As Harry Potter gets older, and both films and books get darker, it's only natural that the computer games based on the teen wizard's adventures do the same.
Newsround's Neil Doughty took a trip behind the scenes at Electronic Arts where the games are made to find out how they bring the magic to your console or PC.
Most film fans know how directors, screenplay adapters, actors, special effects teams and many more people combine to bring the latest movie to the big screen.
But a computer game isn't that different, with animators, world creators, lighting, effects and the way you interact to drive the on-screen action all playing a big part.
For instance, the animators, who bring the characters to life had to try their hand at a bit of acting to make the best game they could.
They had people running on treadmills, waving fake wands and even going for a (very cold!) swim in a lake to make sure everything moved in the right way.
The dragon had to be animated twice
|
They also wanted to make sure the characters moved in a more realistic and grown-up way in this fourth Potter game - with a more mature world created for the entire game.
The animators also got some help from the film producers with a sneak peak at the dragons, but that didn't turn out as well as it could have done!
The dragon in the game turned into a fantastically graceful beast in flight, but when they saw the moving version later from Warners, it didn't fly quite like theirs.
So Electronic Arts had to animate the dragon all over again even though they really liked their one, to make a dragon closer to the one you'll see in the film.
All those characters and creatures need something to move around in, and that's down to the world building team, who, with the help of some early artwork from the film, were able to create Harry's world.
And that in-game world is much more cinematic than the previous three versions of Potter games.
The Blast-Ended Skrewt is only in the game, not the film
|
Lighting plays a big part of that atmosphere, as well as providing clever little in-game clues now and then that may be useful if players get a little bit stuck.
But while the game does try to ape the film version of Goblet of Fire there was also the chance to include some beasties that didn't quite make the final cut on the big screen.
Blast-Ended Skrewts (both young ones and extremely large ones) show up to give Harry, Ron and Hermione a hard time, as do new nasties the Erklings.
Until now they've only been in JK's Fantastic Beasts and Where To Find Them, but you'll have to watch out for them as they're very sneaky and love hiding in the shadows.
But there is another similarity between the film and the game version of the Potter series - Electronic Arts have already started thinking about the fifth version - The Order of the Phoenix.
Home
E-mail this to a friend
Printable version
