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[PC] [MAC] Dreamfall Chapters: The Longest Journey

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[PC] [MAC] Dreamfall Chapters: The Longest Journey

Unread postby shubn » 08 Feb 2013 15:48

Dreamfall Chapters.jpg


http://redthreadgames.com/chapters

Durham, USA – November 1st, 2012 – Funcom is excited to announce that 'Dreamfall Chapters', the long-awaited sequel to the award-winning adventure title 'Dreamfall: The Longest Journey', has gone into pre-production at Red Thread Games, a new studio founded by Ragnar Tørnquist, creator of 'The Longest Journey' saga.

Red Thread Games has licensed the rights to 'The Longest Journey' universe from Funcom, and Mr. Tørnquist will spearhead development of 'Dreamfall Chapters', while continuing in an advisory role as Creative Director on Funcom’s recently launched modern-day massively multiplayer online game ‘The Secret World’.

Red Thread Games will independently fund and produce the sequel to 'Dreamfall', and has entered into a revenue sharing agreement with Funcom as part of the licensing deal. Funcom owns the intellectual property rights for 'The Longest Journey', but due to the company’s focus on and commitment to the development of online games, the decision was made to license the rights to Mr. Tørnquist and his new development studio. The close working relationship between Funcom and Mr. Tørnquist will allow him to continue on as Creative Director of Funcom’s ‘The Secret World’, in parallel with putting together a team to develop 'Dreamfall Chapters'.

“I'm very excited to finally have the opportunity to continue the 'The Longest Journey' saga,” says Ragnar Tørnquist. “Ever since we ended 'Dreamfall' on a nail-biting cliffhanger, players have been rightfully demanding a sequel, and my deal with Funcom will finally make that possible. I'm extremely grateful to Funcom for this unique and exciting opportunity, and I can't wait to dive back into the universe I helped create more than a decade ago, and continue the story players have been waiting for these past six years."


http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/red ... st-journey

Dreamfall Chapters: The Longest Journey is an adventure game for the PC that continues the epic journey that began in the critically acclaimed and award-winning adventures The Longest Journey and Dreamfall: The Longest Journey.

Independently produced and funded by Red Thread Games, this project brings back the core team behind Dreamfall, including Ragnar Tørnquist, creator of The Longest Journey saga.
Last edited by shubn on 24 Feb 2013 04:04, edited 1 time in total.
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Unread postby shubn » 15 Feb 2013 13:51

From the Kickstarter page, some prototype footage: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-D5QFHw_Cwc

And a screenshot:

7lLGX1j.jpg
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Unread postby shubn » 24 Feb 2013 03:57

http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/red ... sts/410860

Update #14: Europolis revealed

During the past couple of weeks, we've talked a lot about one of our two worlds. We've shown locations from Arcadia, our magical fantasy world, including street scenes from Marcuria, the capital city of Ayrede; exploration and gameplay in the magical Riverwood; and even concept art of a Tree Spirit.

But so far, we haven't shown anything from Stark, the world of science and order; our world in the year 2220.

That's about to change. Today, we're revealing one of our key locations in Stark, and that location is:

DCTLJ-Europolis_street.jpg


Europolis

A vast European city-state covering the former independent nations of Poland, Germany, the Czech Republic, Belgium and the Netherlands. Its blackened, concrete tendrils reach as far north as the Baltic states, and as far south as Paris. Europolis is not just the dark heart of Europe; it is the filthy bowels and bloodied entrails of Europe.

We will have tons more of Europolis in the days ahead, including some brand new characters, screenshots and more lore. But today is all about our 'Europolis Revealed' video.

All the footage you are about to see is realtime, in-game footage, running in our prototype and using the Unity engine. We think you'll enjoy it.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ST6wSCnWzls


http://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2013/02 ... punk-city/

The brief Q&A is below, but first, here’s some background detail on the two new characters:

DCTLJ-Mira_Wit_concept.jpg


Mira — an Indian woman in her mid-20s — runs an underground network that extends from Newport in the west to Mumbai in the east, with Europolis as its brains and central nervous system.

Mira hails from the tech-slums of Mumbai; born on the streets, she survived the cyborg gangs, the street-assassins hired by local police, and corporate Jägers hunting for live subjects for the burgeoning genetic research industries.

Sharp as a knife and a gifted gabber, Mira has built a subterranean empire that encompasses such renowned hackers and dealers as Burns Flipper in Newport, and Olivia in Casablanca. She’s notorious, wanted in fifteen city-states, and at any time every major corporation has at least one contract out on her with the world’s top hit men — but she gets by.

