down to personal preference. Our team has a history of creating stylized games, and this is something we're all familiar with. However, for The Expanse, we aimed to create a more cinematic experience that was grounded in realism rather than animation. Adapting to this approach was key.

The challenge was to create a fusion of realistic elements and Telltale's signature stylized gameplay, while maintaining a cinematic feel with photographic elements. Moreover, we aimed to make the outer space setting feel authentic and seamlessly linked to the narrative, building a connection from Telltale to The Expanse. This effort is evident throughout the game, but one scene that particularly stands out is the Zero G view of Io, which we wanted to make visually stunning and captivating.

Content:

As we wrap things up, I would just like to say that we poured our hearts and souls into creating The Expanse game. We wanted to give fans of the show and the books an immersive experience that truly captures the essence of the universe. I hope that players will feel like they are a part of the story and will enjoy exploring the vast expanse of space. Thank you for your support and we can't wait for you to play the game.

Deck Nine aims to lead the way in cinematic development, entertainment, and gaming, and I am thrilled to be a part of such a talented team. Additionally, I am eager to explore the possibility of collaborating with Telltale on future projects. Mark your calendars for July 27th, when The Expanse will hit shelves and be available for PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X.