Sam Lake cannot escape Alan Wake. However, unlike the grasping power of the nominal character trying to get rid of the dark existence in Remedy's psychological thriller, he didn't want to do it.
Ten years have passed since Alan Wake was released on Xbox 360, but Lake is still passionate about characters, just as fans bombed his Twitter account and asked for expired sequels.
It is this enthusiasm that inspired the fans to Alan Wake and control May link. The Alan Wake Easter Egg found in the Panopticon section of Control mocked this possibility, but despite the fact that the inclusion of this content was a fanatical service, these secrets brought Lake a catharsis of his property that he kept returning to.
"I really want to include them," Lake said. "As I said before, we have discussed the possibility of several" Allen Wick "sequels, but the timing is wrong and things are not in place. Over the years, I have thought a lot about Alan Wake's related ideas and will Some of these ideas fit well into it. "
the following Max Payne 2Released in October 2003, creative directors Petri Jarvilehto of Lake and Remedy spent a year brainstorming for the new IP. An environment inspired by Stephen King was finalized, but elements of other concepts—zombie apocalypse journey and humorous fantasy ideas (to name just two) — became Alan Wake (Alan Wake) ) An important part of the final product.
Lake said: "Even if we didn't do anything else in the end, bits and pieces of these different concepts still exist." "In that fantasy game, a light and dark idea became an element. At that time, it had already started in technology, engine Work with tools to achieve an open world and a dynamic day and night cycle. They retain all concepts, but their ideas continue to evolve. "
During the creation process, some elements are constantly evolving, while other elements remain unchanged. Inspired by the Northwest Pacific town of Twin Peaks, the protagonist of Alan Wake, its fragmented form became the anchor of the game. After setting the background and structure, the next requirement is a mysterious plot and eclectic character modeling. The horror film script that Lake wrote during his studies at the Finnish Academy of Drama, studied between Max Payne 1 and 2, and his own childhood provided inspiration for both.
"In the script, there is a witch-like character based on the folk tale of Baba Yaga, which influenced Barbara Jagger. These Swedes are Anderson brothers, It ’s a neighbor nearby, so that ’s where they came from. Then this important part-a light switch called Clicker-is my toy. I spent the summer vacation on a big apple farm, and garbage was everywhere .. I used to love garbage, so I own all these things. Although I do n’t know what they are, I like to imagine various purposes for them. "
Music also played an important role in designing Alan Wake's characters and narration. Authorized tracks of the game, such as David Bowie's "Space Oddity", help to develop key characters and themes, such as the battle between light and dark, which play an important role in the plot.
"My idea is to get these songs early in the project," Lake explained. "Thomas Zane-a drifting diver-his name comes from another Aladdin Sane of Bowie. Let space be strange like an astronaut, and we have this role, I think they There will be echoes in between. Another example is Poe ’s “Haunted” song, like the soundtrack of Mark Danielewski ’s “House of Leaves”. It is his sister and a loyal supporter of his book. I found this album and loved it very much, so the theme came from this. "
During the combat phase, light and darkness are also prominent. Occupied people-people occupied by dark beings-enemies shrouded in dark shields need to be cleared before using conventional weapons. The idea of using a flashlight as a dual weapon is another feature of Alan Wake's original concept. However, determining how this method actually works will take some time to be correct.
Lake said: "The flashlight was a key element from the beginning." "But a big problem we have struggled with for a long time is to find the enemy. How does darkness take you away? What shape does it take? How is it achieved in the game? The flashlight's The exact function and the idea of enhancing the light to make it emit faster, but the idea of removing the shield faster, requires a lot of testing and a lot of iterations. "
Remedy is not the only problem Remedy faces. The combination of interesting structured games, an open environment and a dynamic day and night cycle proved to be problematic. The difficulty of programming NPCs to respond effectively to the day and night cycle has emerged, and the more interesting characters than life, the contrast of tones between RPG-style missions and horrible night events affect the linearity and cohesion of the drawing.
