Breathing LIFE into an Open World

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Scott Phillips Saints Row 2 - Project Design
Architect
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• ME!
• Started at Volition in January 2002
• Worked on
• Red Faction 2
• The Punisher
• Saints Row 2
• Project Design Architect on Saints Row 2
• One half of Lead Designer position
• Responsibilities
• Activities, Diversions, AI, Combat, Controls,
  Cameras

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• Saints Row 2

• Sequel to the 2006 multi-million selling open
  world crime game Saints Row
• Released October 14th, 2008 on Xbox 360 and
  Playstation 3
• Developer Volition, Inc
• Staff over 100 at peak on site, plus outsourcers
• Development time 3 years (core staff)
• Lifetime to date Saints Row 2 has sold over 2.6
  million copies

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• Breathing Life into an Open World Outline
• The Goal
• Past Solutions
• Saints Row 2s Solution LIFE system
• Origin
• Overview
• Pre-Production
• Production
• Post-Production
• Trouble Areas
• Data Visualization
• Conclusions
• What Went Right
• What Went Wrong

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• Bringing Life to Open Worlds The Goal
• Populate A Realistic City
• Reinforce World Style/Setting
• Provide Oh Wow Moments

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• Bringing Life to Open Worlds The Problems
• Memory/Speed
• Density
• Difficulty
• Prioritization

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• Past Game Solutions
• Previous Console Generation (PS2/Xbox)
• GTA 3
• True Crime Streets of L.A.
• The Getaway

Full sidewalks but not much else
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• Past Game Solutions
• Current Console Generation (PS3/Xbox 360)
• Crackdown
• Saints Row 1
• GTA 4

Full sidewalks, limited standing/walking
variations, limited world interaction
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• Past Game Solutions The Problems
• Scope/Variety
• Limited variety
• Vast majority of pedestrians still sidewalkers
• NPC World Interaction
• Continued limited interaction with chairs,
  benches, etc
• Focus
• Very easy to populate with world with side
  walkers so why do more?

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• Saints Row 2s Solution
• LIFE system

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• Saints Row 2s Solution LIFE system
• Inspiration
• Initial idea came from watching someone play SR1
• Gestated over lunch conversations
• Create a system that can generate AI objectives
  when a player is within a certain distance of a
  ped or vehicle for a certain amount of time. For
  example, a player following a ped would get a
  comment or something similar. Things that could
  be done by the AI include going to nearby
  stores, hailing taxis, talking to another AI,
  park at and head into an attraction such as a
  theater
• Pre-Production Begins
• Seemingly simple initial proposal, but Scope was
  large

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• Pre-Production Phase Begins
• Design
• Define and prioritize scope
• Everyone Else
• Feasibility Gut Check

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• Pre-Production Phase
• Define Scope
• Started planning meetings with Environment Art,
  Character Art, Effects Art, Animation,
  Programming, Audio, and Design
• Brainstorming
• Wanted NPCs to be able to
• Walk holding hands
• Hail taxis, get in, and go to a destination
• Randomly start conversations with other
  pedestrians
• Pull out umbrellas when its raining
• Break-dance
• Drink beer on lawn chairs
• Work in a multiple person Road Construction Crew
• Stand in Lines
• Go on Patrol around areas
• Play guitar on street corners
• Walk in a Chinese New Years day parade
• Commit suicide
• And the list goes on and on

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• Pre-Production Phase
• Identify High Level Work
• Simple animation variants
• Synched NPC animations
• Vehicle interaction specific
• Vehicle AI specific
• Dialogue system
• Environmental condition responses
• Prop interaction
• World Objects spawning with NPCs
• Vehicles spawning with NPCs
• NPCs standing in lines
• Patrolling
• Music usage
• Suicide nodes
• Drunk AI
• Gang specific nodes

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• Pre-Production Phase
• Scope
• Wow. Huge.
• Scope Control
• Numerous features are cut at initial stage
• Lets Do It!
• System organized and categorized
• Huge lists of work for all disciplines

