Dreamfall Goes Episodic, Possible MMO

etoychest

Hot off the Snackbar...

Norwegian-headquartered developer Funcom has announced that the company has been awarded a grant from the Norwegian Film Fund, which officials note will “partially finance” Funcom's research and initial development efforts towards Dreamfall Chapters, an episodic sequel to the Dreamfall adventure game series.

In addition, Funcom notes that the money will also assist in pulling together a technology team for the project, the aim of which will be to research digital delivery methods for the game's episodic content, as well as lay the foundation for a later pre-production phase of Dreamfall Chapters. Each new installment of Dreamfall Chapters will initially be delivered as online-only content, but there may be retail releases with combined chapters, both for console and PC, at a later stage. For now, the company is keeping a tight lid on the project.

The grant is part of the Norwegian government’s active endorsement of the Norwegian game development industry. Since the inception of the program in 2004 the government has supported a wide range of games, including Dreamfall: The Longest Journey.

Research is also planned to discover new ways to expand the brand value of The Longest Journey, while reducing the chance of piracy. Finally, the company also hints at a possible The Longest Journey MMO in the future, though it remains unclear how far off such a project would be.

“We will be researching an online-only continuation of the epic Longest Journey saga, and we very much look forward to develop new chapters to the Dreamfall gaming community,” said Trond Arne Aas, CEO of Funcom. “To see the Norwegian government take such an active role in nurturing the local game development industry is impressive. In return for their trust we aim to deliver a modern adventure game with unique qualities.”

Meiz

Man, I just want this fucking story over with.

Edit: I am relieved that they're continuing it though

InitialDK

Can't he let

Spoiler:

April

rest in peace? I was so excited for Dreamfall and now I just want to live in the memories of TLJ. Hey, how about using the grant to remake that!

edited because of whiney people.

Meiz

Dude, spoiler that shit for fucks sakes

Machismo

Oh yes! An episodic telling of this story.

Spoiler:

At the end of Dreamfall I remember getting really teared up.

Spoiler:

Like, the little girl just going away like that, after suffering so much just hurt deep down. It was so touching too. Zoe holding the girl was just so sweet.

Where was April and Kain left? I forgot.

Rook

I'm not sure how I feel about this. Sam and Max has been ok, but certainly nothing stellar. And MMO just doesn't seem to blend in with TLJ at all.

galenblade

Considering that it was in doubt that the third game would be made at all, I view this as a good thing. I'm not a fan of episodic content at all, though. I'd vastly prefer another full game to episodes. But I can see TLJ working in this format, as it's more of an interactive story than anything.

InitialDK

Meiz wrote: »

Dude, spoiler that shit for fucks sakes

If you were referring to me then know that I wasn't referring to any specific plot points but to the franchise in general.

TLJ is one of my favorite adventure games of all time, and Dreamfall is one of the worst experiences I had. I know people always say that sequels aren't as good as the original but I think Dreamfall stunk on it's own and comparing it to TLJ just makes it worse.

In other contradictory news I'll probably subscribe to whatever this is. I'm pathetic.

Meiz

InitialDK wrote: »

Meiz wrote: »

Dude, spoiler that shit for fucks sakes

If you were referring to me then know that I wasn't referring to any specific plot points but to the franchise in general.

TLJ is one of my favorite adventure games of all time, and Dreamfall is one of the worst experiences I had. I know people always say that sequels aren't as good as the original but I think Dreamfall stunk on it's own and comparing it to TLJ just makes it worse.

In other contradictory news I'll probably subscribe to whatever this is. I'm pathetic.

Dírhael

InitialDK wrote: »

Meiz wrote: »

Dude, spoiler that shit for fucks sakes

If you were referring to me then know that I wasn't referring to any specific plot points but to the franchise in general.

TLJ is one of my favorite adventure games of all time, and Dreamfall is one of the worst experiences I had. I know people always say that sequels aren't as good as the original but I think Dreamfall stunk on it's own and comparing it to TLJ just makes it worse.

In other contradictory news I'll probably subscribe to whatever this is. I'm pathetic.

