Another World (video game)

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Another World
Developer(s)	Eric Chahi
Publisher(s)	Delphine Software International U.S. Gold Interplay Entertainment
Designer(s)	Eric Chahi
Release date(s)	1991, 2006
Genre(s)	Cinematic Platformer
Mode(s)	Single player
Rating(s)	ESRB: T
Platform(s)	Amiga, Atari ST, MS-DOS, Apple IIGS, Apple Macintosh, 3DO, SNES, Sega Mega Drive, Sega Mega-CD, Microsoft Windows (16- and 32-bit), Windows XP
Media	Floppy disk, Cartridge, CD-ROM
Input	Keyboard, Gamepad

Another World, known as Out of this World in the US and Outer World in Japan, is a 1991 cinematic platformer designed and developed by Eric Chahi. The graphics and box art were designed by Chahi, while the music was composed by Jean-François Freitas.

While not a great commercial success, Another World was innovative in its use of cinematic effects in the graphics, sound and cut scenes, with characters communicating through their facial features, gestures, and actions only. This cinematic style granted Another World cult status amongst critics and fans.^{[citation needed]}

Originally developed on an Amiga 500 for the Amiga, Atari ST, and MS-DOS platforms, the game was widely ported to other contemporary systems. Recent re-engineering of the game's code has also permitted it to be run on modern computers, consoles and mobile phones.

[edit] Storyline

The protagonist of the game is Lester Knight Chaykin; a young, athletic, red haired physicist. Lester arrives at his high-tech underground laboratory during a thunderstorm, and continues to work on his experiment using a particle accelerator. Right before the particles reach their intended destination, lightning strikes the lab and interferes with the accelerator causing the unforeseen teleportation of Lester to a barren alien planet.

After evading a number of dangerous local animals, Lester is enslaved by a race of humanoid aliens and taken to a subterranean mine/prison system. With the help of a captive alien, Lester tries to escape, and must continue to evade capture whilst travelling through dangerous environments, battling wild creatures and solving numerous puzzles to survive natural hazards.

The game's ending is ambiguous. Lester is severely wounded by a guard, but manages to save his alien friend from death. His friend picks up the weak Lester and the two escape on a giant pterodactyl-type creature, flying off to the horizon.

[edit] Gameplay

The player can control Lester using the keyboard or gamepad using four directions buttons and two action buttons: one for main actions, and one for jumping. Depending on the player's current position, movement, and status, the main action key performs a variety of actions including attacking and interacting with Lester's environment. At the start of the game Lester can only kick to attack, but later he can acquire a gun. While the movement keys normally make Lester run, the game also features sections where the player must swim, roll, or drive a vehicle. The player only has one life, but there are multiple checkpoints he can return to by entering the relevant pass code given at each one.

[edit] Development

Cover art of the game. According to Eric Chahi, who painted the illustration himself, this image was chosen because it perfectly reflects the feeling of the whole game.

In August 1989, Chahi was inspired by the flat-color animations used in the Amiga version of Dragon's Lair, and theorized that it would be possible to use vector outlines to create a similar effect using much less computer storage. He wrote a polygon routine in 68000 assembly language on an Atari ST to successfully test his theory. He planned on creating a science fiction game similar in to Karateka and Impossible Mission. While Chahi had a clear idea of how to implement his game engine, he mostly improvised when creating the actual content of the game.^[1] He finished the game's introduction sequence early 1990 and started working on the first level. Because he wanted to create a dramatic, cinematic experience, the game does not use any HUD, dialog, or text, giving the player only a representation of the surrounding game world during both gameplay elements and the cut scenes progressing the story. The game was finished two years later in 1991, which inspired the game's tagline: "It took six days to create the Earth. Another World took two years".

Chahi used an Amiga 500 to create the final game, using Devpac Assembler to program the game engine and polygon outlines and GFA BASIC to create the game's editor. Using a genlock, he imported recordings of his little brother from a video camera to use for rotoscoping animations. He used a tape recorder to record the sound effects for the game. He drew the background art with Deluxe Paint.^[2] The game is the first 2D game to use polygons for all of its graphics, as opposed to the more common sprites, which created a distinctive visual style. It took advantage of the computer hardware at that time to display full-screen animation (Amiga 500 and Atari ST were 68000 based, PC AT machines would have been 80286).

