Nuevos detalles esclarecedores sobre Alice: Otherlands

With so many questions and concerns, we've decided to take the most common and go right to the Horse's mouth for answers, American McGee has taken the time to speak to your concerns. And at the end, you can see an image of Dorothy vs. Alice - the showdown of the Kickstarter campaigns.

Gameplay

Will the game be in 3D?

Yes. We're using the Unity3D game engine to develop the title and the same team of illustrators, 3D artists, animators and other developers that built A:MR will be building this new title. As with A:MR we might explore some side-scrolling or other unique presentations mixed together with (or as mini-games) inside the 3D environments. To be clear, all of the areas Alice moves through (London, Londerland, Wonderland, Otherlands, etc.) will all be built and presented in 3D.

Concerns have been raised about presentation of a 3D game on mobile devices as well as PC, Mac & Linux... When we say "mobile devices" we're targeting high-end tablets capable of high fidelity 3D (like those powered by Nvidia's Tegra chips). By end of year those devices will be capable of delivery 3D graphics on par with the current gen of consoles - and we can "pull levers" to adjust visual quality on tablets so that quality on desktop machines won't be impacted.

Will the game be available on consoles?

Hard to say. Spicy Horse is an independent developer with no meaningful ties to Sony, Microsoft or Nintendo. Those proprietary platform owners are generally unresponsive to our requests for evaluation of our concepts or license to publish on their devices. We can't force them to accept our games on their platforms.

That being said, we will make reasonable efforts to get the game in front of them and push to have it reviewed, approved, etc. There's nothing about the game itself that would preclude it being on any console device. Ultimately, it's up to the platform owners.

Will there be a legitimate single-player experience? How long will it be?

Yes. Current thinking is that the entirety of the initial game experience will be single-player only. You'd actually have to play through that experience in order to unlock the option to engage with multiplayer, but you will in no way be required to engage with multiplayer in order to enjoy or complete the game.

At this point, it's difficult to say how long the single player experience will last. A:MR clocked in at over 12 hours for some players (while some ripped through it in 5). To produce that amount of content cost almost $10 million USD in direct development spend - and over 60% of that money went to building art assets.

Since we're going to use crowd-funding it's unlikely we'll get close to the budget range of A:MR, but we'll use whatever funding we achieve to produce as much beautiful art and as many levels as possible. We also plan to constantly add to the content and features of the game post-launch (very much unlike the situation with A:MR), which means you can expect to see the domains and game play grow over time.

Is this going to be a “social” game? What about an MMO?

No and no.

"Social game" suggests something that you'd play on a social network like Facebook. There's no way the game concept we're currently outlining would make sense on Facebook (or any other social network). It's the sort of game you'd find on Steam or our own game site, SpicyWorld. It would have a one-time purchase fee to access the single player game. There would be a "store" for multiplayer aspects of the game (see Team Fortress 2 as an example of multiplayer store).

MMO suggests a large open world where numerous players run around together in real-time, undertake group quests, etc. We're doing none of that with the single player aspect of the new Alice. Again, the initial game play focus will be single player leading into an option for multiplayer. Multiplayer would naturally have "social" aspects to it - and there would be instances where you're fighting alongside one another - but not on the scale of a typical MMO.

Is it going to be a platformer, like the other two?

As with the first two games, there will be a mix of genres and play mechanics. We haven't defined the specific play mechanics enough to say definitely there will be platforming or what amount. In fact, not enough definition exists yet to say there would be much of anything - we're still in very early exploration of the concept. Truth is, we can't afford to do a lot more than produce concept artwork at this point - fuller design work will begin once we get a green-light from EA.

That being said, take this as an example: We're thinking about how to present platforming - there was 2D-side-on platforming in A:MR and a lot of people really liked that. From a development perspective, that sort of content production is much faster (and cost efficient) than full-freedom 3D environments built exclusively for platforming. So we'll need to figure out where the balance lies... We would love to hear your feedback on a point like this! How important is 3D vs. 2D platforming? Can an "Alice" game be an Alice game without 3D platforming? Let us know what you think.

Kickstarter

How much money will you be asking for in the Kickstarter?

The minimum we'd need to build a product of decent size and quality is around 1.5 million USD. That allows us to fund a 30+ person team for 12 months. The more we raise, the longer the team can work and the more content we can produce. The more funding we're able to secure, the bigger the initial game will be. Again, it's worth keeping in mind that so long as we secure the minimum funding, we'll be able to release an initial product, then constantly update and add to that product as time goes on. This will be a major improvement when compared to what we experienced after the launch of either of the first two Alice games.

Contained in this question you'll also find one of the reasons we'd like to make the game online. By building a server-based game we can push content and feature updates on a regular basis post-launch, so that the initial size of the game doesn't limit the eventual scope and richness of the product. Under this model we could be pushing new features and domains into the game for years to come.

