Creating Assassins Creed II

For this project we have been asked to look at two contrasting video games, find out how they were created and then compare them. The first game I have chosen to look at is the creation of Ubisofts Assassins Creed 2. While researching, I have found it hard to find out about the specific creation process. Instead I have found many videos and interviews talking about the game itself.

Below is a short list of some of the people who worked on Assassins Creed 2. Most of the jobs listed here, would be found in most video games companies, however, because AC is historical game, they also have a historian to ensure that everything is historically accurate. I have also researched what some of the job titles mean.

Producer - Sebastian Puel
Generally it is the producers role to oversee the development of the game and become the liason between development staff and the publishers of the game. It is their responsibility to maintain budgets and scheduals as well as oversee the creative and technical development of the game

Creative Director - Patrice Desilets
As expected, the creative director is usually responsible for the creative development and generally the prime design authority. Typically, these roles are occupied by those who have experience in either a programming or design backgrounds and have earned a reputation as a designer over a few years of being in the games industry.

Scriptwriter - Corey May
Their job is not only to create and write the script, but ensure every aspect of it fits in with the design and gameplay of the game, therefore they must always be in contact with as many people working on the game as possible, from the producer, game director, and artists to level designers, animators and sound teams. This interview I found with Corey May explains a lot more of how his role fits into the game design process.
http://www.industrygamers.com/news/industry-careers-video-game-scriptwriter/


Project Manager - Jean-Francois Boivin
Historian - Margaret Meserve
Associate producer - Vincent Pontbriand
Technical Director - Christopher Robert Weiler
Lead Game Designer - Patrick Plourde
Game Designer - Mathieu Gagnon
Team lead level design - Gaelec Simard
Team lead fight - Charles Randall
Animator - Mike Mennillo
Presentation art director - Laura De Young
Level Designer - Francois Roughol

Since the first game, the development team had tripled in size to 450 members.

Script and History
The lead scriptwriter was Corey May, who in this interview http://www.faceoffgames.com/section/11675 talked about how he spent 9-12 months just learning about the time period before starting on the script. Many of the characters were real people, and the writers have tried to involve as many real events into the story as possible.

Setting
As you can see by the these pictures, the creators of the setting have replicated Italy as closely as possible, however, is replicating existing buildings easier than creating an idea from scratch? I believe it would have made the design process quicker, however, if there were any problems with the design, it would be easier to modify an original creation because there is nothing to compare it to, or show how its should look.



Francisco Randez is the face used to model the main character, Desmond Miles, Altair and Ezio.



Roger Craig Smith  is the voice of Ezio Auditore da Firenze

And Shawn Baichoo, a canadian actor, provided the acting for motion capture.


These 3 actors combined are what make up the main character in Assassins Creed II. 

Nolan North - Desmond Miles

Some characters in the game are modeled and voiced by the same actor, such is Kristen Bell as Lucy Stillman and Danny Wallace as Shaun Hastings.



There are a total of 31 voice actors

Finally here is a short interview with the Creative Director, Patrice Desilets.