Nathan Drake has always been partial to a pretty particle effect. In his first adventure, it was all about gorgeous water and alluring wet man nipples. In the second, it was Nepal’s real purdy lookin’ snow and ice. And now, for Uncharted 3: Drake’s Deception, Naughty Dog is turning its collective programming ninjutsu to sophisticated fire… which we can only guess you have to wine and dine before it burns your face off. Boy howdy, we’re a bunch of kidders, ain’t we?

In an interview with PlayStation Blog Arne Meyer, Community Strategist at Naughty Dog, discussed the witchcraft-esque tech that’s going into the game’s effects. “We’re really happy with what we’re achieving with our fire effects. It’s not just a static asset – the fire deteriorates the wood realistically and there are blowback effects, like you would expect. The smoke is looking much better this time around” he said.



Above: Hot stuff, coming through. Sorry, sorry. We had to

Apparently, the chateau demo which was unveiled a month or so ago will actually burn to the ground around Nate if you just sit on your inquisitive ass and do nothing. “You could sit down and watch the chateau burn around you, if you sit there long enough; however, we want the player to proceed through the game at a decent pace so that’s not going to happen” Arne remarked.

He continued: “Even in this demo, you can see beams deteriorating as they burn, and you can even take cover behind them when they give way and fall to the floor, only for that cover to disappear when the beam has burned away completely.”



Above: The fire might think it's all that, but personally we're more hot for somethree man fisticuffaction

Just like all those worryingly sentient household appliances in The Brave Little Toaster, Deception’s burny stuff will seemingly have a mind of its own. Meyer elaborated: “… it produces some brilliant effects, like the corners of the wallpaper starting to roll and then igniting, and then the embers flickering in the air. Essentially, we’re programming oxygen and then having the fire follow it around the environment.”

Admittedly, we added the King Kong comparison. And on that note, you should definitely see the 1976 version of the royal gorilla’s adventure. It’s 27% less shit than you probably think.



Above: Plus, it's the only version with a beardy Jeff Bridges (sadly, not pictured)

So just how excited are you about Uncharted 3: Drake’s Deception? Do you think it can be THE game of 2011, even in a year with Batman: Arkham City and Mass Effect 3?

Source:PlayStation Blog

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Feb 8, 2010