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Objective: design and implement
an adventure game, within the Atlantis Amerzone
et Cie group. The goal is not commercial, of course.It
is to create a dynamic project for the club members who
will choose to get involved.
Human resources: the idea
is to rely on the knowledge, the experience, the variety,
the availabilty and motivation of the members of the Atlantis
Amerzone et Cie club. We are definitely "gifted" or
endowed with interesting competences, all of us, in various
fields, be they technical, artistic, managerial (whew), etc.
Everyone (I really mean everyone) can contribute: drawings, pictures,
texts, exchanges of ideas. scenario, re-reading, testing. Considering
the group dynamics, why not try together (those who are interested,
of course) to create an adventure game, the sort of game we'd
like to see and play. Since we're spread across Europe and Canada (am I
forgetting anyone?), we could even operate on a "2x8" basis! :-D
Technical resources: we all
have at least one computer and one Internet connexion, right?
So we're all able to do certain tasks, such as word processing,
graphic acquisition and image editing, typesetting, pure unadulterated
programming, and many other things besides. We also have already a
group on Yahoo. And thanks to Manu, we now have a private Forum dedicated
to the Atlantzone Project.
Technical medium: It could be a
classic CDROM, a "packaged" game. Or it could be
Internet based, making it accessible from everywhere. Or it could
be something else altogether (to be defined). My initial thought on
this is: a web-based game has many advantages:
- the corresponding technique (HTML) is more accessible
than straight programming languages,
- many creation tools exist already, that don't require expert
knwowledge,
- storing and distributing data is relatively easy (ftp site),
- testing becomes easy to do (all it requires is a connection),
- there are only few hardware configuration issues.
- the product can run (in principle...) immediately on all platforms
: PC windows / linux, MAC OS,
- no need to have a hyper-machine: just a simple web browser, and that's
it!
Time resources, timing: "we must set
a limit in time to the Project, that's the best way to get to the end
of it". It may sound trite, but it's true. My rough estimate is
one year. It's better not to commit ourselves to more than that,
since we all have outside "constraints" too.
How can you participate? It's simple.
If you feel motivated by the Project, and if you can give it some of your
spare time, just email me at acces@atlantzone.fr.st.
Explain your motivation in a few words (not as if this was to apply for
a real job :-) ) and the time you are willing to spend (an estimate, no more:
someting like 1 to 2 hours/month, or 35 hours/week.)
This will enable me to make a first estimate of our resources and strengths.
I will then give you the address to access the AtlantZone Forum.
As a conclusion: keep in mind that this Project
has no megalomaniac goals. Its major objective is simply to strengthen the links
among the Atlantis Amerzone et Cie group, in a warm and friendly manner.
The Project is open to all members, and you don't need to have a Ph.D.
in Computer Science to be allowed to participate. All people of good will
are welcome.
Amities
Yves
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7
August 2002 - Start of the Project.
As soon as the announcement went out on the forum, 5 people were already
volunteering. Just the first day! If we keep on like this, Bill Gates
had better watch out!
12 August 2002 - Webpage is being redesigned
Game.
On this page there are now several links to illustrated technical
subjects under discussion: music and
sound effects, navigation
from a picture, etc...
15 August 2002 - A new Forum, a brand new
distribution list! Atlantzone is not stinting
itself!. A consequence of its success, the Project has had
to invest in additional space. Thanks to Manu for his help.
The team is growing and growing. At latest census, we were 11
Atlantzone boys and girls.:-D
22 August 2002 - Scenarios are in gestation period
. Here we are! After several days of complete madness, tossing
ideas about scenarios all over the place, we have decided it was time
to stop, and concentrate on 6 or 7 major concepts. Now comes the time
for refining ideas...
30 August 2002 - Logo Competition.
A game Project without a logo is like a pretty girl without a... So we've
called for ideas to create
a swell logo for our web zone. Apart from that, we've held heated
discussions about the music (a composer has just joined us, yessiree)
and about the game interface.
Staffing is stagnating, 12 currently... but the holiday season is almost over ;-)
1 September 2002 - Online music.
Boys and girls, the Project is accelerating. Here's some good stuff
: extracts from Edouard's CD
. I think we've found a treasure. And now Isys is moving into gear,
and giving us a few drafts for
characters. Wow... Beautiful...
13 September 2002 - Putting the work teams in place
. Here we are now in the structuration phase, creating
3 work groups for the following themes: scenario, sub-plots, technique.
The forum has evolved accordingly, and we now have a real worktool.
23 September 2002 - Building a prototype.
To validate the technical options, we are beginning to build a
prototype (reduced version of the game)
incorporating the final game interface and the various possible types
of actions: manipulation of items, dialogues, navigation.