Wit, Mira’s partner, may look like the muscle, but he wouldn’t hurt a fly. It’s actually the other way around: Mira has always protected Wit and treats him like a younger brother. Wit is a silent genius. He can build anything from scavenged parts and rogue code. He’s incredibly nimble, patient and focused. He may be unable to communicate with anyone, aside from Mira, but he makes up for his deficiencies by being the absolute best at what he does.


Onto the questions.

RPS: Oh no! Europe is where take most of my holidays. What happened to it?

Tørnquist: You know, I can recommend southeast Asia. It’s lovely, warm, friendly and cheap. Why settle for an industrial, crime ridden urban wasteland when you can have pristine beaches and coconuts?

In our version of 2220, Europe is finally paying the price for hundreds of years of imperialism, reactionary politics, wasteful spending and industrialisation. Europolis is the dark and rotten heart of this new Europe. The giant megalopolis stretches from former Poland in the east, across all of Germany, and to the Netherlands in the west, encompassing the Baltic nations and most of France.

It’s a pretty big place.

In Dreamfall Chapters, Zoë will spend quite a bit of time exploring this urban landscape. We have several ‘pockets’ of free-roaming adventure gameplay, and Europolis is one of them — Marcuria, in the magical world of Arcadia, is another. Players can explore, experience the environment, story and characters in a non-linear fashion, and decide their own pace before they push the main story forward.

DCTLJ-1-Euro_pedestrians_01.jpg


RPS: If I think cyberpunk, I tend to look toward America or Japan, which may betray my own cultural bias, but you’re dropping the noir-bomb right in the heart of Europe. The sprawling city-state makes me think Bladerunner, as does the imagery of the video, particularly the umbrellas oddly enough, Why Europe and can you name any other inspirations?

Tørnquist: We’re European, and Europe is often, as you say, under-represented in games — particularly in this fashion. It’s also a location we’ve spoken about in previous games but have never visited, and we felt it was time — it really is one of the most intriguing locations in The Longest Journey saga.

Blade Runner is, of course, an inspiration, but we also wanted to get away from the cliché of the North American megacity with strong Japanese influences, and base it on something a bit closer to home. Our Europolis is a mix of Germany, Poland, the Czech Republic and France — a lot of interesting cultural and architectural influences — set two hundred years into the future. Berlin, in particular, has been a source of inspiration, and I think it’s a city that lives and breathes techno-noir. Which is totally Europolis.

DCTLJ-2-Zoe_Euro_04.jpg


RPS: It was clear from the first world-spanning moment in The Longest Journey that there was an interest in showing the contrast between worlds – that has always seemed to be linked to a fascination with the diversity of human life, imagination and condition. Could you talk a little about any real world locations that have inspired scenes or settings?

Tørnquist: The contrast between the two worlds — Stark and Arcadia; science and magic; order and chaos — is key to our universe, and it’s something we always want to do more of. Really emphasise the huge difference between these two settings.

I mentioned Berlin as an influence for Europolis…mixed with a bit of Blade Runner and Mega-City One, of course. New York’s East Village was a huge inspiration for the neighbourhood of Venice, in Newport, the North American city in The Longest Journey and Dreamfall. For Casablanca, in Dreamfall, we wanted to create a warm, cosy, affluent version of Africa.

As for Marcuria, there are no real world parallels, but we’re all fans of imaginary cities, and Marcuria borrows from a host of sources — including the fantasy classics.

DCTLJ-3-Euro_street.jpg


RPS: A collapsed Europe isn’t entirely unimaginable – we’ve spoken before about artistic, personal and cultural influences, but how strong is any intentional political element to your work?

Tørnquist: There is always an intentional political element to our work! But I’m not sure it’s something we want to overtly state. A lot of it will depend on the player’s own point of view and interpretations.

Of course, with Europolis, we’re basically saying “Europe is going to degenerate into poverty, crime and chaos” — maybe overstating things a tiny bit, but hey, that makes it more interesting!

There’s more to it than that, of course, and there’s a lot of stuff under the surface. You’ll find out more through the characters you meet, the dialogues, the puzzles, the story. But yeah, there’s definitely a political element to Dreamfall Chapters, as there was to Dreamfall as well.

DCTLJ-4-Euro_pedestrians_02.jpg


RPS: What is the process for creating the initial drafts of a new ‘world’? Do the writing team storyboard or do the art team translate ideas and words into images?

Tørnquist: We write the words, give the precious words to the artists, who then create magic. It’s often as simple as that. With Europolis, it was something we needed for the story, but also something our art director jumped on immediately. I think all artists jump at the chance of making proper, old school cyberpunk. It’s in their blood.

Usually, it’s a collaboration. We need certain locations for the story and the characters, but we’re also quite flexible, and we want the artists to brainstorm, to show us what they can do with the engine and the tech, to be inspired — and to inspire us in return. It’s a back and forth process. With Chapters, we’ve actually modified the story a bit and added scenes based on some amazing stuff the artists have shown us.

