Titanfall behind-the-scenes video discusses creating Titans

A new behind-the-scenes video from Respawn discusses the differences seen in Titanfall's three Titan classes, while also talking about the importance of bringing together the Titan-based play and the Pilot-based movement.

Ozzie Mejia

February 26, 2014 3:45 PM

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The recent Titanfall beta has only scratched the surface on what Respawn's mech-based shooter has to offer. There are two other classes of mechs to try out and the studio emphasizes that each of these giant killing machines will feel like a 'weapons platform,' with a dash of personality sprinkled in.

"I look at the Titans as, even when we designed them, as more of a weapons platform with personality," said artist Joel Emslie. "We worked very hard into making their personalities really stand out as much as possible. At one point, we were mo-capping Titans. We were doing weird things, like putting actors and stuntmen onto stilts and seeing if we could get different movement out of it."

The newly-released behind-the-scenes video discusses more than the physical differences between the Ogre, Stryder, and Atlas Titans. It also talks about each Titan having its own personality, right down to different poses upon reaching the battlefield.

Those that have played the Titanfall beta also recognize that the Pilots mean just as much to the overall experience as the hulking machines. Respawn also discusses the importance of blending these two aspects of the game together.

"The really special thing that sets it apart is the fact that we have managed to meld a large-scale game with the Titans and a small-scale game with the Pilots into one," said producer Drew McCoy. "That took a lot of design narration, both on the movement speeds, the motion model, the scale of levels, the ability for a Pilot, even though he's small and squishy, to not feel totally vulnerable against a huge robot. The fact that you can get in and out of your Titan really fast, it means that you can do things that change all the time."

For more about Respawn's making of Titanfall's mechanical stars, check out the video below.

Ozzie Mejia

Senior Editor

Ozzie has been playing video games since picking up his first NES controller at age 5. He has been into games ever since, only briefly stepping away during his college years. But he was pulled back in after spending years in QA circles for both THQ and Activision, mostly spending time helping to push forward the Guitar Hero series at its peak. Ozzie has become a big fan of platformers, puzzle games, shooters, and RPGs, just to name a few genres, but he’s also a huge sucker for anything with a good, compelling narrative behind it. Because what are video games if you can't enjoy a good story with a fresh Cherry Coke?