Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora Devs Considered Having a Human Side to the Game
Back to Pandora.
With two record-setting films and a third one just around the corner, the world of Avatar has always felt ripe for expansion. And that’s exactly what From the Ashes, a new major expansion for Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora, hopes to do.
This massive new addition to the game lets players take on the role of So’lek, a fan-favorite from the main game, as he fights to save Kinglor Forest from the Mangkwan — a militaristic new clan introduced in Avatar: Fire and Ash. And while Frontiers of Pandora remains staunchly focused on the Na’vi side of things, the team at Ubisoft Massive has, at some point, considered integrating more human elements, like in the only other video game adaptation of the franchise — Ubisoft’s own 2009 Avatar.
“We’ve discussed those ideas [playing as humans], but for now, in the main game and From the Ashes, you’re playing as the Na’vi. We wanted players to experience Pandora as a Na’vi,” art director Mikhail Greuli tells Inverse, “But maybe someday, I love the RDA and humans – that’s one of my favorite things to design. We definitely played the 2009 game, the whole team. Me, personally, I really enjoyed it.”
Alongside a lengthy four-hour preview, Inverse had the chance to talk to Greuli about the upcoming From the Ashes expansion, how the game’s world was made alongside the film, and what Ubisoft Massive was able to do with this ambitious expansion.
This interview has been edited for clarity and brevity.
So’lek is the playable protagonist of From the Ashes, but will be joined by the player-created Sarentu character from the main game.
From a design perspective, what did that relationship look like with Lightstorm, in terms of how much you were able to add to the Avatar universe, versus working within the framework created by Fire and Ash?
Greuli: It’s very organic. We’ve had experience with them for a long time, right? On the main game, two story packs, right, and now From the Ashes.
We come up with our ideas on what we want to add to the expansion, and of course, we knew they were adding the Mangkwan. So we send the pitch to Lightstorm and they help us shape it, making sure that it fits within the Pandora universe. But we also come to them with gameplay problems we need to solve, and then we work together, bounce ideas back and forth, almost every week. We’re partners in this, rather than just doing what they tell us.
We’re very psyched to expand the world of Avatar, and I know they’re very excited about what we’ve been doing. I know that they want to take some of our designs and propose them to James Cameron for the next movies – so it’s a very, very organic relationship.
We’ve heard how James Cameron likes to have every item (like baskets or knives) in his films have an actual physical version. Did you take a similar process to the game? How did you approach the cultural items of the Na’vi and the fauna of Pandora?
Greuli: When we design something, we first of all do a lot of research – because everything that we do for the franchise is based on something that already exists. For example, designing a weapon, we start with research and sketches, but then actually create a 3D model that we can review from 360 degrees. Because, especially with stuff we designed for the game, players can experience it interactively. If we put a landmark in the world, you can actually go and experience it.
So we know from the very, very early days that we’re trying to get everything in the engine as fast as possible, starting out from the very first like very white boxes just to fill the space, just to feel the scale of the prop, or the character model inside – how do they fit in the world?
We’re working very iteratively, and that’s what the media allows us, because we have access to the engine and, whatever we design, we can quickly put it inside and iterate, and iterate, with our partners at Lightstorm.
Alongside From the Ashes, the main game will receive a huge update that makes the entire experience playable in third-person.
I wanted to ask about the third-person mode. At the start of the game’s development, did you have in mind that it might be an option at some point? And how did you take into account the world, and exploration, feeling different in third-person?
Greuli: I mean, that’s something where designing such a realistic world helps us, right? Even though the main game was first-person, we created the world for first-person, but because it’s such a believable world, we’re actually designing it like real sets. So, going to third-person, first of all, helps us experience this world from a completely different perspective. But because it’s already built with the correct metrics, we didn’t have to redesign the world from scratch. Everything is designed to be coherent with, I can say, real-world metrics.
We had to revisit some things, especially from hazards, like some of the finishers and gameplay needs. But the world itself was already there. You can actually seamlessly switch between first person and third, and us creating this world with a realistic, grounded foundation helped us achieve this.
