Frédérick Raynal
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Frédérick Raynal is a French video game designer and programmer.
He is perhaps best known for Alone in the Dark, a game that established many conventions of the survival horror computer game genre (although Resident Evil was the first to worldwidely popularize them). Raynal also has a cult following for his Little Big Adventure trilogy, which as of summer 2006 still remains uncomplete.
Raynal and other former Adeline members have repeatedly told fans that creating the third installment is made difficult by having to license or reacquire the rights to the franchise, which currently belong to Delphine Software International. However, Raynal has hinted that his current company, Ludoïd, is attempting to negotiate the rights for a game to be called Little Big Adventure 3: Genesis of the Stellar Entity.
[edit] Career
Beginning in his highschool years, Raynal made early LED games including Laser (1979). Shifting to software programming and working at his father's computer shop, Raynal's first commercial game, Robix 500 (1983), sold around 80 copies. During his time working here, Raynal produced Pop Corn (1988), which pushed new boundaries in gaming but was only a moderate commercial success.
After joining the infant Infogrames, where he ported Alpha Waves (1990) from Atari ST to DOS, Raynal and his team produced Alone in the Dark (1992), and worked on parts of the direct sequels (Alone in the Dark 2) before leaving the company.
Raynal formed Adeline Software International in 1993 with several former Infogrames members. With this new team, Raynal produced Little Big Adventure (1994), Time Commando (1996), and Little Big Adventure 2 (1996). Adeline was purchased by Sega Corporation in the late 90s and became No Cliché. With No Cliché, Raynal and his team produced Toy Commander (1999), and Toy Racer (2000) both for Sega's Dreamcast system.
For a time Raynal was also working on a survival horror action adventure called Agartha, which got cancelled due to Sega's decision to stop development on Dreamcast. No Cliché remained together for a little while after the cancellation, attempting to create a PC port of Toy Commander. However, the group split before it could be finished. Raynal went on to form F4-Toys (later F4) with Bruno Heintz where he began work on an action adventure called Trium Planeta. The game was to follow the style of Little Big Adventure, but was cancelled after a few months. Raynal also worked briefly at Little World Studio before forming his current company, Ludoïd.
In 1997 Raynal was credited in the short film, Double Jeu.
On March 13, 2006, Frédérick Raynal along with Shigeru Miyamoto and Michel Ancel were knighted by the French Minister of Culture and Communication, Renaud Donnedieu de Vabres, as knights of arts and literature. It was the first time that video game developers were honored this distinction.
