Анахронокс: Ролевая игра в стиле киберпанк и нуар

2001 role playing video game

Anachronox is a 2001 role playing video game produced by Tom Hall and the Dallas Ion Storm games studio. The game is centered on Sylvester "Sly Boots" Bucelli, a down and out private investigator who looks for work in the slums of Anachronox, a once abandoned planet near the galaxy's jumpgate hub. He travels to other planets, amasses an unlikely group of friends, and unravels a mystery that threatens the fate of the universe. The game's science fiction story was influenced by cyberpunk, film noir, and unconventional humor. The story features a theme of working through the troubles of one's past. Gameplay in Anachronox is a mix of real time exploration and turn based combat; the player controls a party of up to three characters as they explore a 3D environment of futuristic cities, space vessels, and outdoor areas. Inspirations for the game include older role playing video games such as Chrono Trigger and the Final Fantasy series, animator Chuck Jones and the novel Ender's Game. The development of Anachronox was long and difficult. Originally planned for a third quarter 1998 release, it was released worldwide in June 2001 for Microsoft Windows. Tom Hall planned to create a sequel with the copious content removed during production. Critics enjoyed the game and awarded it high marks for its design and story. Ion Storm's Dallas offices were closed mere days after the game's release. In 2002, Anachronox cinematic director Jake Hughes spliced together gameplay footage and cutscenes to create a feature length, award winning machinima film.

Anachronox is a role playing game similar in nature to many Japanese role playing video games like Final Fantasy. The player controls a party of up to three characters as they explore a 3D environment (colloquially known as a "field map") of futuristic cities, space vessels, and outdoor areas. Players can swap for new party members, talk to non player characters, and collect and shop for equipment and items. When players near an interactive character or item, a floating arrow shaped electronic device called the LifeCursor appears, which lets the player click on the person or item. MysTech cannot be used until they are awakened after a certain story event. Eight basic colors of MysTech exist, representing different elements; for example, green represents poison. Husks of futuristic cities exist on artificial tectonic plates, which constantly shift to connect different parts of the planet. Inhabitants believe that diseased aliens were quarantined there eons ago, resulting in the name Anachronox. Northern Anachronox is clean and upscale, while southern Anachronox is crime ridden and run down. Civilizations conduct business using currency like the one dollar coin known as a "loonie", while several people collect MysTech—shards of rock with markings, believed to be dormant weapons or art pieces created by an extinct alien race. Limbus is known as the "planet of death", as voyagers never return; its surface is arid and rocky, with sparse vegetation. A planet mentioned but not seen in the game is Krapton, home to superheroes and villains. Most of Krapton's human population has fled, tired of being constantly abducted and saved by warring superpeople.

The protagonist of Anachronox is Sylvester "Sly Boots" Bucelli, a human and former private detective on Anachronox. Twenty nine years old and described as "bold, brash, and overconfident", Boots has gotten himself into trouble and now runs his agency out of rented storage space above a seedy bar. His only friends are PAL 18, his spirited, sarcastic robot assistant since childhood, and Fatima Doohan, his secretary. Fatima was fatally injured and digitized by Boots onto a PDA analogue "LifeCursor", where she bitterly lives to render assistance. Several allies join Boots over the course of the game; first is 71 year old Grumpos Matavastros, a "scholar, outdoorsman, eccentric recluse, and renaissance man"—and a very grumpy person. A former curator of the MysTech museum on Anachronox, Grumpos devotes his life to studying the artifacts. Dr. Rho Bowman joins the party on Sunder; she is a brilliant scientist who's been branded a heretic after publication of her book, MysTech Awake! The team then gains support from Democratus, an eccentric planet boasting a planetary ring and brilliant technology. Said technology includes having the planet shrink to human height to be part of the team. Two further allies are the femme fatale Stiletto Anyway—a 25 year old former companion of Boots known for being stealthy and aloof—and Paco "El Puño" Estrella, a washed up superhero who's turned to alcoholism after his comic book series was canceled. Their foes include Detta, a heavyset crime boss/kingpin on planet Anachronox, and several other monsters and shady characters.

