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How are you going to revolutionize the supporting character in an action-adventure game?

BM: The level of innovation we're bringing to Elika is similar to the innovation we brought with the Sands of Time system in the previous trilogy.

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Elika is always a positive for the player. She interacts with the player in combat, acrobatics and puzzle-solving and always in a positive and helpful way. She enables special moves such as cooperative acrobatics, special combo attacks and navigation. Additionally, all of her magical powers come into play when the player requests them. She can never be killed and will never force her will on the player.

In terms of control, she will be controlled by AI but the player will have a specific "Elika" button to trigger specific coop moves, attacks and magic. Our philosophy is to leave as much control to the player as possible without having her bog down the fast-paced rhythm of the game. This way we add a layer of strategy and make sure the player uses Elika when and how he wants.

Besides the gameplay asset that Elika represents, we want to build a strong bond between her and the Prince. Elika behaves as no other NPC has ever behaved in a video game.

Can you give us more details about Elika's backstory?

BM: Elika is descended from the Ahuras. She has lived in a land cut off from outside contact.

What have been your inspirations to design Elika?

BM: Elika is a practical and intelligent woman. Independent and strong, she doesn't need to be protected. We drew inspiration from the Elizabeth Swann character in Pirates of the Caribbean or Padmé Amidala in Star Wars.

She is very light. Her element is the air in opposition with the earth, that of the Prince's. She embodies the fluidity in their duo.

Even if she has magical powers, at first sight Elika is a human being; we didn't want to reduce her to her magical abilities. On that specific point, we drew our inspiration from Arwen in Lord of the Rings. Her magic is graceful with arabesques in contrast with the Corruption which takes on tribal forms.

Have you developed a special engine for this version?

BM: We have improved and adapted the engine developed internally for Assassin's Creed. It is a great tool for our artists and engineers and we want to push it even further.

In that respect, we have added a lot of new systems that will help create the seamless fluidity and the overall look & feel we are looking for.

Animations have always been a key element of the Prince of Persia games; can you describe some of the moves the Prince can perform?

BM: Thanks to this new engine, we are able to improve every move of the Prince; we removed some and added others to increase the feeling of agility. That being said, we re-did all our animations from scratch for this new opus. They all are hand-made key frame animations, a fiddly work for our animation team who craft all these new moves and give them the extra touch of fluidity we could never reach with motion capture.

What are the specific technologies you developed for this episode? Are there any particular achievements you're proud of? On which basis do you consider that this PoP episode will be truly next-gen?

BM: Since it is the first next gen game in the PoP saga, we have developed a lot of new systems and technologies. We have in a way started from scratch using the Assassin's Creed engine as a basis for our developments. Here are a few areas where we believe PoP will deliver a true next-gen experience:

AI: Artificial Intelligence is where we are focusing most of our next gen effort. This choice will pay off in the quality and depth of the relationships you will experience with our NPC, enemies or allies alike.

Graphics: There is a difference in graphical quality between the previous PoP and the new PoP, obviously due to next-gen technology.

Characters: The new Prince will displays 13 times more polygons than the previous Prince, and even more than Altair in Assassin's Creed. To give you a reference, there will be more polygons in the next-gen Prince's hair than in the "old" Prince himself. Every detail of the faces, clothes and accessories of the characters will feel next-gen thanks to hi-res textures, specific lighting systems and shaders. We have developed new systems such as skin morph, wrinkle map, indirect lighting and occlusion to beautify our universe and characters in a way which was not possible on old gen.

Environments: The richness and the high quality of the Persian environments have always been a key element of PoP games. Thanks to next-gen technology, we are able to create vast outdoors worlds PoP fans have never dreamed of as most of the game takes place outside in a fantastic mythological Persia.. Whereas in previous PoP games, the player was mostly confined inside palaces or cities.

Each environment will go through different stages - from totally "safe" to almost completely corrupted areas. We have developed an organic corruption which creeps through the world and makes it decay. It is a living substance that will interact with the player and challenge him. It already looks quite impressive so I can promise you this will look amazingly next gen!

Structure: For the first time ever, the Prince will evolve in a non-linear adventure. The players will choose how they unfold the storyline by choosing their path in this open-ended world. This is technically possible thanks to next-gen memory capacities.

The game has a very different art style than previous PoP. Why did you change the art direction?

BM: The new PoP game features a brand-new art style never before seen that is very graphical and illustrative. We are lucky enough to have one of the most talented team of concept artists in the industry. PoP fans have always been very passionate about their work. So this time, we wanted to remain very close to their 2D concept arts, keeping the essence of their artworks in the 3D world.

Next-gen tools help us create a game which has a unique visual identity without sacrificing art to technology, which is often the case in video games. The Prince of Persia universe is so rich and special that it would be a shame to picture it in a photorealistic way. It calls for fantasy and almost poetry to be true to its Arabian Night origins.

What are your ambitions behind one the biggest franchise in the video-game industry?

BM: We have high ambition for this game. Our goal is to re-establish our position as a leading Action Adventure Video game on next-gen.

We strongly believe that we will rejuvenate the PoP brand with strong innovations and a whole new experience that will not only excite our current fans, but will appeal to new fans. We are all excited about the new Prince of Persia; be prepared to see some amazing images in the coming weeks!

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