GZ Interview
September 2, 2002

Vivendi-Universal brings Middle-earth to life with Tolkien’s Fellowship of the Ring
By Michael Lafferty

Bilbo’s eleventy-first birthday was only the beginning of the nightmare that went from the joy of an old friend’s celebration to confronting the terror that rose anew in the blackened kingdom of Mordor.

Hobbits, elfin warriors, dwarves, wizards and humans – all tied together in a quest so compelling that for more than 60 years the world has harbored the joy of J.R.R. Tolkien’s wonderful writings within their hearts and minds.

Lord Of The Rings was a story that seemed destined for multi-media treatment, but the works were long closely guarded. And then came a movie, and soon several videogames will be hitting the market to entertain, and delight game players.

Vivendi-Universal is one of the publishers who will be putting out a Lord of the Rings game. Electronic Arts is the other. But EA’s title is a compilation of books one and two of the trilogy, while V-U’s focuses on The Fellowship of the Ring solely.

The title, a multi-platform release slated for the fourth quarter 2002, will feature three playable characters – Frodo, Aragorn and Gandalf. The game will take players from the peaceful realm of the Shire through Moria and to the River Anduin. Of course there will be adventures, puzzles to solve and enemies (orcs, Black Riders and a Balrog) to battle.

Rob Irving, associate producer for the Tolkien Group at Black Label Games, talked with GameZone about the upcoming title.

Question: The Tolkien series of books have been in publication for almost 60 years. While the popularity of the series seems to gain momentum with each passing generation, only now is the game making its way to the video gaming market. What did you have to do to secure the rights and bring this game to life?

Rob: “Back in the late 90’s, Vivendi Universal Games decided that advances in technology had created a perfect opportunity to recreate Middle-earth for the generations of fans. They took this idea to Tolkien Enterprises, who are responsible for administering the rights to J.R.R. Tolkien’s literature, who agreed that the time was right for a line of games based on the story.

“VUG then created a special Tolkien development team that could bring that world to life across multiple platforms. Combining an experienced management team, handpicked consultants to oversee the look and feel of games based upon Tolkien’s vision, and high-quality developers on each platform, we began to make Middle-earth real.

“The results speak for themselves: This holiday season we will have four great games on four platforms and more – much more – to come.”

Q: The Web site press releases mention that this game remains faithful to the original book. How hard was it to create a game based on a linear story while still enabling players the opportunity to explore and discover?

Rob: “Of course it’s difficult to create a game based upon a story that everyone knows – especially when they know how it ends, and that not everything that happens to the characters is going to be good. Fortunately, the license enabled us to make some departures from the story in the sense that we could combine the main storyline with events that might have happened, even if they weren’t specifically narrated.

“The important thing was to establish our characters as Tolkien had written them and put them into situations that were true to the narrative. Then we embellished upon the events within the literature to provide the necessary action, drama, and exploration for great gameplay.”

Q: What do you think has been the enduring appeal of the books, and how have you translated that to the game?

Rob: “Tolkien’s work is really the basis of an entire genre of literature, movies, and – most important to us as game developers – games. What makes his work more enduring than any other is a combination of intelligence and imagination? As a scholar, Tolkien set about making a world that could be real – that any reader could readily identify with although it contained unusual and even impossible elements. His characters evoke real feeling: readers care what happens to them.

“To translate this into our games, we needed to find a style that was as real as the words on the page. These games walk the fine line between the imaginable and the fantastic, but are still firmly grounded in what players could recognize and understand. Creating solid dialogue and environments that are truly alive was the first step in making this happen. Then, we took advantage of the incredible level of technology now available to make the characters in the books come alive. Adding interfaces that are easy to learn and use, we invite players to truly be a part of Tolkien’s world.”

Q: From the Hildebrandt Brothers to countless other artists, characters from the trilogy have been depicted time and again. What did you use for your base artwork for the story? What kind of technology is used to bring this game to life?

Rob: “The first and most critical decision was determining the style that would work best for our games. Having seen a number of interpretations of “The Lord of the Rings” over the years, we established quickly that a gritty, realistic style was the ideal path for our games to take.

“Having determined this, we created a style guide for Middle-earth that is our own unique interpretation of places, characters, structures, and items in Middle Earth. This guide is the basis for all artwork generated for our titles. The most important guideline when developing the style guide was that it be a direct interpretation of Tolkien’s textual descriptions of the world. Most of the entries contain these descriptions in addition to the conceptual art that would be the basis for the titles.

“Once we had a direction for the style, we had a wealth of technological and graphical power available to bring it into the gamer’s home. Because so much effort was being expended on generating detailed, realistic characters, we determined that the best way to experience the world was through a third-person perspective game that let you see the characters as they interacted with Middle-earth and its inhabitants. Each platform takes full advantage of its graphical capabilities to make its game as realistic as possible.”

Q: Another LOTR game is being released in the near future. What will set your game apart from the other title? What do you consider to be the most impressive attribute of your game?

Rob: “Story, story, story. As we set about bringing the literary works to life, we felt that our first responsibility was to deliver the story as completely as possible – ALL of the story. No interpretation of the books in any medium has ever had the opportunity to be as complete and as true to the text as our games are.

