14 DAY TRIAL // The development team at Media Molecule says that much of the initial work on its new Tearaway video game was done using actual paper models, because the company lacked a complete game engine to simulate all possible interactions.
Rex Crowle, the creative director working at the studio, tells VG247 that, “It was like building bridges or something similar to learn more about tolerances. At what point does it start to buckle and how – even if you try and make something physically perfect – if you look closely the glue starts to unstick a bit and if you press it squidges.”
Tearaway is designed to create a sense of marvel by allowing players to manipulate paper figures and worlds in ways that cannot exist in the real world.
The developer adds, “Once the engine was done we could sort of put aside our papercraft, which was a massive fire hazard all around our desks then just work digitally. We’d just take a sheet of paper and start building a world inside the game just one piece at a time.”
Media Molecule still has a drawing room and it uses it from time to time to test potential employees on their real-world skills.
Tearaway is designed to use all the innovative features of the PlayStation Vita from Sony, including the back touch surface.
Crowle says that his company was involved with the PlayStation Vita since Sony initially thought about launching a new handheld and offered feedback designed to increase its appeal to gamers.
The device has failed to reach the sales targets that the company set for it and the launch of innovative experiences like Tearaway might serve as a good boost, especially when it’s combined with the launch of the PlayStation 4.
Tearaway will be launched both in the United States and in Europe on November 22.