{"id":127098,"date":"2022-08-08T14:00:48","date_gmt":"2022-08-08T14:00:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/developer.apple.com\/news\/?id=oytkda24"},"modified":"2022-08-08T14:00:48","modified_gmt":"2022-08-08T14:00:48","slug":"behind-the-design-marvel-future-revolution","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sickgaming.net\/blog\/2022\/08\/08\/behind-the-design-marvel-future-revolution\/","title":{"rendered":"Behind the Design: Marvel Future Revolution"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/div>\n

Marvel Future Revolution<\/em> pulls off a balancing act that\u2019s nothing short of heroic.<\/p>\n

Netmarble\u2019s open-world superhero MMORPG is a massive Marvel mashup that unites heroes and villains from all universes, timelines, and realities for a giant free-for-all. The cast of characters is nothing short of epic \u2014 all-timers like Captain America, Iron Man, and Black Widow join cult favorites like the Egyptian god-avatar Moon Knight, feisty rodent Rocket Raccoon, and floating noggin M.O.D.O.K. Open interdimensional portals as Doctor Strange or crush enemies with Captain Marvel\u2019s mighty photon blasts; play out a story or toggle on auto-play mode. <\/p>\n

\"Captain<\/p>\n
\n

Captain America, Captain Marvel, and their powerful associates battle it out in Crown City, the capital of Sakaar.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

For Netmarble production director Joe Lee, staffing the ultimate comic-book all-star game was only half the battle. For his game to be truly revolutionary, Lee and his team knew they needed to level up the gameplay mechanics, storyline, and visuals. After all, with great power comes\u2026 well, you know. <\/p>\n

\u201cThe goal was to bring the full superhero experience to the widest possible audience,\u201d says Lee. \u201cMarvel has such a huge crowd and so many different characters. We needed to find our own big tweak, the thing that would get us to stand apart from everybody else.\u201d <\/p>\n

Lee speaks with pride about the game\u2019s range \u2014 how its characters intermingle and cross dimensions, and how it truly stretches across the Marvel universe. Future Revolution<\/em> begins in New Stark City, a gleaming metropolis patrolled by reportedly friendly Ultrons. Before long, however, you\u2019re off exploring realms like Midgardia (a fantasy land reminiscent of Thor and Loki\u2019s homeworld) and Xandearth (a war zone full of alien tech). But despite its grand scope, the game\u2019s multiversal chaos, galaxy-snapping enemies, and feisty rodents are grounded in one single design principle \u2014 something that\u2019s driven the team from the begininng: \u201cIn a game like this, when you\u2019re making big, important decisions, you always have to just go back to your common sense.\u201d <\/p>\n

\u2018I live to be a clown\u2019<\/h3>\n

Lee broke into the game industry nearly two decades ago on the business development side, where he learned the ins and outs of partnering with big companies like Marvel \u2014 but before his impressive career, the lifelong gamer and business pro had a different passion: hip-hop dancing.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think I live to be a clown,\u201d laughs Lee from Netmarble\u2019s offices in South Korea. \u201cI like to bring a good time to the people around me. The greatest part about dancing is that you\u2019re trying to make other people happy, but the happiest person in the moment is yourself. I think that\u2019s maybe why I got into games.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Need<\/p>\n
\n

Need some big green backup? As you progress through the game, you’ll join up with powerful companions. Here, Hulk pitches in on a boss fight against Loki’s blood father, Laufey.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

It\u2019s paid off: Games have driven his entire career. In the mid-2010s, Lee became production director for Marvel: Future Fight<\/em>, a role-playing dungeon crawler and something of an ancestor to Future Revolution<\/em>. The game was \u2014 and is \u2014 a smashing success, one that just celebrated its seventh anniversary. \u201cWhen you\u2019re dancing, you\u2019re performing for couple dozen or maybe a hundred people,\u201d says Lee. \u201cWhen I started out, I thought, \u2018If I want to be a clown, I\u2019d rather serve the bigger crowd.\u2019 And in games, you\u2019re working for millions. That\u2019s what I live for.\u201d <\/p>\n

While Future Fight<\/em>\u2019s impact was becoming clear, Lee was already brainstorming for the sequel. \u201cWe were always thinking, \u2018What if we had a better framework? What if we could use more recent technologies?\u2019\u201d he says. \u201cWe had a yearning for something bigger.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n

We wanted to convince core fans first.<\/p>\n

Joe Lee, Netmarble production director<\/cite><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

In Lee\u2019s mind, the potential sequel would elevate the superhero experience as much as humanly possible. \u201cWe thought, \u2018OK, to give a true superhero experience to the player \u2014 all the powers from the comic books, all the experiences from the movies \u2014 we need a bigger space,\u201d he says. \u201cAnd if we\u2019re talking bigger space, maybe it\u2019s open world. And what\u2019s the most suitable genre for that? MMORPG.\u201d <\/p>\n

