Week 23 & 24
This week, Fabien completed the implementation of the animated sprites. The principle in itself is simple: several textures are positioned one on top of the other on a polygon to create an animation. The clever part is that this flat surface (it has no thickness) is always facing the camera. This technique will help us for the explosions and all the light effects of the game.
Simon for his part, has moved onto version 2 of IAM, our adventure publisher, with a complete reorganization of the interface. He has also almost finished positioning the objects and characters directly in the sets, the system of conditions and our zone management. The next two weeks will certainly be dedicated to testing/debugging, before being really able to start the integration of the game.
Hakim has started the programming of a module in GEM (our graphics publisher) allowing graphic installation of all the non-interactive characters of the game (door openings, mechanisms, movements of other characters, etc...)
Antoine has added new functions to GALE, our animation publisher. Thanks to this, we can now program complex controls very simply, in particular for the fights.
On the graphics side, the interior sets of Section 2 are well on their way, with amongst others a subterranean thousand-year old tomb and the secret base of the Awakened Ones. Section 3 will be completed next week. StEphane has started the designs of the interior sets. Philippe is carrying on with the characters, with some forty already finished, out of the hundred or so the game contains. The graphic quality and variety of the characters should be one of the strong points of Omikron. Next week, Philippe will be starting on one of the numerous animals of the game, a Sham, from a design by Loic.
Now that we have the interactive lights, opacity, transparency, animated maps and an animated 3D sky, the graphic rendering of the game is practically definitive. The last thing we still lack are the characters' shadows. If Fabien manages to make the idea he has in his head work, this will certainly be most impressive. Fingers crossed and watch the news.
Otherwise, all is running pretty smoothly. We are now half-way through development. The coming months will tell us whether the investment we have chosen to make in the programming of high performance tools for the integration of the Game Play was the right choice. With IAM for the adventure, GEM for the graphics and GALE for the animations, we should have all the resources required to create a high quality Game Play. Since, far beyond the purely technical aspect, the Game Play is indeed the main challenge of Omikron. Relations with Eidos are excellent. They respect our work and give us full freedom in it. On the other hand, we are working (very) hard to make Omikron the hit of Christmas 98.
Stay tuned.
A quick hello to Antoine's dad. Antoine is well behaved, he is polite, he says hi! in the morning (only after breakfast). Yes indeed, he is working with us and he has made a very fine program which he has baptized GALE (nobody knows why).
Autor: David Cage
Source: Quantic Dream
11/01/1999 Eidos Interactive ships Omikron: The Nomad Soul
09/23/1998 September News 2
09/15/1998 September News 1
07/28/1998 July News 2
07/14/1998 July News 1
06/08/1998 Week Beginning June 8
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02/02/1998 Week 38
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01/05/1998 Weeks 33 and 34
12/22/1997 Weeks 31 and 32
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11/24/1997 Weeks 27 and 28
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10/27/1997 Weeks 23 and 24
10/13/1997 Week 22
10/06/1997 Week 21
09/29/1997 Week 20
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09/15/1997 Weeks 17 and 18
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5/26/1997 Week 2
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5/19/1997 Preamble to Week 1
Monday, October 27, 1997