TheLongestJourney
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Dreamfall Chapters still coming, 'on the back burner' for now
It's been over a year since Funcom announced Dreamfall Chapters, an episodic and digitally distributed continuation of Dreamfall: The Longest Journey, and even longer since players were left digging their fingernails into the dirt and hanging on for dear life at the edge of a narrative cliff. Is April Ryan still alive? What's happening to Arcadia? Is Zoë coming back? Find out ... eventually!"Dreamfall Chapters - and, by proxy, The Longest Journey - isn't Funcom's highest priority at this point," writes series author and designer, Ragnar Tørnquist, on his latest blog entry. With Funcom staff frantically working on the newly launched Age of Conan, upcoming MMO, The Secret World, and "other games in various stages of development," it seems Dreamfall's continuation has been given the finger. No no, not that one -- the one you show when you're on the phone and need someone in the room to just hold on for a second, okay?Tørnquist goes on to explicitly state that Chapters "is currently on the back burner - but it hasn't been abandoned." He should be relieved to know that while people hanging from cliffs probably aren't the most patient types, their predicament prevents them from angrily tossing things at him.
GDC Quest Quiz V: Ragnar Trnquist
We did a terrible thing at last week's Game Developer's Conference. Aside from our usual barrage of photographs and "reporting," a select group of attendees had to endure a particularly inane and utterly pointless line of questioning -- just for laughs. This is what happens when you hunt down several adventure game connoisseurs and challenge them to solve a typically obnoxious adventure game puzzle.The PlayerRagnar Tørnquist, designer of The Longest Journey and writer and director of Dreamfall, Anarchy Online and upcoming MMO, The Secret World.The PuzzleYou're standing in front of a cave. The goal is to get inside the cave, taking care to foil the ferocious robot bear guarding the entrance first.The Inventory (1) perforated parasol (1) rubber chicken with a pulley in the middle (1) sealed manila envelope (1) miniature macaroni Tim Schafer statue Check out Ragnar's thoroughly realized reasoning after the break.
Funcom unveils The Secret World MMO for Xbox 360, PC
We always were rubbish at poetry. Stunningly devoid of pointy ears, robots and glowing swords, Funcom's newly announced MMORPG, The Secret World, promises to take all things massive and multiplayer and thrust them into a contemporary setting. It sounds like a fish out of water story for the genre -- players themselves may even feel out of place after all those hours spent in World of Warcraft. The publisher aims to put players in realistic cities (on Earth) and have them uncover the game's sinister plot, eventually involving the eponymous secret world.With the secret world (accessible through a magical wardrobe, no doubt) being filled with monsters and magic, the game will need to be unique in its presentation there, lest it fall into the pit of clichés its trying so hard to avoid. Thankfully, the leadership and proven storytelling prowess of The Longest Journey's Ragnar Tørnquist should guard against that happening. "We always wanted a different kind of online world, something scary and contemporary, something deeper and closer to our reality," says the game's producer and director. "Our goal now is to create a detailed world where players feel empowered and part of something big, something mystical and epic."The Xbox 360 and PC game, which is currently in a "playable state", has not been given a release date yet. [Thanks, HaloBreaker]
Dreamfall: The Longest Journey to continue in episodic format
At last, someone has extended a gracious hand to the adventure gamers left hanging on the edge of a cliff since the conclusion of last year's Dreamfall: The Longest Journey. However, it may surprise you to learn that said heroic hand belongs to the Norwegian government. The powers that be have, via the Norwegian Film Fund, awarded Funcom with a grant for Dreamfall Chapters. The grant will partially finance the research and development of the base technology necessary to continue The Longest Journey saga in episodic and digitally distributed format.Funcom views the project as an opportunity to evolve their business model, as well as The Longest Journey brand. The press release announcing the project even implies that if the brand was to gain enough popularity, a Longest Journey MMO could be brought to life. Given the series' intricate, parallel worlds and the rich culture that permeates both, that doesn't sound like a bad idea at all.And neither does Dreamfall Chapters. The project is certainly aptly named -- it seems entirely appropriate to think of the forthcoming episodes as literal chapters torn out of an ongoing book. Those who appreciated Dreamfall (essentially an interactive film or novel), will likely find that a fitting analogy. The Longest Journey's author (as it were) and game designer, Ragnar Tørnquist, has confirmed to Joystiq that he will be writing the story and keeping a "vigilant eye" on the game's production. Though Dreamfall Chapters is currently set for online release only, Funcom is considering retail releases featuring combined chapters at a later date, both for consoles and PCs. No release date has been announced yet.
GDC: Ragnar Trnquist is awesome
I entered my meeting with Ragnar Tørnquist armed with an array of questions from self-professed Ragnar Tørnquist fanboy (and DS/Revolution Fanboy) Ludwig Kietzmann. By the time we were done playing with Dreamfall, it was apparent that Mr. Tørnquist was really cool and probably wouldn't mind making Ludwig's day with an autograph. He graciously agreed and asked what to write...
GDC: A meeting with Ragnar Tørnquist and Dreamfall
On Wednesday I had the pleasure of meeting with Ragnar Tørnquist, the creative director of Funcom, the lead designer of adventure gaming classic The Longest Journey and, it turns out, a loyal Joystiq reader ("every morning"). We met at the Hotel Montgomery a couple blocks from the convention center to take a look at his latest game, Dreamfall, a sequel (of sorts) to The Longest Journey.
