jimbo118
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EDIT: bah, trailer is old apparently but I never saw it.
http://www.shackvideo.com/?id=13141
and preview (in German and mostly already known stuff):
http://www.pcaction.de/Alan-Wake-Preview-Wir-waren-bei-Remedy-in-Finnland/News/article/view/704/1/1
Translation, Page 1:
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Page 4:
http://www.shackvideo.com/?id=13141
and preview (in German and mostly already known stuff):
http://www.pcaction.de/Alan-Wake-Preview-Wir-waren-bei-Remedy-in-Finnland/News/article/view/704/1/1
Translation, Page 1:
Alan Wake: Preview - We were at Remedy's in Finland
We are liked. So much that we got the opportunity to visit the finns from Remedy. On the following 4 pages, you can read what the makers of the Max Payne series told us about the upcoming Action-Triller Alan Wake. One thing is a given: Alan Wake will be big!
Finns are humorous people. At the cozy dinner in a medern restaurant in Helsinki, the Remedy Entertainment Production Lead Lasse Seppänen took the piss. "You know, the people in Finland are very nice people", he said. "But we always seem to be rather cold. An example: This right now is truly the most beautiful moment of my life", Mr. Seppänen proclaims in an indifferent tone. We like Finland. Especially because one of the biggest action heros ever comes from there. But Max Payne is dead, long live Alan Wake. This guy may not be out to avenge the death of his family, but Mister Wake could still be a highlight of the coming gaming year. And we got the privilege to have a first look at this potential action hit.
Bookworm
His makers describe Alan Wake as follows: "He's an unkempt author in his mid-thirties, and he's suffering from insomnia. Alan is basically a mediocre guy." The, as opposed to the pcaction.de-editors highly talented, author makes a ****ton of money with his thrillers, which are inspired by his muse Alice. But suddenly, Alice vanishes and Alan suffers, just like the male stars in Gina-Wild-Porn. "Alice is a very important character in the background story of Alan Wake. So we're not going to give you too much details here", Petri Järvilehto, Creative Lead of Remedy Entertainment, explains. But because of the name similarity, we're guessing that Alice is just imagined by Alan, and that he's drifting into insanity. The hero is plagued by nightmares, which in turn lead to insomnia.
Because apparently, those awful dreams trouble him more than the sleep deprivation. So Alan goes off to the northwest of the United States: Into the pitoresque town called Bright Falls. The landscape features extensive forests, huge lakes, mountain ranges and one-lane streets. Remedy grants players the freedom to roam unhindered in this big areal, but the background story features a rather linear succession of events. Also, the day-night-cycle doesn't automatically happen, instead, the player controls it. Depending on which task Alan fulfills, the environment changes. It makes sense because it would be rather difficult to show cutscenes with a changing light setting, and it wouldn't be realistic to show a mechanic fixing cars at 4 in the morning.
We are liked. So much that we got the opportunity to visit the finns from Remedy. On the following 4 pages, you can read what the makers of the Max Payne series told us about the upcoming Action-Triller Alan Wake. One thing is a given: Alan Wake will be big!
Finns are humorous people. At the cozy dinner in a medern restaurant in Helsinki, the Remedy Entertainment Production Lead Lasse Seppänen took the piss. "You know, the people in Finland are very nice people", he said. "But we always seem to be rather cold. An example: This right now is truly the most beautiful moment of my life", Mr. Seppänen proclaims in an indifferent tone. We like Finland. Especially because one of the biggest action heros ever comes from there. But Max Payne is dead, long live Alan Wake. This guy may not be out to avenge the death of his family, but Mister Wake could still be a highlight of the coming gaming year. And we got the privilege to have a first look at this potential action hit.
Bookworm
His makers describe Alan Wake as follows: "He's an unkempt author in his mid-thirties, and he's suffering from insomnia. Alan is basically a mediocre guy." The, as opposed to the pcaction.de-editors highly talented, author makes a ****ton of money with his thrillers, which are inspired by his muse Alice. But suddenly, Alice vanishes and Alan suffers, just like the male stars in Gina-Wild-Porn. "Alice is a very important character in the background story of Alan Wake. So we're not going to give you too much details here", Petri Järvilehto, Creative Lead of Remedy Entertainment, explains. But because of the name similarity, we're guessing that Alice is just imagined by Alan, and that he's drifting into insanity. The hero is plagued by nightmares, which in turn lead to insomnia.
Because apparently, those awful dreams trouble him more than the sleep deprivation. So Alan goes off to the northwest of the United States: Into the pitoresque town called Bright Falls. The landscape features extensive forests, huge lakes, mountain ranges and one-lane streets. Remedy grants players the freedom to roam unhindered in this big areal, but the background story features a rather linear succession of events. Also, the day-night-cycle doesn't automatically happen, instead, the player controls it. Depending on which task Alan fulfills, the environment changes. It makes sense because it would be rather difficult to show cutscenes with a changing light setting, and it wouldn't be realistic to show a mechanic fixing cars at 4 in the morning.
