Interactive Entertainment The Darkening preview

Interactive Entertainment The Darkening preview
Production	Privateer 2: The Darkening
Type	Behind the Scenes
Run Time	5m3s
Date	November 1995

Interactive Entertainment The Darkening preview is a featurette about the making of Privateer 2: The Darkening that was published in the November 1995 issue of Interactive Entertainment. The original version used an application to play sound over a slideshow of stills. It has been recreated as a video:

• Download: the_darkening_preview-interactive_entertainment-nov_1995.mp4

Transcript

NARRATOR: Origin's The Darkening combines an amnesiac's quest for identity with a galactic exploration and trading game along the lines of Privateer. This interactive movie is being directed by Chris "Wing Commander" Roberts's younger brother Erin and has celebrities out the wazoo: Christopher Walken John Hurt Juergen Prochnow and lots more. Look for it in March of 1996. While I usually cringe the term interactive movie when Origin Systems use it they mean it the Origin Interactive movie label has thus far graced two excellent products, Wing Commander 3 and Bioforge. But if you talk to Erin Roberts like we did you'll get a very different opinion. Erin, the younger brother of Chris "Wing Commander" Roberts thinks that we have yet to see a real interactive movie from the Austin company although the time is coming soon. According to Erin the true potential of the form will be unlocked for the first time with Wing Commander IV: The Price of Freedom and his upcoming project The Darkening. In The Darkening the player takes the role of an amnesiac from another world. He's discovered on the planet Crius still locked in a cryo sleep capsule after the explosion of his home ship a long time ago.

ERIN ROBERTS: And he's basically revived at the hospital. All they know about him is that he's been in the cryo pod for longer than a ten year period and basically the idea is you have to find out who you are and also explore the universe you're in.

NARRATOR: This would seem to be a pretty straightforward game plot except that this isn't a linear adventure, it's actually an open-ended exploration and trading game in the spirit of Privateer and the Elite series.

ERIN ROBERTS: You basically have a huge universe out there which you can explore. You can go anywhere, any place you like. You have a number of different planets to go, to, to actually go and meet different people, different civilizations. You can choose just to trade between planets. You can choose to take missions and go out from planets to different types of missions for people. You can just fly around and meet people.

NARRATOR: While you start the game with a pretty basic ship and the barest resources, you can build your cash level by taking on various missions from the people you encounter. As your funds increase you can buy upgrades or better ships which let you accomplish more difficult things.

ERIN ROBERTS: In this game also any ship you can see, any fighter you can see you can buy and fly. There's also loads of different equipment you can buy and so forth. There's 25, 26 different ships you can fly in the game and also there's a lot of, you know, different types of equipments or upgrades and also there's items and ships which you only find if you meet certain people that give them to you when you do certain things as well.

NARRATOR: So how does this mesh with the amnesia plot well it doesn't always spend like a glove but the good news is it doesn't have to.

ERIN ROBERTS: Basically the idea is you're following the track of clues to the end. You know, basically who you are. So some information may take you to another planet but we don't say go to this mission and we'll give you more information. So you can take off and go where you want then you can follow about that clue straight away or you can just go off and do some sort of other thing. You might find something interesting they have somewhere else that you need that's got nothing to do with, you know, your history, or just you know going to trade to get more money.

NARRATOR: Most games of the interactive movie ilk have followed in the tradition of some really overblown Hollywood genre Star Wars-y sci-fi, gory horror, outrageous action. The Darkening seems poised to carve out its own distinct niche. The primary plot is mixed well with a mostly European cast. The most prominent names involved are Christopher Walken, John Hurt, David Warner, Amanda Pays, Brian Blessed, David McCallum and Jurgen Prochnow. You wouldn't usually see this kind of cast list outside of an arthouse split.

ERIN ROBERTS: We try to encourage people who maybe wouldn't play games to come and actually buy and play this product because try and get interest from people who go see films with John Hurt and Christopher Walken but then wouldn't buy a game. What you have to do is you have to make an interface which is very user friendly and takes any player you know only a few minutes to get involved in the game. If you know your game play you know you'll mess around for half an hour to an hour to once know how it works. If he's not a game player you'll give it five minutes and that's it so what we've done is we've invested a lot of time in creating an interface which is very user friendly it's very intuitive in the way you use it and also cosmetically that really works very well.