Gaming is a collaborative medium, and you really do need to be flexible and allow for outside ideas to challenge and add to your vision. Usually, that’s a very, very good thing.

RPS: Is Mira playable? Is Wit playable? Who is playable?!

Tørnquist: No. No. Who’s to say? It’s all a blur, to be honest.

We’ll have more on this soon, I promise. There will be three playable characters in Chapters. And two of them are NOT Zoë.

RPS: Wit is a ‘silent genius’ – saving on voice actors’ fees, eh? What has happened to his eyes? Is that the new iPhone stuck in the sockets?

Tørnquist: He’s the iWit, manufactured by Apple. Actually, he looks more like a Samsung guy, to be honest.

RPS: With seedy nightclubs, cyborg gangs, live research subjects for genetic testing and all manner of poverty and exploitation, will there be graphic content? Europolis is a dark place, and Mira and Wit sound like they probably deal with some unpleasant situations and characters. How much of that unpleasantness will be implied and how much will be shown?

DCTLJ-5-Zoe_Euro_03.jpg


Tørnquist: There will be graphic content. Dreamfall Chapters is a game for adults — although that doesn’t mean there will be tons of sex and violence. Just a bit of sex and violence. There are mature themes. People die. Children die. Good people die. There are fewer certainties. Things are a bit less black-and-white. We’re creating a fantasy world that feels real, with characters you care about, characters whose lives matter. We want the player to be emotionally invested, to actually feel something. Love, loss, heartache, horror…

There will be unpleasantness both implied and shown — although we’re not going to drown the player in sleaze and filth. Chapters is a game of contrasts. Of light and dark. And for every Mira in Europolis, there’s a Blind Bob in Marcuria. For every Wit, there’s a Crow. And for every inner-city wasteland there’s a beautiful, sunny, magical landscape.
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Unread postby immersedreality » 02 Mar 2013 00:42

Apparently, if the Kickstarter campaign for Dreamfall Chapters reaches two million dollars an additional game called The Longest Journey Home will be developed immediately afterward.

The Longest Journey Home is the name of the game that would finish April’s story, but its existence depends, at this stage, on Red Thread reaching the stretch goal of two million dollars in its Kickstarter funding of Dreamfall Chapters. It is, perhaps, a long shot. But maybe the promise of another game is enough to inspire even more support, especially given how The Longest Journey Home would return to its roots: it is planned as a 2D point-and-click adventure akin to the original game, rather than as a 3D adventure in the manner of Dreamfall and Dreamfall Chapters. It would feature hand-painted backdrops, 3D character models, and, of course, a story penned by series creator Ragnar Tørnquist.


Full interview with series creator Ragnar Tørnquist: http://www.gamespot.com/features/taking ... me-6404653
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Unread postby Qpo » 02 Mar 2013 01:14

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Unread postby shubn » 06 May 2013 14:24

Dreamfall Chapters Kickstarter video update, March 7th, 2013:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r4B5cAepyKk

We talk about game spaces, show off some new prototype gameplay, and reveal our second playable character!


Tweaking Zoë:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ATgzC8WNXSc

Art director Christer Sveen talks about the process behind creating and tweaking the character model for Zoë Castillo, the protagonist of Dreamfall Chapters. Includes a first look at the new & revised in-game Zoë!


April Production Update:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_VFY1Pvnc8w

In our April production update, the Red Thread Games crew talks about what's happening with Dreamfall Chapters and what's on the horizon for May and June.
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Unread postby shubn » 04 Jul 2014 14:36

dreamfall-chapters-reborn.jpg


https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/re ... sts/890605

Dear backers, supporters & also everyone else,

When we first conceived of a sequel to Dreamfall, eight years ago, it was as an episodic game: divided into chapters, we named it…Dreamfall Chapters.

(We're nothing if not staggeringly inventive.)

Returning to the drawing board in October 2012, the first thing we did was abandon the episodic format — partly because we didn’t yet know the scope of what we were making, and partly because that's how we've always made games.

We did keep the 'Chapters' name: despite changes to the business model, the game’s structure and themes remained unchanged.

The creative process is unpredictable, however, and the story we’re telling has turned out to be bigger and more ambitious than first envisioned. We’re not on track to meet the release date we estimated a year and a half ago, and we've had to take a long, hard look at our schedule and budget.

After much internal debate and careful consideration, we’ve decided to return to the episodic format.

This autumn, Red Thread Games will release Dreamfall Chapters Book One: Reborn — the first of five episodes — on PC, Mac and Linux.

Kickstarter and PayPal backers will receive all five episodes free of charge as they're released. New customers will be able to purchase a season pass via Steam, GOG and the Humble Store.

