Agenda
From First Person to Third: Retrofitting 'Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora'
Marcus Engelbrektsson (Senior Gameplay Animator, Ubisoft Massive)
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Track:
Visual Art, Programming
Audience Level:
Intermediate
Format:
Lecture
Vault Recording: TBD
Audience Level: Intermediate
Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora – From the Ashes transforms an existing first-person game into a full third-person experience with less than a year from pitch to release and a limited animation team.
The session follows the process from the initial community-driven idea through production and release. It covers the challenges of creating third-person locomotion while keeping the original first-person experience unchanged, rebuilding aiming for third person, and adapting systems such as traversal, climbing and cinematics. It also covers new features including takedowns and melee combat, along with problems that only appeared once the entire Na'vi body became visible in normal gameplay.
The session explores the production realities behind the Third-Person transformation, including large-scale motion capture, external co-development, difficult prioritization decisions and rescuing content that was close to being cut. The talk shares practical lessons for teams considering multiple player perspectives or retrofitting an existing game late in production or post-launch.
The session follows the process from the initial community-driven idea through production and release. It covers the challenges of creating third-person locomotion while keeping the original first-person experience unchanged, rebuilding aiming for third person, and adapting systems such as traversal, climbing and cinematics. It also covers new features including takedowns and melee combat, along with problems that only appeared once the entire Na'vi body became visible in normal gameplay.
The session explores the production realities behind the Third-Person transformation, including large-scale motion capture, external co-development, difficult prioritization decisions and rescuing content that was close to being cut. The talk shares practical lessons for teams considering multiple player perspectives or retrofitting an existing game late in production or post-launch.
Takeaway
Learn how to retrofit a first-person game into a third-person experience without rebuilding core systems. Attendees will gain practical methods for spotting hidden animation costs, prioritizing work and deciding what needs to be rebuilt, when to compromise and what can be adapted or cut when supporting multiple perspectives.
Intended Audience
Gameplay animators, technical animators, gameplay programmers, gameplay designers, camera designers, and technical directors working on AAA or mid-size games. No specialized prerequisite knowledge is required, but familiarity with gameplay, animation systems, locomotion, or camera systems will help attendees get the most from the talk.