Dreamfall Chapters Dev Turning to Kickstarter

[Sarah LeBoeuf]

Dreamfall Chapters Dev Turning to Kickstarter

The sequel to Dreamfall: The Longest Journey is in pre-production for a PC and Mac release.

The internet was all aflutter yesterday [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/120452-Dreamfall-Chapters-is-In-Development] with news that a long-awaited follow-up to Dreamfall: The Longest Journey was in development. Developer Red Thread Games, founded by The Longest Journey series designer Ragnar Tørnquist, is planning to make Dreamfall Chapters an episodic release, and it's currently in the pre-production phase. Though the announcement was made on The Secret World developer Funcom's website yesterday, Red Thread will be making the Dreamfall Chapters completely independently... with the help of some crowd-funding.

"We will be doing a Kickstarter," Tørnquist said in an interview with Rock Paper Shotgun [http://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2012/11/01/keep-the-faith-tornquist-talks-dreamfall-chapters/]. "Not right now, but we will be doing it in the near future, simply because although we received a grant from the Norwegian Film Institute... that is only for the pre-production phase... In order to fully develop Dreamfall Chapters we're going to need more money and we will be going to Kickstarter."

Tørnquist added that he has been working on Dreamfall Chapters' story since the previous game ended on a massive cliffhanger in 2006, and already has a basic outline of the game's plot and characters. Though the developer is looking at all of its options for release platforms, right now it's focusing on getting Chapters out on PC and Mac. No dates were given for a Kickstarter campaign or expected release window, and we probably won't hear more for at least a few months. "In a couple of weeks we'll go completely silent and re-emerge early next year with a lot more to show hopefully."

"We intend to be extremely open with production," Tørnquist added. "We don't plan on hiding away and pushing out the occasional screenshot. We want to be completely transparent and open, let people know where we're at." Expect to hear more about Dreamfall Chapters in 2013.

Source: Polygon [http://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2012/11/01/keep-the-faith-tornquist-talks-dreamfall-chapters/]

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[LiquidGrape]

Upon seeing Tørnquists tweet yesterday, I collapsed into a small fit, convulsing with unadulterated joy. I can't understate how profound an impact these games have had on me.

To finally get a continuation 6+ years after the last game was released...it's a dream come true.

 

[Vault Citizen]

I am definitely going to fund that. I might even go for one of the more expensive rewards (100 bucks maximum but that is still a lot more than I've spent on earlier stuff)

 

[dragongit]

Finally. I loved the Longest Journey games thus far. Though I enjoyed the first game over the second, maily because the second had a bazillion cliff hangers at the end and we've had to wait forever for a sequel.

 

[psyco]

Hrm. I loved Longest Journey, but for some reason my first thought here was 'ugh, not again'. Why? The mention of episodic content. Seems to be a (bad, imo) recent trend to hack games into portions and sell them like that for even more profit.
*grumbles*

 

[lancar]

Hrm. I loved Longest Journey, but for some reason my first thought here was 'ugh, not again'. Why? The mention of episodic content. Seems to be a (bad, imo) recent trend to hack games into portions and sell them like that for even more profit.
*grumbles*

It does feel like it, doesn't it? Although, I doubt that a small dev like this is going about it the episodic way to squeeze out as much money for the profit itself, but more to give it the means to actually finish the series. Game development is expensive even in the small scale, and every penny counts.

My initial reaction to the whole thing was however "ugh, more kickstarter?". I'm getting a bit tired of it seeming like the solution to everything, even if I understand the reasons behind it.

 

[IanDavis]

I remember reading a long time ago that they were planning on the sequel being an MMO. I guess that turned into The Secret World, for better or worse. I'm just glad we can see a continuation without having to slog through an MMO.

Grumbling about episodic content seems silly, as adventure games seem to thrive in the medium. Just look at Telltale, for god's sake. I don't think his has to be Sin Episodes.

 

[Entitled]

Hrm. I loved Longest Journey, but for some reason my first thought here was 'ugh, not again'. Why? The mention of episodic content. Seems to be a (bad, imo) recent trend to hack games into portions and sell them like that for even more profit.
*grumbles*

Good news for you, it's not episodic.

"Chapters" refers to how it's "about the chapters of life, of life being a story, and how it?s also the first chapter of something else"

 

[InsaneFool]

Shut up and take my money.

 

[Baresark]

Hrm. I loved Longest Journey, but for some reason my first thought here was 'ugh, not again'. Why? The mention of episodic content. Seems to be a (bad, imo) recent trend to hack games into portions and sell them like that for even more profit.
*grumbles*

Good news for you, it's not episodic.

"Chapters" refers to how it's "about the chapters of life, of life being a story, and how it?s also the first chapter of something else"

It says in the article that it's planned to be episodic, these folks aren't just commenting on the name.

Developer Red Thread Games, founded by The Longest Journey series designer Ragnar Tørnquist, is planning to make Dreamfall Chapters an episodic release...

There it is in black and white.

Hrm. I loved Longest Journey, but for some reason my first thought here was 'ugh, not again'. Why? The mention of episodic content. Seems to be a (bad, imo) recent trend to hack games into portions and sell them like that for even more profit.
*grumbles*

I don't really agree. It's not more expensive to buy it episode by episode. It's not cheaper to buy the full thing outright, it's the same price. The Walking Dead for instance is pay one price and get all the chapters. I personally find it annoying that they can't just release one game. I don't care for waiting between chapters and more often than not I lose interest before the thing is done. But they aren't making more money by splitting it up.

 

[In Search of Username]

So happy about this. The Longest Journey is a brilliant adventure game, and Dreamfall, well, Dreamfall is one of the most emotionally affecting games I've ever played. So here's hoping this one will be as good, and will FINALLY tie up some loose ends.

 

[Hulde Gran]

The Longest Journey and Dreamfall influenced my life greatly. Like LiquidGrape said on the first post, i cannot understate how important this franchise is to me.

 

[littlewisp]

Can has? Can has? CAN HAS!

I skipped the last few kickstarters because the last few months haven't been the very best in the world, but I will have hand on credit card ready to contribute for this game idea brimming with possibility.

Please don't let me down.

 

[Eleima]

I'm greatly looking forward to this. I loved TLJ when it came out, Dreamfall perhaps not as much, but it was pretty good. Looks like they're in pre-production so there's a bit more wait ahead of us, but we've waited this long...

 

[Liv's Runaway Snail]

(It says in the article that it's planned to be episodic, these folks aren't just commenting on the name.)

Actually Torquist has said in his latest interviews and I think also on twitter that Chapters won't be episodic, which is pretty sweet.