[edit] Versions

Screenshot from the original Amiga version.

The game was originally released for the Amiga in 1991, running at a display resolution of 320x200 pixels. This version received less play-testing than other versions, making for a less-fluid game, but the Amiga's sound capabilities afford it a high sound quality comparing to contemporary ports.^[3] This version was then ported to the Atari ST.

After receiving critique about the game's lifespan, Chahi added a whole new area using a number of new ideas. This ended up being the 1991 MS-DOS version, which was ported by Daniel Morais. The Apple Macintosh version features higher resolution than the MS-DOS version, but is otherwise identical.

Through Interplay, the game was released for the SNES, the Sega Mega Drive, and the Apple IIgs in 1992. The SNES and Apple IIgs ports were programmed by "Burger" Bill Heineman. Due to technical limitations, the SNES port runs at a lower resolution, while the SMD version has lower quality sounds and music. Interplay wanted the console versions to be more difficult to give players more value for their money, so new dangers were added. Interplay wanted to exchange Jean-François Freitas's music for a different soundtrack, but Chahi did not agree to the change; but after considerable debate Interplay was eventually allowed to use additional music, composed by Charles Deenen. Nintendo then requested that all scenes featuring blood, or anything blood-like (such as the alien "venus flytrap" saliva in cutscenes), as well as a scene with nudity be redrawn.

The 3DO version was developed by Interplay, and features very detailed backgrounds. Chahi believes this actually detracts from the game, making the polygonal characters look simple by comparison. The game's soundtrack was changed again, albeit without any legal troubles, presumably due to Chahi's focus on Heart of Darkness.

The 1994 Sega Mega-CD version of Heart of the Alien, the game's non-canon sequel, includes an enhanced version of Another World as a bonus. This version includes an improved CD audio soundtrack composed by Jean-François Freitas. The game also features slight graphical enhancements and new voices for Lester and the aliens. There is, however, a minor glitch in the game that makes certain parts of the underground caverns appear flooded, even when they are not.

In 1995, a Windows 3.x version was released. This version includes MIDI renditions of the original music.

The 2006 Plus Edition and Premium Edition of the Amiga Forever emulation pack both contain an exclusive version of Another World.

More recently Chahi acquired the rights to Another World's intellectual property from Delphine. Magic Productions offered to port the game to mobile phones, and with the help of Cyril Cogordan the game was ported. Chahi saw the game's playability could be improved, so he used his old Amiga to reprogram parts of the script. He made the graphics' shading more clear to counter the mobile phones' low resolution.

After this Chahi used this version to create a new Windows version targeted at Windows XP. Emmanuel Rivoire increased the resolution to 1280x800 pixels, and Chahi created more detailed backgrounds for the game. He found that his original choice to use polygons for the game characters enabled him to use the original character art at a high resolution and still have it look convincing. The game still supports the original 320x200 resolution as well as the original background art; it features twice as many checkpoints as the original which makes playing somewhat easier. The game does not include Interplay's extra music, but it does include the extra level from the MS-DOS version, as well as the added enemies and hazards from the console versions. This version is known as the Collector's Edition, and is regarded by Chahi as the ultimate Another World version.

The demo version of the Collector's Edition can be downloaded and played for free, and it can be upgraded to the full version for €7.

[edit] Unofficial ports

This article may require cleanup to meet Wikipedia's quality standards. Please discuss this issue on the talk page or replace this tag with a more specific message. This article has been tagged since August 2006.

In 2004 Cyril Cogordan, or Foxy, released an unofficial Game Boy Advance port by reverse engineering the Atari ST version. This version's C code eventually led to a Symbian mobile port. Originally Chahi was against the port, but in 2005 he decided to authorize its distribution. Around the same time, another unofficial GBA source port was made by Gil Megidish. This port was based on the 3DO version, and required the original 3DO CD to run so that only those who already owned the game would be able to play it. An unofficial GP32 port was made by Philippe Simons using reverse engineering by Grégory Montoir. The port won a prize during the GBAX 2005 competition.

