IGN spoke with Schofield a day after The Callisto Protocol was revealed to find out more about the project. And one thing is clear, Schofields first and foremost goal with the game is to scare you.
“Im looking forward to really trying to make the scariest game on next-gen platforms [and PC],” says Schofield. “From what I hear — its hard to be the creative and talk nicely about it — but from what I hear… [Dead Space] was one of the scarier games of [its generation] and I want to do the same on next-gen, or whats considered now the current-gen.”
According to Schofield, there is a big combined effort to flesh out the narrative universe of PUBG, and The Callisto Protocol is set within that universe, but 300 years after whenever PUBG is set.
“The funny thing is, I came in with this story when I went and met with the PUBG people for the first time and started talking about [The Callisto Protocol] and building a studio. I presented this game to them, and so what we did was we made it fit within the PUBG storyline.”
But
dont let the PUBG connection mislead you. Schofield says The Callisto Protocol is not a battle royale game, but a full-on, third-person survival horror game.
“You want to see your character and you want to see you going into danger,” Schofield explains when asked about the appeal of the third-person horror genre. “You want to see yourself and what happens to you during the course of this... as you get blood on your suit.”
Schofield is particularly passionate about next-gen, or rather current-gen, technology and how The Callisto Protocol will take full advantage of the latest tech and development innovations.
He highlights innovations in lighting and sound, and how the developers can take advantage of all kinds of new lighting techniques and 3D audio to create a new level of immersion.
"When the player is walking, your clothes make a sound when your arm is going across the cloth on your chest and things like that. And so we're getting all those sounds. The sound of the wind just so slightly blowing through your hair. It's crazy."
The Striking Distance team is also working on integrating haptics, presumably for controllers like the DualSense. But Schofield lights up when he talks about the visuals. “You got to see the graphics, the graphics are just freaking amazing now,” Schofield tells IGN.
“Were getting so detailed, it slows us down on production, you know what I mean?... We can get so detailed now and fit those graphics on the screen and its taking a lot of time to build it.”
Schofield still couldnt share too much about the project, but immersion is the main pillar of its development.
“Were trying to make you really feel like youre in this world. Even though its you escaping from this prison and youve got to survive these unthinkable horrors.”
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