By Jim Rossignol on June 23rd, 2008 at 4:56 pm.
This blog (scroll down if you don’t read French) has the details of an artful Far Cry mod that references Samuel Beckett and Fritz Lang alongside Rez, Shadow Of The Colossus, and Fahrenheit, in its design blurb. It seems to be called “Jeux d’ombres”, which means something like “Play Of Shadows” “Shadow Play”, apparently. Although “Game Of Shadows” is the literal translation. My complete lack of professionalism means that I don’t have a copy of Far Cry handy to test this out on, but the description and trailer makes it sound worth taking a nose at…
Thus, in “Naissance”, and “Jeux d’ombres” in particular, I reflected on the manner of using systems usually reserved for the installation of atmosphere, like the lights or the particles, but I diverted this use in order to create new facets of gameplay. The light and the shades give the rate of steps of the player, it unnerves him, deforming space.
Yikes. Check this out:
You can download Jeux d’ombres here. (Twenty-six of your megabytes.) Please report in comments if you’ve managed to get it working.
Thanks to the Laziest Tom for the head’s up. (Finish a game, man!)
23/06/2008 at 17:01 CrashT says:
I think I had a dream like that once… No, I’m not a well man.
Some elements remind me of the Citadel levels from Half Life 2.
23/06/2008 at 17:05 Rook says:
I wonder if it works with the ad supported version of FarCry
http://www.fileplanet.com/180410/180000/fileinfo/Far-Cry-Full-Game-%5BFree-Game—Ad-Supported%5D
23/06/2008 at 17:07 Jim Rossignol says:
I think you need the editor installed to run it, possibly.
23/06/2008 at 17:14 mark says:
game of shadows, surely?
23/06/2008 at 17:15 Okami says:
so… can you shoot things?
23/06/2008 at 17:18 Dracko says:
Shadow play, silly.
23/06/2008 at 17:22 Jim Rossignol says:
Auto-translation gives up “Sets Of Shades”. Thanks, internet.
23/06/2008 at 17:25 Aubrey says:
Ohh, I linked this in earlier comments here (the Action Half Life article, I think). I’m well ahead of the curve, me.
23/06/2008 at 17:28 mark says:
yeah my french mate told me ‘game of shadows’, which makes sense: jeux = game, d’ is short for de = of, ombres = shadows
23/06/2008 at 17:31 Muzman says:
A distinct lack of silhouettes of guys in hats, but otherwise groovyness.
(distinct lack of Far Cry for me to play it too :( )
23/06/2008 at 17:44 delfino furioso says:
it reminds me of halfquake, for some reason
23/06/2008 at 18:15 yns88 says:
Yeah, it does reminisce of Halfquake: Amen, except minus the slapstick/black humor and funny accents (well, it’s French, so I guess there might still be funny accents).
Which is definitely a good thing, since that was probably the most memorable HL mod I’ve played.
23/06/2008 at 18:41 Solario says:
For a moment there I thought this was going to be an existentialistic, “Hell Is Other People,” first person shooter based on Sartre “Les Jeux Sont Faits” and got all exicited.
Have to say I’m a little disappointed now.
23/06/2008 at 19:15 Roritharr says:
Aw, come on…
I looks atmospheric, cool, but why did he go through the hassle of calling this a game? Its mainly a explorable 3d environment… not a game…
Its art, but not playable, just watchable art…
23/06/2008 at 19:18 dmauro says:
If we’re playing the “reminds me of” game, I’m going to say Doom 3.
23/06/2008 at 19:45 ape says:
Game of shadows is an exact translation, but if you ask me Shadow Play sounds better. I’m from Montreal by the way (Quebec, Canada for you geographically challenged types.) In any case this makes me wish I had a copy of far cry.
23/06/2008 at 19:47 Lizard Dude says:
Reminds me of TRON 2.0.
23/06/2008 at 20:18 Dracko says:
Jeux d’ombres means shadow play. I’m not sure what’s causing a confusion here.
23/06/2008 at 21:59 Hopper says:
Reminds me of the book House of Leaves.
