How Do They Do That?: Ferrari GT on Windows phone

Hi, I’m Gian Wilson – Gaming Product Manager in Microsoft’s Mobile Communications Business.  I plan to keep you up to date with what is going on in the world of Gaming on Windows phone, and from time to time I’ll have some guest bloggers write some stuff as well.

This installment is from our good friends over at Gameloft. This is the first in the “How Do They Do That?” series and explains how Ferrari GT made its way on to Windows phone! 

Enjoy!

Who hasn’t dreamed of driving a Ferrari car? They are the benchmark when it comes to outstanding vehicles, and here at Gameloft, we wanted to give everyone the opportunity to drive one in the most realistic mobile game possible. Anytime and anywhere, all you have to do is use your Windows mobile phone to enter the world of the most famous car brand.

To create a 100% Ferrari game we worked close with Ferrari’s engineers. Every car in the game is a Ferrari, even the traffic cars you pass on the road are in fact Ferrari 412s, a model from 1985.

Our game designers went to various locations such as Rome, Madrid, Los Angeles and New York City to accurately recreate these famous settings for each race, bringing you fully detailed environments.

You may think that small details are not needed when remodeling a car for a phone-sized screen, but the truth is that every car in the game has been modeled in complete high-definition 3D rendering before being re-sized to fit on your screen. Every car model was then individually submitted to the Ferrari engineer that created it, and was reworked until the engineer was satisfied with the virtual appearance of his creation.

For example, take a look at these 3D models for the Ferrari Testarossa:

Nice isn’t it? Well, that’s where the Testarossa you play in the game comes from!

Finally, we succeeded in creating the most realistic Ferrari game, but the spirit was still missing. What makes Ferrari is its heart and its history. So, we spoke to our contacts at Ferrari and obtained authorization to use the original Ferrari encyclopedia to add facts and information to every loading screen, bringing you the real story of the prancing horse company.

And all of this is now available for you on Windows Marketplace for Mobile.