Amiga Flame - News - Amiga's Phantasmagoria

*
Amiga's Phantasmagoria
*

It was many years ago that Amiga Flame exclusively reported that Phantasmagoria was coming to the Amiga. There was great deal of excitement judging by my filled mailbox, but after a few years, all talk of Phantasmagoria died out. It had seemed that Phantasmagoria had fallen by the way side. However, Alive Mediasoft has announced this week that Phantasmagoria, a very scary adventure game is to hit the Amiga

This special Amiga version is regarded as the complete directors cut of the game with all scenes left in tact. Steven Flowers of Alive Mediasoft described Phantasmagoria as “the computer game version of The Exorcist”. One Amiga gamer, Joachim Froholt on hearing of this announcement said, “Good news indeed!! Phantasmagoria's a brilliant game. It's filled with suspense and terror, and the final part is just awesome. I wish there were more games like this on the Amiga and pc”.

The Pulse has exclusively interviewed Roberta Williams, the creator of this interactive horror, with this issue expected in February. Also on Alive Mediasoft's CD catalogue 1.6 there is a world exclusive trailer of the game, and they are currently working on a demo.

Below is a genetic interview with the Managing Director of Alive Mediasoft, Steven Flowers about the upcoming game, Phantasmagoria.




1. What is Phantasmagoria about?

A terrifying tale of a woman's fight against the forces of evil.... An unparalleled mixture of Hollywood techniques, combining digital sound effects, computer rendered worlds and interactivity. The whole game unfolds in chapters, like a novel, to reveal a frighteningly realistic nightmare, from which you may never awaken.






2. Is this an Interactive Video game?

No. The entire game is a mixture of 3d and hand-drawn graphics, with a healthy dose of video footage incorporated into the graphics. For example, you may be in a 3d rendered room, with computer animations, and a video footage sequence of the actors laid over the graphics. At the beginning and end of each of the seven chapters, you watch a breathtaking sequence giving you the next stage in the story. Again, these are not just film sequences they are high quality graphics incorporated with real-time full motion video.

The actual game plays in a point and click fashion similar to the likes of Simon the Sorcerer. You have an inventory box on view, and you move your pointer over certain objects in the room, some of which you can examine, collect or use.






3. Are the screenshots from the actual game?

Yes, all of the screen shots previewed in this interview are taken from the game.





4. How many CDs is Phantasmagoria on and when will it be out?

This is a tricky one. We are considering releasing Phantasmagoria in chapters over 7 months. The game itself is on 7 CD's. We may well just release the whole thing at once, but if the demand is anywhere near the response we've had so far, then we may well not be able to cope with the duplication - we'll just have to wait and see. The good news is we are not too far from completion now - 95% complete.





5. Is this game as big as Alive Mediasoft are making out?

NO. In fact it's even bigger - we're just being modest! To give you an idea of the scale of the game, consider this.... Several months in a Hollywood studio were spent in filming the actors. The soundtracks was composed and produced with a full orchestra, and a complete operatic choir were enlisted for the ghostly singing. The script for the actors was over 500 pages long and the writers spent 6 months doing historical research to ensure that everything about the game was from the correct period and fitted in with the ancient Carnovasch mansion. Many artefacts seen in the game were actually on loan from various museums in America, to ensure that Phantasmagoria is perfect in every way possible - even historically. More details of the making of this game will be out soon, but you will already be building a picture for yourselves of the vast size of this game. This truly is the biggest budget game the Amiga has ever seen.






6. What are the requirements for Phantasmagoria?

No definite answer as yet, but I can confirm it will be no less than a 040 processor. We will support PPC and all graphics cards.





7. Does this game really deserve the 18 rating or is this just hype?

Right lets get one thing straight. We're not messing around when we stress that this is an adult game - and neither were Australia when they banned it outright, or America when they cut many scenes from it to bring it down to their 18 certificate. This is the computer game version of The Exorcist. If your stomachs strong enough then you'll be glad to hear that the Amiga version is the complete directors cut of the game with all scenes left in tact. The box features a huge warning, which we strongly suggest you take seriously.


Steven Flowers





If you wish to pre-order your copy of Phantasmagoria, then e-mail Steven Flowers of Alive Mediasoft at:-

steve(@)alive-mediasoft.co.uk


Visit their web site at :-






Go Back to Amiga Flame Main Menu

E-mail -

Latest News


Please note the contents of all news articles are Copyrighted