Even though Microsoft’s E3 conference was dominated by its motion controller Kinect, there were ample hardcore titles to keep their mainstream audiences interested in the show. One of these games was “Codename: Kingdoms” that is currently being developed by Crytek Studios. The game which looks to be an action driven title on the lines of Sony’s God of War series is currently under production and only a brief live action trailer of the game was showcased at E3 2010.
We have information which tells us that the original plan of the trailer was supposed to be a computer generated trailer. However, due to the shortage of time it had to be done in live action. This comes from a Robert Winfield who has worked on the Codename: Kingdoms E3 trailer and his LinkedIn profile which directs us to his web page.
This is the following quote that was put up with regard to the effort that he put into the trailer:
“CODENAME: KINGDOMS
E3 TEASER TRAILER
VENDOR: Digital Domain
CLIENT: Microsoft/Crytek
DIRECTOR: Robert Hales
ROLE: Flame Artist / Compositor / 2D On-set Supervisor
Microsoft/Crytek commissioned this teaser trailer for E3 2010 to promote a yet-to-be-created video game entitled “Codename: Kingdoms.”Due to a compressed schedule, simulating CG gameplay was ruled out. Instead, the decision was made to shoot actors on greenscreen, then use post-production to create a video game look.
Composited entirely in Flame, with minimal CG, this teaser capitlizes on the use of matte paintings and stock elements, as a well as a number of image processing techniques.
In addition to aiding with the on-set shoot, I tackled all the wide shots of the warrior on the battlefield, a couple where he’s flanked by his fellow soldiers, and helped develop the overall visual style of the piece.”
The other profile we found was of a Crytek employee who is currently working on the project. Zoltan Pocza is currently the art production manager of Crytek Hungary and has started work on Codename Kingdoms with Microsoft Game Studios. This was the same studio which has worked on the expansion pack titled Crysis Warhead, which to many is regarded to be better than the original game.
With Crysis 2 right around the corner, we wonder what sort of visually stunning madness we can expect to see from this game in the near future.