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LIFE system 4 Top Level Categories
Action Nodes
Drinking Smoking Talking in Groups Suicide
Jumping Skydiving Playing Craps Tai
Chi Yoga Browsing Clothes Hobos Begging
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• LIFE system Action Nodes
• Action Nodes
• Navpoints placed in the world by designers,
  single and group

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LIFE system 4 Top Level Categories
Object Linked Nodes
Action Nodes
Drinking Smoking Talking in Groups Suicide
Jumping Skydiving Playing Craps Tai
Chi Yoga Browsing Clothes Hobos Begging

• Sitting on Objects
• Benches
• Chairs
• At tables
• Prisoners in Cells
• Sunbathers
• Casino Games

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• LIFE system Object Linked Nodes
• Object Linked Nodes
• Nodes Linked in 3D Studio Max to World Objects

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LIFE system 4 Top Level Categories
Object Linked Nodes
Action Nodes
AI Behaviors
Drinking Smoking Talking in Groups Suicide
Jumping Skydiving Playing Craps Tai
Chi Yoga Browsing Clothes Hobos Begging

• Sitting on Objects
• Benches
• Chairs
• At tables
• Prisoners in Cells
• Sunbathers
• Casino Games

Calling Cops Using Umbrellas Acting Drunk Taking
Pictures of Dead Bodies
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• LIFE system AI Behaviors
• AI Behaviors
• Custom AI Code and Art for Each Behavior

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LIFE system 4 Top Level Categories
Object Linked Nodes
Action Nodes
AI Behaviors
Spawn Variants
Drinking Smoking Talking in Groups Suicide
Jumping Skydiving Playing Craps Tai
Chi Yoga Browsing Clothes Hobos Begging

• Sitting on Objects
• Benches
• Chairs
• At tables
• Prisoners in Cells
• Sunbathers
• Casino Games

Calling Cops Using Umbrellas Acting Drunk Taking
Pictures of Dead Bodies

• Roller-skating
• Skateboarding
• Jogging
• Carrying Objects
• Books
• Laundry
• Luggage

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• LIFE system Spawn Variants
• Spawn Variants
• Custom Animation Sets Assigned to Specific NPCs

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LIFE system 4 Top Level Categories
Object Linked Nodes
Action Nodes
AI Behaviors
Spawn Variants
Drinking Smoking Talking in Groups Suicide
Jumping Skydiving Playing Craps Tai
Chi Yoga Browsing Clothes Hobos Begging

• Sitting on Objects
• Benches
• Chairs
• At tables
• Prisoners in Cells
• Sunbathers
• Casino Games

Calling Cops Using Umbrellas Acting Drunk Taking
Pictures of Dead Bodies

• Roller-skating
• Skateboarding
• Jogging
• Carrying Objects
• Books
• Laundry
• Luggage

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• Production Phase Begins
• Design
• Implement all hand placed nodes
• Write dialog specific to each node
• Programming
• Implement core systems
• Animation
• Mocap all animation and setup all props
• Environment Art
• Standardize props and implement
• Prop Art
• Create all required props
• Audio
• Capture all dialog and create SFX

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• Production Phase Design
• Hand Place All Action Nodes
• 20,000 Nodes at Ship
• Initial Plan for 1 Designer to Place All
• Eventually 6 Designers pitched in
• Review Everything
• Tools Used
• Table File Editor
• In-Game Editor (IGE)

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Production Phase Design Tools Used

• Table File Editor
• Universal XML editor
• Used by all disciplines for tweaks
• LIFE System Usage
• Action_node_groups
• Top Level
• Action_node_npcs
• Lower Level

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Production Phase Design Tools Used

• In-Game Editor (IGE)
• Runs in real-time on the Development Kit
• Main tool for placing objects
• LIFE system Usage
• Place action nodes

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• Production Phase Programming

• Build Foundation of LIFE System
• Obviously all systems required had to be built by
  programming
• 1 programmer dedicated to LIFE system for entire
  project
• Phased Implementation
• Broke up work into multiple phases during
  production cycle
• Interweave Into Existing Streaming Spawning
• This probably ended up probably being the most
  difficult
• Co-op made this even tougher since those systems
  didnt exist

