Additional illustrations, plans and assets for the game Jekyll & Hyde Dreamcast and PC from In Utero studio
All the material at my disposal could not be used for the layout of the article: "Jekyll & Hyde, the split personality from PC to Dreamcast".
Dr. Henry Jekyll's research in chemistry had allowed him to develop a potion that transformed him into another man, Mr. Hyde, a cruel monster seeking to satisfy a thirst for violence.
When the experiment almost went wrong, Dr. Jekyll vowed never to take on the appearance of his evil double, whom he thought was gone forever.
When his daughter, Laurie, is kidnapped by an escaped lunatic from the asylum where he works, the doctor has no choice but to use the brute force of his alter ego to save her !
Jekyll and Hyde is a third-person action video game released in 2001 on PC. It was developed by the French studio In Utero and published by Cryo Interactive. Dreamcast and PS2 versions were cancelled.
Arts works by Stéphane Levallois
Stephane Levallois career as an illustrator began after graduating from the École Supérieure d'Art Graphique de Penninghen, where he later taught sketching for three years.
Following his studies, he did internships in computer graphics before joining the video game publisher Cryo as an art director. His drawings will be used for the game Jekyll and Hyde released in 2001. Stéphane Levallois also proved to be a surprising comic book author by publishing his first comic book, "Noé", in 2000.
At the same time, he became a storyboarder and created designs for advertising and cinema. He made a name for himself in Hollywood by working on films by Ridley Scott and Steven Spielberg, for the Harry Potter blockbusters and for Disney and Marvel projects.
A lover of fine arts and a painter at heart, he recently exhibited at the Louvre some plates inspired by the work of Leonardo da Vinci.
To create the design for Jekyll and Hyde - a colossal task-, Levallois was only given 2 months. In barely more time than expected, he managed to deliver his order while having a good homogeneity between characters and scenery.
Whether with a pencil, a pen or a brush, Stéphane Levallois is a versatile artist. Whether it is for the cinema, literature or video games, his art adapts to all fields !
Interview with Stephane Levallois and Anthony Lejeune (Ekllipse Magazine number 7)
Jekyll and Hyde is a poorly documented PC title. This game remained obscure as it didn’t feature much in the gaming press when it released or while it was in development. Very few magazines wrote more than one page about the game, or featured it in a sidebar. The issue 7 of Ekllipse magazine (specialized in manga, comics and French comics) had dedicated 5 pages to it with an interview of Stéphane Levallois and Anthony Lejeune (Art Director).
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Level plans
The design of a video game has many facets. The most famous stage is undoubtedly the freehand sketches of the characters and the world of a title. Equally important are the sketches of the level plans. They outline the perimeter of a map, they trace the path the player will follow in the level, they explain the planned gameplay mechanics, they show the layout and architecture of a map or a room.
For Jekyll and Hyde, it was decided to draw the level plans first so that Stéphane Levallois could then adapt these drawings to the gameplay.
Sous-marin
Demeure
Gardiens
Intérieur
Gardiens
Couloirs
Vampires
Garde-manger Vampires
In this conceptual phase, the designers of a video game become, for a moment, building designers !
The levels: from their design to their modeling
Everything starts with drawings to create an atmosphere, an aesthetic characteristic of the future game. Then comes the moment to imagine levels, their layout, by scribbling diagrams. Things get serious when volume is implemented by adding 3D and textures, all the while keeping the whole design coherent. Finally, a few years after the first pencil strokes, the game is proudly on the shelves of the stores, waiting for only one thing: to be played and to please the greatest number of players possible !
Accueil 3D
It's much more complex than that since there are the programming, assembly etc. parts !
Fumerie + entrepôt
Hôpital (upper floor + overview)
Dortoir
Labo Biblio obscure (Vampires)
Characters and enemies
The characters and enemies populating the universe of Jekyll and Hyde can be terrifying, hideous, stocky, slender, skinny and deformed, but they all have in common a comic aspect that adds an undeniable charm to the game. Everything in the title is deliberately worked in a caricatured and disproportionate way, while keeping a certain darkness in the design !
Peon 02
Peon 04
Automate 02
Mini Boss small (modified)
Mini Boss small big
Burnwell
Concept art (Interface, Menu)
Options Screen
Audio Monitor
Dreamcast Video Screen (not finished)
Montage de photos conceptuelles
Conecpt Art Interface
Important Cutscene
Plan with its passage in game
Photo montage
Montage of photos from the game
Assembly of modeled characters
Characters
Drawings and their modeled equivalents
Photos taken from the engine
Labo (Gardien)
La chapelle (Gardien)
Cuisine whit Hyde (Hôpital)
Demeure Gardien extérieur
La tour des alienés (passage dans l'hôpital)
La cuisine (passage dans l'hôpital)
Hôpital (in bulk)
Cimetière
Train
Quai
Imprimerie (playable level of the prototypes)
La salle du livre (Gardien)
Hangar des automates (Gardien)
If you want to learn more about In Utero and Jekyll and Hyde Dreamcast and PC, this article is dedicated to them: "Jekyll & Hyde, the splitting of the personality from PC to Dreamcast".
I would like to thank Jocelyn Tridemy, Anthony Lejeune and Nino Sapina (Project Manager) supported by their former colleagues from In Utero: for their availability, their kindness, for taking the time to answer my questions, for sharing their archives (photos, illustrations, plans etc.) and more. Their testimonies and archives allow us to go back in time to the development of Jekyll and Hyde !
I would like to thank all the team involved in the Jekyll and Hyde project (Mobygames). For a first game, they gave 200% !
Other articles devoted specifically to unseen game assets
Not all the conceptual material available to me for this paper could be used. The rest can be found on the page: "The history of Pseudo Interactive and more information, assets and artworks for Vectorman PS2".
Conceptual material for the Evil Twin game can be found at this address: "Additional sketches, photos and assets for the game Evil Twin: Cyprien's Chronicles Dreamcast/PS2/PC and its development studio In Utero"
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Conceptual material for the Propeller Arena game can be found at this address: "Additional sketches, photos and assets for the Dreamcast game Propeller Arena from the AM2 development studio"