Big stakes, but common sense. The team\u2019s next challenge involved crafting a story that paid homage to Marvel\u2019s epic history, served as a gripping narrative in its own right, drew on familiar heroes and planets and powers, and would find the approval of both hardcore fans and newcomers. <\/p>\n

\u201cWe wanted to convince core fans first,\u201d he says. \u201cWe wanted every setting to actually make sense. And we needed, say, multiple Captain Americas and Scarlet Witches playing side-by-side with each other. That\u2019s how we landed on the convergence.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Early<\/p>\n
\n

Early sketches of Scarlet Witch’s ‘Rise of the East’ costume theme. The winner: Version B, which became the basis for the final costume.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

The \u201cconvergence\u201d provided an elegant solution to the story issue \u2014 if you can call multiple realities and multiple Earths colliding with each other a solution. Powered by multiversal magic and some good old-fashioned comic book logic, the convergence storyline not only allowed an endless stream of battles but also established a world in which Iron Man can fly through a portal and talk to Other Iron Man without either of them batting an eye (such as it is). <\/p>\n

Plus, it was a total sandbox. Marvel Future Revolution<\/em> scenes could take place pretty much everywhere. (The script is credited to Marc Sumerak, who worked on Future Fight<\/em>.) It also allowed for chaos \u2014 the best kind. \u201cThere\u2019s a mode called Omega War that finds all these heroes fighting each other in a group,\u201d says Lee. \u201cWhy would they do that? Because they\u2019re actually getting prepared for something bigger that\u2019s coming.\u201d<\/p>\n

The \u2018flashiest superhero game\u2019<\/h3>\n

To pick the game\u2019s heroes \u2014 a sort of gym-class dodgeball draft with some of history\u2019s greatest comic-book characters \u2014 Lee and his team relied again on common sense. \u201cWith the characters, it\u2019s about what the game needed,\u201d says Lee, \u201cnot necessarily what was new.\u201d <\/p>\n

Selecting and plotting characters \u2014 the most crucial aspect of the game\u2019s design \u2014 was more about filling holes than drafting the biggest IP; the key was to balance the various mathematical formulas that power such games while also offering players fantastic characters to play.<\/p>\n

\"Netmarble<\/p>\n
\n

Netmarble executive producer Doohyun Cho reviews cutscene storyboards to determine the most effective ways to show Rocket Raccoon in a very short time.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

\u201cWhen we\u2019re adding a character, we\u2019ll think, \u2018OK, we already have a few sorcery characters and damage dealers \u2014 maybe we need a close-quarter character?\u201d says Lee. \u201cBut also: If we already have Doctor Strange, do we need Wanda Maximoff too? In that sort of case, we\u2019ll add special tweaks, based on the source material, to even things out.\u201d The game\u2019s version of the good Doctor is more about damage dealing, while its Wanda \u2014 with her well-documented reality-bending abilities \u2014 is more geared toward crowd control. <\/p>\n

\u201cWe defined visual direction for the characters first: a photorealistic style that could compete with AAA games,\u201d says Netmarble executive producer Doohyun Cho. Some characters have a lean, sleek look, while others come off more sturdy and rough. Each costume has a number of player-controlled variants, too: Prefer Black Widow with an all-black or magenta-streaked uniform? Go for it. Want Captain America with a scary-looking shield with menacing spikes? Make it happen. <\/p>\n

\"Early<\/p>\n
\n

Early sketches show how Netmarble defined costume components for their characters\u2019 crafty color variants.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

\u201cThe \u2018flashiest superhero game\u2019 was our internal motto,\u201d Cho says. \u201cWe wanted to see heroes being heroes, instead of being stationary and repeating similar moves over and over again.\u201d Future Revolution superheroes attack and slash, duck and evade, fly and crash back to the ground again. <\/p>\n

There were a few twists to consider, like the mix of airborne and non-airborne characters. \u201cFlying is surely a bonus when it comes to gameplay, but we wanted to even out the benefits,\u201d says Cho. Ground-based characters are highly maneuverable; Captain America, for instance, can super-sprint while Magik can teleport \u2014 both helpful skills when you\u2019re fending off wave after wave of malfunctioning flying Ultrons.<\/p>\n

\n

Flying is surely a bonus when it comes to gameplay, but we wanted to even out the benefits.<\/p>\n

Doohyun Cho, Netmarble executive producer<\/cite><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The team took pains to avoid \u201cthrowing too much information on the screen, as all game developers should.\u201d But at the same time, hiding information behind menus would have forced players to go through multiple levels of hierarchy \u2014 also not a great experience. \u201cWe decided to balance by selecting information players would need to be constantly aware of,\u201d says Cho. \u201cMost of that is combat-sensitive information, like, health, skill button, and guard status.\u201d <\/p>\n