Page 2:
Dude, I know you from somewhere, right?
But the finns are rather self-confident. "Alan Wake's the title which is going to grab ratings 90/100 and up", the likeable Production Lead states. The interesting thing is that the makers don't want to put this game into a classic genre; instead, they simply create a new one. So Alan Wake is a "psychological action thriller". Remedy values a coherent backstory more than many other developers do. To make the plot seem much more exciting, Sam Lake gives it his best. "Sam Lake? That doesn't sound finnish at all!", observant pcaction.de-readers remark. And indeed, the Alan Wake-author simply translated his name into english. By the way, we're sure that a lot of our readers have already seen Sam Lake. You don't believe it? Just look at the face of the protagonist of the Max Payne-series.
Relay
"We're big fans of the Twin Peaks series", Sam Lake says, "the TV series concept always fascinated us. So we try to use this episodic format in Alan Wake." But don't panic, this is not referring to an episodic format á la Half-Life 2. The things to do in Alan Wake are just split into sections. This is so to make the player experience the cliffhanger feeling we all know from TV or DVD series, the urge to pop in the next part. In the story, there won't be any alternative discussion threads like you would see in an adventure. Alan Wake basically is like a TV series, the dialogues don't change the second time you play it. Furthermore, it's possible that Remedy implements recap functionality, so that the things that previously happened are summed up. In that case, you'd expect some speaker saying "Previously on Alan Wake", followed by whatever previously happened. The story author Sam Lake even talked about "Alan Wake Season 1" at the presentation in the Remedy headquarters. So it's reasonable to assume there's lots of room for sequels.
But the finns are rather self-confident. "Alan Wake's the title which is going to grab ratings 90/100 and up", the likeable Production Lead states. The interesting thing is that the makers don't want to put this game into a classic genre; instead, they simply create a new one. So Alan Wake is a "psychological action thriller". Remedy values a coherent backstory more than many other developers do. To make the plot seem much more exciting, Sam Lake gives it his best. "Sam Lake? That doesn't sound finnish at all!", observant pcaction.de-readers remark. And indeed, the Alan Wake-author simply translated his name into english. By the way, we're sure that a lot of our readers have already seen Sam Lake. You don't believe it? Just look at the face of the protagonist of the Max Payne-series.
Relay
"We're big fans of the Twin Peaks series", Sam Lake says, "the TV series concept always fascinated us. So we try to use this episodic format in Alan Wake." But don't panic, this is not referring to an episodic format á la Half-Life 2. The things to do in Alan Wake are just split into sections. This is so to make the player experience the cliffhanger feeling we all know from TV or DVD series, the urge to pop in the next part. In the story, there won't be any alternative discussion threads like you would see in an adventure. Alan Wake basically is like a TV series, the dialogues don't change the second time you play it. Furthermore, it's possible that Remedy implements recap functionality, so that the things that previously happened are summed up. In that case, you'd expect some speaker saying "Previously on Alan Wake", followed by whatever previously happened. The story author Sam Lake even talked about "Alan Wake Season 1" at the presentation in the Remedy headquarters. So it's reasonable to assume there's lots of room for sequels.
Page 3:
Fear in the Dark
Sam Lake and Petri Järvi-lehto show us a playable version of Alan Wake. And it's very impressive, but much too short for our tastes. But it's understandable that Remedy isn't throwing all the background details of the story at us. After all, players shouldn't know before buying the game that Alice actually is the transsexual friend of the hero and the game culminates in an epic shootout with Nazi zombies. Roflcopter. Seriously though: Suspense is the central element, according to the Max Payne-creators. So the guys show us a rather unimpressive task in which Alan Wake is supposed to get a key from the gas station, then race through the landscape with his green station wagon to arrive at an old house in the woods. But then, it gets mysterious. A hitchhiker stands at the side of the road and Alan lets him come along. "Strange", says Wake. "I had a horrible vision in which I took along a hitchhiker." "Oh yeah?", the hiker asks, "what happened to him?" Wake doesn't get a chance to reply though because a fully loaded truck crashes suddenly into Alan's car.
The protagonist awakes at the crash site in complete darkness; the hitchhiker is dead. Suddenly, lamp posts in the vicinity start to freak the **** out. Mysterious shadows fly in the air, the light bulbs in the lampposts burst. The obviously shocked Alan tries to get to a near safehouse, but shortly before entering, the darkness catches up to him. The end. ****! We wanted to know what happens then! But Petri and Sam simply amend: "Light is Alan Wake's friend. Darkness on the other hand spreads fear." Against what the protagonist exactly has to fight remains unclear.