You mentioned the fire affecting the world and changing throughout the experience. Can you dig into that a little more, and what that iteration process looks like? What did having this world you already created allow you to do from a thematic perspective?
Greuli: In From the Ashes, like the main game, we really wanted to push the world exploration. It’s like the first time you step into Pandora as your Sarentu character. This is the narrative of the game and its intention: to go into Pandora for the first time.
But From the Ashes is a much more story-driven action-adventure experience, so we wanted to support the narrative and gameplay needs with the world. So’lek, as a character, knows the world. So instead of introducing new regions and stuff we’d done in the main game, we went a slightly different path, where we shape the world to support his journey – to support the player’s journey together.
So we’re dynamically changing the world. When you start the expansion, it’s all beautiful and lush. It’s gorgeous. But the darker the story goes, the more the antagonists come out, we’re actually dynamically in real-time changing the world. You’ll see the world change in front of you.
That’s something that both us from the art side, but also the tech people, work very closely to make sure it’s achievable, on such a big scale. I think at the peak of the fires happening in the world, you can fly on your Ikran and maybe 30 percent of the world is on fire. And the cool thing is it’s progressing, it’s not like burnt at one point. No, the more you go, some areas are on fire, then you go back to them later in the campaign, and they’re ashen. Then, at some point, you can see regrowth. You can see Pandora fighting back – and big chunks of the world are going through this transformation.
The Ash Clan is led by three distinct villains, each of which you’ll have to face down in their own boss battle.
There’s a big focus on the Ash Clan in this, or the Mangkwan. I have to ask, because Ubisoft has Far Cry, which is so known for its villains. Did you look at Far Cry as an example, or how would you compare the villains of From the Ashes?
Greuli: Obviously, we’re looking to other games for inspiration, because we’re gamers, right? But we want From the Ashes to be From the Ashes. We don’t want it to be “This is Far Cry but with blue people.” It’s very different; the core mechanics and systems are very different. And also narrative-wise, they’re very different.
Together with the gameplay teams and narrative teams, we work on those villains to make them feel unique – make sure they fit our gameplay needs. Because all of the From the Ashes bosses you’ll fight are very different. They have their distinct personalities and visuals, but they also have to be very different boss fights and moments.
For example, one of the boss fights will be on your Ikran flying, and the boss is flying. Then the sniper boss, she’ll have her own unique moment in the game fighting her. That was our goal, and I think we achieved it – and they’re all still tied to the movie because they’re part of the Mangkwan warband in Fire and Ash.
Bringing back the protagonist of Frontiers of Pandora, Sarentu, as a non-playable character is an interesting choice. Why was that something you wanted to do?
Greuli: We wanted to do this because we know that our fans love the characters that they’ve created. So we wanted to give them the chance to interact with their characters from So’lek’s perspective.
For us, this wasn’t even a discussion; we needed to show these characters players had created and they love through the expansion, but you’re seeing them from a different perspective. It was a must-have, and we at Massive are also very attached to the character. They’ll be heavily present in the story and work together with So’lek.
Have you ever played Persona 2? I ask because that duology switches protagonists similarly.
Greuli: Yes, I have. But we’re not doing that for From the Ashes. You will see your character as a companion, and have a lot of intimate moments to see them grow.
The very landscape of the forest will change as you play From the Ashes.
Looking back on the release of Frontiers of Pandora and how much you’ve worked on and improved the game, how do you feel about its impact and legacy? We’ve seen a lot of cases of games having a big comeback, like No Man’s Sky. Do you feel like From the Ashes is that kind of moment for this game?
Greuli: I definitely hope so. When we started From the Ashes, we looked at player feedback – places like Reddit, YouTube, and Instagram. Comments like, we want third person, or more variety in combat, more story.
So we’re not just doing this expansion, we’re listening to our community. We have a very strong community who are big advocates of this game, and we want to give them what they ask for. We’re really aiming for that.
I really hope players enjoy it, and I think Frontiers of Pandora has already established itself as one of the most beautifully stunning open worlds. We received a lot of praise for our world, our characters, and our clan design. And I hope that From the Ashes and the third-person mode will help bring in new players who can experience this world. We want them to experience it.
