Rock, Paper, Shotgun

Was there really ever any doubt that a Dreamfall Chapters Kickstarter would fly past the finish line on beams of glorious rainbow sun and cyberlightning? Perhaps in some dismal, alternate future of implausibly constant sadness, but not in this one. So at this stage, it’s a matter of just how rabidly fans frothed dollars into Ragnar Tørnquist’s clinking cup, and – as a result – what sorts of dreamy extras we’re in for. Unsurprisingly, we’re getting quite a lot, given that Dreamfall made nearly double its initial Kickstarter goal. Sadly, however, it narrowly missed accruing the funds necessary for a second, entirely separate game starring The Longest Journey heroine April Ryan.

Read the rest of this entry »

We all have our cultural blind-spots. Knowing nothing about it, The Longest Journey disappointed me, because it wasn’t a high-speed jeep journey across a post-apocalyptic landscape, but instead a story about a girl with a magicface and two addresses or something. Oh, I don’t know, why isn’t Adam writing this article? I was quite happy polishing my purple men and their guns.

Anyway, it seems that there’s now a trailer for the next Dreamfall game, which by a miraculous coincidence appears with less than a week to go on the Kickstarter campaign for that very same game. Conspiracy? I leave you to decide.
Read the rest of this entry »

If you’ve never played The Longest Journey or Dreamfall, you could be forgiven for thinking that Dreamfall Chapters is set in a world of rolling hills, sunbeams and magic. That’s partly true. There’s another world behind and sort of alongside that one. Stark is one possible future of our world, and it contrasts sharply with Arcadia’s green and pleasant lands. The latest Kickstarter update contains the first sight of Europolis, a cyberpunk dystopia of dark alleys, and neon-bright corporations and nightclubs. Below, you’ll find the latest video, showing the city streets and providing an insight into the state of Europe in 2220. All of the footage is in-game, taken from the current prototype. I’ve also included some screenshots and concept art, including two new characters, that you can’t find anywhere else just yet. For good measure, I asked project director Ragnar Tørnquist to provide some detail about the characters and the city.

Read the rest of this entry »

The Dreamfall Chapters Kickstarter is closing in on $800,000 and that means it’s time for the announcement of stretch goals. The first will be unlocked at $900,000 and there’s an image below that may contain a clue, as well as details on the rest. Last night’s update also included the first footage of the current prototype, which shows a placeholder Zoe avatar, still wearing her old threads, exploring the Riverwood environment shown in the image above (click to embiggen). It’s early footage but attractive – far more intriguing than the trees and the flowers is the first look at the ‘hybrid’ interface. Third person movement, with freedom to explore, and a cursor for interaction.

Read the rest of this entry »

Dreamfall Chapters news comes rarely, and often without detail, but Funcom’s Ragnar Tørnquist has sneaked out a couple more bits and pieces. Bits and pieces he’s quick to stress are unofficial, from him, and not representative of Funcom. First and foremost, that it definitely still exists. In the sense that it hasn’t been given up on. While Funcom is in a bit of turmoil, making a sizeable loss and losing their CFO, it’s good to know that Tørnquist and his The Secret World team (who have a lot in common with his Dreamfall team) are still continuing at full speed. And it’s good to know that the thinking is long-term, and that Chapters is still to come. Now a few more details about how Chapters will work have appeared.

Read the rest of this entry »