Lake said: "I firmly believe that story and writing need to be clicked together with the game design to make sense." "For example, we have a version where darkness has invaded and taken over. We have survivors, they boarded the house in the house, there They installed generators and lights, they gave you the task, but it is losing the foundation and foundation of the real world. We are still trying to bypass in the gameplay, trying to find gasoline, installed a mobile generator that can generate electricity and can Attempts to move lights to set traps and defend doorways, but this has not completely locked into place. "
Due to Remedy's efforts to integrate Alan Wake's different ideas into one package, a difficult decision was made in early 2008 to abandon the open world element and reinvent Alan Wake as a linear experience. This was a difficult decision. However, this did not waste three years of environmental work, and Remedy decided to reuse its existing maps and dynamic day and night cycles for its redesigned projects.
Lake revealed: "Although the game becomes a linear experience, the entire map still exists." "Even though we control what time of day, the day and night cycle is still in the background. The sun is always moving in the right direction, and the map Meaningful. I think these add credibility in a weird way, this is a real place. "
Alan Wake's release ended its five-year development cycle, but despite Remedy's problems, the studio is still not ready to give up its new franchise. The suspense ending of the game opened the door to a sequel. Although the team planned to continue Allen ’s story in future games, discussions with the then partner Microsoft at that time led to a change in direction. Next is signal with writer Expansion-There are two other episodes that explore the darker and more psychic side of Allen ’s psychology.
Lake admits: "It was too late when we started talking about DLC." "One of our ideas at the time was that DLC would be a Alan Wake's American Dream. We have discussed this idea with Microsoft, but they are not keen. They believe that DLC should continue from where the story stopped. We feel that DLC cannot continue. Therefore, instead of advancing, we entered Allen's mind. "
Alan Wake's "American Nightmare" was released in February 2012, but as a derivative product rather than a mainline series. The hope for Alan Wake 2 has not diminished, but although Remedy reconsidered the franchise between other major projects, the specific idea has not yet been realized.
Control's Easter Egg changed this. These Alan Wake secrets, coupled with Control's upcoming AWE expansion artwork, largely hint at the connection between the games. Since Quantum Break can also alleviate the possibility of Alan Wake in similar fields, so far, people have been speculating on the idea of connecting the Remedy universe.
Lake exclusively revealed: "We don't want to talk about it in advance, but we already have an idea to connect to the Remedy universe." "Now that control has disappeared, it's clear that what happened to Alan Wake in the game-sharing with control A world. From a narrative point of view, it ’s interesting-if we take Alan Wake as a subjective story, it is Alan who is caught in this situation in an attempt to understand it. Now, there is With Control, we have this government agency to study these things. They have a scientific method to call it "a world event of change", analyze it and try to understand them. "
The inextricable connection between Alan Wake and Control remains a mystery. AWE ’s extensions will not be released until later this year, but despite naturally avoiding spoilers, Lake laughed at the expectations that Control ’s next DLC could bring.
Lake said: "Through AWE, you will understand the Bureau's participation, research and interest in Alan Wake, as well as the events that occurred 10 years ago." "We are very happy to provide more fans of the original game Content related to Alan Wake. "
Alan Wake is deeply rooted in Remedy's DNA. The development of quantum rupture and control is due to the concept of the abandoned sequel. Remedy's Northlight game engine stems from its dynamic day and night cycle and the weather conditions inside the engine. Fans continue to discover the game after finding Control's secret, which helps to create a connected game world.
Alan Wake (Alan Wake) may not sell as well as other Remedy products, nor get too many game gongs, but its legacy has affected Remedy's new projects. The knowledge Lake has learned while writing Alan Wake's plot has helped Lake's work in CrossFireX's story activities and the unannounced Epic Games Publishing project. Therefore, there is no doubt that Lake still reviews it with a love of the original version for 10 years.
Lake said: "Because of the upcoming anniversary, I have been reviewing some old documents." "This is one of the relatively difficult things to find the final shape of the project, and the fact that we managed to do it-I personally think The finished product is great. As far as I know, there are more Alan Wake fans-eager and active fans-than early fans. There must be staying power. I am very proud of all the games we have created, but Allen. Alan Wake has a special place in my heart. "
