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Another World (video game)
Encyclopedia
Another World, also known as Out of This World in North America and Outer World in Japan, is a 1991
cinematic platformer designed and developed by Eric Chahi
. Selling around 1 million copies in the 1990s, Another World was innovative in its use of cinematic effects in the graphics, sound and cut scenes, with characters communicating through their facial features, gestures, and actions only. This cinematic style granted Another World cult status amongst critics and fans.
Originally developed on an Amiga 500
for the Amiga
, Atari ST
, Apple IIGS
and DOS
platforms, the game was widely ported to other contemporary systems. Later efforts resulted in several game engine recreations for the game that permitted it to run on modern computers, consoles and mobile phones. In 2006, Chahi independently released a 15th Anniversary Edition for Windows which allowed the game to be played on modern computers with original or enhanced visuals.
, where the player uses the keyboard or gamepad to make the protagonist Lester run, jump, attack or perform other actions. In the initial part of the game, Lester is weaponless, able to kick at small creatures but otherwise vulnerable. After escaping with his alien ally, Lester acquires a laser pistol from a fallen foe. The pistol has three capabilities: a standard fire mode, the abilities to create force fields to block enemy fire, and a powerful charged shot that can break through force fields and some walls. Later, Lester also gains a plasma ball that can be used like a grenade to defeat foes. Enemies will also have the same capabilities, requiring the player to take advantage of the three gun modes and the environment to overcome hostile forces and escape.
Lester and his alien ally cannot sustain any damage, and the game will be over if either takes a hit. However, the game uses numerous checkpoints
, and the player can restart at the last point indefinitely. On older consoles without the ability to save a game, the player can write down an alphanumeric code for these checkpoints and re-enter it when they restart the game later.
of the game is Lester Knight Chaykin, a young, athletic physicist
. Lester arrives at his high-tech underground laboratory in his Ferrari during a thunderstorm, and continues to work on his experiment using a particle accelerator
. Right before the particles reach their intended destination, lightning
strikes the laboratory and interferes with the accelerator, causing the unforeseen teleportation
of Lester to a barren, alien planet.
After evading a number of dangerous indigenous animals, Lester is enslaved by a race of humanoid
aliens
and taken to a subterranean mine/prison system. With the help of a captive alien, Lester tries to escape, and must continue to evade capture whilst travelling through dangerous environments, battling wild creatures and solving numerous puzzles to survive natural hazards.
In the end, Lester is severely wounded by a guard, but manages to save his alien friend from death. His friend picks up the weak Lester and they escape on a giant pterodactyl-like creature, flying off to the horizon.
had and thought that it would be possible to use vector outlines to create a similar effect using much less computer storage
. After first attempting to write the graphical routines in C
, he turned to assembly language
. He wrote a polygon
routine for the Motorola 68000
on an Atari ST
to test his theory, with much success. Later, he found that he could run the code on the Amiga
platform and achieve a frame rate
of about 20 frames per second, later recognizing this as "a major turning point in the creation of the game" and the point where he knew the polygon approach would work. He was able to take advantage of the Amiga's genlock
capabilities to create rotoscoped animations with the polygons, using video recordings of himself performing various actions. Though he had tried to use smaller polygons (which Chahi called "pixigons") to construct the backgrounds for the scenes based on Deluxe Paint
artwork, the process of creating them was excrutiatingly slow, and he returned to using bitmap
ped images.
While he had a clear idea of how to implement his game engine
, he mostly improvised when creating the actual content of the game, allowing the game to develop "layer by layer without knowing where it was going". He planned on creating a science fiction
game that was similar to Karateka and Impossible Mission
. Because he wanted to create a dramatic, cinematic experience, the game has no HUD
or dialog, giving the player only a representation of the surrounding game world during both gameplay elements and the cut scenes progressing the story. However, with no idea of the technical limitations he would face while building out the story, he focused more on creating ambiance, rhythmic pacing, and narrative tension to the game. Chahi resorted to developing his own tool with a new programming language through GFA Basic
coupled with the game's engine in Devpac Assembler, to control and animate the game, interpreted in real-time by the game engine, effectively creating his own animation sequencer.
