Capcom's 3rd person action shooter set on an icy world
This was an extremely fun project to be involved with. There were a lot of different components and it gave me a chance to really touch on a variety of mediums while ensuring the brand messaging was consistent throughout. I worked closely with the brand manager and VP of marketing to establish the overall visual direction for the campaign. The end result was the largest launch of a new IP in Capcom's history.
The story of "Lost Planet" is about EDN3 (believed to be the third "Eden" – the third attempt at terraforming an alien world) and the struggle between the company who is trying to terraform it, NEVEC (short for Neo Venus Construction) and pirates who are trying to steal the natural energy resources that have been uncovered there.
They work and fight in large "mech-type" vehicles called VSs (Vital Suits). To complicate matters, there are indigenous alien creatures called Akrid, many of which are huge, who live on the natural energy resources.
A young VS pilot named Wayne is the central character, who wakes up with amnesia after a run-in with a particularly powerful Akrid that also ended up killing his father. Wayne must wade through the NEVEC/pirate conflict, and the Akrid, to rediscover the mystery of his past.
There are a number of games with "mechs" that generally have a very specific type of gameplay. The decision was made early on that, at least for the initial phase of the marketing campaign, the VSs would be severely downplayed, as we didn't want players to get the wrong idea of the type of game this was.
The basic concept of the marketing visual direction was "think of the movie 'Aliens,' set in the snow." This was partly because of the alien world and the tattered, utilitarian technology being used, but also because of the focus on the Akrid as the primary adversaries.
Packaging key art by Petrol Advertising (http://www.petrolad.com/)
Before the full marketing website was built, we decided to create a digital give-away that would act to whet the appetite of gamers. This Windows Media Player skin was styled to look like a media/communications device that Wayne might have on his utility belt while he was out in the snow of EDN3. It featured interactive animations, sound effects from the game, and exclusive content.
Windows Media Player skin was created in partnership with The Skins Factory (http://www.theskinsfactory.com/)
The website was designed to bring players directly into the world of Lost Planet. We wanted to highlight a number of the different environments from the game, and something was done in each section to give the environment some "life," rather than it being just a static background image for the content. There was also a thermal energy meter at the top right of each screen that would fill up the more content a visitor looked at. Pausing in one spot too long would also cause the meter to go down. This was a deliberate attempt to get people to check out as much of the site as possible. The reward for getting the meter completely full was unlocking an exclusive desktop wallpaper.
Main page shown above.
The "view webisodes" monitor, partially buried in the snow at bottom left, is highlighted here. These "webisodes" were short, edited, cinematic sequences from the game, designed to set up the story for the player. Each webisode had a small, subliminal message at the end that teased information for our ARG (Alternate Reality Game). See if you can find them in the smaller versions of the videos below.
Webisodes were created in partnership with Shane Francis Co. (http://www.shanefrancis.com/)
Main navigation module open (from top left).
Downloads section showing link to the Windows Media Player skin.
Downloads section showing desktop wallpaper (all wallpapers designed by me).
Story section showing an overiew of the main characters.
Media section showing the screenshots gallery. Clicking on a thumbnail showed a larger version that filled the center of the screen, but there was also an option given to download a large, wallpaper-sized version of the image.
Media section showing one of the trailers.
Gameplay section with overview.
Gameplay section showing one of the enemy classes.
Multiplayer section showing the screenshots gallery.
Multiplayer section showing gameplay video.
Website was created in partnership with 2Advanced Studios (http://www.2advanced.com/)
There were several websites and pages designed by my internal team as part of our ARG to promote the game. We thought about what type of mystery story we could do at the time (in 2006) that would tie into a game set in the future. When we thought of EDN3 being NEVEC's third attempt at this type of project, and traced the timeline backwards, we realized the first time would have been in the present day.
In addition to the above website being for an earlier incarnation of NEVEC focused on terraforming, sites were also done for partner companies focusing on privatized space travel and suspended animation.
Besides the teaser messages and clues hidden in our webisodes, there were also clues hidden in numerous other places around the web including message boards, fake job postings, and even in the HTML code of some of our own fake websites.
We created the character of a scientist who was making video blogs about some of the concerns he had regarding the project he was working on. This is one of two videos that were produced and released online.
A reward for following all of the clues of the ARG was an invitation to the "launch event" for the game. Another video was made specifically for use at the event as an inside nod to followers of the ARG to show them our scientist friend was alive and well – for the time being. The message broke in on the main large projection monitor and teased a new, second leg of the ARG campaign.
An exclusive invitation for the launch event. Players registered online and invites were issued in their names.
Invite designed by me.
Invite designed by me.