Composing for Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon Wildlands: Alain Johannes
Among the many elements that create a full video game experience, music plays an important role. It is said to contribute more than half of the player’s feeling of immersion, and that’s why the Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon Wildlands (GRW) team sought the best artists to compose the game’s soundtrack. This lead GRW’s Music Supervisor, Manu Bachet, and Audio Director, Ghislain Soufflet, to reach out to Alain Johannes, an amazing artist and star of the Californian rock stage, known for his work with bands like Queen of the Stone Age, Mark Lanegan, and PJ Harvey. Alain Johannes invited three of his friends to take part in the recording sessions: bassist Nick Oliveri (Queens of the Stone Age, Kyuss, and Mondo Generator, to name a few) and drummers Joey Castillo (Queens of the Stone Age, Mark Lanegan) and Norm Block (Sweethead, Plexi).
Watch the video below for an insider’s glimpse of the recording sessions that took place in Los Angeles, California. Learn more about Alain and the composing process for the Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon Wildlands soundtrack by reading the interview below!
Alain, thanks a lot for joining us for this interview – we’re really happy to have you here. Before we go any further, can you tell us what your story with music is?
It’s a long story! (laughs) I started music very young, and I remember music before anything else. I’ve lived a long life so far and I was able to be creative and be blessed to be with amazing artists and find myself in situations where I’ve been a part of some pretty amazing bands. There’s also been some rollercoaster rides in my life in many ways, and music was always saving me.
Manu and Ghislain contacted you to compose for Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon Wildlands. You have a lot of experience in many creative fields, but it was actually the first time you were asked to compose for a game. What was it like?
I had this romantic vision of being a composer in a movie where you get to be part of it from the beginning. Composing for a game is like a massive movie: this amazing relationship between sound and visuals, that are like interlocked... the open world and the vistas, the different emotional tonalities, the danger, the freedom of going wherever you want… it’s such a wild breath of musical expression that is possible, it’s really amazing, it pushes you to do the right thing.
The exciting part for me was to be able to react naturally and to improvise a lot on the game images, like Neil Young did for the movie Dead Man. With Manu and Ghislain, and also Nick, Joey, and Norm, we were blessed and lucky for everything to happen. It’s an open dialogue about an approach. The tone and the feel of it was always right. We recorded more than 10 hours of music and the reason that worked is that everyone was focused on how to make this great. You were able to feel a great chemistry between all of us.
For those who don’t know them, can you please introduce Joey Castillo, Nick Oliveri, and Norm Block, the other members of the band, to us?
In thinking about the chemistry, when I had to choose who I wanted to play with, I immediately though of Nick, Joey, and Norm. Joey was in Queens of the Stone Age with me and we’ve worked together on many different projects with this amazing chemistry. I met Nick when my band Eleven was opening up for Queens of the Stone Age in 1999. We became very friends. He’s an incredible bassist, guitar player, composer, and singer. Norm is an amazing drummer. He played with Sweethead, Mark Lanegan… I just had the feeling that it was unusual to have two drummers but I thought those two would complement each other.
With Manu and Ghislain, we were like this stone rocker family and we had this chemistry that would come with us: this ability to understand the situation and be able to react in the moment. There was this amazing natural thing that happened. We get started, watch some gameplay, we come up with a little piece of music to start, and then we’d immediately go in and then jamming to it and then record straight away and find our way. It was quite an amazing feeling to have three other people reacting together. We became this one big musician, a four-headed musician.
Alain, you are a multi-instrumentalist. How many instruments did you use for the soundtrack?
Most of the sound textures for the game are based on acoustic instruments: charango, cigarbox guitar, flamenco guitar, percussions of all different kinds… at some points some wood flutes, cello, upright bass, viola… and I’m sure I’m forgetting some! Ah, we also had that shaman drum that you play with a rabbit’s foot, some dried leaves… there are so many different things in my house! I think we picked the right palette for this game.
What’s your favorite track so far?
Oh, it’s really hard for me! I really enjoy the sunrise and the vista tracks. As these moments are very short in real life, we need to come in with a story in a minute. I also remember the chases, all the stuff with the vehicles. That’s why having two sets of a drums was very impactful.
