The UbiArt technology, which is currently being put to use on Rayman Origins, will be as free and open as the space between Rayman's hand and body, if Michel Ancel has his way. Speaking to Develop, he expressed his desire to release the framework as open-source, to benefit other developers keen on making animated 2D games.
"If you look at the best artists at Disney for example," Ancel told Develop, "they create incredible books and artwork and share their processes - it's interesting because those same people are happy to look at how other artists are developing their style. That whole medium has evolved on the basis of sharing ideas. But in games we lock it all in a black box and keep it to ourselves." Ancel hopes that the tools will inspire small devs: "It is more interesting to have a community and share our content."
When Rayman Origins was first announced at E3 2010, it was accompanied by samples of other 2D games with varying art styles also made in the UbiArt framework. Even so, this plan hasn't actually been finalized yet. While he believes the technology will be offered freely, Ubisoft executives still have to make the final decision about licensing terms.
Related Posts:
Sign-in to post a reply.