Frederick Raynal talks about the development of Alone in the Dark

[Bot13]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RCKIfxqFLeo

Awesome video. Didn't know he was over at GDC.

[Streg]

his english is so fun! It's so cool to know about his carreer like this

[Darkflame]

Wonderfull stuff!

All game developers should watch this - what they did back then is amazing.

[Archas]

This accent is very french

[RGaspar]

I heard this yesterday!!

It's a very cool insider's view into the making of an (ancient) game.

And not only the survival horror concept was a revolution, there were some cool engine features in there. Like, for example, the game could add more animation detail if it detected your CPU was strong enough =D

[ras maxim]

Lba3???

[Bot13]

If I'm not mistaken the animations in LBA are also made out of the concept of interpolating between a very limited amount of frames.

Seeing as both Alone in the Dark and LBA had pre-rendered/drawn backgrounds with 3D models in front of them, I'm actually amazed Frederick hasn't touched Augmented Reality in the least bit. It could realise his vision on real-life backgrounds with simulated activity very well.

Anyway I love the way they approached the whole thing. The original 3Desk tool still being operational so he could show it. The way tests and workaround became a huge part of the look and feel of a game. Must've been a lot of fun back then.

[Darkflame]

Maybe version 2 of that ubisoft lazer gun thing would be AR

[Polaris]

Very interesting, I'm so sad to have been born a tad too late to be conscious about the early developpement of video games. My father (who is playing next to nothing, maybe he plays one game every 2-3 years) said that it was fascinating.

[Horadrim]

I think that at the end part, when the questions take place, the guy, who helps Fred is actually yazor - the guy who made the LBA model/island viewers.

[TommyGun]

I want a cool shirt like Frederick's!

[Polaris]

Yaz0r ? Really ? Do you know his voice, or what makes you think it's him ?

[Horadrim]

Originally Posted by Polaris

Yaz0r ? Really ? Do you know his voice, or what makes you think it's him ?

I`ve seen his pictures some time ago. And besides, he wrote on his wall at fb that he`ll attend at the GDC conference. :P

[elmuerte]

you know what's even more awesome, this:
https://twitter.com/#!/jmechner/stat...57330667257856

Originally Posted by Jordan Mechner

@romero just showed Frederick Raynal that he has Twinsen's Odyssey (LBA) soundtrack on his iPhone and totally blew his mind

Also: https://twitter.com/#!/jmechner/stat...738496/photo/1


ps, Fred sounds like a regular Frenchman speaking English.

[Bot13]

That is awesome, El. The way he also talked about being very excited about a possible HD remake of Alone in the Dark made me so optimistic. He clearly had the current LBA development in his head when he said that.

Fred's english always cracks me up, by the way. It may be a typical french accent, but you'd suspect him being a little more fluent after all those international contacts, interviews and meetings. To me it gives him more character to see him, even now, struggle so much to find words. This also makes the timing of funny sentences a little off, so you only hear him trying to find words while he's already laughing because of the 'punchline'. Classic.

[moothead]

The shirt...the hair!!! God, I love this man!

[Darkflame]

Originally Posted by elmuerte

you know what's even more awesome, this:
https://twitter.com/#!/jmechner/stat...57330667257856


Also: https://twitter.com/#!/jmechner/stat...738496/photo/1

Incrediawesome!

[Maliavot]

I'd like to see such a video about making of lba

And I'd like to know where can I buy a shirt like that
gotta love that guy

[Polaris]

Strange, I find his shirt a bit too pale, but maybe that's only because of the video.

[Kasia]

Originally Posted by Polaris

a bit too pale

Here as well?

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7056/6...76762abc_o.jpg

[Polaris]

Mmm... You win, I want one now

[Maliavot]

Originally Posted by Kasia

Here as well?

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7056/6...76762abc_o.jpg

That's my new wallpaper

[Frederick]

Hey, hum, so much noise for a shirt !
They said bright and colourful shirt because lights and camera twist a lot colours. I picked up this one that would seemed perfect, wrong choice it appears , let's say that's something you can't understand until you get it in front of your eyes IRL
Yes, my english is still like it is. Actually I can do better in regular situation but as I'm not used to this kind of talk, the accent is then sadly a minor priority task.
YazOr is the guy. I realized after the conference that I didn't let him talk. Sorry.
The animation engine spirit is the same then alone in the dark, faster is your computer, smoother are animations. LBA running on a modern computer can compute thousands of fps. (with 512 total angles for 360° it means several consecutive frames are the same at this speed )

The end on the other thread...

[Maliavot]

Hey, I'm not laughing, that's really colourful and extraordinary shirt, nice
And the talk was really interesting to watch, I learned something new

[Polaris]

Why do you seem upset about it ? It's not the first time, when we said that we liked your hair, you said "no comments about my hair"


Also a question, it's something I always wanted to know, how come in LBA1 Twinsen's eyes are asian-like ?