Client
Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures
We were engaged to help promote Disney’s new animated comedy-adventure feature film Planes 2: Fire & Rescue.
The experience was featured in Odeon theatres and Disney stores throughout the UK.
Our Task
Develop a fun and immersive two player experience using Microsoft’s next generation Kinect depth sensing camera. The goal was for players to work together to successfully extinguish wildfires breaking out in Piston Peak National Park.
My Responsibilities
- Production Manager
- Lead Client Manager
- GUI Designer
- Sound Designer
- Cut Scene Creation
- Game Designer
In Detail
The two player experience lets players virtually become the stars of the movie – Dusty Crophopper and Dipper, using body gestures to control the movement of the two planes. Leaning left, right, forward and back controls the direction of the plane whilst bending your knees releases the water to extinguish the wild fires that threaten the national park.
It uses the new second generation Microsoft Kinect for Windows and is one of the first publically available experiences to use the new hardware. We were actually one of the first UK companies to receive the hardware whilst it was still in beta testing, which was perfect timing as it allowed us to use the new technology on this project and test out its tracking capabilities.
In addition to appearing in Odeon Theatres and Disney Stores nationwide it was also part of several overseas campaigns. We even helped integrate the experience into the side of a promotional fire truck. The fire truck travelled all over the UK to various festivals and airshows throughout the summer.
It was a huge amount of fun to be a part of this project. From working up the initial storyboards and user interface design, right through to the hours of play testing. My arms are still aching though!