1 October 2002 - The prototype is completed!
Since yesterday it's available online for review and criticism. Any
criticism... Enjoy yourselves. Any resemblance with existing persons
etc... :-D
10 October 2002 - Full speed ahead on voice
recordings. Now that we've written the initial dialogues,
everyone makes trial recordings. It still requires some tuning here and there,
but it looks as though we'll be able to do our own sound tracks
using our current equipment. Very encouraging for what is to follow
. Some samples here.
15 October 2002 - Reference documents for script
writing. After a few mind-bashing sessions, here are our
reference documents, fresh from the press. We have tried them out on
the introduction script. Indispensable tools. ;-) Apart from that, an
excellent new invention which
will enable us to create puzzles of the type where you have to
reconstitute a letter.
21 October 2002 - The script outline is done
! This is an important milestone in the Project.
From now on, We have a fair idea of what the story and game will
look like. Many thanks, Madame Caro.
28 October 2002 - The game develoment has started
. The introduction is under way, some continuities can be tested,
but not all of it is functional yet. At last, real pictures of the
game! In passing, and with a little bit of anticipation,
Happy Birthday to Meg and Isys :-)
13 November 2002 - Casting. Now that we have identified
the characters, we must find
voices for them. We are sending calls for volunteers in Atlantzone
(members, partners, friends, etc...). Apart from this, the team has taken
a rest during the All Saints Holidays, after a few mad weeks... :-)
18 November 2002 - Saving games!
Following some pressing requests (I will name no names :-), the game saving
functionality is now operational. It should definitely make the testing team's
life easier...
26 November 2002 - Sister Anne, can you see anything
coming? What? The latest script for the Canches intro?
The definitive choice for the characters' voices? The ending credits?
No... it's just that tomorrow is her birthday
:-) !!!
29 November 2002 - Music Maestro!
Ah, this rascal Edouard has done it again. No way to keep him
down. He's offering us again
new compositions!And they're not half bad, I can tell you.
And so that we can enjoy them to the full, the technical guys
have set up a great menu so that we can adjust the respective
volumes for music, sound effects and dialogues.
16 January 2003 - Burps. Well, yes,
it's always hard to recover from year-end festivities.
This one-month break did us a lot of good, especialy after a
very intensive November. Our first chat session, planned for the 15th,
has been postponed to the 22nd because the Boss broke his PC :-P
17 February 2003 - Change your tires :-)
We are slowly emerging from winter, during which there were a few changes
made in the team. So we had to re-organise and re-motivate. We are changing
direction for the Atlantzone characters. a casting has been launched to
find "real life"actors, instead of 3D models. Babou and Sophie
are now involved in scripting, while Caro will do the graphics.
26 February 2003 - Happy Birthday to the AAC Club.
After all, without it, Atlantzone wouldn't be with us today. Many thanks
to Manu, then, and may AAC live forever.
20 March 2003 - It's War...
In spite of this, Atlantzone progresses at a good pace, with a chat
every two weeks. The site has been updated a bit. The Safe Puzzle at Canches'
is now functional. Moreover, we have launched a reflection process
about the use of Edouard's musical compositions.
14 Avril 2003 - The Construction Site. Madre
mia, what a turmoil! We felt a sudden urge... and we have reviewed and
modified all the pictures, and their framing, from the beginning
of the game. About 10 days of heavy work, but today, it's finished!
And we've also modified the Introduction. Now it's time to get to work
on Chapter I.
19 June 2003 - Some News. I was so busy elsewhere
that I forgot to give some update on progress. Since April, we've been
working on Chapter I..., which was completed mid-June! Great!
We're now working on Chapter II: the script is practically finished,
we're halfway through with the graphics, and I'm about to start the
programming. Note that now we have Séraphin's voice, hurray.
30 June 2003 - It's Summertime. And it's going
to be a HOT summer :-) Now that we've finished the graphics for
Chapter II, programming comes in a rush. We've reached our cruising speed,
and it seems that we can produce a chapter every six weeks. If we can
keep up with that, we should be close to completion in November. ;-)
3 Aout 2003 - End of Holidays. After a few weeks
of rest, it's time to get back to work :-) Now that Chapter II is completed,
we're happily launching ourselves into Chapter III: the script is almost
done. Graphics are under way. An Offline version has just been created.
It will enable those with a slow Internet connection to play the game
on their PC without being connected.
11 August 2003 - Dragonlouve's Birthday.
Happy Birthday to the team's
junior member.. You're a big girl now! :-) I hope you have a
lovely day.
3 September 2003 - Chapter III is functional!!! . It's been online since last Sunday, but we've
added some improvements since. We must now do the editing for
the sound recordings. Caro has distributed a first view of the
graphics for Chapter IV: the studio and the appartment.
6 September 2003 - Dialogues for Chapter II are available . All of a sudden, it feels like we're reaching the end.
Only two more sections to do, and the game will be over...
13 October 2003 - Chapter IV is online: ready to test . No vocal version yet, the dialogues are still being
recorded. Babou and Caro are in deep reflection about the epilogue. |
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