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Old 02-15-2005, 10:37 AM   #1
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Great preview Laura . . . I'd say can't wait to play this game, except I know I'll be far too creeped out by it. :eek: Your descriptions of sights and sounds were incredibly evocative. What a neat idea too about the left- and right-click dialogue options . . . this seems like an idea more developers could exploit to appeal both to people who fixate on stories and those who want to cruise on straight to puzzles. (Might have made TLJ even better . . . ) Do you think it would work in other contexts? Anyway, this preview had me on the edge of my movie-theatre seat--thanks.
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Old 02-15-2005, 11:10 AM   #2
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I don't think I've ever been more hyped for an adventure game before. That preview was great.
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Old 02-16-2005, 05:08 AM   #3
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Laura I Love U

As if i wasn t already mega ballistic about this game, now I'm going totally berserk on my seat in front of my comp, hoping for April 14 coming right now !

This game has ALL I want and love on a video game and adventure one

I really hope to NOT being disappointed cause it s been a frickin while a game hasn t excited me so much .

Well Post Mortem had (and failed miserably and made me disgusted about it)
but I think now Microids Canada has heard all our criticisms and is ready to deliver the ultimate MURDER MYSTERY GAME .

The answer in April

Cheers
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Old 02-16-2005, 05:28 AM   #4
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I want that game NOW!
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Old 02-17-2005, 09:53 AM   #5
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Leonard Shelby
Laura I Love U
Laura I Hate U
Not that I wasn't already dying in anticitation!
Thanks for making the time until the game gets released appear even longer for me! You're doing it on purpose, I know it!



Laura
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Old 02-17-2005, 01:42 PM   #6
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Excellent preview Laura, you've conveyed the premise of the atmosphere of this game and story lucidly. This is what happens when you give talented, thoughtful developers the time, money, and creative freedom to explore and produce. Still Life looks to be the classic adventure that should shame those others that don't strive enough and take it too easy. Except I am now left for wanting more info on Victoria's character because you gave so much on Gus. Also, I was wishing for a bit more info on the puzzle designs beyond them being 'emergent' in the gameworld.
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Old 02-18-2005, 04:06 PM   #7
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Quote:
Also, I was wishing for a bit more info on the puzzle designs beyond them being 'emergent' in the gameworld.
Had to hold SOMETHING back for the review

At this point I have to see if the game holds up or how it evolves in the full version. If it continues along the direction the preview suggests - well I will be one very happy gamer and writer. It''s tough playing through to the end and then writing about marginal/ or over-hyped games.

I didn't get as much of a sense of her characters in the preview as I did Gus. Course my take on his personality was probably bolstered a bit because I had his former incarnation to contrast with this one.

As for as tastes of a game,, this was a pretty nice slice is all I can say for sure.
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Old 02-20-2005, 10:02 AM   #8
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Laura is this a true murder mystery and is the game interactive enough or it s just mainly small playing between cutscenes and we re mainly watching a movie instead of being fully involved into the case
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Old 02-20-2005, 10:34 AM   #9
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Quote:
Laura is this a true murder mystery and is the game interactive enough
I didn't get into any in depth talking about the pros or cons as I have seen literally just a slice of the game, this being what I would think is the extended publishers demo.

It definitely [caveat] is at this point, highly interactive. I was just very impressed by not just the quality of in game cinematics and animated pieces but by the variety of styles employed in them. I don't want to spoil the surprise by detailing them much more than that.

No - to answer you. This WAS not [caveatagain} one of those walk your character from cinematic to cinematic -- games. There is a great deal of interaction, from passive comments about things of interest yet no game advancing value, to a versitile dialogue scheme (able to stick to just what you need to know to move on or adding in character enhancing side comments) to hands on practical crime scene tools, to stand alone puzzles, to inventory based challenges, to well --- it goes on.

And that's just the preview. Now I suppose it could be like a movie teaser and not represent the whole game - so I can't say til I get that code whether the story line works itself out logically, and so on. But this was one engrossing game so far. that's all
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Old 02-20-2005, 11:57 PM   #10
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Here s an old interview of the game developper :

Does the game's story delve into the supernatural?

No. Unfortunately, serial killers are not fictional. They are a very real aspect of our society. According to the FBI, there are between 50 and 500 serial killers currently active in the US.

There have been mentions of links to the Post Mortem story. Post Mortem featured a story about the Templars. Will Still Life have anything to do with esoteric societies?

Victoria discovers a secret S&M club during her investigation. That's all I can say about that.

Will we get to meet any other characters from the Post Mortem franchise?

Besides Gus McPherson, nothing from Post Mortem is recycled. Still Life is not a sequel to Post Mortem, but more of a spin off.

How many characters will we meet in the game and how many locations will we get to visit?

You will meet 24 characters in all: 11 in Chicago and 13 in Prague. As for environments, we have 7 locations in Chicago and 11 in Prague. There are over 300 camera shots that cover the different environments.

