Adventure Gamers - Forums

Hello fellow adventure gamers,

I wanted to tell you about a preview that I wrote of a recent game that I have been beta testing. The game is Lifestream, a remake from an adventure game released in 2004 by Christopher Brendel, of Unimatrix Productions, a small indie developer.

Unimatrix Productions also created the Storycentric Worlds Engine which was used to create the remake of Lifestream and will also be an engine that other developers can use to create their own similar games for profit.

At first I was not sure what to expect because I simply expected nothing more than text but in over 8 hours that I played and completed of the beta of the entire game I came away very surprised by Lifestream. I hope you will enjoy reading the following preview, from the perspective of a reviewer, gamer and beta tester. If you have any questions about this feel free to ask me. It is definitely something I am looking forward to along with other adventure games this year.

Lifestream Preview-Coming April 2016
http://www.storycentricworlds.com/lifestream_preview_1.html

Wow! & thank you Lundaris for your very detailed preview - I very much liked the original game so I for one will be giving this new version a whirl in April as it sounds wonderful with the promise of perhaps the story being elaborated on from the original presentation. The only downside for me so far is it does seem there will be no voice-acting as in the original but otherwise I’m over the moon that this superb story will ‘live on’ somehow! 

Hello chrissie. I am glad that you enjoyed the preview and that you remember the original. I recently came across the remake and remembered the game that I had played so many years ago and wondered what had happened to the company. I am very glad that they are back and ready to release remakes of their past games as well as new ones.

I also thought I would miss voice acting and I usually do but the way this game plays I did not miss it because it makes you focus more on the story of the game, as if you were reading a very good novel but with the addition of game play, art, music and sound which really helps.

The developer has mentioned that he had originally intended to include voice acting in the PC version but decided against it so that the game can play and read like an interactive novel and I can assure you it does that very well from my playthrough.

A demo is now available at: http://www.storycentricworlds.com/lifestream and you can vote for the game to be greenlit at steam at: http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=639982476

I am very curious what you all think of the demo and your thoughts.

I downloaded the demo yesterday just to dabble for a while before I went out & as it was quite short managed to complete it. Having played the original AG version I’m disappointed that this is in lieu of upgrading the game to play on later systems (& still am) but I did find this new text approach quite engaging.

I’m not the best person to judge as I’m not all that au fait with text adventures in general but I loved the very detailed descriptions of environments/scenarios/story details that weren’t quite so prominent in the original game & I liked the small illustrations of the environments/people + there is a pictorial inventory where items can be combined but I did miss the voice-acting that was present in the original although there is a lovely soundtrack that compensates to a small extent. I did find it a little on the easy side although I did have to think on occasion but can foresee that it could get more challenging as more locations open up with more tasks to complete! It was an enjoyable experience for about 30 mins & I will vote for it to be Greenlit on Steam as I know the story to be an interesting one & the interface seems to be well thought out.

I am very glad you gave the demo a try and liked the text approach to the game in comparison to the original and the enhanced details you found in the story, environment and scenarios. If some areas are a bit easy its because its the prologue area and meant to be a sort of tutorial to the game. Believe me it does get more challenging through the games 10 chapters as I have played through the entire game.

I am very glad that you are voting for it on steam because you are seeing many good qualities in it. Yes, this is a very different approach from the original Lifestream released many years ago because the approach that is being taken with games like Lifestream is as if you are were reading a great novel but with many added elements of gameplay, art and sound added to it.

Great comments and I am very glad that you had a chance to try it out.

Released today for a very reasonable $5USD. I’ve just got my copy and looking forward to playing it.

This looks amazing, exactly what we need remakes of old unavailable titles that do not destroy the game (I am looking at you Larry, Monkey 1 GK)

Oscar - 25 April 2016 02:39 PM

Released today for a very reasonable $5USD. I’ve just got my copy and looking forward to playing it.

Awesome! I am glad you are playing this. I hope you enjoy it.

GrahamDaventry - 25 April 2016 05:28 PM

This looks amazing, exactly what we need remakes of old unavailable titles that do not destroy the game (I am looking at you Larry, Monkey 1 GK)

I agree, awesome remakes are the best!