Crimson Desert: How the Golden Star Dragon Boss was created
Bosses are woven into the material of the Crimson Desert world. Judging by the various, many various ones we have now seen in quite a few demos and apply movies, it appears they’re usually a spectacular spectacle that places all of your expertise to the take a look at. One such foremost attraction is the Golden Star, a monstrous mechanical dragon we battled at developer Pearl Abyss’ Seoul workplaces in preparation for this month’s IGN First. In case you watched our final gameplay video, you may have already seen this highly effective boss in motion, however right here we take you behind the scenes to point out you the way it was designed, from the sound of its flapping arms to the strategy of its fall.
It is protected to say that the Pywel continent of the Crimson Desert provides basic fantasy with a twist, usually mixing surprising parts into the combination, together with (however not restricted to) rideable dinosaurs and overpowered mechs. The Golden Star, with its mixture of basic fantasy beast and sci-fi metallic sheen, is that this philosophy personified. Members of the Pearl Abyss design crew defined that they might have put lots of deal with attempting to mix natural and mechanical collectively, however as a part of that, maybe surprisingly, in addition they needed there to be a stage of believability. The artwork crew famous that, though Golden Star appears to be like like a sci-fi dragon, most of the supplies utilized in his character mannequin had been impressed by on a regular basis supplies that may very well be discovered not solely in trendy instances, but additionally within the fantasy-like Center Ages. It is a Pearl Abyss strategy utilized not solely to the Golden Star, but additionally to all of the robots, industrial buildings and steam trains you could find within the recreation. Whereas these parts lean nearer to science fiction, the design crew was adamant about sustaining a way of believability.
All of this helps us perceive the concept that this can be a beast that might actually have been constructed by Marni, the inventor who sends you on a quest to combat the Golden Star. Exploring Marni’s workplace within the run-up to this assembly additional educates us on the dragon’s origins, because the room is stuffed with paperwork referring to its development, in addition to industrial equipment that foreshadows the mechanical nature of the beast.
Whenever you lastly meet the Golden Star, whose claws simply crumble the previous masonry, you possibly can clearly see how the machine mimics the natural. The Crimson Desert design crew made certain that the gears and chains beneath her armored shell “realistically” work in unison. Collectively, these elements take the type of one thing you’ve got by no means seen earlier than, however on the similar time feels acquainted – the beast’s golden wings and surprising roar can not help however conjure up recollections of Bioshock Infinite’s Songbird, an equally spectacular mechanical invention, a man-made ghostly creation.
The sounds generated by Golden Star offered the crew with a really particular problem: it needed to mix the natural actions of a winged beast with the mechanical noises and swirls of one thing man-made in nature. On our go to to Pearl Abyss’ headquarters in South Korea, we had been proven round its purpose-built Foley recording studio and given a rundown of all these completely different parts and an perception into the delightfully exploratory course of.
First on the agenda was the wing conflict, which additionally turned the premise for all the opposite dragons within the recreation. Whereas Golden Star is mechanical, you may discover that his wings are large sheets of material, and so their sound can be created by shifting cloth: the shaking of a leather-based jacket. The fraying of the fabric evokes the sound of the membrane of a wing slicing by the air and offered a stable start line for add auditory layers to this creature, with the last word purpose of making one thing unheard earlier than.
Subsequent was to provide it some metallic weight, so a creaking, creaking cupboard door latch was thrown into the combination. It is adopted by a ribbed plastic hose—the type you’d usually count on to see on the underside of a vacuum cleaner—that runs alongside the nook of that cupboard to additional add texture to the dragon’s many shifting components. A smaller plastic tube is then pulled and pushed like an accordion, as this friction, surprisingly, provides an virtually cybernetic tone to the beast. It is this experimentation and dedication to utilizing on a regular basis objects in surprising ways in which makes this course of appear a lot enjoyable. Moreover, a big pitchfork was dragged alongside a metallic chain, whereas the fingers of an armored glove had been inserted into the joints to punctuate the noise of the graceful motion of the arms, giving the impact a mechanical edge. All of this blends right into a symphony of noises that creates a soundscape as engineered because the dragon itself within the recreation.