When it came time to design the map, the team started small. \u201cIt\u2019s a pretty huge map,\u201d laughs Lee, \u201cand we wanted to see the target quality as soon as possible. So we\u2019d start by focusing on a small corner of the map, one landmark, one enemy and maybe one NPC.\u201d From there, they\u2019d sketch out the combat and drop in some dialogue. Once that was settled? \u201cIt pretty much goes out the window,\u201d laughs Lee. \u201cBy the time we\u2019re done, we\u2019ve evolved so much. But at least we got the vision of, \u2018OK, this is what we\u2019re expecting.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Spider-Man<\/p>\n
\n

Spider-Man surveys the moonlit Hand Fortress, home to a powerful cabal of dark ninjas (and the starting region for Black Widow).<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

For those finding their way around the game \u2014 or those who\u2019d prefer to watch the battles unfold \u2014 Future Revolution<\/em> offers an auto-play mode, a concept that was also a frequent topic of conversation in the offices. \u201cAuto-play can be a tricky thing,\u201d says Cho. \u201cSome may see it as robbing the real gameplay experience, while others see it as a convenient feature. But for a game like this that requires players to play for a long time, we thought some people would find it useful.\u201d<\/p>\n

The feature had two internal rules: First, manual play had to be a great, fully-featured option for players. Second, when players had auto-play enabled, there still had to be room for them to manually intervene and make a difference \u2014 where and when to evade, for instance, or when to unleash an ultimate skill. \u201cAll games need to be easy to learn but hard to master,\u201d says Cho. \u201cEven with auto-play on, you\u2019ll need to find your own way of mastering auto and manual play combined!\u201d<\/p>\n

\u2018Here we were, contradicting the golden rule\u2019<\/h3>\n

This brings us to the opening mini-movie \u2014 a prologue that features a massive city battle, multiple flying villains, dramatically-arriving heroes, and a surprising sacrifice. \u201cWe wanted to wow players from the get-go,\u201d says Cho. <\/p>\n

That said, Lee noted that including the scene was an early topic of debate amongst the team. \u201cOne of the most common-sense rules when designing a game is to get to the meat of the experience as soon as possible,\u201d he says, \u201cAnd here we were, contradicting the golden rule!\u201d <\/p>\n

\"Midgardia,<\/p>\n
\n

Midgardia, before and after the addition of the Bifrost Bridge.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Rather than focus on gaming conventions, however, the Netmarble team strove to consider the big picture \u2014 particularly the army of well-conditioned Marvel fans who\u2019d be coming to the game with elevated expectations. \u201cWhen you\u2019re creating this kind of game, you know it\u2019s going to appeal to a huge crowd,\u201d he says. \u201cWe thought about what our audiences would be like, and what they would expect and deserve. And we thought it was essential to have a proper intro to a world that they\u2019d hopefully [be] diving into at least a few hours every day,\u201d he adds. <\/p>\n

The opening scene\u2019s story twist wasn\u2019t simply meant to draw people in; it also brought weight to the experience. And that\u2019s what it\u2019s all about, says Lee. \u201cA great game has to have emotional moments\u2026 It has to be the great time you\u2019re having. It could be the feeling of defeating a huge boss that you weren\u2019t able to beat for the first four or five rounds. Maybe it\u2019s the reward you get after getting the sweet, sweet victory you achieved. Maybe it could be the sum of all the rewards.\u201d <\/p>\n

These moments elevate Future Revolution<\/em> to create a truly super experience for its players \u2014 and the Netmarble team is still hard at work to make the game even better. \u201cEveryone here is a Marvel nerd now,\u201d Lee says. <\/p>\n

Learn more about Marvel Future Revolution<\/a><\/p>\n

Download MARVEL Future Revolution from the App Store<\/a><\/p>\n

Behind the Design is a weekly series that explores design practices and philosophies from each of the 12 winners of the 2022 Apple Design Awards. In each story, we go behind the screens with the developers and designers of these award-winning apps and games to discover how they brought their remarkable creations to life.<\/em><\/p>\n

Explore more of the 2022 Behind the Design series<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Marvel Future Revolution pulls off a balancing act that\u2019s nothing short of heroic. Netmarble\u2019s open-world superhero MMORPG is a massive Marvel mashup that unites heroes and villains from all universes, timelines, and realities for a giant free-for-all. The cast of characters is nothing short of epic \u2014 all-timers like Captain America, Iron Man, and Black […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":127099,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[55],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-127098","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-apple-developer-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sickgaming.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/127098","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sickgaming.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sickgaming.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sickgaming.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sickgaming.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=127098"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/sickgaming.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/127098\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sickgaming.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/127099"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sickgaming.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=127098"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sickgaming.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=127098"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sickgaming.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=127098"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}