New Longest Journey game announced!

[Woodsyblue]

So there is going to be a new game in The Longest Journey series! Pre-production on Dreamfall Chapters officially confirmed. I am beyond happy right now.

[Darth Marsden]

About. Goddamn. Time.

[RAnthonyMahan]

Yay!

And thanks for reminding me I need to clear TLJ out of my backlog. My horrible, huge backlog.

[Vainamoinen]

I've said my piece about Dreamfall Chapters elsewhere, but in short, Tørnquist still has to redeem himself for the non-interactive walk-from-A-to-B-to-A-to-B movie that Dreamfall was, and a game that jumps the episodic train without any need probably isn't a good start. Dreamfall had a nice story, but it sure as hell wasn't a game. Jurassic Park was more of a game than Dreamfall.

Also, Tørnquist is just mistaken in thinking that players would demand a sequel. That is because the original surprising cliffhanger was just bad form and should have been advertised on the game's package. Ragnar, upon finally getting the chance to do another Longest Journey in 2005 (advertised on the official TLJ site as a "hell freezes over" miracle!), made a game with an unfinished story, with the ludicrous assumption that he can conclude it some other time in the near future. That was just not sensible.

Movie series with six years between installments routinely fail, and these stories are hardly as complicated as Dreamfall was.

After six to seven god damn years, MOST of the original Dreamfall 'players' don't even remember what happened back then. Didn't want to experience the story again because the game part was missing, had new consoles or couldn't go through Dreamfall with Windows 7 until gog.com wanted money for the same game again (the only reason the original Dreamfall doesn't work on Windows 7 is the StarForce copy protection). So either Ragnar tells the entire Dreamfall story AGAIN, which is a waste of time, or he doesn't, which leads to utter confusion.

But I'm not all ranting here. I'm glad Tørnquist got out of the slum that FunCom is, and I applaud his initiative. If Dreamfall chapters is somehow playable, and the copy protection bearable, I'll support that man again. Dreamfall's environment and character design was nothing short of breathtaking. Those creatives certainly deserve a second chance to make an actual game. For PC with actual PC controls please, QUITE UNLIKE DREAMFALL.

Oh, and one last word to the Dreamfall designers, which hopefully are the Chapters designers as well: There are no black lines between teeth. Thank you.




Disclaimer: Vainamoinen was a huge supporter of Dreamfall and got his Special Edition right out of Norway in 2006 after spamming the Dreamfall forums for months. All the more disappointment with the game's undeniable and needless flaws.

[Vainamoinen]

BREAKING NEWS: RAGNAR INTERVIEW!!

In short:
Kickstarter considered | team as of yet incomplete | but FunCom employees exempt | no twitch combat or button mashing | Ragnar says it will be an actual GAME | Chapters will carry the story straight on from Dreamfall | idea of a "psychological RPG" that lets you gain 'spiritual' new abilities | idea of "social singleplayer games" | primary focus PC & Mac | 'things to show' early next year | promise of a very transparent and communicated development process | more details about what Chapters is exactly "in a few weeks"

That sounds pretty damn promising, I'll say. The only real downer is that Christer Sveen (Dreamfall Art Director) is still with FunCom and consequently not a part of the Chapters team. That man knows his shit inside out, and I want him on that project.

[Woodsyblue]

Originally Posted by Vainamoinen

I've said my piece about Dreamfall Chapters elsewhere, but in short, Tørnquist still has to redeem himself for the non-interactive walk-from-A-to-B-to-A-to-B movie that Dreamfall was, and a game that jumps the episodic train without any need probably isn't a good start. Dreamfall had a nice story, but it sure as hell wasn't a game. Jurassic Park was more of a game than Dreamfall...

...But I'm not all ranting here. I'm glad Tørnquist got out of the slum that FunCom is, and I applaud his initiative. If Dreamfall chapters is somehow playable, and the copy protection bearable, I'll support that man again. Dreamfall's environment and character design was nothing short of breathtaking. Those creatives certainly deserve a second chance to make an actual game. For PC with actual PC controls please, QUITE UNLIKE DREAMFALL.

I was wondering how long this thread could go before someone brought up that game and its faults. (I don't mean that in a bitchy or snarky way, pointing out Dreamfall's flaws is understandable, nay, encouraged.) However, Vainamoinen I applaud your levelheadedness in your criticism, and for the record I don't disagree with anything you've said.

Many of the faults of Dreamfall seemed, at least to me, to be attributed by a desire on the part of the publisher to make the game more marketable to non-adventure game players, a practice that almost always ends horrendously in these situations! Hopefully, and from what it sounds like, Dreamfall Chapters will be more focused on what the fans want out of the series. This can be achieved though the upcoming Kickstarter project, as that cuts out the publisher's meddling and leaves the game designers to make the game that they want to make and the fans want to play.

Originally Posted by Vainamoinen

BREAKING NEWS: RAGNAR INTERVIEW!!

In short:
Kickstarter considered | team as of yet incomplete | but FunCom employees exempt | no twitch combat or button mashing | Ragnar says it will be an actual GAME | Chapters will carry the story straight on from Dreamfall | idea of a "psychological RPG" that lets you gain 'spiritual' new abilities | idea of "social singleplayer games" | primary focus PC & Mac | 'things to show' early next year | promise of a very transparent and communicated development process | more details about what Chapters is exactly "in a few weeks

Thanks for posting that. Huge news. I have supported a fair few recent Kickstarters at levels from as low as $15 and as high as $60, but this is the first Kickstarter that I am likely to go all out on, probably pledging at levels in the $100–$150 range and possibly higher depending on the reward tiers. (Hell, I even picked up a copy of The Secret World just because I was hoping it would help lead to this Dreamfall Chapters announcement!)