Foley’s studio is only one spectacular facet of the state-of-the-art services present in Pearl Abyss’ huge workplace constructing, which additionally homes a full 3D scanning heart and a efficiency seize house the place most of the recreation’s reduce scenes and fight animations are recorded. I discovered explicit satisfaction in watching my colleague Matt Purslow expertise the latter for himself as he stepped right into a mocap go well with and swung a foam sword round, which was then mirrored in actual time on an adjoining display screen. That is all very spectacular expertise, even when Matt might undoubtedly do with a little bit of gun apply to take full benefit of it. Nonetheless, the pen is mightier than the sword and all the things else.
This expertise fuels Pearl Abyss’ artistic ambitions, with every boss combat within the Crimson Desert not solely presenting a problem to the participant, but additionally pushing the boundaries of the studio’s creativity. The design crew needed to “uncover their limits and limitations,” and the Golden Star offered a specific conundrum as a result of its sheer mass and talent to fly at pace. This was an enormous drawback for a ground-based, human-sized participant to take down. This David vs Goliath impact was desired by the builders, nonetheless, who defined that they “needed to make you are feeling overwhelmed by the general measurement and energy of the Gold Star”. To take him down, you may want to search out his weak point.
As with most of the bosses in Crimson Desert, there is a methodology to defeating this expertly designed beast within the encounter, although it isn’t the one method to obtain victory, because it incubates that feeling of with the ability to strategy this world’s fight any method you need. You possibly can brute drive your method by this combat, studying her assault patterns and dealing harm to her glowing head each time she raises it. However the Golden Star’s actual Achilles heel is the ability of an EMP blast. Whereas not strictly a boss puzzle, there are some parts of that fashion to this combat, resembling luring the dragon to breathe fireplace on pillars positioned across the area, which warmth up and, in flip, energy the machines that produce EMP bullets in your arm cannon. Hearth sufficient of those into his physique and the Gold Star shall be shocked, permitting you to mourn over his collapsed skeleton.
The Crimson Desert fight crew discovered that they did not need to make the boss into an excessive amount of of a puzzle. Whereas there are particular situations it’s worthwhile to meet to ensure that PMM to work, there are undoubtedly different methods to defeat it. The crew specified which you can harm the dragon utilizing a bow and arrow, or your fight expertise. They hope gamers will work out attention-grabbing methods and finally share them with others when Crimson Desert is lastly obtainable subsequent March.
The EMP methodology is unquestionably an efficient methodology and one thing the crew made certain to deploy on the best way to the conflict. The earlier skirmishes on this quest had been designed to point out off the capabilities of an EMP as you face off towards a military of robotic goblins. The concept, the crew defined, was to ensure the mechanic was a constant theme within the run-up to the Gold Star battle, and in order that whenever you obtained to the boss itself, utilizing the EMP can be second nature. You will understand that the Golden Star was a robotic enemy affected by your EMP units, and you will instinctively know what to do. This strategy required a deal with establishing mechanics and stunts, making certain a pure studying curve main as much as the boss combat.
Selection may be very a lot the secret in Crimson Desert, as our story that took a deep dive into fight defined, and that selection permeates all the things, particularly boss design. Nowhere else, outdoors of a pilotable fight robotic, have we seen EMPs used on this journey in the course of the few hours of hands-on time with it. It is one other instance of how each mission, each second spent on this world, is supposed to be completely different from the final.
Whereas mechanical selection is clearly essential, the crew additionally famous that the range was impressed by the bosses that had been thought of characters inside the world. The crew defined that they tried to place themselves within the footwear of every boss and actually take into consideration what their motives can be. This impressed their actions and total design, and helped generate variety among the many dozens of bosses current within the recreation. It is a philosophy that is actually on full show whenever you put all of the bosses we have seen to date in Crimson Desert subsequent to one another.
Simon Cardy is a senior editor at IGN who can largely be discovered immersing himself in open-world video games, indulging in Korean cinema, or obsessing over the state of Tottenham Hotspur and the New York Jets. Comply with him on Bluesky at @cardy.bsky.social.