Listen to this shit!
A dynamic sound stage is supposed to enhance the atmosphere, for example the whistling wind. The creators took notes from Director David Lynch (Twin Peaks / Mulholland Drive). "Lynch is very smart regarding the use of sound", Järvilehto says. Further effects, such as rain, cloud movement, mist, wind and even hurricanes give the game a realistic touch. Why there's wind all the time is unclear. To make the landscape as authentic as possible, Remedy travelled to the USA and made thousands of photos and videos. Doing that, they discovered huge waterfalls, vulcanoes and other landmarks which are going to be featured in the virtual world around Bright Falls.
Sam Lake and Petri Järvi-lehto show us a playable version of Alan Wake. And it's very impressive, but much too short for our tastes. But it's understandable that Remedy isn't throwing all the background details of the story at us. After all, players shouldn't know before buying the game that Alice actually is the transsexual friend of the hero and the game culminates in an epic shootout with Nazi zombies. Roflcopter. Seriously though: Suspense is the central element, according to the Max Payne-creators. So the guys show us a rather unimpressive task in which Alan Wake is supposed to get a key from the gas station, then race through the landscape with his green station wagon to arrive at an old house in the woods. But then, it gets mysterious. A hitchhiker stands at the side of the road and Alan lets him come along. "Strange", says Wake. "I had a horrible vision in which I took along a hitchhiker." "Oh yeah?", the hiker asks, "what happened to him?" Wake doesn't get a chance to reply though because a fully loaded truck crashes suddenly into Alan's car.
The protagonist awakes at the crash site in complete darkness; the hitchhiker is dead. Suddenly, lamp posts in the vicinity start to freak the **** out. Mysterious shadows fly in the air, the light bulbs in the lampposts burst. The obviously shocked Alan tries to get to a near safehouse, but shortly before entering, the darkness catches up to him. The end. ****! We wanted to know what happens then! But Petri and Sam simply amend: "Light is Alan Wake's friend. Darkness on the other hand spreads fear." Against what the protagonist exactly has to fight remains unclear.
Listen to this shit!
A dynamic sound stage is supposed to enhance the atmosphere, for example the whistling wind. The creators took notes from Director David Lynch (Twin Peaks / Mulholland Drive). "Lynch is very smart regarding the use of sound", Järvilehto says. Further effects, such as rain, cloud movement, mist, wind and even hurricanes give the game a realistic touch. Why there's wind all the time is unclear. To make the landscape as authentic as possible, Remedy travelled to the USA and made thousands of photos and videos. Doing that, they discovered huge waterfalls, vulcanoes and other landmarks which are going to be featured in the virtual world around Bright Falls.
Page 4:
Land in sight!
Regarding technical aspects, Remedy revised their philosophy. While Max Payne featured simple, restrictive levels, in Alan Wake, the player roams around in an extensive area. The creators made a so-called Biotype system which generates mountain ranges and woods with a few clicks. Such a tool is rather important, Sami Vanhatalo, the Art Lead of Alan Wake, explains: "We have to code such tools to enhance efficiency and to be able to put emphasis onto game content. After all, we don't have 150 dudes working here, like other studios do!" A level editor for the modding community is planned, by the way. The area around Bright Falls is separated into smaller sections which are streamed when playing. So the player doesn't have to stare at loading screens.
The creators chose the northwest America setting because the environment is rather similar to Finnland's. And because the area is so huge in Alan Wake, the guy can't rely on walking around all the time. "The transport by car is a really important aspect here", Petri Järvilehto says. And Remedy knows its shit around cars; after all, Death Rally (1996) is the first game from the studio. And that they know what they're doing when making an action game is well-known.
The exact release date remains unknown.
Regarding technical aspects, Remedy revised their philosophy. While Max Payne featured simple, restrictive levels, in Alan Wake, the player roams around in an extensive area. The creators made a so-called Biotype system which generates mountain ranges and woods with a few clicks. Such a tool is rather important, Sami Vanhatalo, the Art Lead of Alan Wake, explains: "We have to code such tools to enhance efficiency and to be able to put emphasis onto game content. After all, we don't have 150 dudes working here, like other studios do!" A level editor for the modding community is planned, by the way. The area around Bright Falls is separated into smaller sections which are streamed when playing. So the player doesn't have to stare at loading screens.
The creators chose the northwest America setting because the environment is rather similar to Finnland's. And because the area is so huge in Alan Wake, the guy can't rely on walking around all the time. "The transport by car is a really important aspect here", Petri Järvilehto says. And Remedy knows its shit around cars; after all, Death Rally (1996) is the first game from the studio. And that they know what they're doing when making an action game is well-known.
The exact release date remains unknown.
