00:00 Pacific Drive takes place in an alternate version of the Pacific Northwest, the Olympic
00:09 Exclusion Zone.
00:10 There's a lot of urban legends and strange history in the area that inspired us, and
00:13 we wanted to explore where that took us, from concept art to what's in game.
00:24 What works in our original concept is the twisting of the familiar.
00:27 The surreal quality of the world is what leaves a distinct impression.
00:30 Early in its history, the Olympic Peninsula was very much as you'd expect, but at a certain
00:34 point things drastically changed, and as you explore, you get to figure out how.
00:37 It's these mysterious changes that help build our world and establish our setting.
00:42 They keep you on your toes, and they'll prevent you from knowing what's around the next corner
00:45 of the road.
00:46 When it comes to the Pacific Northwest and the Olympic Peninsula, there is so much that
00:50 comes to mind that matches with Pacific Drive.
00:52 The deep forests, the moody rain, feeling of isolation when you're out in the wilderness.
00:57 For the game, we took these elements and not only reinforced them, but built them up with
01:00 unexplainable anomalies, monolithic ruins, and the stories of the people that live there.
01:05 Hi, my name is Jacob, and I'm the foreground art lead for Pacific Drive.
01:09 I built the tools and items that you find out in the zone, but my biggest contribution
01:14 is the station wagon that's keeping you alive.
01:16 We wanted the car to feel nostalgic, but also reliable.
01:19 We went with an 80s-inspired design on the car for this reason.
01:23 The wood paneling, chrome hope caps, and long hood all contribute to that.
01:28 Because each part of the car is customizable, I modeled them with a higher degree of detail
01:32 than players normally see in games.
01:35 A good example of this is the suspension and wheel assembly, which is extremely close to
01:40 a real-world equivalent, and you'll see it when you swap out your tires.
01:44 Our quintessential American station wagon has seen some hard miles.
01:48 By the time the player sees it, there's some rust, some sketchy parts, and mismatched wheels
01:52 to visually sell that our car has a long history in the zone.
01:57 The view from behind the wheel is under constant iteration.
02:00 We're communicating a lot of information to the player.
02:03 Our kitbashed approach to the tech features computer components, old-school displays,
02:08 and camera parts that you would have seen throughout the digital revolution.
02:12 And that attitude of making do extends to most of the tools and items the player crafts
02:17 in the game.
02:18 Aesthetically, the tools the player uses are all of an improvised nature.
02:23 They shouldn't feel complete or finished, but functional enough to get the job done.
02:27 A great example of this is the battery pack, which can be used to jumpstart the car, or
02:32 give it some extra juice while out on a run.
02:34 It's clearly made up of an old wooden toolbox, whatever cables are laying around, and a half-exposed
02:39 battery.
02:40 In any working garage, this might be a major hazard, but out in the zone, it works just
02:44 fine.
02:45 One of my favorite tools to use, the scrapper, consists of a polstering motor powering a
02:50 spinning metal cylinder, which features rusty, bolted-on teeth.
02:53 There's clearly no room for any refinement, so your trusty C-clamp serving as a handle
02:58 will have to make do.
02:59 When a player crafts these tools, we're showing quite clearly that you will need to
03:03 improvise and slap together whatever you can find to survive in the zone.
03:08 Keep an eye out for that extra scrap of metal, or a little duct tape.
03:12 It could make all the difference during your next successful run.
03:15 Hey, I'm Larry, Lead Environment Artist on Pacific Drive.
03:17 We've put a lot of work into building the Olympic Exclusion Zone.
03:20 We've got the forest and swamp biomes, which you might have already seen, but there's
03:24 more in the zone for you to discover.
03:25 Each has its own personality, but visually they're going to be very different.
03:29 The further you go, the more hazards you'll experience, the more volatile and dangerous
03:32 it's going to look.
03:33 Things get pretty crazy.
03:34 In terms of the buildings you'll discover, the garage is the most important.
03:38 It's your own personal batcave.
03:39 It's important to note that the garage is as upgradeable as the car.
03:43 We've been able to communicate this progression with the workstations being MacGyvered together,
03:47 giving you that Doc Brown sci-fi vibe.
03:49 There are many buildings in the zone that serve other purposes, but rather than being
03:52 blatantly descriptive with what you see, we've leaned into discoverable, possible narratives.
03:57 The player is naturally curious.
03:59 They should develop their own ideas about what happened.
04:01 You might come across this gas station that's been ransacked, or it might be all boarded
04:05 up.
04:06 The shadow of the zone should loom large over these half-functional environments.
04:09 Could someone still be here?
04:10 There's an old cup of coffee on the counter.
04:12 Are we intruding?
04:13 It feels like we are.
04:14 I had to kick aside boxes to find some loot.
04:16 These visual clues can lead players to draw their own conclusions rather than forcing
04:19 them to know exactly what could have happened.
04:21 We want mystery to linger, because that's the zone in a nutshell.
04:24 In contrast to the civilian areas, the art facilities are industrial and monolithic in
04:29 comparison.
04:30 These structures have a psychological effect on the player.
04:32 They're imposing and aggressive, monuments to an organization arrogant enough to try
04:36 to control the zone.
04:37 From our early concept art, it's been intentional to have these facilities at odds with the
04:40 zone around them.
04:41 Brute force, rather than coexistence as an observable goal.
04:45 The inner walls are a great example of this failure to coexist.
04:48 Their massive man-made interiors are overrun with terrifying anomalies, abandoned machinery,
04:54 and supplies left to rot in large shipping containers.
04:56 As the player moves through these areas, the number one goal is to survive, and there is
05:01 history here to discover.
05:02 We want to give our players a chance to pursue their own interpretation of what happened
05:06 to the people of the zone when it all began.
05:08 Overall, these environments and the impressions we're trying to give of the zone are visually
05:12 designed to push players around the next corner.
05:14 That there's something exciting there, or illuminating, to add to their story.
05:19 As we began to see the Olympic Exclusion Zone take shape, we started to find that our own
05:23 ideas of the Pacific Northwest coalesced into something new and never before seen.
05:27 That's what we wanted to have happen for Pacific Drive.
05:29 It's a surreal and twisted version of our recognizable world, one that has its own interesting
05:33 stories to uncover, but is also alive and filled with the unexpected.
05:37 The zone has its own character in the game, and our players will get to create their own
05:40 stories as they explore it.
05:41 [OUTRO MUSIC PLAYING]
05:55 COMPUTERIZED VOICE: PlayStation.
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