Each to his/her own I guess. Personally, I absolutely loved Dreamfall and thought it was a fantastic experience. Not everyone liked the move from point-and-click adventure to being in direct control, but no matter ones stand on that I can't imagine someone not loving the story & characters.

Azio

Ugh. Fuck episodic content, fuck the people who invented it, and fuck the people who still think it's a good idea. God dammit.

Carnivore

Episodic might work.

I think the problem so far has been all episodic content has been really poor, excluding Sam and Max which is exactly how episodic should be, regular, cheap and packed full of fun.





No, Half Life 2 episodes are not episodic.

Mitsuhide

Oh man, I thought you were talking about an english release of DreamCatcher.

Rohan

I loved Dreamfall almost as much as The Longest Journey, being one of the people who thought that Zoe Castillo was the loveliest video game character since... well, April Ryan.

But screw episodic content. Wasn't Dreamfall re-released on Steam recently? I hate Steam. I hate it ever so much. So, so much, ever since I tried to play the Half-Life 2 demo and it forced me to stay connected to the 'net for seven hours. And years after, when I finally bought the game, I wasn't impressed in the least. I don't want to have to deal with Steam again, the irritating piece of shit that it is.

And no, my love for TLJ/Dreamfall won't change my mind about the program when it comes to new Dreamfall sequel episodes. Not even then.

Target Practice

What the hell is with everyone and their grandma making MMOs these days?

Meh. I liked The Longest Journey, but I still haven't played Dreamfall. I've heard mixed things about it.

DarkPrimus

I need to find my Play Disc so I can finish Dreamfall. I started playing it and want to finish it, if only to know what the cliffhanger ending is.

Dashui

I just want the story to be told, so I don't care if they deliver it episodic. I absolutely LOVED Dreamfall, and I need a sequel.

Rook

Dreamfall is certainly not a good game, in fact I'd go as far as saying it's a bad game. Dreamfall is however very well scripted, the voice acting is perfect and a welcome return to the universe. Zoe Castille is every bit as nice as April Ryan was (although April Ryan has changed a fair bit, and not for the best - the entire April bit of the game was very superfluous to the overall story) and there's a return of my no. 1 favourite sidekick of month Crow.

At the end of the day, it's worth playing through, on autopilot for the story, I certainly wouldn't pay the full price of admission though.

Dashui

Well, Rook, I'd go as far as saying it's not really a game at all. There really isn't much gameplay aspects to it. You just run around a linear path until you get to that next cutscene. It's basically an interactive movie. But I loved the story and the characters and presentation so much, I didn't even care.

Rook

I might agree with you if it weren't for the horrendous 'fight' sequences... ugh, what were they thinking!

edit: Rather annoyingly they've only just released the CE edition in the UK, about 2 months after I bought my copy at the bargain bin. I would love to have the artbook.

DarkPrimus

Yeah, the battles are annoying. I picked it up for $15, though, and I thought the story was good enough for the price. (So far, anyway.)

Pancake

I'm really not sure how I feel about this. I mean, I want them to finish what they started in The Longest Journey and Dreamfall, but I'm concerned about how it may impact things.

Dreamfall was big (not in playtime) and I can't imagine it broken up into smaller parts. I guess I'm just worried about how it might affect the presentation. Dreamfall was one of my favorite games of last year and it certainly wasn't because of the gameplay.

Spoiler:

I really didn't mind the fighting, though. While it wasn't something I looked forward to doing above anything else, I found it enjoyable when it came up.

Magus`

Could care less. I've only played TLJ and there are no excuses to how unfinished it was (from a plot point of view). Yes, I know it's the 2nd game in what was promised as a trilogy, but come *on*.

Jebral

I need to look into these games.

Dashui

Magus` wrote: »

Could care less. I've only played TLJ and there are no excuses to how unfinished it was (from a plot point of view). Yes, I know it's the 2nd game in what was promised as a trilogy, but come *on*.

You mean you played Dreamfall. The Longest Journey was the first game in the series, and the second game was Dreamfall: The Longest Journey. In any case, really looking forward to the sequel. The future of the series was in question. The writer had finished writing the story, but the publisher was unsure about funding a third project when the second game didn't sell too well. Thank God some independent group wanted to finish the story as much as us.

