“All these incidents we came across in Africa we’re integrating into some of the conversations that the NPCs have,” adds Alexandre as an aside. “When you go into a town or meet NPCs in the game world, or when they meet each other and have conversations, some of the dialogue will be stuff that happened to us in Africa.”

It was a dangerous business, though, no luxury tourist lodges for the Ubisoft boys. “We managed to ask for special permission because usually you can’t travel at night in national parks, and some areas you really can’t go off-road, you just have to stick to the main roads. But we had special permission.” Really? Where do you get permission for something like that? “Er…” comes the artistic director’s response, coupled with background whispers and a few giggles. “Erm... we got permission by… well, you see, they do ‘special’ permits you need to ‘purchase’ from different people. At the airport, at the park… the driver…” Oh, that sort of permission...

Of course, the team wasn’t only after the look of Africa - they went to find out what it sounded like, too. In fact, when the game appears in the first quarter of next year, the ambient sounds you’ll hear will be those recorded by super soundman Amaury on location: whether on the savannah, in the jungle or beneath the twittering dawn chorus. In fact, great efforts were put into capturing the birdsong of different areas at different times of day. The technology used to capture audio mood is quite clever too - known as the art of binaural recording to those in the know.

“It looks like something a doctor would use - like a stethoscope,” explains Alexandre. “It’s something you put in your ears but it’s capturing sound using the shape of your ear. It actually positions sound in 3D. It’s impressive - when you put headphones on and listen to it, it just feels real. Like you’re actually there - in your mind the sound is there in 3D.” In fact, if you want to have a listen yourself, it’s worth hitting the Far Cry 2 blog as the team plans to upload some of their binaural treats in the near future.