Sly Boots lives in a cheap apartment above Rowdy's, a bar in the seedy "Bricks" section of South Anachronox. Grumpos Matavastros commissions Boots to find a piece of MysTech, but a crime boss called Detta accosts them and steals it. Grumpos, Boots, and robot assistant PAL 18 then seek out Dr. Rho Bowman, an expert on MysTech, at an institute for troublesome scientists on Sunder. She undertakes an experiment to activate MysTech, apparently causing the destruction of Sunder. Rho and the others escape the planet on a shuttle, and drift in space for seventeen days until they are brought on board a habitat ring around the planet Democratus. Rho discovers that all MysTech is now active, and can grant powers and spells. Boots pilots a fighter ship to save Democratus from insectoid invaders known as the Verilent Hive. The heroes return to Sender Station's Lounge of Commerce; Democratus joins the party, the High Council having shrunken the planet to human height. While searching for equipment, Boots earns money as an erotic dancer and encounters Stiletto Anyway, an old flame who's become an assassin and plots revenge against Detta. Rho explains that the universe operates on the big bounce principle; a universe that forms with a Big Bang will eventually suffer a Big Crunch, giving rise to a new big bang. She explains that Sunder was destroyed by an injection of matter from the previous universe, which will hasten the current universe's big crunch. If enough matter is switched between universes, the previous one can escape a big crunch and the current one will cease to exist. The team heads to Hephaestus, transformed to a tourist destination now that MysTech is active. They realize MysTech functions can be customized through the use of small, colored bugs and a MysTech host. Sly gains audience with the Grand Mysterium, who tells him that in the next universe, species known as "Chaos" and "Order" fought a bitter war. Order enslaved Chaos in the current universe, but Chaos wishes to escape to the previous universe to prevent future ones from existing and thus eradicate Order. Sly burst in with news of Stiletto's location, and he and Fatima pursued Detta across Anachronox by flying car. Sly lost control, wrecking it and accidentally killing Fatima. Suffering from major depression, Sly ran up debts with Detta to pay for Fatima's revival inside the LifeCursor. The team regather at Democratus and journey to Limbus, where they meet creatures of the same race as the Grand Mysterium. They repel invaders called the "Dark Servants" from an orbital portal. The leader of Limbus explains that though Chaos is enslaved in the current universe, the Dark Servants (who originate from the current universe) are trying to free them and have found a way into the previous universe, where they initiated the destruction of Sunder. MysTech is a gift from the forces of Order to help the current universe's inhabitants fight Chaos. Rowdy notes that they must destroy the key to the gate, now in the possession of Detta. The team infiltrate his fortress, kill him, and prepare to destroy the key at the gate itself—the fountain spiral of Anachronox. Grumpos seizes it, revealing himself to be a Dark Servant; he escapes with the agents of Chaos into the previous universe. Sly and the others prepare to follow them and save the universe; the game ends as they approach the gate.

Ion Storm began developing Anachronox in 1996, funded by Eidos Interactive as part of a three game deal alongside Daikatana and an unplanned third game. Formal announcement followed in April 1997, promising a third quarter 1998 release. Tom Hall, veteran designer and one of the founders of Ion Storm, helmed the project and originated most of its story and design. Other founding members of the team were Todd Porter (producer), Jake Hughes (associate producer and director of cinematics), Ben Herrera (artist), Brian Eiserloh (programmer), and David Namaksy (lead mapper). Hall first conceived Anachronox in his bathroom, prompting him to install a whiteboard and sound recorder in his shower, as well as several notepads around his house for future ideas; He wrote a 460 page design document (completed in May 1997) outlining the universe of Anachronox, beyond the game's scope; Hall made plans for two expansion packs from the outset of development, owing to the huge story. Hall noted in mid 1997, "Not since Keen has a universe been so clear in my head." Hall remarked that the characters were facets of his childhood. Hall enlisted producer Jake Hughes to direct cut scenes; Hughes had previously worked on several short independent films. Hall remarked, "All these games switch to cutscenes that look five hundred times better than the game. The secret is not to let the cutscenes kick the game's ass." The team would implement engine support for 32 bit color, particle systems, a spline based camera scriptor, facial deformations, and lip synching. By the end of 1997, Hall had scripted interaction with 130 non player characters for 160 planned locations. previewers drew parallels with the Final Fantasy series and Ultima III. Hall also drew dramatic inspiration from a scene in Chrono Trigger in which the characters discuss the theme of regret around a campfire. Ion Storm worked with QuakeEd developer Robert Duffy to create QERadiant, later adapted to ION Radiant. Ion Storm developed tutorials and documentation for each tool. Hall implemented a "grow as you play" philosophy, choosing to show certain features and statistics (like "Beat" or the use of MysTech) only after the player enabled their use. Tom Hall was impressed with Brown's work, particularly music for the planet Democratus. Tom Hall planned for each character to have their own theme music, and for songs to change via interaction or exploration. Sound programmer Henrik Jonsson implemented 3D sound and other capabilities using the Miles Sound System.

