Hellblade 2 developer Ninja Theory has released a new development diary on Youtube, giving gamers a behind-the-scenes look at the next installment in the Hellblade saga. The first episode highlights the studio’s use of advanced capture techniques to bring a realistic and believable Iceland-inspired world to life.
The team’s first priority was to capture the topography of the island, which proved challenging because the pandemic prevented flights, and online resolution data didn’t quite capture the ground elevation level the team wanted. That’s why they decided to use drones to capture more accurate images, and then used a process called photogrammetry (3D reproduction of physical information using 2D photographs) to recreate the areas that will be used in the game.
The team also enlisted the help of local photographer Christopher Lund, who talks about how diverse Iceland’s landscape is (the video shows plateaus, mountain peaks, river falls, and fertile lowlands) and how it takes days to travel to any place. There is only a half hour drive between black beaches in barren areas and lush and green waterfall areas with rainbows, and the color variety of the ground also appears breathtaking, with multiple soil colors mixed together at every step and turn.
After the pandemic subsided, the team was able to actually travel there, add more plans and locations (21 additional locations over two and a half thousand kilometers), and get more accurate references that adhere to the real Icelandic topography of today. The fidelity not only extends to nature, but also includes structures and man-made houses, and smaller items such as idols and trinkets.
The team went even further and set up a small-scale photogrammetry in their studio, where they extensively scanned every little item and even recreated some idols and totem poles by carving them themselves.
This is the first update we’ve gotten on the game since it was first revealed at the 2019 Game Awards, and of course, all of this shows how advanced games can become thanks to Unreal Engine 5, in which Epic used its acquisition of Quixel, the largest photogrammetry library in the world as of 2019, to help create detailed game worlds as easily and intricately as possible.