Here’s why we’re taking the leap into episodic distribution with Dreamfall Chapters:

We could have made deep cuts, removed a lot of the characters, story-lines and locations — but we would have ended up with a different game than the one that's played inside our heads for the better part of a decade, a different game than the one we've promised our backers. We would have lost much of the magic and narrative depth. And we would've still had to delay our release into next year.

We’ve also realised that while, as a small studio, we are capable of producing a massively ambitious game like Dreamfall Chapters, we’re not satisfied with our ability to properly finish, polish and bug fix the whole game in one go. The amount of work that goes into every chapter of every book is enormous, and we do not want to compromise on the quality of our game and our story.

By releasing Book One this autumn, we hope to start generating income, all of which will go right back into improving the quality and scope of subsequent books. And by dividing our work into five standalone releases, we’re able to give each book the focus, polish and attention it needs.

This will benefit the game in terms of quality and stability, and it will benefit the team in terms of how many balls they need to juggle at once.

We initially debated splitting the game in two, like other recently Kickstarted adventure titles. This would have meant a much longer wait between halves, however. And since our story is already divided into five books, this felt like the natural way to break it up. The shorter wait between books will also, we hope, be easier to endure.

This is not going to change the game's story. The five Books will tell the story we always intended to tell; a story that concludes the Dreamer Cycle and Zoë Castillo’s role in The Longest Journey saga...but not the saga itself. (Yep, there's more to come.)

As a team, we believe we’re making the right choice — organisationally, financially and creatively. As writers, storytellers and artists we get to work in a format we love. And with every release, we will gather your feedback and improve on subsequent releases. In return, you’ll be getting a bigger, longer, more ambitious and more polished game.

Of course, we never like breaking promises or letting our supporters down. This is why we've debated this decision for several months, and why we’re informing you, our backers, first.

For those of you disappointed or skeptical: we understand and we apologise. We hope and trust you’ll be convinced — or at least considerably less skeptical! — once Book One releases this autumn.

We will announce the release date for Book Two soon after the release of Book One, and we will work very hard to keep the wait between books as brief as possible. Book Two is already in alpha, and Book Three isn’t far behind.

We know most of you have waited long enough for the conclusion of Zoë’s story — at least now we’re getting started on that conclusion sooner rather than later: Dreamfall Chapters Book One: Reborn will be coming out before our originally announced November date.

Thanks as always for your support, patience and patronage. We can’t wait to show you what we’ve been working on this past year and a half — and in a few short months, we will!

Ragnar Tørnquist, Creative Director

If you want to join the discussion on our official forum, we've created a special thread for this message.


FAQ

Will I still get the rewards that come with my pledge level?

Absolutely! We will deliver on all of our promises (even if some dates will change).

Certain physical rewards — like the boxes and accompanying materials — will not be sent out until all five books have been finished, in order to avoid shipping an incomplete game.

We don't yet have a date for when Book Five will be available.

How long will each book be?

We try to avoid playtime estimates. We don’t feel game length and playing time have much to do with quality and fun factor. But each book will be several hours long, and the full game will definitely be longer than initially estimated.

When will each book be available?

Book One is coming out this autumn.

We don’t know yet how long the wait will be between subsequent books — that depends on a complex mix of content, code, quality and bugs — but we’re planning an aggressive release schedule.

Won’t story and pace be affected by the episodic release schedule?

Since the story was designed for episodes, in-game time already passes between each book — sometimes weeks, sometimes months — and the story won’t feel any more fragmented than originally intended. Each book also has its own, self-contained arc, with a beginning, middle and end.

Couldn’t you have gone to a publisher for additional funding?

When we founded Red Thread Games and went to Kickstarter with Dreamfall Chapters, it was because we wanted to make OUR game, without any compromises...and without a publisher. Publishers want a game that’s as mass market as possible. We do believe there’s a huge market for Dreamfall Chapters, but it’s also a mature, story-driven adventure game; a niche that doesn’t necessarily appeal to everyone.

In order to preserve our vision and tell our story, we want to fund and publish this game ourselves, with your help and support.

How does this affect plans for The Longest Journey Home?

The Longest Journey Home — a point-and-click sequel to The Longest Journey — is still on our roadmap, and it’s a game we’d love to make. It all depends on how well Dreamfall Chapters sells: if we exceed our initial sales targets, we hope to begin preproduction on TLJH in the second half of next year.

What about Draugen?

Draugen has a separate budget from Dreamfall Chapters, and the two games don’t share any production resources. We’re still in preproduction on Draugen, and we hope to release it some time next year. This might change, of course.

Can I pre-purchase Dreamfall Chapters Book One?

Of course! You can still slacker-back Dreamfall Chapters and get all the episodes as they're released.


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Dreamfall Chapters Reborn Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Jws8ByycbI
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