Bob Sapp

The non-ending for Dreamfall absolutely killed me. TLJ was great, and I was digging Dreamfall even though it was nothing more than an interactive movie, but then...bam. Wait 4 years until you can continue.

Nocren

I can see where they got the idea for a Dreamfall MMO (Uru) but it's going to take some work. Also, I need to finish TLJ and DF. I got about halfway through TLJ when my save got corrupted (I unlocked the extras but I couldn't access the save game data). I really don't feel like restarting an adventure game when I got that far into it. I play GK1 on Windows and when I got the Germany there was a bug that would cause the game to crash. It wasn't a random bug either. Happened everytime. Took me about a year to restart the game (DOS mode).

Also, Dashui, it wasn't some indy group, but the Norwegian film fund, which I think is government backed.

KrunkMcGrunk

I think the more interesting aspect of this is that the Norwegian Government is helping to fund a game. Could that be a step towards patronage in the gaming industry?

Nocren

Notice I said Think. I could be wrong, and I have been (several times in fact).

hambone

Why this is good news: up until now, fans of the series have been kind of in the dark as to how things were going to work out. Dreamfall ends with some mighty cliffhangers, and Ragnar Tornquist (the writer/director/whatever) didn't give any concrete plans for a sequel or a follow up. He even suggested that the series might conclude in novel form.

Today's news lets us know that the series is going to continue as a game, and that's a goddamn relief.

Also, episodic content is a good thing, especially for story-based games. Smaller games mean digital distribution. I wouldn't be surprised if we saw Dreamfall episodes as downloadable on every major console, as well as Steam and GameTap.

Hopefully though, the series will continue to be strong, and end with a satisfying conclusion. I'd hate to see Dreamfall jump the shark (any more than it already has), and that's one of the big pitfalls of episodic content.

Could do without the MMO though.

Nocren

I wouldn't mind seeing Dreamfall episodes either. I just hope they give a few inital chapters to the back story. To use Tycho's words, it'd be like watching Jedi without seeing Hope or Empire.

Nion

I think the real question is: Seeing how Dreamfall was extremelly short to the point of being an episode itself, how short are the episodes going to be?

Pancake

Nion wrote: »

I think the real question is: Seeing how Dreamfall was extremelly short to the point of being an episode itself, how short are the episodes going to be?

I don't know if we played the same Dreamfall, but 6-8 hours isn't exactly episode sized. Unless you have played episodic games that were that long. Which you probably haven't since everything from Sam and Max to Half-Life 2 and SiN only had episodes 2-4 hours long at the longest.

galenblade

Slightly necroposting, but Ragnar Tornquist (director & writer of TLJ/Dreamfall) had this to say on his blog.

Ragnar wrote:

Update:

All right. So while I can’t offer any details - too early, etcetera - let me just say this: The TLJ MMO? Don’t worry, that one - when & if - will feature a different storyline altogether, and you won’t be required to play it to find out what happens to, you know, everyone. But if & when it happens, it’ll be something really, really cool - and it will fit into the Big Picture in unexpected ways. And it’ll absolutely be worth playing.

And the chapter stuff? Like I said - absolutely no details. Yet. But do you really think we’d do this if we didn’t think we could do it right? The episodic format is perfect for the continuation of the story - it’s something I’ve been thinking about for ages - and while I can’t offer any details about size or cost, we want to provide our fans with good value for money. This is not an attempt to squeeze more money out of you, but to ensure that we can continue the saga in a timely manner without losing out to piracy - which, unfortunately, is rampant. How do we plan on preventing piracy? Well, that’s what this R&D stuff is all about.

Don’t lose sight of the big picture, guys (and girls). The fact is, we listened to you, we heard you, we decided we wouldn’t leave you hanging. The saga continues. Now how cool is that? Rejoice!

I like how he clarifies that the TLJ MMO is more of a very theoretical thing and that it won't be related to the main April/Zoe/Kian storyline.

And I'm still skeptical of the episodic format, but he seems to think it's a decent avenue for the completion of the series. I hope he's right.