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Interview: From Dust creator Eric Chahi and Guillaume Bunier, producer
Amidst so many Gamescom titles that seemed to tread familiar ground, Ubisoft's From Dust stood out with its impressive technology and wholly non-violent gameplay. We had a chance to speak with creative director Eric Chahi (who you may know as the creator of Out of This World) and producer Guillaume Bunier about their unique project. Read our interview past the break.
How 'From Dust' turns manipulating nature into a game
We already know quite a bit about how From Dust (née Project Dust) uses a few layers of basic elements to create a highly realistic and malleable virtual world. What's been less clear was how Eric Chahi and his team were going to make an actual game out of this lava-filled sandbox. Until today, that is, when Chahi and producer Guillaume Bunier presented the first details of From Dust's gameplay in a Gamescom demonstration.%Gallery-99786%
Project Dust, working title becomes From Dust, actual title
It seems like it was just yesterday that Ubisoft was still referring to its mysterious, Eric Chahi-led game by its working title, "Project Dust." Oh, what a difference a day makes. Introducing: From Dust, as elegantly illustrated on the above sign adorning a Ubisoft meeting room at Gamescom this morning. Perhaps the just-scribbled-in-Sharpie aesthetic was what they were going for but, in case it was an act of curious vandalism, we asked a Ubisoft press liasion who confirmed that, yes, From Dust is the official, just-announced title. Unfortunately, the above image is the closest we've been able to get to any kind of announcement from Ubisoft so you'll just have to trust us. [Update: Ubisoft has just forwarded a fact sheet for "From Dust."]
How Project Dust's world-building world was built
We're still not entirely sure what kind of game lies underneath the virtual-sandbox-with-lava of Eric Chahi's Project Dust, but after a GDC Europe talk today, we do know a little bit more about the underlying system that makes that sandbox work.
Chahi: Project Dust is like building sandcastles, with more lava
Speaking to Joystiq during E3, legendary Another World designer Eric Chahi gave us a bit more information about the mysterious Project Dust, revealed at Ubisoft's E3 presentation. First, it's important to know what inspired him to make the game: volcanoes. " I took a trip to an active volcano to see eruptions," Chahi said, "and since that time I'm crazy about volcanoes. When an eruption is announced somewhere, I take my bag and take the first flight to see this kind of thing." According to Chahi, Project Dust is a God game based on manipulating nature. " The foundation of Project Dust is a simulation. It's like playing 'sandcastle' on the beach, except you have more material to use, like lava." Lava, he reminded us, isn't purely a destructive force -- it can also be used to shape the land and even create areas of land. Interaction with your tribe of people is done through manipulation of the land, which mainly involves picking up materials and moving them around. The Ubisoft rep with Chahi explained that when you pick up something like water, it forms a free-floating sphere that the people can see and react to -- and they don't understand it. Right now, he said, the in-world significance of the levitating material is a mystery even to Ubisoft. %Gallery-95207%
Chahi: Project Dust a spiritual successor to Populous
With the slim details we have about Ubisoft and Eric Chahi's "Project Dust," we're happy for anything that might shed a little light on the spring downloadable release. In a Q&A Ubisoft released, Chahi compares his game to Populous, the strategy classic that casts players as a deity caring for a tribe of people through divine intervention. In the as-yet-untitled "Dust," the tribe of humans live on a version of Earth ravaged by an extreme number of natural disasters, disasters the player can harness to help the people of Dust expand and migrate. Lest you think you've got "Dust" all figured out, Chahi lists influences on the game ranging from a visit to Vanuatu's Yasur crater to Godfrey Reggio's film Koyaanisqatsi. So yeah, we're still a little more in the dark than we'd like, but we can't wait to find out more.
Eric Chahi's Project Dust heading to Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3
Remember when we got all excited about Eric Chahi's upcoming game, Project Dust (working title), when it was revealed at Ubisoft's press conference today? Well, that excitement is no longer exclusive to us -- we've embedded the premiere trailer after the break. It's full of masked natives occasionally living their lives and, oh, occasionally being swept off the face of the planet. Moreover, the trailer also reveals the platforms on which we'll eventually be seeing the game: Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3. %Gallery-95207%
Eric Chahi's Project Dust coming digitally distributed in spring 2011
If that title didn't fill you with joy, we're very sad for you. You also need to stop reading and go play Eric Chahi's brilliant Another World and Heart of Darkness. If you are squealing like a little girl, we've got the details for you, fresh from Ubisoft's E3 press conference. Chahi, who's been practically absent from the industry since 1998, is creating the not-yet-titled "Project Dust," which will be digitally distributed this spring on unnamed platforms. The only other information we have comes from the short clip shown at the event which showed shows a tribal group living in a world on the verge of extinction. Also of note: Yes, please.