Do you have any message to give the Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon fans?
I hope that you guys enjoy this amazing world and also that the music is part of the big inspiration and excitement of playing the game. Just enjoy and have a good time – it’s gonna be amazing!
Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon Wildlands will be available on March 7, 2017, for PlayStation®4 system, Xbox One, and PC.
The Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon Wildlands original soundtrack is now available for pre-order on the iTunes store.
For more intel on Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon Wildlands, please keep an eye on GhostRecon.com and be sure to visit our official forums and subreddit.
From the get-go to El Sueño: mission structure
The Bolivia of Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon Wildlands is at the center of the game experience. In order to make Operation Kingslayer a success, players will be able to experience total freedom of choice in a world-driven setting, where the objective is to stop all Santa Blanca Cartel activities and reach the leader, El Sueño. To do so, more than a hundred story missions are available to the players, but how do you get from one mission behind enemy lines to another, with no operation base? This subject was one of the main questions the development team had to answer. In order to do so, Dominique Leblanc, our Campaign Content Director, and his team took a world-driven approach.
The foundations of the world were the first things designed in the game: how Bolivia is structured, what the topography is like, where would the villages or fields be located, etc. In a second time, the team laid down the rules for the organization of the four cartel operations (Production, Smuggling, Security, and Influence), based on Bolivia’s geography. Once all this work was done, the structure of the world and structure of the cartel helped determine the way missions are designed for the game.
The Santa Blanca Cartel has a very hierarchical structure. The Ghosts have to take down each of the four operations of the cartel before getting to El Sueño. To do so, each operation is led by a buchon, who manages a group of cartel bosses.
The players can start with a mission related to Production, but can also explore the world, change the angle of attack, or get to a Security mission. In addition to the game’s main thread, the player can also choose to reinforce the power and influence of the rebel group, also known as the Kataris 26, by helping them when exploring the world and doing side-missions. In return, the rebel group can show up as reinforcements when the Ghosts need them. With the total freedom of choice that the game offers, players can progress at their own pace, explore the world, and do the +100 story missions in any order they want.
Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon Wildlands will be available on March 7, 2017, for PlayStation®4 system, Xbox One, and PC.
For more intel on Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon Wildlands, please keep an eye on ghostrecon.com and be sure to visit our official forums and subreddit.
THE VEHICLES OF THE WILDLANDS
In Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon Wildlands, the development team gives you more than 60 vehicle options to aid you in crossing the vast, open world of Bolivia.
An uninterrupted road network spans the entire country. As asphalt roads only link large cities, most roads in Bolivia are dirt and require off-road driving. Of course, not all vehicles are designed for this purpose. Some of the roads are also among the world’s most dangerous, such as the Death Road located in the Yungas. Roads are only one way to reach your objectives. You also can decide to cross rivers, lakes, or even mountains.
Whether you prefer to use land, air, or water vehicles is up to you to decide!
LAND Being part of a living open world, your Ghosts will frequently encounter civilians following their own schedules and crossing the country with their old Asian-model cars, vans, or even SUVs. Motorbikes also are a fine choice for many inhabitants to travel through the various ecosystems of the map while passing through local industries, businesses, or towns.
In the meantime, the Santa Blanca Cartel, your main enemy in Ghost Recon Wildlands, is prepared for any occasion and favors pickups or armored SUVs to chase the Ghosts or provide reinforcements. The cartel also has some unique vehicles that you may come across while exploring the world, such as supercars or the infamous Killdozer.
The Unidad, the local military force acting on the cartel payroll, uses a large and impressive array of vehicles to stay in control of the country. This includes for instance off-road buggies, armored vehicles, or military bikes.
Some rare or unexpected vehicles are also available for you to find along your journey.
AIR Crossing Bolivia’s mountains can be a challenge. However, this is made easier by using one of the many air vehicles available. In order to transport cocaine in the most efficient way, the Santa Blanca Cartel uses small airplanes and helicopters that you can confiscate for your convenience.
