The highly anticipated sequel to Ori and the Blind Forest.
Ori and the Will of the Wisps
Gameplay Programmer
Nov. 2016 – Sept. 2017
- Prototyped a large range of new mechanics, such as Spirit Races, the Feather Flap ability and many more.
- Worked closely with the Lead Designer and Creative Director to polish existing mechanics.
- Created advanced in-house Unity tools for designers and artists.
“It’s about creating a game where the player can feel agile and clever”
Delivering on a gameplay fantasy
The first game, Ori and the Blind Forest, has always been beloved among speedrunners. So for the sequel, why not try and deliver that fantasy – to be the fastest and beat that record – to every player?
And so I was put in charge of prototyping this new mechanic. From displaying a ‘ghost Ori’ from recorded data, to showcasing a live leaderboard from your friends’ best times, I knew everything would be necessary to make this idea work. And when every employee in the company started competing against each other on our local leaderboard, I knew we had something worth developing.
Once the prototype was more polished, we were ready to show it to the world. The Spirit Trial footage on the right is directly captured from Gamescom, where we demo’d it live.
Tools of the trade
They often go underappreciated, but a good developer knows the value of great tools. The game engine can only offer so much, and at a certain point you and your colleagues need something custom.
Luckily Unity lends itself well to being extended, customized and built upon. So when we needed a way to build our E3 teaser and release cinematics in engine, we built the “Timeline” tool for it.
Nowadays, Unity has its own Timeline tool, as we weren’t the only ones who found that lack in functionality. But if you’re curious to see what we used ours for, check out the in-depth video to see how it works!