Nintendo’s new game, The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom, became a much bigger project than many initially thought. The game’s development team shared a lot about it at GDC (Game Developers Conference). They explained the big technical challenges and creative solutions they’ve used to make the new Zelda game even better than the last one.
The main goal of Tears of the Kingdom was to expand upon Breath of the Wild’s most popular features: a seamless Hyrule setting and the “multiplicative gameplay” system. This system encouraged players to experiment using physics and chemistry to develop different in-game solutions. To achieve this increased freedom, the developers had to tackle a significant challenge: dealing with the initial chaos caused by their new systems that allowed players to “stick things together” (thanks, Eurogamer).
The Zelda team decided to make the whole world of Hyrule physics-driven. This meant that elements traditionally handled by simplified systems were now governed by the game’s physics engine. This change aimed to ensure consistency and reduce the chance of glitches.
It was not an easy transition and required fundamental changes to how even simple elements, like shrine gates, were programmed. However, it led to new player ingenuity; gates could now be propped open, showing that the underlying systems were true to real-world physics.
“This is precisely the kind of multiplicative gameplay we were seeking, and confirmation that making everything physics-driven was the correct approach… As a result, regardless of what we do, we have a world free from self-destruction… Where players can freely express imagination and creativity, without destroying the world.”
Takahiro Takayama
Alongside the changes to the physics, a similar approach was taken for the sound design. Instead of using pre-recorded unique sounds for complex objects like vehicles, Tears of the Kingdom uses a system-based approach. Combining individual sound elements, the game generates sounds for things like carts or player-made flying contraptions. These were things like wheel rotation or creaking wood. This makes player-built objects feel more real and brings a higher level of realism to the game world as a whole.
It’s an interesting change in development, and it’s hard to disagree that it worked. However, that means Nintendo has to step it up even more in the next game in the series.
Comments