May 16, 2008

Associate Producer Kumi Yuasa on the Brilliance of Echochrome
By Louis Bedigian

“In order for the developer to pick your own designed level, the level must be fun to play, beautiful and has a twist to it.”

Few games are exactly what they appear to be. Upon my first viewing of Echochrome, the incredible puzzle/illusion game for PSP and PlayStation 3, I had a moment of disbelief as the concept began to sink in. Within 30 seconds I went from “this looks different” to “this looks amazing.”

More amazing than the premise is the game’s execution. When the demo launched on PlayStation Network, I came to it with very specific expectations. It wasn’t just that I had high hopes for this game – I had a vision for how it would play. That vision is exactly what it turned out to be. Within 10 seconds of playing the demo I felt like I had been playing this game for years. Every control element fell into place, and the puzzles were just as creative as I had hoped.

Echochrome is available now on PlayStation 3 and PSP via the PlayStation Network Store. The PSP version can also be purchased from the PlayStation Network Store for PC. Having fallen for the game long before its release, I was delighted to chat with Kumi Yuasa (Associate Producer) on how this brilliant title was brought to life.

How was this game brought to life – how was the concept conceived and put into action?

Kumi Yuasa: Concept started off as a moving M.C. Escher artwork, where the idea of 3D is overturned in an impossible world. The project began as a creation of an independent developer named Jun Fujiki, who came up with a PC software known as OLE (Object Locative Environment) Coordinate System. It’s a simple level creation software that allows you to create impossible designs like the never-ending staircase. This concept, based on optical illusions was highly regarded at SIGGRAPH 2007. Game Yarouze saw the potential of Fujiki’s work and chose to develop it into PS3 and PSP titles.

How were five "special laws" decided, and were there any additional laws considered?

KY: Five laws were the basis of OLE Coordinate System. Team did not consider adding any other laws.

In Echochrome, players control the platform instead of the character, whose speed may be controlled but moves automatically. This proved to be the best route for the game to take, but were there thoughts of doing something different?

KY: Team considered controlling the character as one of the game rules at the beginning. However they decided not to because they wanted to focus on only controlling the perspective in order to create a revolutionary new puzzle title.

There are several great illusions in this game. What was the source of them?

KY: Fujiki's research was on three-dimensional interface. By its nature, computer graphics are displayed on a two-dimensional surface and for as long as they've existed, there has been a struggle to present a convincing illusion of three-dimensionality. Inspired by M.C. Escher, Fujiki took a different approach to the challenge.

Were there any illusions that were difficult to implement? Any that were too confusing to use?

KY: The five laws were already implemented to the OLE, so it was very straightforward and there was no specific difficulty in implementing. However, they had some hard time rendering/tuning the game especially on PSP version due to the speed compared to PS3.

Though the game is very flexible, in the demo you can't align certain shapes to form bridges, even if the camera is angled to where it appears the two shapes should connect. Was this done to prevent the game from becoming too easy, to hold the integrity of certain puzzles, or some other reason?

KY: There is a priority to each of the five laws depending on the situation and this is something that cannot be avoided. This is not done to prevent the game from becoming too easy. They had to add the priority system because as the level gets complex, multiple laws apply at a single situation.

Is there a particular criteria players should follow when designing their puzzles?

KY: In order for the developer to pick your own designed level, the level must be fun to play, beautiful and has a twist to it. Also, the developer tends to be impressed by levels that are totally different from the built-in levels. One of the user created levels that won the award from the developer was very complex at sight, but the echos were placed right next to the character. So they were wondering why the level had to be so complex at first. But they understood why when they reached the very last echo that appears where the character started off. The game rule is that the very last echo will always appear exactly where you started the level and regardless of the pathways you take to solve the level, you'll always have to come back to your starting point. Using this rule, you can add a twist to the gameplay in your design.

Now that Echochrome has been released, what promotional plans does Sony have?

KY: Not necessarily a promotional plan per se, but we will be updating PlayStation Blog readers regularly about the user-generated puzzles that will be selected by the developers and made available for download for free. So keep your eyes out for those updates!

Thank you for your time.

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