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Building Warframe: The Opticor
A Tenno weapon from concept to creation
Posted On 2015-02-12 20:04:58
Building Warframe: The Opticor

One of Warframe's greatest strengths is the variety of tools players have when choosing how take out the opposition. To that effect, Tenno Reinforcements often deliver new tools with radical functions different from anything else in the player arsenal.

The Opticor has been a well-received addition to Warframe since its release back in October, partly due to its impressively high damage and customizable rate of fire. Sending concentrated coherent light straight through enemies is also very satisfying.

But the plasma-charged Opticor wasn't always designed this way. Just like any part of Warframe, the Opticor had its own unique development cycle.

It starts with a rough concept of what the weapon should do. The Opticor was always intend to be a laser cannon, but there was a little debate on how it should perform. Should it deliver concentrated firepower? Widespread devastation through AoE effects? How long should it take to fire or reload such a weapon? While famous weapons like DOOM's BFG are evocative in the destruction they bring to the enemy, making sure any weapon we create stays within Warframe's established aesthetic is a top priority.

After some discussion, preliminary concepts were created with the goal of designing a weapon that fits a specific purpose. The goals set was vague with lots of room for interpretation. For the Opticor we had this direction:

• 'Very bulky and quite large'
• 'Lots of moving parts for interest'

Rooted in the Corpus aesthetic we can see each weapon ranges from bulkier versions of the Dera to completely unique designs. Every design has its own level of complexity, and the final product uniquely pulls from different designs to create a base for what the Opticor is.

Creating a good weapon isn't just about drawing something cool, but refining all existing concepts into something functional. As a quick example, when we compare each weapon prototype it's easy to see that some models would be easier for a Warframe to hold than others. Narrowing those choice bits down into a single gun helps our weapon modeller and animators when the time comes to make it fit in game.

Accompanying the design of the Opticor is a guide to how the weapon fires, with any moving parts or unique functions properly labeled. Some of these functions may seem obvious at-a-glance, but a key is handy in helping reduce any confusion surrounding the Opticor's fancy sci-fi reloading. This also helps our 3D modellers determine what parts of the weapon need to move, such as the 'heat vent' or 'center turbine'.

At this stage the Opticor has been given not only a design but a purpose: to fire a charged laser beam at the enemy. It may sound obvious, but it's a little-known fact that the Opticor was originally going to fire a beam with a much wider spread that split in multiple directions -- a design that was too close to Mirage's Prism.

With the fine details of the weapon cemented, the Opticor now moves onto our 3D modellers.

As with any 3D model, it's the artist's job to bring concept to life while staying as true to the spirit of the original artwork as possible. The Opticor doesn't look terribly complex at-a-glance, but there are a few details that make building the weapon tricky. Colored sections highlighted in the concept work need to move, so the 3D model needs to make sure details like the 'center turbine' are actually able to spin.

There's a delicate balance between creating a weapon fit on any character model while still giving it the size it needs to look and feel 'powerful'. We want anyone who wields the Opticor to feel like they have a weapon of incredible power in their hands. Time, patience, and a bit of scaling are required to make the laser cannon look just right.

Now that we have the completed model for the Opticor, other members of the development team can step in to bring the weapon to life. In addition to creating a unique reload animation for the weapon, animators now need to make sure the Opticor's moving parts actually move when fired. This is made easier by the art direction established earlier in concept.

Visual and sound effects are added at this point in development -- each with their own set of challenges.

Most obvious is the fact that a weapon like the Opticor doesn't really exist in the real world. What a laser cannon sounds like, or looks like, is up to creative interpretation. The end result is a weapon that combines the expected result of firing a massive laser, while at the same time creating unique and memorable particle trails.

Once firing animations and audio effects have been rigged, and damage values have been applied to the Opticor's attacks, the weapon is finally ready to be released to the hands of Tenno. The final product is the Opticor we know and love -- ready to dish out some laser-precise justice!

We hope you've enjoyed this behind-the-scenes look at the Opticor's creation. Be sure to keep an eye out for future editions of Building Warframe, where we take an inside look at what it takes to bring our Dark Sector of the gaming world to life.