However, Unidad truly dominates the airspace. If you commit any offense against them, they will come after you with increasing force. Before you know it, they can deploy helicopter transports to provide reinforcement or even call in rocket support. You have to be cautious of their massive strike force!
There are other helicopters the Ghosts can find that are used for transporting resources. If the Ghosts find one of these helicopters, they not only can benefit from the air transport, but also take the resources in order to help out the rebel forces.
WATER There will be times when you’ll find yourself needing to reach an island or cross lakes and rivers. Of course, you will be able to find some fishing boats around the villages, but they might not be sufficient enough to overtake cartel boats and their firepower.
Floating laboratories, as well as special operations RIB boats or gunboats, can also be found on the waters of Bolivia.
In Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon Wildlands, you’ll be able to explore any part of the massive open world with any vehicle that you want. Every vehicle you see, you can drive!
Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon Wildlands will be available March 7, 2017, on PlayStation®4 system, Xbox One, and PC.
For more intel on Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon Wildlands, please keep an eye on ghostrecon.com and be sure to visit our official forums official forums and subreddit.
El Muro, The Wall
El Muro (The Wall), the head of security for the Santa Blanca cartel, is also El Sueño’s childhood best friend and personal bodyguard. Cold, highly trained, and professional, he could be considered the cartel equivalent of a Ghost.
Francisco Ricardo was born in poverty and grew up on a farm next to the huge mansions belonging to the drug lords. Life was ruthless there, and El Muro would say about his birth, “They cut my umbilical cord with a shard from a broken cocaine mirror.” His friend El Sueño left the village when he was 11 years old, and El Muro followed him soon after, joining the Mexican military and rising through the ranks. These days, El Muro provides protection for the Santa Blanca cartel, making sure that every division can operate in safety by taking care of issues ranging from the Kataris 26 rebels to the Unidad forces.
Our narrative director, Sam Strachman, says, “El Muro is a beast. This is a guy who has his people pass a polygraph before they get their paychecks each month. And if they fail … yeah. Don’t fail.”
Prepare yourself for the mission and read more about the Santa Blanca cartel members. You can check out more profiles by following this link.
Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon Wildlands will be available March 7, 2017, on PlayStation®4 system, Xbox One, and PC.
Let us know what you think about the Santa Blanca Cartel on our official forums and subreddit. Also, make sure to keep your eyes on ghostrecon.com for upcoming announcements and news!
El Yayo, The Grandfather
Rudolfo Yana, aka El Yayo (the Grandfather), is a man willing to work with anyone to protect his people. Some would call him a traitor, but others would define him as a true survivor.
El Yayo was a coca union leader, but his ambition quickly led him to become a major drug producer in Bolivia. He first organized the cocaleros into a medium-level cocaine production operation. But when the Santa Blanca cartel set its eyes on his country, they threatened El Yayo’s family and he was forced to work for them. He’s currently the highest ranking Bolivian in the organization.
El Yayo prefers making deals over resorting to violence, but his traditional values could become a problem if the drug production demand continues to grow. Under pressure, El Yayo will have to choose where his loyalty lies.
According to our narrative director, Sam Strachman, "El Yayo is interesting because he works for Sueño as a way to protect his family and his country. He doesn’t produce cocaine by choice. He does it because it’s the only way to keep his people alive. At the same time, he has this attitude of, 'If you want me to stop making it, then you should tell people to stop buying it.'"
Prepare yourself for the mission and read more about the Santa Blanca cartel members. You can check out more profiles by following this link.
Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon Wildlands will be available March 7, 2017, on PlayStation®4 system, Xbox One, and PC.
Let us know what you think about the Santa Blanca Cartel on our official forums and subreddit. Also, make sure to keep your eyes on ghostrecon.com for upcoming announcements and news!
Providing realistic shooting sensations with Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon® Wildlands
With more than 50 entirely customizable weapons, the weapon creation process in Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon Wildlands is a central element in the game’s development. In order to allow the player to handle the most realistic weapons possible, many passionate and dedicated teams from Paris and Bucharest collaborate on this subject. These teams are made of game designers, gameplay programmers, FX artists, and sound designers.