On a side note, this announcement came on the morning of the day in which I will hand the final assignment of my University degree. What a good, good day!

[Vainamoinen]

Originally Posted by Woodsyblue

Thanks for posting that. Huge news. I have supported a fair few recent Kickstarters at levels from as low as $15 and as high as $60, but this is the first Kickstarter that I am likely to go all out on, probably pledging at levels in the $100–$150 range and possibly higher depending on the reward tiers. (Hell, I even picked up a copy of The Secret World just because I was hoping it would help lead to this Dreamfall Chapters announcement!)

I've always only supported at the lowest possible level. My job doesn't really come with any leniency in the financial department. Also, I'm only ever allowed to back as soon as PayPal donations are offered as an option. I'd be ready to invest more than ever in Dreamfall Chapters though - if there's a tier with the DRM-free downloadable Chapters and at book's end, a special edition with all parts on DVD, maybe an art book and soundtrack, I'll take a very close look. But I won't just throw a hundred bucks at Ragnar, that's just not in the cards for me.

[Vainamoinen]

New interview:

http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/20...for-pc-and-mac

Again, in short:
Chapters to be full game, no episodes | supposedly out in two years | no combat

A lot of soothing info in there; look below for the best part. The man is speaking from my soul, what more can you ask for?

"There are a lot of areas we can improve in. One is to get rid of the horrifyingly bad combat system. It never became what it was supposed to and we had to rush it out and it failed on all accounts. Luckily we were able to avoid using it most of the time. That's the first thing to go.

"The second thing is we felt the controls of the game were a bit clunky. Today it feels clunky, your character doesn't feel connected. That's something we're going to work on quite a bit.

"Thirdly," he added, "the puzzles in Dreamfall: the good thing about them was they were tied to the story - there was no puzzle that felt completely arbitrary or abstract like in The Longest Journey. But The Longest Journey had a lot more gameplay, and that's something we want to go back to."

[dukeleto]

Now, here it's SPECTACULAR news! ))

[Woodsyblue]

Originally Posted by Vainamoinen

New interview:

http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/20...for-pc-and-mac

Again, in short:
Chapters to be full game, no episodes | supposedly out in two years | no combat

A lot of soothing info in there; look below for the best part. The man is speaking from my soul, what more can you ask for?

That's really cool. It really sounds like Ragnar has been listening to the things fans have been saying for the last six years

[Vainamoinen]

Plundering Ragnar's twitter today...

T: How does Dreamfall Chapters begin? Black screen, a haunting song. Then, through darkness, a voice: "The Undreaming is Unchained".

Q: Is there any chance we might see Europolis in Dreamfall Chapters?
A: Yep!

Q: Will the game involve several characters?
A: Yep!

Q: I really hope you’ll have a female protagonist option!
A: Definitely. Two out of three.

Q: Can Crow be the third option? Please?
A: Crow will be very, very important. But not one of the three.

Q: Will there be more Wonkers? I miss Wonkers.
A: Trying to make that happen. I love old Wonkers. All depends on the actor.

Q: Do we know any of those three protagonists?
A: Two out of three, yep.

Q: Wild guess: April and Zoe?
A: Well, not both.

[Woodsyblue]

Originally Posted by Vainamoinen

Q: Wild guess: April and Zoe?
A: Well, not both.

I'm going to put my money on it being Zoë, considering the fact that the game is called Dreamfall Chapters, not to mention the ending of the last game.

[Vainamoinen]

I'm going to put my money on April, considering the fact that Zoë is trapped in Winter and can't get out on herself, while April just pulled a standard Gandalf!

[Woodsyblue]

We shall have to see when more information surfaces

[Darth Marsden]

I want it to be April, who I consider to have the more interesting story (and better voice actress, but that's just me), but am very much resigned to the fact it'll probably be about Zoe, considering that it seems to be the direction the story's taken.

[Woodsyblue]

And the Kickstarter is live. Looks like Chapters will be following Zoë after all.

I reckon I'll be pledging at the $110 tier.

[Jennifer]

Originally Posted by Woodsyblue

I reckon I'll be pledging at the $110 tier

Me too, as that one looked like it had the most compelling extras.

[Vainamoinen]

Originally Posted by Woodsyblue

And the Kickstarter is live. Looks like Chapters will be following Zoë after all.

I reckon I'll be pledging at the $110 tier.

I DON'T HAVE THAT KIND OF MONEY!!

...and will have to hope for PayPal option anyway when the initial 850.000 are in.

BTW, the Dreamfall chapters kickstarter has thrown the first "Broken Sword" day in the dust right now, and will probably dethrone the first day of the Double Fine adventure VERY soon. Yet Chapters will never beat DF's day two. NEVER. I refuse to believe.

[Vainamoinen]

...if I did a playthrough of "Dreamfall" in the recently popular picture book Let's Play form... would anyone here be interested?!

[Jennifer]

Originally Posted by Vainamoinen

...if I did a playthrough of "Dreamfall" in the recently popular picture book Let's Play form... would anyone here be interested?!

Sure. Sounds interesting to me.