Slashdot Mirror

← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)

Ex-LucasArts Developers Try Vampyre Graphical Adventure

Posted by simoniker on from the pointy-teeth dept.

Thanks to an anonymous reader for pointing to an AdventureGamers interview with ex-LucasArts developers Autumn Moon Entertainment regarding its early-in-development graphical adventure A Vampyre Story. They explain: "With the drop in sales for [the traditional graphical adventure] genre, it became harder to get assigned to new adventure game projects at [LucasArts]. It seemed like the only logical way to be a part of that kind of project again was to create something independently." The late-2005 due project is still seeking a publisher, but is further profiled in the June 2004 Inventory PDF magazine, and the interview also explains the plot ("A young French opera star becomes the object of obsession for a deranged vampire... She must escape his castle and return to Paris"), and possible game duration ("The game will be shorter than Curse of Monkey Island and longer than Full Throttle.")

8 of 31 comments (clear)

  1. The Ultimate Irony by M3wThr33 · · Score: 2, Funny

    I know it probably won't happen, but in the back of my mind I just wonder how these guys would react if LucasArts published their game. It would send the most confusing statement to everyone. "We won't publish adventure games, but we'll publish them!"

  2. Re:Great news, but... by cujo_1111 · · Score: 3, Insightful

    "Vampyre" has been in the English language since the mid 1700s. I don't think you can just remove it bevcause you don't like the connotations it brings.

    --
    If I point out that you are incorrect, making me a foe does not make you any more correct.
  3. Good luck, but... by 0x0d0a · · Score: 4, Interesting

    I wish the Autumn Moon folks best of luck.

    However, I am a little sad that they wound up going with the Syberia engine. I suppose it's just as well -- I suppose it's more modern and all that, and they listed their justifications -- but I would have gotten a kick out of it if they could have used the ScummVM engine (a free reimplementation of the old Lucasarts adventure engine, and what anyone playing Lucasarts adventure games on a modern OS uses today). Their earlier games at Lucasarts used that engine. They could use freely and was written by developers that had the same love of adventure games as the artists at Autumn Moon do.

    --
    May we never see th
    1. Re:Good luck, but... by Quobobo · · Score: 2, Informative

      Taken from the ScummVM FAQ:

      Can I use ScummVM to make new games?
      While it is theoretically possible to write a new game that uses ScummVM it is not advisable. ScummVM has many hacks to support older games and no tools geared towards creating content usable by ScummVM. Potential game authors are encouraged to look at open source technologies such as libSDL for a cross platform DirectX like library, and the Lua and Python scripting languages for game logic.

  4. Yippeee, new adventure games! by tsa · · Score: 4, Interesting

    After approximately 5 years of lying dormant the adventure genre is finally getting back on steam. I guess you can say that Syberia is the game that put the adventure genre back on the map. Now there are a lot of interesting games that are youst released or in the making. Check Adventuregamers.com and Just adventure + for details! I am not in any way connected to these sites, just very interested in new adventure games. The future is looking good! If only they would start making a new Tex Murphy game!

    --

    -- Cheers!

    1. Re:Yippeee, new adventure games! by Blakey+Rat · · Score: 3, Interesting

      First of all, The Longest Journey (1999) is three times better than Syberia and if anything "brought the adventure genre back" it was that. (Although Syberia was ported to XBox, which seems like a major victory to me.)

      Second of all, the adventure genre never left-- you just stopped buying adventure games. When's the last time you went to a, say, Target or Wal-Mart that had PC games and saw a copy of The Crystal Key on the shelf. Did you buy it? It's an adventure game. What about Uru? The Longest Journey? Syberia? A hundred other adventure games that have come out at the rate of 4-5 a year since 1995 or so? ... yeah, thought so.

      I get so pissed at people who say "the adventure genre died!" and, at the same time, don't support the developers out there who write these games all the time. If you want adventure games, BUY adventure games... simple.

      --
      Comment of the year
  5. Here's another idea for the Ex-Lucasarts People: by superultra · · Score: 2, Funny

    How about a graphical adventure called Mam & Sax: Free to Hire Investigative Peacekeepers?

  6. Re:Mac Port? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Insightful

    I would personally like ports to other systems like PS2 and Gamecube. Lucasarts did the last Monkey Island game on PS2. I always thought Grim Fandango would have really broken through if it was re-released on PS2. Would have been a piece of cake after they already ported the engine for Monkey Island, too.

    The problem with adventure games is that they are a niche market. The incredibly huge installed user base of the PS2 would allow them to reach a large market instantly. This is how games like Culdcept, Disgaea, and Katamari Damacy can get released in the US and still turn a good profit. Or how games like Vibribbon and Mojibribbon can get released at all.