Ion Storm debuted a trailer for the game at E3 1997. The team worked several long nights and slept in a cardboard fort (named "Fort Nox") in the office to prepare the trailer. Hall continued writing and designing; he invented the Brebulan language by creating several phonemes and glyphs of the letter 8 turned on its side. The game would suffer serious delays in its production. Eidos regularly sent producer James Poole to Dallas to check progress. and assured inclusion of a multiplayer mode. Tom Hall touted, "It is going to be very cinematic and about as non linear as you can get. Some levels will be bigger than anything ever seen in a 3 D environment. We are really pushing the engine for this, with loads of textures." Developers made two demonstrations; the second featured lasers, lens flare, and volumetric fog. The gaming press received Anachronox well; one reporter wrote the game was "stunningly beautiful [with] some of the most superb effects ever seen in a computer game, including rippling water, stunning laser lights and shadow effects". Ion Storm planned for a 1999 release, Among the game's maps developed in 1998 were Hephaestus (polished by David Namaksy); Whitendon (Iikka Keränen); Democratus, "Matrix 0", and certain interiors of Anachronox (Larry Herring); and the city of Limbus (Rich Carlson). That November, several developers at Ion Storm departed to form their own company; among them was David Namaksy, lead level designer for Anachronox. Leaked e mails evidencing leadership struggles at Ion Storm the following January eroded morale among the remaining team. Ion Storm decided to produce a sequel for Anachronox around early 1999, feeling there would otherwise be too much content for one game, requiring prohibitive costs and delays. Team member Brian Eiserloh noted that several art assets had already been created for the sequel. Ion Storm launched the Anachronox website in early 1999 with a movie style trailer. Tom Hall featured four Anachronox non player characters in his online tongue in cheek spoof of Kasparov versus the World. Among the game's maps completed in 1999 were the Bricks slums of Anachronox (Seneca Menard), Ballotine (Josh Jay), Sender Station (Lee Dotson), others parts of Democratus (Matt Sophos), the Casinox area of Anachronox (Brian Patenaude), and the junkyard maze of Anachronox. Tom Hall reported in 1999 that an option was being developed to remove adult themes, later manifested as an option to turn off profanity. He noted, "we're not above degrading our main character." Ion Storm showed off the mini game at E3 2000, drawing humored reactions. Art director Lee Perry noted in March 2000 that perfecting the battle system was the biggest remaining hurdle for release. Ion Storm promoted a fall 2000 release date in May, and IGN reported in July that a Dreamcast port of Anachronox was planned for production after the PC version's release. Ion Storm issued a clarification that they were only considering a Dreamcast port. The team finished the game's control setup in August. Ion Storm loaned staff to the team of Daikatana to speed its release in summer 2000. Though losing money, Eidos allowed development of Anachronox to continue due their high esteem of Tom Hall, as well as a desire not to punish the game's team for the delays resulting from assisting Daikatana. Hall described weekly bug meetings before release: "you see 100 bugs at the start of the week, fix the 80 you can replicate, and then meet the next Monday to address the 200 bugs they found, fix the 160 you can replicate, then meet to discuss the 400 they found the time in between is scary. Usually, the programmers find the bug, then stumble out of their cube, 'we were SO lucky to find that' or 'how did that EVER work?' It's like some bizarre divination method that no one is quite sure how it finds things, but no one wants to 'disturb the mojo'." By June 2001, all dialogue had been recorded and Ion Storm was working on balancing, playtesting, and adjusting gameplay; release was set for the next month. Anachronox went gold and shipped to manufacturers in late June.

Anachronox was released on June 27, 2001, in North America, July 6 in the United Kingdom, and July 31 in Australia. PC Gamer packaged a game demo of Anachronox with its 100th issue. The Canberra Times staged a giveaway of three game copies to coincide with its release in Oceania. By the end of 2001, sales of Anachronox in North America had reached 20,480 units, according to PC Data. Vice later estimated sales four months after initial launch at 40,000 units. Team member Lucas Davis compiled the development tools and documentation for Anachronox and released them in August 2001. Four bug fixing patches exist for Anachronox. Ion Storm created the first (1.01), which fixes a buffer overrun crash occurring especially under Windows 2000. Ion Storm released the first patch (1.01) on July 2, 2001, shortly before its offices were shuttered. The second patch (1.02, or build 44) was released in May 2003. This patch overhauls the save game system, adds taxi cabs between distant points in the Bricks and provides important stability fixes. It was followed by another patch by Joey Liaw, version 1.02 (build 45), released September 2003. In April 2004, a fan made unofficial patch got released (version 1.02 (build 46) which fixes most of the remaining bugs. Fans have translated the game into German and released a conversion patch. Level designer Rich Carlson released a scrapped secret level for Anachronox in February 2004 after finding it on an old floppy disk.