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MI6 takes a retrospective look behind the scenes
of how James Bond's Aston Martin V12 Vanquish from "Die
Another Day" was transported in to the world
of videogames...
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The Making of 007: NightFire (2)
21st February 2007
MI6 takes a retrospective look behind the scenes of
how James Bond's Aston Martin
V12 Vanquish from "Die
Another Day" was transported in to the world of videogames in
2002's outing "NightFire".
Fast cars and fast driving are essential elements in any
James Bond experience, and the console versions of NightFire
brought. one of the major elements from "Die
Another Day" in to the game - Bond's new set of wheels the Aston
Martin V12 Vanquish. Working closely with MGM and Danjaq, EA were allowed
to use Bond's latest car in new ways, with an original game storyline utilising
the vehicle's key features.
To bring this amazing vehicle in to the digital realm, EA
called upon their "Need For Speed" team located
in Vancouver, Canada, with additional support from Savage
Entertainment in L.A., and a driving-specific team in Redwood
Shores. Executive Producer Jon Horsley explained, "well
the Need For Speed team had been working with cars for almost
ten years, and their passion is to capture the excitement
and verve of exotic sports cars, and they were very excited
to get their hands on the Aston Martin Vanquish". |
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Racing Producer Scott Blackwood described how
the team took the real-life Vanquish and created the in-game
model, "we worked with Aston Martin to get the 3D specs for the
car, so we were able to take that and get it into the game, so
all the dimensions were exact. We also got all the performance
attributes from them and had a photo shoot with the car
from the film so that all the textures on the car, the paint,
the interior, the steering wheel... everything in the game is
exactly how it is in the car".
In addition to recreating the look of the Vanquish,
the team had to capture the visceral feel of driving it. Horsley
said, "when we play with the cars we try to get the acceleration
right, the
train right, sliding right, the sounds, the feel... so it's all
those things that add up to the general experience of saying
'hey I'm in Aston Martin Vanquish and I'm James Bond and
I'm saving the world!'"
In NightFire, players get a chance to race through
the streets of Paris thanks to the level design team. Assistant
Producer Jim Boland described the process, "we started off with
reference photos of Paris to see what the streets look like,
then the artists produced sketches of what Paris was going to
look like for our levels. A modeller then took those and started
building Paris in our three-dimensional world". Next, the level
designers worked to set a challenging course, using as much as
100 triggers throughout the level to cue cut-away cameras and
the AI enemies chasing James Bond.
As well as real-world locations and realistic
action, the game also features some fantasy elements present
in the high-tech and far-reaching adventures of some of the Bond
films.
In one of the missions, the Vanquish transforms into a
submarine in order for Bond to make a stealthy, underwater approach
to
the enemies' remote South Pacific Island.
When everything was complete, gamers could do
things to the Vanquish they never would in real life. Firing
hood-mounted missiles,
popping up onto two-wheels, driving on frozen rivers and lakes,
taking huge jumps - the Vancouver team pulled out all the stops
in an effort to 'tip their hat' to all the fantastic vehicle
moments in the
Bond films throughout history.
Stay tuned to MI6 for more from behind the scenes
of "007: NightFire".
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