E3 2014: Uncharted 4: Yes! Operation #WetHairCampaign Was A Success

Did you see it? And when I ask did you see it I mean did you notice it? I’m pretty sure every gamer has seen the Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End trailer at E3, but forget drop dead gorgeous graphics that no one believes is real anyway ( 🙂 lmboo) I saw something else that made me smile.

The hair gamers, yes the hair,  seems miniscule but is huge when you talk about believable immersion, did you see how the water physics now play it’s proper role — entirely, and affected Drake’s hair? It made me smile for a couple of reasons: One, it’s starting to show me there is hope for next gen, two I personally clamored for it.

I started the “#wethaircampaign” and it worked! What is the wet hair campaign you ask? Well…it is my desire to see not only Drake’s clothes get wet but his hair as well and trying to get Naughty to comply.

The #wethaircampaign was in effect way back when Uncharted 3 was first in development, I was at a Sony gaming event and upon seeing the Uncharted 3 demo that was on display, you know the one on the boat where Naughty showed off their boat physics; how it rocks back and forth in the waves thus causing Drake to sway realistically, all in real-time? Well  I voiced to one of the devs that they have all this detail but they should include Drake’s hair getting wet too. He hinted back then that the team didn’t want to mess with Drake’s signature looks. So it came off as conscience decision — not a overlook by the team; if so, hope for getting a wet-haired Drake was bleak.

But I didn’t give up, upon the start of the new generation and knowing Uncharted 4 was inevitable and knowing the new power the PS4 boasted I decided to try once again with my pitch, this time via a article entitled “Uncharted 4: I wanna start the wet hair campaign who’s with me?”  I even had Ace photoshop me a picture of a potential new look Drake for just such an occasion: 

In the article I saluted Naughty’s outstanding attention to detail, which has become a hallmark of the gaming worlds they create, it’s what makes them special. In fact from my recollection they were the first to make clothes get wet and not only get wet, but wet where it made sense, the problem however with going that route — which don’t  get me wrong I love and they should continue to do, opens you up for more criticism and more questions , like, why does a pants and a shirt become wet but not hair? And in this case that criticism, which is constructive by the way —  coming from me at least — more a suggestion actually, is reasonable and even directly related.

After the article was done I took to Twitter, Facebook and possibly other forms of social media to lobby other gamers to hit Naughty Dog’s Twitter handle with a retweet of my article and my intentions, half jokingly of course. So in comes  E3 and Sony debuts the very anticipated Uncharted 4 trailer in their stage presentation.

The very first glimpse we get to see of Drake  is a opening scene with him laid out,  seemingly washed up by a river bank, safe to say he’s in water with said water undoubtedly touching his precious hair follicles, would Naughty comply to my rules and demands? Lmbooo.

Yes, Yes they would! As I looked closer you could see the overall hair shifted out of position with the individual strands laid over and a change in texture, as it properly reacted to the water (as seen in this article’s feature pic).  And yes I would’ve liked to see a complete lay but I took into account a couple of things; he wasn’t fully immersed in the water and also it could be the type of hair texture he has that played a factor.

What I found very, very interesting in hindsight; a feature I’ve been pushing for years (even thought it might have made it’s way into ‘The Last of Us’ 🙁 ) is the very first thing I see, wasting no time in showing itself to me,  assuring me I would have to campaign no longer, it was as if Naughty Dog was saying  to me personally, “You see? We got you”.

A man can dream can’t he? And in this dream they may even  have had a meeting about it when it came to U4 and their E3 plans, if  they did I imagine it went a little something like this (Nothing to take serious folks, just for Entertainment purposes):

Neil Druckmann: Remember that guy who kept talking about the #wethaircampaign?

Bruce Straley: Yeah

Evan Wells: Yeah

Rest of Naughty Dog Team:   Yeah, Yeah Of course! We love him! We love and read everything he writes! He’s the best!  SchollA, from Console ControllUs right?

Neil Druckmann: Well, what if we let him know we’re listening and debut Uncharted 4 at E3 with the water scene we were working on?

Bruce Straley: Sounds good!

Evan Wells: Let’s do it!

Rest of Naughty Dog team: Sounds Genius! We need to thank him too for  the love and support

In all seriousness who knows if Naughty actually listened to me or if they already had it planned but it’s nice to know a feature I’ve always wanted is in the game now.

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