Will the story be linear or non-linear?

The story is non-linear. When Victoria finds her grandfather's journal and starts reading it, we are transported to Prague of the late 20s. Then we start playing Gus. There are a number of chapters in the game, moving between the different time periods (2004 Chicago and 1929 Prague). Cinematic cut scenes that create the bridge between the two time periods. The game is linear though. The player cannot switch from one period to the other whenever he or she wants to. The switches are predetermined.

Is the game's story inspired in some way by movies, books or other games?

The first inspiration would be Patricia Cornwell's Portrait of a Killer: Jack the Ripper Case Closed. I found her Walter Sickert theory to be very interesting, so much so that our killer in Prague is an artist. Anything that John Douglas wrote, but more specifically The Anatomy of Motive. His books are an absolute must if you ever create a murderer as a character. There were a lot of movies that inspired us but the one that was the most referred to was undoubtedly Se7en. There is an Internet site I have to mention is www.crimelibrary.com, which was an important source of information.

The game seems quite gory. What kind of rating are you hoping for?

It does tend to get the gory reputation but I assure you that it will never be gratuitous. Still Life does have murder scenes and dodgy subject matter but I believe that we stayed out of the horror genre and remained in the thriller genre.

"Post Mortem used a 1st person perspective while Syberia, which rumour has it that it was more successful than Post Mortem in terms of sales and critical acclaim, used a 3rd person perspective. Did this success play any role in your decision to use a 3rd person perspective, or did you take this decision for other reasons?

Post Mortem was the last 1st person adventure game that Microids produced. With the creation of Syberia came new expertise and a better engine. We simply wanted to continue what the Syberia 2 team accomplished."

Here s an old interview of the game developper :

Does the game's story delve into the supernatural?

No. Unfortunately, serial killers are not fictional. They are a very real aspect of our society. According to the FBI, there are between 50 and 500 serial killers currently active in the US.

There have been mentions of links to the Post Mortem story. Post Mortem featured a story about the Templars. Will Still Life have anything to do with esoteric societies?

Victoria discovers a secret S&M club during her investigation. That's all I can say about that.

Will we get to meet any other characters from the Post Mortem franchise?

Besides Gus McPherson, nothing from Post Mortem is recycled. Still Life is not a sequel to Post Mortem, but more of a spin off.

How many characters will we meet in the game and how many locations will we get to visit?

You will meet 24 characters in all: 11 in Chicago and 13 in Prague. As for environments, we have 7 locations in Chicago and 11 in Prague. There are over 300 camera shots that cover the different environments.

Will the story be linear or non-linear?

The story is non-linear. When Victoria finds her grandfather's journal and starts reading it, we are transported to Prague of the late 20s. Then we start playing Gus. There are a number of chapters in the game, moving between the different time periods (2004 Chicago and 1929 Prague). Cinematic cut scenes that create the bridge between the two time periods. The game is linear though. The player cannot switch from one period to the other whenever he or she wants to. The switches are predetermined.

Is the game's story inspired in some way by movies, books or other games?

The first inspiration would be Patricia Cornwell's Portrait of a Killer: Jack the Ripper Case Closed. I found her Walter Sickert theory to be very interesting, so much so that our killer in Prague is an artist. Anything that John Douglas wrote, but more specifically The Anatomy of Motive. His books are an absolute must if you ever create a murderer as a character. There were a lot of movies that inspired us but the one that was the most referred to was undoubtedly Se7en. There is an Internet site I have to mention is www.crimelibrary.com, which was an important source of information.

The game seems quite gory. What kind of rating are you hoping for?

It does tend to get the gory reputation but I assure you that it will never be gratuitous. Still Life does have murder scenes and dodgy subject matter but I believe that we stayed out of the horror genre and remained in the thriller genre.

Post Mortem used a 1st person perspective while Syberia, which rumour has it that it was more successful than Post Mortem in terms of sales and critical acclaim, used a 3rd person perspective. Did this success play any role in your decision to use a 3rd person perspective, or did you take this decision for other reasons?

Post Mortem was the last 1st person adventure game that Microids produced. With the creation of Syberia came new expertise and a better engine. We simply wanted to continue what the Syberia 2 team accomplished.

Will Still Life use 3D characters on 2D prerendered backgrounds?

Yes, Still Life uses 3D characters on 2D prerendered backgrounds.

In what ways is the engine of Still Life improved compared to the engine of Syberia 2?

Still Life is similar to the Syberia series in its basic point-and-click gameplay, but we have added some notable features. The dialogue system has totally changed. Another addition is the full-screen inventory with two new features - an examine (with zoom functions) and a combine button. Shadow effects have been greatly improved. The path finding has improved also (less slipping and sliding).

What is the highest graphics resolution the game can reach?