“Everything else in the games works because we translate the entirety of the first leg of the Fellowship’s journey to the game world, from Bag End to the climax at the River Anduin. This required thousands of lines of dialogue, top-notch full-motion video sequences, and careful adherence to the central plot line of Fellowship of the Ring. Equally important was making sure that all of the central characters and enemies – Tom Bombadil and Goldberry, Lobelia and Lotho Sackville-Baggins, Old Man Willow, the Barrow Wight, the Balrog, and many more – all made appearances in the game.

“Beyond the story, realism was the major driving force. We set out to create more than just a game: instead, we wanted to create a living, breathing Middle-earth that players could be a part of.”

Q: The game features three playable characters. How do you integrate them into the story line and keep the flow of the game steady?

Rob: “Because the events of the story vary so widely – from the simple, innocent Shire to the perils of Moria – it was best for us to switch the primary character to suit the needs of any given scene.

“Frodo is primarily involved with physical puzzles, quests, and stealth. Most importantly, as the Ring-bearer, he had to be central to the game. Where combat is concerned, Aragorn is by far the best choice, and we deliver dynamic combat scenes throughout the game. Of course, Aragorn also carries the reforged Andúril, and the artifacts are as important in many places as the story itself.

“Gandalf is the bridge between the two. Besides being a skilled fighter in his own right (Glamdring is as powerful a sword as Andúril), Gandalf is also a powerful wizard, and what fantasy aficionado doesn’t like to have such an impressive array of spells at his command? In addition, many of the story’s major plot elements center around Gandalf’s actions. Moria – arguably the climax of the first novel – is the perfect setting for Gandalf’s unique combination of magic, puzzle play and combat.

“Because of the three characters’ strengths and weaknesses, there is a natural rhythm to the game that fits the rising and falling action of the novel.”

Q: Does the game follow the path of the Fellowship all the way to the cliffhanger ending when Frodo and Sam venture off together? Was it difficult to set up the game for sequels, or do you think that the story itself, and the gameplay, will draw people to successive titles?

Rob: “We end the story just a bit before the breaking of the Fellowship, because it is still important as a game that we allow for a sense of victory and closure for players who finish the first chapter of the trilogy. Apart from that slight modification, we do follow all of the novel’s important sequences.

“Because the Lord of the Rings is best viewed as a whole, I think that players will already want to see the rest of the tale, but the gameplay on each platform absolutely leaves you wanting more. The games will draw both the serious Tolkien fan and the first-time visitor back for another visit to Middle-earth.”

Q: Everyone who has read the books seems to have a favorite character. Which one do you like the best and why?

Rob: “This answer depends upon whether you look at the series as a whole or at each individual book. From the Fellowship of the Ring, Aragorn is my personal favorite, as he has the most ground to cover as a character from the start to the finish of the novel: from earning the Hobbits’ trust at their first encounter (despite his appearance) to truly being seen as the leader and the King that he will become.

“As for the entire series, Faramir is the purest hero, being a good brother, a good son, a good leader, a good warrior, and a wise judge of character. I’d vote for him.

“Ask anyone else, and you’ll most likely get a different answer. Another of our staff members wanted to make sure that Sam gets a vote. Arguably the true protagonist of the story (it ends with him, after all), Sam is a perfect example of character development, and his dedication and strength of character are certainly a keystone of the Fellowship’s success in destroying the Ring.”

Q: Can you tell us a little about how you animated the fight sequences in the game (having seen the preview at E3, I was rather impressed with the animation)?

Rob: “The majority of the character animation effort for the Xbox, PS2, and PC platforms came from WXP (our Xbox developer). With some guidance from our on-staff art director, they created and hand-animated the vast array of characters, monsters, and creatures that you see on the screen. These animations are keyframed, rather than motion-captured. It’s pretty hard to find Balrogs and animated trees to bring in for motion capture sessions.”

Q: To whom do you think this game will appeal.

Rob: “Everyone. (Of course.)

“The games have great visual power and just a tremendous amount of sheer content, so they should appeal to a very broad audience. Some will gravitate naturally to the combat, which appeals to the pure action fans, while others will enjoy the simpler quest elements early in the game. Most of all, of course, the game will appeal to those who truly want to see Tolkien’s world come to life – and to be a part of that world.

Q: The game will be released on numerous platforms. Which was the hardest to code the game for and why?

Rob: “Each platform presents its own set of challenges and obstacles, so it’s tough to say that any one was the hardest to create the game for.

“The GBA game had the biggest challenge in visual presentation with the more limited capabilities of a handheld platform, so we had to expend more effort in delivering the story and the feel of Lord of the Rings through the gameplay.

“Xbox, on the other hand, required the largest amount of work as far as asset creation. Almost all of the assets (apart from the GBA) were created for that platform.

“About 3/4 of the way through the XBox project the PS2 and PC versions were split off onto separate products. This early split made them their own unique games, and the resulting games have surprisingly different flavors to them – even though each faithfully recreates the story.

"Since we started with the XBox, it required the lion's share of the work and most of the initial design and technology issues were dealt with on that platform.”

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