The game was released as freeware for play on the Game Boy Advance on April 28, 2005 via a game engine recreation by FoxySofts. It has also been released as freeware for play on the GP32 on May 31, 2005 and the Dreamcast on December 31, 2005, via a game engine recreation by Gregory Montoir (cyx) entitled raw (Rewritten engine for Another World). On December 2, 2006, the game engine was ported to the Zodiac; it needs the original files to be playable.

An unofficial port was also developed for the Atari 8-Bit line of computers (Atari 400/800, XL, XE) by a Polish programmer known as Robert Drag. The port can be downloaded from the following [1]link.

[edit] Sequels

Chahi has stated that he wishes the game to have no sequels as he wants the ending to the original to remain ambiguous so that fans could make their own conclusion to the franchise.^{[citation needed]} Despite this, games have commonly been assumed to be sequels to Another World.

A non-canon sequel entitled Heart of the Alien was released for the Sega Mega-CD in 1994. The game was similar in visual style to Another World, although Heart of the Alien's programmers opted instead to use standard sprites instead of Chahi's 2D polygonal style, as they were quicker and easier to implement. The player takes control of the alien who befriends the protagonist in the original game and the backstory to the game is elaborated on. It is commonly mistaken for a midquel, probably due to the presence of (monochromatic) flashbacks in the game's introduction, which show the events of the first game from the alien's point of view.

Chahi had nothing to do with the development of the game, beyond suggesting Lester's death, and he has since regretted that decision stating that he did not like it because it made a definite conclusion to the story, which Chahi had deliberately left open-ended.^[4]

The 1992 game Flashback and its 1995 sequel Fade to Black (both also from Delphine), were often mistaken for sequels to Another World because of similar gameplay and graphics. However, these games have nothing to do with Another World, except said similarity in graphics or gameplay and had completely different stories. Both games were also made without the involvement of Chahi. Flashback does seem to make a few direct references to Another World, including the prominent use of personal force fields in combat, nearly identical "THE END" text (in the final cinematic), and an almost exact recreation of the gun pickup cinematic.

Eric Chahi returned to the concept after leaving Delphine. In 1998 he and his new company Amazing Studio made Heart of Darkness, which is in many ways very similar in spirit to Another World, although it too has a different storyline.

Eric Chahi disappeared from the game industry for some years, but may have recently regained interest in making games. He attended the Game Developer's Conference in 2005.^[5] Despite criticizing the games industry for no longer supporting much creativity, Eric Chahi says he is "still very excited" to start working on an entirely new game.

[edit] Trivia

• In the Amiga version Lester yells as he grabs the vine in the first area. This feature was omitted from most other versions.
• The game is rated as the #1 DOS game of all time on MobyGames.^[6]
• The game was released in the United States under the title Out of this World to avoid confusion with the popular but unrelated soap opera called Another World. Ironically, a science fiction sitcom called Out of This World aired at the same time of the game's US release.
• There is a cutscene in the game which people often miss, as it is shown in an optional area of the prison. It is triggered by taking the prison elevator up instead of down and walking up to the window.
• The Parisian company which produced and distributed Another World, Delphine Software has since gone into administrative receivership. Another World remains one of their most recognised games.
• The (1997) Amiga game OnEscapee, while not connected to either Another World or Flashback, features similar gameplay and graphics. OnEscapee won "Game of the Year 1997 - Amiga Flame", "Game of the Year 1997 - Amiga Max" and "1997 CU Superstar - CU Amiga".
• The Super Nintendo and Sega Genesis versions contain a prologue during the introduction, both differ in content.
• In an issue of Official U.S. PlayStation Magazine, Japanese game designer Fumito Ueda cited Another World as an influence for his creation of Ico for the PlayStation 2.

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• Official Another World homepage - Features an in-depth look at the game's creation
• Out of this World at MobyGames
• Out of this World at Home of the Underdogs (Windows 3.x port)
• Another World at ExoticA
• Eric Chahi at MobyGames
• raw (Rewritten engine for Another World)