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• Production Phase Animation

• Setup all environment art objects
• Chairs, hot dog stands, stripper poles, etc
• Setup all props
• 40ozs, beverages, cigarettes, traffic cones
• Capture/Clean Up All Animation
• SR2 uses 95 mocap

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Production Phase Environment Art

• Build the world
• EAs had to incorporate LIFE system assets as
  needed but didnt do specific work on LIFE systems

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Production Phase Effects/Characters/Props

• Build Required Assets

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Production Phase Audio

• Design audio SFX
• Road construction crews with jackhammers,
  hedge-trimmers, etc
• Record/Clean Up Persona Lines
• SR2 had 70,000 dialog lines
• Implement Music
• Peds playing guitars, steel drum players,
  cheerleaders

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• Production Phase Writing

• Define/Write/Record All Required Lines
• Determine which nodes needed lines, how many, and
  who would need the lines

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• Production Phase - Troubles

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• Production Phase Troubles

• Spawning Limitation Issues
• Who can use this node?
• When can they use it?
• How many of this node can be used?
• How many of a certain type of pedestrian
• can be spawned by a specific node?

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Production Phase Troubles - Spawning
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Production Phase Troubles - Spawning
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Production Phase Troubles - Spawning
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Production Phase Troubles - Spawning
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Production Phase Troubles - Spawning
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Production Phase Troubles - Props

• Prop Orientation
• Ugh
• Prop Textures
• Purple madness
• Dropping Props
• When do Pedestrians drop props?

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Production Phase Troubles - Props
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Production Phase Troubles - Props
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Production Phase Troubles - Props
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Production Phase Troubles - Interaction

• Interaction with the World
• Collision is a difficult problem
• Fake vs. Real Collision
• Interaction with NPCs
• Collision sometimes turned off
• Co-op issues

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Production Phase Troubles - Interaction
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Production Phase Troubles - Interaction
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Production Phase Troubles - Interaction
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Production Phase Troubles - Interaction
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Production Phase Troubles - Interaction
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Production Phase Troubles - Streaming

• Streaming
• Is anyone available to use the node?
• How many people are being requested?
• Are the props streamed in/preloaded and
  available?
• Are the animations streamed in/preloaded and
  available?
• How does this work in Co-op?
• When the player goes inside how full of people is
  it and where do those extra people come from?

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Production Phase Troubles - Scale

• Sheer number of nodes in the world
• Scope of work to hand place nodes underestimated
• Had to add additional time to other designers to
  assist
• IGE Scale
• Running out of memory
• Framerate near 0
• Wasnt designed to handle the sheer magnitude

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• End of Production Phase Begins
• Design
• Finalize placement of all nodes in the world
• Review all implemented features
• Cut scope on features that were weak
• Programming
• Implement core systems
• Iterate to make sure that all of the spawning and
  streaming issue are solved
• Animation, Environment Art, Props, Audio
• Respond to last minute Design changes

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End of Production Phase Tableau

• Data Visualization
• Identification of dead spots was difficult
• Enter Tableau
• Visualization FTW

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• End of Production Phase Tableau
• Visualization (3/9/2008)

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• End of Production Phase Tableau
• Visualization (4/17/2008)

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• End of Production Phase Tableau
• Visualization (5/12/2008)

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• End of Production Phase Tableau
• Visualization (6/26/2008)

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• End of Production Phase Tableau
• Visualization (7/15/2008)

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• End of Production Phase Tableau
• Visualization (Ship)

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• Conclusion

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• Conclusion What Went Right

• Organization
• Variety
• Cooperation
• Quick Turn Around (at the end)
• It Shipped!

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• Conclusion What Went Wrong

• Standardization
• Scope
• Insufficient Preview Tools
• Too Slow/Too Late Implementation
• Not Enough Focus on Everyday Things

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• Conclusion Lessons Learned

• Focus on Programmatic Implementation
• Preview Tools
• Bang For Your Buck
• Implement Core Systems and Test Early
• Obvious, right? ?

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• QUESTIONS?

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Scott Phillips Saints Row 2 - Project Design
Architect