Early in the production of Marvel’s Wolverine Insomniac Games sent team members to Japan as part of a broader series of location-scanning trips. These trips involved sending our scanning team to various places around the world to record real-world assets, examine natural environments, and acquire an understanding of the real and fictional locations based on real-world biomes and cultures. This article concentrates on the most ambitious and satisfying scanning missions the team has carried out so far.
Japan scanning team left to right: Jonnathan Mercado, Christen Borras Alicea, Niina Taniguchi, Reiko Sekine, Chris Devens, Nathaniel Bell.
View and download image
Download the image
close
Close
Planning the route
A successful scanning trip starts long before anybody has gotten on a plane. There had been months of virtual location scouting and route planning, with huge help from our Sony Interactive Entertainment teams in Japan. The Marvel’s Wolverine environment team blocked out levels and put together detailed requests for assets and biomes. So, our task was to create a route that would give us tons of variety, capturing as many requests as possible within the limited time available.
Tokyo to Joetsu to Tsumago-Juku/Magome-Juku to Kyoto and back to Tokyo.
View and download image
Download the image
close
Close
On previous trips, we usually tried to minimize travel between scanning locations. Less travel means more time to scan, more time to back up data, and fewer chances for something to go wrong. Our plan for Japan was different. The environments we wanted to capture were spread across several distinct regions, so we committed more in-trip travel than we had ever attempted before.
We spent hours traveling down Japanese highways, playing “I spy,” debating whether hexagons are truly the best-a-gons, and buying mysterious drinks from roadside vending machines with very little questioning.
Why scan in Japan?
For a game like Marvel’s Wolverine, authenticity is built on many layers. High-resolution scans help capture the physical truth of a place: rock, bark, pavement, moss, metal, signage, soil, and all the small imperfections that make environments feel believable.
Scanning architecture to create modular art asset kits.
View and download image
Download the image
close
Close
But the value of a trip like this goes beyond the scan data. Being in Japan allowed the team to observe how structures are designed and constructed, how materials have weathered, and how local cultural details appear in the environment. Even when a location in the game is fictional, firsthand research gives artists a stronger foundation to build from. Location scanning helps us create places that feel grounded and thoughtfully inspired rather than worlds pieced together from generic library assets.
Multiple biomes, one trip
Over the course of the trip, the team captured assets across several dramatically different biomes. We moved from the mountainous, snow-covered regions in the east to an underground train station; and from bamboo forests to sunbaked city streets, and to remote side-of-the-road temples. Each location presented its own challenges and opportunities.
A Japanese wall transformed into a reusable scanned asset kit.
View and download image
Download the image
close
Close
In the mountains, we focused on natural surfaces and cold-weather details: snow, stone, bark, ground cover, and the way winter conditions affect materials. In the bamboo forests, we captured vegetation, organic layering, and the unique density and rhythm of the landscape. Urban locations gave us access to pavement, walls, street-level details, public infrastructure, and the subtle signs of wear that make a city feel lived-in. Underground transit spaces offered a different kind of reference, with distinct materials and architectural patterns.
Scanning a unique underground station to create authentic transit-themed game assets, capturing the area-specific surfaces, transitions, and details that make the location feel real..
View and download image
Download the image
close
Close
Scanning temple details to build authentic game-ready environment assets.
View and download image
Download the image
close
Close
Along with scanning assets, we also captured a ton of photo references of the area’s shape language, texture, and scale.
A unique bamboo gutter system captured on location, highlighting the culture-specific construction details we traveled to document for authentic environment creation.
View and download image
Download the image
close
Close
Trip stats
Unloading gear in a remote landscape before a long day of scanning, capturing the unique environments and details that bring authentic locations to life.
View and download image
Download the image
close
Close
By the end of the Japan trip, the team had captured an enormous amount of material:
- Over 600 scans across 4 biomes
- More than 100 miles walked, often carrying around 20 pounds of scanning gear
- 5.6 TB of captured data
- 189,589 photos taken, not including additional reference photography
- Locations ranging from snow-covered mountains to underground train stations, bamboo forests, and hot city streets
- 3 broken pieces of gear: 2 cables and 1 plastic case
- 1 shattered phone glass back
Bringing the work back home
The trip to Japan gave us assets and references that couldn’t be captured anywhere else. More importantly, it gave the team a deeper understanding of the places, materials, and cultural details that would help shape our vision for the game.
Alongside other scanning trips around the world, this work helps us build Marvel’s Wolverine with greater specificity, and respect for the real-world inspirations behind it. It was a challenging trip, but an incredibly successful one, and a meaningful step forward in how we collaborate, research, and bring believable worlds to life.
We are excited to show you how these experiences and inspirations come to life when Marvel’s Wolverine hits PS5 consoles on September 15. Wishlist and pre-order now on the PlayStation Store.