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The Warriors - Recreation of Coney Island Feature
Jon Wilcox
13/10/2005
The home turf of The Warriors, TVG goes for a stroll through the coastal NYC suburb of Coney Island...
Stripped of its original character and racked by urban blight in the late 1970s, Coney Island is a lost, beachfront community forever trapped in time. If you are looking for part of the city that survived the Guliani administration, check out Coney Island next time on your next visit. If you canāt wait that long, get ready to take back the streets of old Coney in Rockstarās adaptation of The Warriors.
Though not known for adapting licensed properties, The Warriors marks a departure for Rockstar who is known for creating and developing games based on their own ideas. But the original founders of Rockstar (Sam, Terry and Dan) were all huge fans of the movie and have always felt that it is screaming out to be turned into a video game. The film has all of the elements - style, setting, story, themes ā“ that lend themselves fittingly to make a great game. Rockstarās approach this time is similar to how GTA redefined the action genre and Midnight Club 3 redefined the racing genre. The Warriors takes on the brawler and nothing on the current generation of consoles has successfully tackled this genre and taken it to the limit.
In the process of expanding the universe of the Warriors, Rockstar Toronto have constructed game play levels to include multiple layers of depth and detail that enhance the distinguishing properties of each environment. Each particular neighborhood represented in The Warriors is designed to capture all the local flavor that makes their indigenous characteristics known around the world. And because The Warriors is a historical license, Rockstar has built upon the onus of creating recognizable landmarks youāll encounter as a Warrior. By working with the local, on-site proprietors at Coney Island that own the rides, operate the freak shows and keep the Wonder Wheel turning, Rockstar is sure to deliver an unparalleled level of realism never before encountered in a film-to-video game adaptation.
āWe faced some real challenges basing The Warriors out of a real location. By remaining faithful to the layout, look and feel of each neighborhood, we could build a consistent that would work in each corresponding environment. It wasnāt enough to just show storefronts. We knew going in that if we got something wrong, fans of the film and anyone who knew the area would call us out.ā
To aid in their faithful recreation of Coney Island and NYC itself, Rockstar Toronto relied heavily on the in-house research department at Rockstar Games in New York. āItās pretty rare for a developer to have access to that level of raw material from which to draw inspiration. If we ever needed something - a texture, manhole cover, specific signage - we had instant access to an enormous database of photographs, found images, textures, etc. all painstakingly assembled and organized. And if that failed, we would just send someone down by the day we needed assets to take digital photographs. It might sound trivial, but the things you find on the sidewalks of Chinatown are way different than what youāll find in Soho, or in this case, Coney Island.ā
The neighborhood of Coney Island has undergone dramatic changes over time, but still retains its roots in the 1940s postwar era when the beaches offered a much needed getaway from the rat race life afforded by the streets and avenues of Manhattan and Brooklyn. Thousands would flock to the beach to ride the rides, swim in the ocean or a pool by the seaside or loiter under the boardwalk. Beginning in the 50s, disenfranchised youth greased back their hair and joined street gangs all of which converged on the boardwalk at Coney. By the mid-70s, black and Puerto Rican gangs had taken over. By that time the city was bankrupt and unable to deal with major issues like vandalism and a failing infrastructure, so it turned its back on this historical landmark replacing its former glory with dilapidation and ruin.
In the past 5 years, renewed enthusiasm for the history of New York and its many unique neighborhoods has benefited the people and landscape of Coney Island. Artists have been commissioned to paint new signage for the area and plans for new development may open the door towards a new era for Coney. But before this past fades too far from memory, Rockstar hopes to capture all of the thrill and excitement upon seeing the film for the first time and bring a little bit of old New York back to life. Letās take a look at some of the specific ways Rockstar Toronto has captured Coneyā¦
Coney 1979
Not a safe place at night, barb wire fencing protects most areas against intruders. These fences are impossible to jump and are always chained down with a heavy duty steel lock. Even back alleys are protected by barb wire to prevent the junkies and bums from climbing onto a crate and jumping into someoneās back yard. Boarded up windows prevent access to buildings that have been abandoned for decades that now lie empty and quiet.
In order to help capture all the essence of Coney, Rockstar Toronto has put a lot of effort integrating vintage ads into the background texture of the game to add to the overall sense of realism. By recreating vintage turn-of-the-century murals, each part of Coney is populated with advertising the type of advertising only found in the neighborhoods of NYC. Throughout the development of The Warriors, Rockstar has pursued unique, vintage product placement from classic brands in order to further enhance this overall sense of realism. By strictly featuring ads from the 70s, Rockstar Toronto is bound to have more than a few surprises in The Warriors.
Artifacts and relics of the past also remain standing in this ultra-faithful adaptation. Ticket booths, individually placed signs and unique lighting set ups add a level of individual character per environment.
Coney Island is known for its really, really diverse architecture. Typically, garage based storefronts house concessions and carnival attractions. In the summertime, signs for these attractions draw crowds to cheer and rally around a water gun race, basketball shoot or shooting gallery. Strongmen try and ring the bell with a sledge hammer competing for oversized stuffed animals all jacked up on cotton candy.
Even the freak show at Coney Island, also known as Sideshows by the Seashore is represented in all of its hand-painted glory. The Coney Island museum run by the unofficial mayor of Coney Island and friend of Rockstar, Dick Zigun is also represented on the top floor. Dick not only produces the Sideshow, but the Mermaid Parade - Americaās Largest Art Parade. For more info, check out coneyisland.com.
Landmarks
First opened on June 26, 1927, the Cyclone and many of its rides are national, historic landmarks now protected from demolition by the US government. Icons of a bygone era, these towering monuments to the early days of thrill seeking remain standing to this day. When the Warriors bop around Coney, the Wonderwheel is usually somewhere in the background.
The Cyclone is a monumental, wooden-tracked twister that has been lovingly maintained. Consistently ranked near the top ten of every roller coaster top ten list published, the Cyclone is the heart and soul of Coney Island and Rockstar is incredibly excited about bringing having these landmarks as a part of The Warriors. The ability to feature these landmarks in The Warriors not only adds to the overall authenticity, but raises the expectation of the casual gamer who would have never expected to see them in the game.
Locals
Close to the train, residents of Coney Island and people that grew up there know their turf. The train passes by every ten minutes and Coney is the last stop on the line. The cops sit under the elevated platform just waiting for a gang to rumble through Coney and stir up trouble. Those that choose to wander through Coney at night are bound to find anything they might be looking for lurking in the shadows. Drugs, weapons and spray paint are all available on the street. Just find the right guy and heāll sell it cheap. The Warriors know how to survive the rough streets of Coney and donāt need to stay warm by lighting a trashcan fire.
Bums rustle through trash looking for anything to sell as the sound of police sirens wail in the distance, newspapers blow through the breeze and all you can hear is the sound of footsteps walking on broken glass. Stay alert because who knows when your turf will be invaded next. The Warriors always have to check their burners (large graffiti pieces that take up an entire wall) and make sure another gang hasnāt tagged over one of them.
TVG will have further coverage on The Warriors shortly; the game itself will be released on October 21st for Xbox and PlayStation2.
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