As motion capture technology has advanced in the world of video game development, actors and technicians have looked for ways to fill fake stages with objects and scenery that can motivate the actors' performances. In games like Star Wars OutlawsActors are tasked not only with acting out dramatic scenes, but sometimes also with creatures large and small for which a human cannot easily be replaced.
One of these creatures in Outlaw is Nix, a one-of-a-kind axolotl-like creature called a “merqaal” who aids player character Kay Vess (played by Humberly González) in her heists and joins her for delicious meals from traveling vendors across the galaxy. With Nix attached to Vess's side, how could González ever deal with a small creature that didn't exist in the real world?
One word: Puppets. Or, more specifically, a four-legged puppet with bulging eyes and fake gills, built and flown by Camille Loiselle-D'Aragon. And as you can see in the video above, he and Loiselle-D'Aragon make a fantastic acting duo.
A simple puppet gives actors something to work against.
There’s an infamous joke in the visual effects world about actors whose only scene partner is sometimes “a tennis ball” or other object used to mark the eye line of imaginary characters. Motion capture technology and ever-improving visual effects can bring some interpersonality back into a scene, but having no entities to interact with can be a daunting task.
While González told Game Developer in a Gamescom conversation that he has a lot of experience working with “nothing,” having a puppet on hand was invaluable. As you can see in the footage above, Loiselle-D’Aragon gave González not only a view, but also the ability to physically react to whatever the actress was saying, helping her to react back. Additional Video published by Ubisoft offers an in-depth look at how Loiselle-D'Aragon could sneak into scenes and improvise with her co-star.
This is a surprisingly simple model, with the tendrils around the head nicely representing Nix's gills, something Vess would interact with as he petted Nix on the head.
Nix may not be a Muppet, but he joins the ranks of many, many incredible puppets created for the Star Wars series. It simply demonstrates how a little bit of felt and fabric from planet Earth can help build a galaxy far, far away.