Telltale Games and Deck Nine have released a new trailer for The Expanse: A Telltale Series, and this one's all about environment design. In the new trailer, the devs show off how they created the game's expansive (no pun intended) environments and share some fascinating behind-the-scenes insight into making space feel real.
The last The Expanse: A Telltale Series trailer was all about narrative, as you'd probably expect from a Telltale title, but the new one touches on that element of the game as well. Environment design is important to how you'll explore The Expanse's story, according to its devs, as well as what choices you'll make, so it's important to get that element of the design right.
In the trailer, performance director Zachary Andrews says that a big part of his job was to evoke the "incredible grandeur" of space by "overcom[ing] gravity". Techniques to achieve a simulacrum of zero-g movement included dragging actors around on platforms using ropes, as well as a contraption known as the "Spider Swing", which is essentially a cage in which Deck Nine staffers could drag actors around to give the impression of zero-gravity physics.
Cinematic director Alistair Ebinger then discusses a little about The Expanse's "cinematic style". The team followed the lead of Jeremy Benning, the TV show's cinematographer, in creating the look of the game. Ebinger says that this process was done on a "per-shot" basis so as to understand why the game had to look the way it did.
According to staff writer Iris Dauterman, the most important thing about creating The Expanse's environment was to give players a reason to explore the space around them. Doing so can mean unlocking more conversations with characters, for instance, or items that characters in the story might want or need. Director Stephan Frost backs this assertion up; he says the team really wants players to "get out there, explore, [and] find these items", because doing so will significantly change the story.
It's well worth watching Telltale and Deck Nine's new trailer if you want a deeper understanding of the production process behind The Expanse: A Telltale Series. The game's first episode is due to land on PC, PlayStation, and Xbox on July 27th, with subsequent episodes arriving periodically after that.