NARRATOR: The Darkening was very much designed in the form of a feature film as the storyboards testify. The digital video was recorded at London's Pinewood Studios which was one of the major filming locations for Frank Zappa's 200 Motels, Raiders of the Lost Ark and many more great movies. Erin wants to make it clear that The Darkening is not just some weird British thing with the Origin label slapped on.

ERIN ROBERTS: I worked on all the Wing Commanders, on Strike Commander, on Privateer and so it's really basically I'm bringing you know my knowledge from this and actually this concept from Origin over to England.

NARRATOR: Look for The Darkening in March of 96. Episode 19 of Interactive Entertainment was so much fun we'd like to get back together with you real soon when we do keep an eye out for our preview of Wing Commander 4 from Origin. Mark Hamill Malcolm McDowell and the rest of the gang from wing 3 are all back and ready to save the universe once again.

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Article

Can an interactive movie really be a game or vice versa? Player control seems incompatible with the kind of pacing and suspense that make the best films worth watching again and again. But many computer game companies stand firm on the idea that the industry must look to Hollywood for redemption. Perhaps the most successful of these determined companies is Origin Systems in Austin, Texas, who have, arguably, come up with the best Interactive Movie to date, Wing Commander III. But the self-proclaimed "world creators" are never content to rest on their past merits. The Darkening is currently in deep production, and it promises to provide a thoroughly unique play experience, as well as a level of film quality rarely seen outside of art-house theaters.

The mind behind The Darkening is Erin Roberts, brother of Chris "Wing" Roberts. Does this mean that Origin practices nepotism? Well, it's not quite as bad as it might look. Erin's worked for Origin for the past five years. He put his hand in on all the Wing Commanders as well as Strike Commander and Privateer before being given a chance to head up his own project.

The player takes the part of an amnesiac, the victim of too much time spent in a cryogenic capsule. When he is finally awakened, he has spent over ten years in sub-zero slumber, and has no idea who he is or how he arrived. On one level, the game is a story of self-discovery, as the player goes off in search of his true identity. But the game is considerably more flexible than you might guess. Rather than following the linear motif of the Wing series, The Darkening is more in the free-form exploration and trade mode of Privateer and the Elite series. While traveling around the universe, you may encounter people who can give you clues to your true identity, but you don't have to follow them if you don't want to. And if you do follow them to the answer, that doesn't mean the game is over.

You start the game with a very basic ship (kind of the galactic equivalent of a Yugo) and limited resources, but you can hire yourself out to accomplish missions for whoever you choose, and thus increase your funds. With more money, you can buy a better ship or upgrade the one you have, which gives you more resources for accomplishing more missions. And there's lots of opportunities for diplomacy and trade.

But, as mentioned before, this galactic game is also very film-intensive and stylish. Instead of imitating Hollywood at its most overbearing and obnoxious, The Darkening takes many of its cues from world cinema. It's funny how long it has taken for the international scope of the game industry to make its presence felt in the style of the games. The most prominent American in the cast is Christopher Walken. Now that's no small thing, but the rest of the cast includes John Hurt (Alien, Elephant Man), David McCallum (The Man From UNCLE), Brian Blessed (Flash Gordon, Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves), David Warner (Time Bandits, Wild Palms), Amanda Pays (Max Headroom, The Flash) and Jurgen Prochnow (Das Boot, Judge Dredd). Less well known to American audiences are French actress Mathilda Mae and Clive Owen, the British actor who plays the lead. The video sequences were recorded in England's Pinewood Studios, a venerable facility that has provided space for many top-notch films including Raiders of the Lost Ark.

While this is not entirely the first game of its type, it is the first time that digital video has been used so prominently in the genre. With so many different planets and cultures to visit, a lot of attention has been given to the issue of making each world feel really, well,...otherworldly, as well as different from each other. Each planet has a different terrain, a different architectural basis and a different musical style. And let's not forget, this is from the company that brought the Kilrathi to life. Expect each world to have it's own theology and morality system, as well. And you've got to negotiate with these people!

Erin Roberts and the design team have particularly kept new players in mind in creating the interface. The design is very instinctive and user-friendly, with the hope that The Darkening will be picked up by film fans eager to see the latest thing Christopher Walken & company are in, as well as die-hard Origin fans. Expect The Darkening to hit the shelves this February.