800x600"

Last edited by Leonard Shelby; 02-21-2005 at 12:03 AM.
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Old 02-21-2005, 12:04 AM   #11
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Follow up and end of the interview :

"Certain dialogues will use the dynamic approach and others will use a fixed camera. There were certain environments that were impossible to have more then one shot.

Microids have got us used to great soundtracks for its releases. What kind of music will you use for the purposes of Still Life and how much time will the total soundtrack last?

We know that Still Life needs great music to keep players on the edge of their seat. Fortunately, we have terrific musicians that will give Still Life just that! The people who scored Syberia 1 and 2 are back for Still Life. They will be scoring all the cinematics and all the in-game sounds. We have Tom Salta, who will handle all the ambient in-game music, which will chill the spine of any thriller fan. As for the soundtrack's running time, I haven't a clue because they haven't finished it yet.

Do you plan to use voice-actors that have appeared in previous Microids titles or are you going to hire a whole new cast?

We are very happy to have Sara Leger back with us. She played a small role in Post Mortem (Bebe, or Berenice). Now Sara Leger will play Victoria McPherson. For the other voice talents, I'd rather not comment because we are still in the casting process.

Adventures from Microids have been praised for their technical standards (graphics and music) but when it comes to gameplay they have received their fair share of criticism from adventurers. First of all, some adventurers claim that the Syberia series for example is lacking a bit on interactivity. For example there are many screens where the player cannot do anything else but walk through them, i.e. there are no objects to look at/interact with or persons to talk to. Will there be such 'empty' screens in Still Life or do you plan to increase the interactivity level with this new title?

Still Life will have less empty spaces simply because Still Life is very different from the Syberia series on many levels, especially the narrative pacing. Syberia is an epic voyage, making it important to make things a little 'slower' and create breathtaking environments. It would be boring in a game like Syberia to give everything right away. The goal was to witness Kate Walker's voyage to Syberia and her personal evolution throughout her journey. However Still Life's story revolves around an investigation of a series of murders in the streets of Chicago (and Prague). The narrative structure in Still Life is one that leads players to a series of cliffhangers, due to the switches from one time period to the other. Most objects we find in the game are used on location.

Some of the mechanical puzzles in Syberia 2 were quite illogical and gave almost nonexisting feedback to the gamers. Will Still Life feature mechanical puzzles or will you base gameplay more on investigation and character interaction?

There are no mechanical puzzles in Still Life. However, Still Life is not a CSI clone, where Victoria has to collect evidence throughout the entire game (it happens only once). We have what I like to call classic adventure style puzzles, and some that are very original. We took great care to integrate the puzzles into the storyline.

2 puzzles from Post Mortem that were deemed impossible to solve by many adventurers were the portrait puzzle and the lock pick puzzle, both due to non-existent feedback to the player. I.e. when you presented the portrait you had drawn you just got an answer that it is not the right person instead of pinpointing which part of the face you had drawn wrong so that you know what you have to change. Do you plan to take better care this time of giving feedback to players?

Yes. Victoria will say things to point the player in the right direction without it being a walkthrough of course. Also, depending on the puzzle, there will be sound or actions (taken by Gus, Victoria or NPCs) that will let the player know if he's doing things right or wrong.

If we say that Syberia 1 was an easy game while Post Mortem and Syberia 2 leaned more on the difficult side would you describe Still Life as an easy or a difficult game?

It is hard to determine whether a puzzle is difficult or easy. Some players will breeze through one while others will be stuck for hours. That's why Still Life will go through extensive focus groups to give us a good idea of the level of difficulty. When the results from the focus groups come in certain aspects of the game will be adjusted. To me Syberia 1 is the easiest one, Syberia 2 was a bit harder and Post Mortem is definitely the hardest of the three. My personal prediction is that Still Life will be like Syberia 2 in terms of challenge. The puzzles are difficult, but logical.

Do you plan to use any new and innovative kind of tasks/challenges/puzzles for Still Life that has not been seen before in adventure games?

I don't know if this has ever been seen before but there is one puzzle that the team is proud of; the robot puzzle. Victoria 'borrows' a small experimental robot from the bomb squad. The goal is to navigate the little robot through a maze of lasers so that the robot can shut them down for Victoria.

Kate Walker from the Syberia series remained quiet for the most part of the game not commenting on her surroundings and the objects that she picks up, unlike what some other adventures have got us used to. Will the main characters of Still Life make more comments or will they be 'silent' like Kate Walker?

Victoria is quite different from Kate Walker. She does have a tendency to give her opinion about certain things in her environment. For example we have Victoria commenting on a couple of dolls. The dolls are hanging from a noose in an abandoned building (crime scene) and when the player clicks on them Victoria says: 'Nice Christmas decorations'.

Could you describe to us the interface of the game? Is it similar to Syberia?

As I mentioned earlier, the inventory interface is now full screen. This will have two new features. The first one is a examine button. This will allow players to get an up-close view of the object that can even reveal clues. The other is the combine button. This will allow players to combine two objects in the inventory like for example combining film to a camera."
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