"...It may be easy to create something good from great source material, but the dev has actually managed to add to it, using modern day game design to breathe new life into a superb piece of poetry that’s over a hundred years old. Highly recommended."
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-Calum Fraser, freegameplanet.com
(Full article here)
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"...I like it... As a chump with both this and Dangerous Dan McGrew on his bookshelf, I give this rendition a healthy nod."
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-Brendan Caldwell, rockpapershotgun.com
(Full article here)
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The Background
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'The Cremation of Sam McGee' is a classic poem by Robert Service (1907) that details the plight of a northern frontiersman duty-bound to cremate the remains of his dead companion in the Yukon wilderness. Over 15 stanzas the poem juxtaposes a creeping dread of the frozens wastes with a narrative voice that is wry and at times even lighthearted. The work is regarded as being distinctly 'Canadian', and is explored in educational curricula across Canada. Since hearing the poem for the first time in the second grade it's always been one of my favourites, and it was a joy to bring it to life in a new medium.
The Philosophy
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My decision from the outset of the project was to stay true to the poem's original medium and deliver the words in their entirety, while using the visual, auditory and interactive (or 'gamey') elements to exaggerate or supplement the text. The notion extended towards the project's ultimate length, which I wanted to be roughly the same amount of time as it took to listen to a dramatized reading of the work. When it came to selecting the project's narrator, the philosophy of honouring the original text led me to the reading by Johnny Cash (May 2006 on the NPR) as I felt his approach perfectly captured the poem's intended cross of eerieness and lightheartedness.
The Look
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In 1986 the artist Ted Harrison released to series of paintings that captured the narrative of Service's poem, and since then his visuals have become almost synonymous with the text itself. In order to emulate Harrison's approach, I used a variety of visual filters and specialized materials to reflect his simplicity, 'broad strokes', and minimalist color palette, while at the same time creating sprites directly from his paintings. The result is an almost painted ethereal world that nicely complements the poem's subject matter.
The Engine
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This project also served as an opportunity for me to create my first 'full' Unreal 4 title. All programming was done exclusively with Blueprints, and I used several assets from Epic Game's previous asset package releases (albiet many heavily modified to match Harrison's look) to build out the world. I am very pleased with how the project turned out and look forward to building more complex projects in the engine in the future.