What will the premium currency be used for?

Difficult to say at this point as we've really not dug deep into the core design. We do know it can and should play a role in the online aspect of the game - when you engage with multiplayer and all that comes with that functionality. It will not be required for the single player portion of the game. Safe to assume the currency would allow you to purchase things like new dresses - something you were able to do with post-launch DLC in A:MR. A lot of people liked that option on console, so we're thinking there's more fun stuff we could do with it in the new game.

What happens if you don’t get the license or raise enough money?

If we don't get the license then we can't make the game. This is entirely up to EA. We are speaking with their business development and legal department. Since we plan to launch the Kickstarter campaign sometime around July, we need to get a definitive yes/no by end of May. No answer or no deal by then...

We are preparing an alternate campaign based on "Wizard of Oz," so that in the event EA says "no" (or just doesn't respond in time) we can still go forward with something around July of 2013. To be honest, both projects would be awesome, so we're trying to remain neutral about the subject while we wait and see what EA decides. More info about Oz will be released around middle of May.

If we don't raise enough money? Well, assuming we go out on Kickstarter, then the campaign would fail and we'd not be able to make the game. That's how the system works.

Story

I thought Alice just has psychotic issues. She has powers now? Can you go into more detail?

The first game was all about Alice battling her emotional demons and psychological issues. The result of failure was that she'd lose her mind, be lobotomized and remain forever a prisoner of the asylum. Fortunately she defeated her demons and escaped the asylum.

The second game was about Alice battling for control of the physical domain. She used her psychological powers to uncover the machinations of Bumby and defeat him in the real world. If she'd lost that fight she would have lost control of her physical self - becoming yet another of Bumby's prostitutes.

The third chapter in this story will find Alice combining together these "powers" and able to travel into the minds of others. This sort of arc is quite common in hero's journey narratives. Joseph Campbell outlines this in several books on the topic. Films like "Star Wars" and "The Matrix" also feature heroes traveling this same path of psychological and physical challenges towards ultimate mastery of themselves and the environments they occupy.

Why would Alice want to enter the screwed up minds of other peoples when from what I could tell, she really didn’t want to enter her own?

In the previous games Wonderland was under threat and presented itself as a broken, scary version of what Alice knew from the past (as a child). She was scared to undertake the journey and work towards saving herself - as most heroes are when confronted with the cost of transforming themselves and achieving victory.

Now that's she's mastered the psychological and physical domains, she has an opportunity to fight for the greater good. Again, check out Luke in "Star Wars" or Neo in "The Matrix". You'll see they undergo similar journeys - initial resistance and pain, then mastery and finally they are seen using their "power" to save not only themselves but those they care for.

Will Lewis Carroll be a character for Alice to explore? How about Nikola Tesla?

I'd prefer to leave Carroll out of the new game - just as we've done in the first two. There are simply too many "real world" issues contained in having him in the stories. I'll leave this sort of narrative exploration to other writers and creators to explore.

Tesla may or may not appear - it's a question of him and Alice being in the same place at the same time. We've already listed a number of famous and infamous characters who happened to be in London during 1876 - and that list will continue to grow. We may even find reason for Alice to travel outside of London to other cities where even more Otherlands can be found and explored.

What will happen to Wonderland?

Since the end of A:MR we can assume it's returned to a "normal" state and doesn't require Alice's intervention to save it or its inhabitants. We hope to explore the idea of "Londerland," which is Wonderland crossing over into the real world - in this case London. Through this mechanic, Alice might build a real-world sanctuary for herself and her allies. We also can't rule out the idea of Alice returning to Wonderland for various reasons in the new game. A little too early to explore this notion deeply.

What about Alice’s Wonderland friends? Will they be able to help out?

Sure thing! Those characters are all part of Alice's psyche - her mental toolbox. We'll certainly want to see Hatter, Cheshire and other characters joining Alice on her new journeys. Where she goes, so goes Wonderland and its inhabitants.

What about our beloved Alice? Does she still have her own issues to solve or has she finally resolved her anxieties?

For the time being things look relatively calm in Alice's real world life... but as we explore the new narrative we may find there are still issues that need to be resolved, threats that need to be defeated. A little too early to put much detail into this topic.

Will there be other playable characters from the series such as Mad Hatter, Carpenter, or even the Queen?

While these characters will certainly make appearances, it's too early to say whether they will also become playable characters. My sense is that an "Alice" games needs to be about Alice primarily - so even in the multiplayer portion of the game we're thinking about now, you'd find that everyone in the game is Alice. Each person playing would simply occupy a different aspect of Alice's personalities. Again, a little too early to set this in stone, but that's something we're thinking about.