GDC08: Madden inspired Far Cry 2

Seriously? Seriously. Ubisoft Montreal learned a valuable lesson from sports games, revealed Patrick Redding during a lecture on the narrative design of Far Cry 2. No, not that it's possible to sell millions of the same game year after year, but rather, games like Madden provide players with their own unique moments. Something big -- a game-winning catch -- can happen in Madden, and that particular event, and the specific elements that surround that key experience, become an epic moment in a player's mind. I created that -- it happened to me! The Far Cry 2 team is importing this concept into its free-form FPS and building a gameworld with unscripted highlights -- minus the Maddenisms.