In 1994 Drowned God started life as an elaborate and beautiful pitch document ( Included in the re-release) as was still commonplace and the game was commissioned solely on the back of this, with a very respectable budget of $1.6m.
The game was developed at EPIC Multimedia in Brighton ( not to be confused with Epic Megagames of Unreal and Fortnite fame) and published by Inscape a division of Time Warner
Production started in 1995 right as the videogame industry underwent a seismic shift from pixel based 2D or pre-rendered ‘3D’ images to realtime 3D,a change kickstarted by the release of Doom in late 1993 and the imminent release of the Sony Playstation in Sep 1995 with its 3D capable hardware.
THE HOW
With this in the background the choice to create the game as an adventure similar to Myst which had released in late 1993 , with environments pre-rendered and stepped through in slide fashion put it at odds with the coming wave of realtime 3D titles. However given the detailed nature of its worlds and the need to convey complex imagery and messages there really was no alternative. Interestingly that decision has placed the game in a very favorable position regarding the re-release as the images stand up incredibly well on modern HD screens without the need for reworking, something that cannot be said of its peers.
Despite the slightly dated nature of its game engine the title did however use cutting edge techniques elsewhere and has one of the earliest documented uses of facial motion capture in game development. A technique necessary in order to convey the complex characters both historical and legendary, with their full dramatic force in a recognizable and understandable fashion.
In 1994 Drowned God started life as an elaborate and beautiful pitch document (included in the re-release) and as was still commonplace the game was commissioned solely on the back of this, with a very respectable budget of $1.6m.
The game was developed at EPIC Multimedia in Brighton ( not to be confused with Epic Megagames of Unreal and Fortnite fame) and published by Inscape a division of Time Warner
Production started in 1995 right as the videogame industry underwent a seismic shift from pixel based 2D or pre-rendered ‘3D’ images to realtime 3D,a change kickstarted by the release of Doom in late 1993 and the imminent release of the Sony Playstation in Sep 1995 with its 3D capable hardware.
THE HOW
With this in the background the choice to create the game as an adventure similar to Myst which had released in late 1993 , with environments pre-rendered and stepped through in slide fashion put it at odds with the coming wave of realtime 3D titles. However given the detailed nature of its worlds and the need to convey complex imagery and messages there really was no alternative. Interestingly that decision has placed the game in a very favorable position regarding the re-release as the images stand up incredibly well on modern HD screens without the need for reworking, something that cannot be said of its peers.
Despite the slightly dated nature of its game engine the title did however use cutting edge techniques elsewhere and has one of the earliest documented uses of facial motion capture in game development. A technique necessary in order to convey the complex characters both historical and legendary, with their full dramatic force in a recognizable and understandable fashion.
GOD-LOG
TREASON AND PLOT
GOD-LOG
TREASON AND PLOT