Research is done by the game designers. They collect all the information they can find about a given weapon, thanks to multiple sources and especially regular contacts with the Ubisoft Authenticity team at RedStorm Entertainment: version types, dimensions, caliber, manufacturing materials, coating, moving parts, compatible attachments, interior parts...and also gather true weapon demonstration videos.
The team also had the opportunity to go to a shooting range to try the game’s weapons under real-life conditions, and feel how the weapon’s rate of fire, weight, recoil or sound works. According to Mihai Zorca, Technical Director at Ubisoft Bucharest: "No matter how detailed pictures can be, holding a weapon, examining its parts up close, firing it, gives you a different perspective on the models you’re about to create."
A Ghost Recon Wildlands team member tries out an assault rifle at the range.
Next is the selection of the weapons that will be in the game. “The weapons are first chosen to answer a gameplay need: we want to determine which kind of weapon the player will need depending on their playstyle (stealth, recon, assault…) or the uses they will have in game (suppression, anti-vehicle…)” explains Pierre Hornez, Game designer at Ubisoft Paris. Then, the game designers choose the final weapons depending on three criteria:
- Realism: does it make sense to find this weapon in this context,
- Difference between weapons, to ensure a variety of choice for the player,
- And finally the “coolness factor,” which aims to determine if this weapon in interesting for the player, depending on its look and feel and the sound it makes.
When combined, these three criteria ensure a coherence in the choice on the weapons that can be found in the game, both in terms of authenticity and fun.
Once selected, the work on the weapon creation itself can finally begin. Many teams work at the same time to give life to a weapon. Each job family adds specific functionality to the 3D models, like pieces in a puzzle.
The art teams handle all the visual aspects of the weapon: the modelers create the 3D model of the weapon, before adding the textures and visual effects. The animators generate the most realistic animation for each weapon, and collaborate with the programmers, who create the code for the weapon’s behaviors, by including the recoil and the AI behavior, among other things. Concurrently, the sound teams add sound effects, such as the gunshot and reloading sounds, and implement the sound propagation in the different environments of the open world (echo, reverberation, etc.).
Next comes the testing phase. The weapon model is imported into the game editor, where the testers make sure the weapon is rendered correctly, that animations and handling are working fine, that the special effects are being played correctly, that the weapon is being showcased well in Gunsmith, etc. According to Mihai Zorca: “When looking at a weapon model, the first thing that you subconsciously notice is the proportions and the spaces. And I’m not only talking about the large main shapes of the weapon, but the hundreds of little details (screws, holes, indents, hinges, rings, locking mechanisms, etc.) that are each laid out with a certain technical or ergonomic purpose on a real weapon. Nothing is random! So we pay real close attention to these spaces and proportions when we create our models, and that gives us a solid and authentic working base.” Once the weapon is finally rendered in game, its model is sent to the weapon constructor for approval, in order to make sure authenticity is guaranteed.
Since the release of Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon: Future Soldier®, many improvements have been made to the Gunsmith. Players will of course have more weapons to customize, and also more attachments that increase the gameplay possibilities. Mix in official licensed camo patterns and a very close preview of the weapon so you can enjoy all the small details, and you have a glimpse of the new Gunsmith.
With the idea of giving more freedom to personalize the Ghost’s arsenal, you now have the option to paint each individual weapon part differently. This allows for more creativity and interesting color combinations to help you blend in better within the different environments of Bolivia. Another element the team is paying a lot of attention to is the signs of usage on the weapon materials. Bolivia’s harsh environments and the guerilla nature of the war against the cartel are taking their toll on the arsenal of the Ghosts, and the team developed a Dynamic Aging feature, which gradually simulates the effects of dust, powder, and grease on the weapon model and degrades the weapon’s coating the more you use it in-game.
Dynamic Aging demonstration on three weapons, respectively M9, Stoner LMG A1 and P416.
If you want to know more about the Gunsmith and its features, read our Gunsmith 101 article. Also, for a more detailed look on the different weapons that you will be able to find in the game, have a look at our latest article.
Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon Wildlands will be available on March 7, 2017, for PlayStation®4 system, Xbox One, and PC.
For more intel on Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon Wildlands, please keep an eye on GhostRecon.com and be sure to visit our official forums and subreddit.
THE GHOST ARSENAL
A few months ago, we introduced to you a first overview of the Gunsmith features in Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon® Wildlands.
Weapon authenticity is at the very heart of the Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon Wildlands experience, and for the last four years we have been working with numerous experts to provide you with an extensive arsenal. Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon Wildlands is about choices. Your choices. To adapt to any situation and to your own playstyle, you will have a large variety of more than 50 different weapons at your disposal.
Assault Rifle
The Assault Rifle is often considered one of the best multi-purpose battlefield weapons. This well-balanced automatic rifle can adapt to almost any situation due to its limited weight and great accuracy. The Assault Rifle’s modularity makes for easy customization, giving you access to a variety of attachments, such as the grenade launcher.
Deep penetration ammo, combined with a high rate of fire, makes the assault rifle particularly formidable in close and medium-range combat.
805 Bren A2
Light Machine Gun
Light Machine Guns are high-powered, fully automatic weapons with a high round capacity. The operator can utilize the LMG to provide suppressive fire for teammates, forcing enemies to take cover. The Light Machine Gun suffers from limited accuracy, and a moment may be required to stabilize its fire; however, its deep penetration ammunition can devastate any target.
Light Machine Guns are designed for medium range gunfights, but remember to take cover to reload.
Stoner LMG A1
Submachine Gun
Handheld, lightweight machine guns, Submachine Guns are fully automatic weapons that offer great mobility and stability. Ideal for short range combat, Submachine Guns are useful when flanking enemies or performing aggressive assaults. Limited recoil makes the suppressor the perfect companion for this weapon. Though Submachine Guns may eliminate targets within a few seconds, they are ineffective at long range.
SR-635
Shotgun
The Shotgun is also an ideal weapon for short range gunfights. When firing shells loaded with multiple projectiles (shot), Shotguns can compensate for their poor accuracy with a large shot spread, making them especially useful in close quarters with single or multiple enemies. The skilled operator can make great use of them indoors, but be wary of the Shotgun’s high recoil.
SPAS-12 – Legendary Edition
Sniper Rifle
On the opposite side of the spectrum from the Shotgun, the Sniper Rifle is the ideal weapon for the elimination of long distance targets. Its telescopic sights give the operator greater accuracy. This surgical precision, combined with deep penetration rounds, make the Sniper Rifle a deadly tool for your arsenal. Sniper Rifles are useful for clearing guard towers and eliminating patrols before infiltrating an enemy outpost. Due to limited reload times, headshots are often preferable.
SR-25
Secondary Weapons
In Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon Wildlands, in addition to two primary weapons, the operator will carry a secondary firearm. Two options are available in this category: the compact machine gun and the handgun.
Compact machine guns are a “condensed” version of the SMG, focusing on mobility and an extremely high rate of fire. Muzzle control is an issue with this type of weapon, and the compact submachine gun’s accuracy is poor at long distances.
The handgun is a great secondary weapon in terms of mobility and handling, and they are often more precise than compact machine guns. There are several types of handguns, but generally speaking, they are particularly useful when infiltrating a facility or when caught reloading your primary weapon. Quickly deployed, handguns can be helpful in situations where reactivity is key. They are particularly formidable at short and medium ranges, but many handguns suffer from a low ammo capacity.
M9
In the vast and dangerous Open World, you, the operator, will decide whether you eliminate your enemies from the shadows, or if you will decimate them in an aggressive assault. Every weapon in your arsenal has its own strengths and weaknesses, and a large selection of attachments will allow for further customization, giving the operator the exact tools he or she needs to complete the mission.
Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon Wildlands will be available on March 7, 2017, for PlayStation®4 system, Xbox One, and PC.
For more intel on Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon Wildlands, please keep an eye on GhostRecon.com and be sure to visit our official forums and subreddit.
Ghost Recon Wildlands at E3 2016
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