2008-04 Thursday 24th, Multi-topic news!

[jens]

We have had our hands full for the last couple of weeks and many things have been going on. So lets get right to it and report about it all!

Last week an expansion to Penumbra: Black Plague was announced dubbed Penumbra: Requiem. This short but sweet expansion will give the players some final gritty details on the Penumbra story as well as a concentrated batch of puzzle solving. We are currently working away on the expansion and as we get further into development more details will be released, at the moment a July 2008 release date is the goal.

At the end of last week Thomas and I went to Russia to visit the KRI event in Moscow, a developers conference where we were invited to talk about how we do things and how the production of Penumbra: Black Plague went about. To read all about it and to see some pretty pictures - check this forum thread!

This week we released the Penumbra: Black Plague demos for Mac OS X & Linux, you can get them at the demo site. The full version will come soon so check back for updates, hopefully next week. We have also released Mac & Linux updated demos for Penumbra: Overture that fixes and improves the game, most noticeably the problems with ATI HD cards. The updates for the full version of Penumbra: Overture should hopefully be released next week.

For those out there with a Novint Falcon, Penumbra: Black Plague HaptX edition is coming on the 28th of May. The HaptX editon will include a ton of nifty cool features especially for the Falcon, you can for example squeeze soft object like the bloody guts of monsters! Yuck!

Eager to read more reviews about Penumbra: Black Plague? You can find some at DieHardGameFan, Adventure Corner, Adventure EU, Adventure Classic Gaming, Eurogamer and many other places. There is also a review and an interview over at Adventure Island.

[WindexGlow]

http://frictionalgames.com/forum/showthr...5#pid17635


I feel that many reviews give penumbra a lower score than it should simply because of the repetitive design.


Anyway; great news! When can we see some pics.


some Q and A
Will the expansion be standalone? Or will we have to own black plague?
Will the expansion continue where black plague left off?
How long (as compared to Black Plague) is the expansion going to be? Several hours shorter, or just slightly?
You guys are planning on using a new level design, right?!
Will the expansion be geared more to survival or action?
Any new technologies we'll see? Such as black plagues ripple effect?
Will this be an end to all penumbra?

[Linux.Blue]

one question I have, why an expansion pack? why not a full game, even if it isn't retailed in stores? that way, you have the trilogy; just like what it says on the overture box

[Yuhaney]

Hopefully, this expansion answers what the ending of Black Plague was all about... Seems that many of us have thinked about it - a lot - and still, with no luck of understanding it fully!

[Thomas]

Some quick answers:

"Will the expansion be standalone? Or will we have to own black plague?"
You will have to own BP.

"Will the expansion continue where black plague left off?"
Perhaps

"How long (as compared to Black Plague) is the expansion going to be? Several hours shorter, or just slightly?"
It will be around half of BP.

"You guys are planning on using a new level design, right?!"
Time will tell

"Will the expansion be geared more to survival or action?"
Puzzles actually!

"Any new technologies we'll see? Such as black plagues ripple effect?"
Same engine as BP. Nothing new planned.

"Will this be an end to all penumbra?"
That is one of life's great questions

"why an expansion pack?"
Because we felt it fitted with the ideas and length of Requiem.

[Yuhaney]

So, Thomas, when you say, nothing new planned, it means that Hunter is not going to be in Requiem?

[Thomas]

So, Thomas, when you say, nothing new planned, it means that Hunter is not going to be in Requiem?

Well I meant in terms of tech. As for art assets anything is possible.

[Linux.Blue]

I'm not saying you have to disregard it as an expansion pack (I own BP, so I'm not trying to save $20), but if anyone have heard of Contract Jack, you'll know what I mean. It's the third installment to the game "No One Lives Forever." It's a short game. Flash games seems longer. hour or so, the game is over. by the time you start getting into it, boom, it's nearly done. lots of people were shocked that it ended so fast! amazon reviewers stated this; amongst many others I am sure.
what really is an expansion pack? something that requires the original files from the full retail game? something that is smaller? because games like Call of Duty - United Offensive NEVER felt like an expansion pack. Ive always considered it a full retail game. i'm just talking, not saying you have to change anything or that I'd be upset if it stayed the same.

[doomdoom]

Hello, I was shocked when I read that .

Well, my view points:
_ First, like many people said, if the full game is short, the expansion would be shorter.
_ I don't find too interesting the plot of this expansion.
_ I think it would be better if you took more time, and give us Penumbra 2 . I think, we, the fans, would be more happier with Penumbra 2 than an expansion .
_ The game made a boom in the world. It changes the survival horror genre. I think if you want to keep the boom, you can do it . You can read the opinion of both games (Overture and Black Plague) and keep what people loved about games and quit what people didn't like.

Well, just an idea...
Good bye and good luck .

[ZaRboN]

whow sflkhjthmnbiunhbsafkjnkl
I have a...feeling that Requiem will be the best game of all 4.
devs, I just tell u- work hard on it! it worths any single sweat!!
I would like to betatest, or at least to be the first player of the world to play !!!