Development of Red Dead Redemption 2
The story is set in 1899 in a fictionalized representation of the Western, Midwestern, and Southern United States and follows outlaw Arthur Morgan, a member of the Van der Linde gang.
Rockstar had tested the technical capabilities of the consoles when porting Grand Theft Auto V. Once the team had defined what limitations were sustainable, they found the areas that required the most focus.
Rockstar engaged Daniel Lanois to produce the original vocal tracks for the game, collaborating with artists such as D'Angelo, Willie Nelson, Rhiannon Giddens, and Josh Homme.
Houser performed read-throughs of the script on video conference calls with animation, art design, and gameplay directors from all of Rockstar's worldwide offices.
[12] Houser added the company would never expect or force any employee to work as long as was stated, and those staying late at the development studios were powered by their passion for the project.
[15] The company lifted its social media policies and allowed developers to speak about their experiences publicly; some supported Houser's statement, noting that conditions had improved since Grand Theft Auto V (2013) and they had never been asked to work 100-hour weeks, and others acknowledged crunch was present but not excessive.
Due to the salary-based nature of employment contracts, many of these employees were not compensated for their overtime work and instead depended on year-end bonus payments that hinged on the sales performance of the game.
A sentiment echoed across employee statements was working conditions had somewhat improved since Red Dead Redemption, and any attempts to boycott the game due to crunch reports would be harmful.
[15][18] By April 2020, employees reported that the company had made significant changes as a result of the publicity surrounding the work culture, and many were cautiously optimistic about Rockstar's future.
[2] Josh Bass, art director at Rockstar San Diego, felt the presence of gang leader Dutch van der Linde "loomed over" the original game.
He cited Uriah Heep, the fictional character from Charles Dickens's David Copperfield (1850), and some of the work of Arthur Conan Doyle as significant influences, as well as Henry James, John Keats, and Émile Zola.
Houser wanted some narrative elements to indirectly reflect contemporary events, noting "it's more this sensation that we found interesting in the 19th century that spoke to us, and I hope it speaks to people about today's problems".
[6] About five hours of the game were dumped before release, some of which featured a second love interest for protagonist Arthur Morgan and a mission taking place on a train with bounty hunters; according to Houser, they were removed as "they were never going to work technically or be quite slick enough, or they felt superfluous".
[21] The vistas in the open world were partly inspired by luminous paintings from artists such as Albert Bierstadt, Frank Tenney Johnson, and Charles Marion Russell.
Senior creative writer Michael Unsworth noted the ensemble was advantageous when writing the narrative as it helped to craft the story and added complexity to the game.
[7] Houser wanted to subvert the trope of the protagonist starting as weak and becoming stronger as the story progresses; Arthur is already tough at the beginning of the game and is "taken on a more intellectual roller coaster when his world view gets taken apart".
[6] Houser felt the decline of the American frontier has a deep impact on Arthur, noting he is "caught between the nastiness of nature and the brutality of encroaching industrialization in civilization".
Once the team defined the limitations, they determined areas requiring focus: according to graphics technical director Alex Hadjadj, "things like a global lighting solution, atmospheric effects, or post processing and presentation".
[34] Red Dead Redemption 2 allowed for about 10 times the amount of animations over Grand Theft Auto V due to the additional memory of the consoles.
[3] While Grand Theft Auto V required dense crowds in the city streets, Red Dead Redemption 2 demanded populated towns with identifiable characters.
Subtle animations were emphasized by the developers to make the world feel more believable; Rockstar upgraded its Euphoria physics engine[34] and completely overhauled its AI system for the first time in 17 years.
[36] One of Rockstar's goals with Red Dead Redemption 2's gameplay was to make the player feel like they inhabit a living world, instead of playing missions and watching cutscenes.
[2] A significant part of making the game world feel alive was to create routines for the gang members around camp, including activities and chores they partake in, and times of day they are awake.
[2] This was a system previously explored in Grand Theft Auto V, particularly with one of the protagonists' family home, and Houser cites inspiration from Red Dead Redemption's town of Chuparosa, full of characters performing minor tasks.
[2] The team considered the idea of the player being able to take camp members to different activities, such as fishing, but ultimately felt it led to more AI-like behavior instead of a realistic tone.
[39] He acquired a 1920s Gibson Mandobass used on Bullitt (1968) that recreated an "ominous" bell sound, ukuleles from Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969), and a nylon guitar used on Unforgiven (1992).
[42] Jackson estimated he changed the music about four times throughout development, from extreme experimentation to classic Western sounds, ultimately blending to make "something different".
[60][61] A trailer released on August 9 features the first gameplay footage, demonstrating the shooting and horse mechanics, and the ability to maintain the player's gang and camps.
[67] Rockstar updated the official Red Dead Redemption 2 website in the months prior to release to show a preview of activities and locales within the open world,[68] and an examination of the stories of the Van der Linde gang members.
[70][71] A companion app, released alongside the game for Android and iOS devices, acts as a second screen wherein the player can view in-game items such as catalogs, journals, and a real-time mini-map.