Certain bits are how I imagined the room, especially the colour.
23/06/2008 at 22:10 InVinoVeritas says:
Hopper, I thought the EXACT same thing. I have to check this out. House of Leaves was a book to be experienced, not read.
23/06/2008 at 22:15 Kelduum says:
I’m not sure what that reminds me of, but the lack of colour, and the deep noises are just disturbing.
I’m very, very, scared now. And what’s worse, I’m not sure why…
23/06/2008 at 22:51 A French Reader says:
I don’t know what is the english translation of “jeux d’ombres”, but it actually refers to the act of projecting some curious looking shadows against a wall by doing weird things with your hands in front of a light. Sorry for the terrible virtual accent.
23/06/2008 at 23:11 Willy359 says:
Does this thing end or just stop? I can’t tell if I’m finished or just stuck. I rode a moving platform, jumped across a bunch of shimmery platforms and climbed a wide staircase to a room. The room has what looks like an exit at the far end, but I can’t get there because the ceiling is too low at that end. Also, the frikkin three-note accordian loop is driving me nuts. I declare a halt. I’d love to see a game that looked like this but had, y’know, an actual game part.
24/06/2008 at 01:47 Caiman says:
It looks like the kind of thing someone would create if they didn’t have any artistic texturing skill – just leave out the textures altogether! Of course, it’s clearly now crossed into the domain of “art”.
24/06/2008 at 06:33 Pantsman says:
More than anything else it reminds me of the Mondo games. Which you should all play, btw, since they’re freeware and very short.
24/06/2008 at 08:37 Swyyw says:
- They say that I am the lord of war, but perhaps it is you.
- I believe it’s “warlord.”
- Thank you, but I prefer it my way.
shadow play.
24/06/2008 at 13:44 Alexander says:
I didn’t play it but, looks smart; maybe it should be in a hidden section of RPS for people allergic to art? it seems certain design decisions (no matter how interesting) must immediately be crushed with the golden hammer of ‘we KNOW what GAMES are’. God will come and pick you up soon.
24/06/2008 at 17:53 Five Dollar Victory says:
looks like a good one to give a try after a solid session with my pipe.
Looking for far cry dvd…
24/06/2008 at 18:45 Lucky Main Street says:
So other than being atomospheric and looking pretty, is there a point?
24/06/2008 at 20:44 ZenArcade says:
Some fine examples of how the average gamers brains coming unstuck at anything that resembles anything vaguely different.
“What? No space marines? Fuck off you frog.”
Personally, i think it’s a very interesting idea. If they can incorperate the moody atmosphere into some different gameplay elements then I am all for games like this. Anyone else can go back to Halo 3 on x-box live with 12 year old wankers from America.
24/06/2008 at 23:42 Toby says:
I played this a good while back, when I was creating my own FarCry mod called FirstContact: Planetfall (I think it was featured here). This mod is definitely worth playing, there is no shooting.. but it is a very interesting and immersive experience non the less. It has some interesting puzzles and environments to complement it.
However, unless another level has been made since I last played it, the end is abrupt.
I loved it.. and I hope the guy who made it can make more of the same.
11/08/2008 at 14:36 Kanakotka says:
Zenarcades, walking around in an enviroment, doing nothing but that, is not playing a game. It’s a limited, virtual reality experience. Not a game, but art. Since art has no purpose but itself.
12/08/2008 at 22:56 MetalCircus says:
Kanakotka. It’s called an experience. You need to seriously pull your head out of what you believe to be gameplay as for you it seems to involve mainly SHOOTAN GUNZ, which is fine for most games, but some games, or mods, such as this, like to aim for something else.
No offence, and I realize this idea is in its infancy, but don’t shoot down a mod, which you likely haven’t played, because it is unconventional. If we keep doing this the game industry will never progress.
Also your comment about art having no purpose but itself is baffling. Art is probably more important than both our pitiful lives put together. I feel as though i’m misinterpreting your statement though. Am I? Surely no-one could acctually think that.