Montréalités Gaming

"The truth is, Kyrat doesn't have a future," the truck driver said to Ajay as their supply vehicle pulled into the rebel militia's safe outpost. His words surprised me, because it was an idea that I had been thinking about as I played Far Cry 4.

The game was released in November 2014, developed by Ubisoft Montreal. It's a first-person shooter, open-world action/adventure game set in the fictional Himalayan country of Kyrat, which is in the middle of a civil war between a rebel group and the usurper king Pagan Min. Years into this war, the game's protagonist, Ajay Ghale, returns to the place he was born to scatter his mother's ashes at a place called Lakshmana, only to discover that both sides of the conflict have been waiting for him.

I was a stranger to the Far Cry series before taking and interest in its latest installment, but Far Cry 4 called my attention because it looked like it was doing things differently from the usual first-person shooter narrative. Sure, it is still set within a war, but the American military aspect has been replaced; now it is a story about a man returning to a land that could have been his home, and that is struggling to find a future.

And I admit, the poster is hard to resist. The villain, Pagan Min, is front and center, with a James Bond bad-guy grin that lets you know you're going to enjoy taking him down.

©Ubisoft

In July 2012, after several years of working at Ubisoft Montreal, Patrick Plourde earned the chance to submit a pitch for a game of his own. Plourde had contributed to large-scale projects like Assassin's Creed and Rainbow Six: Vegas, but instead of pitching the next entry in either of the blockbuster series, he decided to make a much smaller, more personal game. Inspired by the indie movement in the industry, and interested in contributing his first non-triple-A title, Plourde came up with the idea for Child of Light.

©Tri-Crescendo, Namco

Fragile Dreams: Farewell Ruins of the Moon is a game for the Nintendo Wii that was released in 2009 by Namco-Bandai. It came and went without much fanfare. Even its creators knew it was a niche game: a post-apocalyptic video game without zombie/infected/soldier shooting, and no large selection of firearms, so they described it as an "atmospheric adventure". Fragile Dreams focused on story. It's main character goes on a quiet, contemplative journey across a desolate world, battling the ghosts of its previous inhabitants.

Although it misses a lot of the marks 'proper' games are known for, it succeeds in one of the aspects that set video games apart from other entertainment mediums: it creates a solid sense of place.

The gaming scene in Montreal is among the liveliest and most relevant in today's global video game industry. In fact, the city boasts over 100 studios currently working on games for PC, consoles, and mobile devices. Why is Montreal such an attractive game development locale? A talented workforce, sound funding program, and multicultural climate make it one of the best places to open up shop for any game-loving entrepreneur.

So you're writing a story-- Whether it's for a short story or --especially-- for a script movie or game script, you're pretty much going to want to have a couple of characters to do something in it. There is a huge variety of functions characters can serve, and even what they can be. There are so many possibilities and no set way, no hard-and-fast rules, to go about it that starting looks daunting. Characters, like people, have a lot of facets, so creating a good character is a process that takes a lot of trial to find which elements work and which don't. Here are a few tips to get you started:

If you've ever ventured out on December 26, you've probably seen lines of eager shoppers, coffee in hand, eyeing the double doors of the store with a kind of militant zeal. The frenzy as the opening hour strikes and customers head briskly toward aisles laden with discounted merchandise. The occasional pushing and shoving as everyone evaluates the number of boxes on the shelf and the number of hands reaching for them.

It's an unfortunate reality for some, but an irresistible opportunity for others. Video game stores in particular are always full of avid customers looking for great deals on entertainment products. Consoles, headsets, controllers, and even recently released games have their prices slashed on Boxing Day, and everyone wants in. If you're new to the gaming world, it's easy to be overwhelmed by the multitude of products on display. Here are some helpful tips to make your shopping more effective next holiday season:

Fiction is an important part of society. Stories have captivated people's imagination for ages, with high emotions that mirror our lives and make them seem larger at the same time. They have been told at gatherings around fires at night, and stone stages where all actors wore masks, and projected into 47-feet-tall screens.

Nowadays movies, tv shows, books, and games are created in the hopes that their story will be the next big thing, so that people talk about them and eagerly await the next instalment. But there's a subset of fans who are unsatisfied with simply watching, reading, or playing, and take these stories into their own hands to expand them. Writing new scenarios with or drawing the characters, expanding on what's already there, fandoms have been growing for decades. With the new way the internet has allowed us to communicate, fan creativity has been gaining more notoriety.

The city is quiet as I exit the metro at Place St-Henri. I walk a block or two and come to a large building in front of which Jean-Richard Beaudry, Compulsion Games' 3D animator, is standing. He greets me and we begin the walk up a loud metal staircase and eventually emerge in a wide hallway. We walk past several doors until we come to a gray one with the Compulsion logo next to it.

The first thing I notice as I enter the studio is how much it feels like a large living room. There are no cubicles, but rather large desks cluttered with books, figures, coffee cups and bonsai trees. Besides a conference area and a small kitchen, there aren't any distinct rooms. Computers line the walls, but the centre space is dedicated to a TV and a bright red couch. Some Contrast merchandise decorates the studio, a reminder of Compulsion's debut in the games industry. Beaudry had turned all the monitors off prior to my arrival so as to make sure I don't get an accidental peak at the developers' currently unannounced title.

The land called Morrowind is a hostile place. A volcano reigns over its center, covering large swaths of the land in ash. Mushrooms grow taller than trees, and the ruins of an ancient civilization lie among the mountains. The people are hardy and set in their ways; you will be deemed an outlander. It's a cheap trip, though; you can go there for as low as $10. Darya Makarava went there for free, and never wanted to leave.

Jean-Richard Beaudry is a 3D animator who has worked at several video game studios in Montreal. At 27 years of age, he's witnessed much of how video games evolved, and is as excited as ever to contribute to such a dynamic branch of entertainment. Now, he's a part of an ever-growing trend in the industry: indie games.

As a child, Beaudry watched and rewatched characters flesh themselves out on screen as they pranced around in The Lion King or floundered wildly in Toy Story. He also dove into games like Super Mario Bros. and Donkey Kong Country for hours on end. "I always liked to play with stories and characters," he says, "whether it was role playing or drawing, there was always something about giving life to a persona that I enjoyed." Beaudry confessed that he got the idea for studying animation when he cleaned out his room and stumbled upon pen-and-paper flipbooks he had made as a boy.