With the creation of the tools needed for building out the rest of the game by December 1989, Chahi began working on the introductory sequence as a means to validate the full capacities of his engine. The introduction sequence also gave Chahi the chance to explore the types of cinematics he could create through the engine. Chahi later considered this the "first step in the improvisation process" that he used throughout the rest of development. He finished the game's introduction sequence in early 1990 and started working on the first level
. Chahi worked at the game at a linear pace, developing each section of the game in the chronological order and influenced by his own personal feelings and attitude at the time. For example, as Chahi recognized he was trying to create a game on his own, the first portions of the game evoke loneliness and isolation, reflecting Chahi's mood at the time. He did not have the original intention of the character meeting an ally, but again described the improvisation approach led him to include the alien friend, and had included specific cinematics that showed a close up of the alien to help the player imagine this world.
Later in the game's development, Chahi added laser pistols, including the one that Lester carries for several effects. The idea was influenced by the Star Wars
franchise, but added depth to the gameplay giving the player more options. He also found that repeated laser fire by the enemies also helped to enunciate the rhythm of the game. Chahi would later add in the plasma ball that increased the available strategy to players. Several points in the game use elevators or teleporters to move Lester between levels; Chahi had used these instead of stairways as it was difficult to produce proper animation for these.
After seventeen months of development, Chahi was only about one-third completed with the game, and realized that this rate would have been impractical. He began to take steps to simplify the development, including reusing background graphics and creating building blocks that allowed him to focus more on the game's puzzles. At the same time, he began to seek a publisher for the game. He first spoke to his former employer, Delphine Software, but also sought other distributors. One, Virgin Games, were favorable to Chahi's game but had suggested that he change it to a point-and-click
adventure style game. Chahi had considered changing the game by this request but realized "the effort to do this would have been too huge, and some friends who played the game loved it". Ultimately, he accepted Delphine's offer in June 1991, and set a tentative release date in November. To meet this deadline, Chahi used storyboard
s to sketch out the rest of the game's plot, balancing the overall pacing of the game. One ending captured on these storyboards but abandoned was Lester becoming the leader of the alien world. The game was finished in 1991, which inspired the game's tagline: "It took six days to create the Earth. Another World took two years"; Chahi noted his own exhaustion at completing this project mirrors in the near-death of Lester at the end of the game.
Upon publishing, Delphine did not perform a playtest of the full game, only having previously tested the first portion of the game. Delphine's U.S. publisher, Interplay
undertook a full playtest, and Chahi fixed a number of bugs that arose from this. Interplay had also requested additional changes in the game, including making the game longer and changing the game's introduction music. Chahi was adamant about retaining the game's opening music, and had attempted to change Interplay's minds by sending them an "infinite fax," a looped piece of paper, with the message "keep the original intro music" on it. Only until Delphine got involved and told Interplay they legally could not change the music did Interplay relax this change.
The game was originally released for the Amiga and Atari ST in 1991, running at a display resolution
of 320×200 pixels. These versions received less play-testing than other versions, making for a less-fluid game, but the Amiga's sound capabilities afford it a high sound quality compared to contemporary ports. The game released on the Atari ST
is identical but with a less refined sound. These versions had code wheel
protection that made it difficult to use unauthorized copies, forcing the player to enter a code (series of figures) looked up from a code wheel that came with the game. The player had to turn the wheel according to the number that was requested in the screen whenever the game is loaded or he/she would have to re-load the game. Another small change between the Amiga and ST versions and the others was that Lester would yell as he grabs the vine in the first area if he wasn't being chased by the beast in these versions. This feature was omitted from most other versions.
The game was released in North America
under the title Out of this World in order to avoid confusion with the popular but unrelated soap opera
Another World
. Coincidentally, the science fiction sitcom Out of This World
aired at the same time of the game's USA-Canada release.
Reviews praised the game's graphics, sound, and gameplay, but criticized its brevity. Chahi responded with a new level just before the arena when the alien friend rescues Lester at the end of a long dead-end corridor. Also added were more dangers, which were a guard in the prison at the bottom of the lift, more lethal steam jets added in the maze-like ventilation system, and two enemies on the bottom of the pool in the power circuit area. This ended up being the 1992 DOS
version, which was coded by Daniel Morais, and had the exact code wheel protection of the Amiga and ST versions. The Macintosh
version programmed by "Burger" Bill Heineman
features higher resolution than the DOS version, but is otherwise identical.
Through Interplay
, the game was ported to the SNES
, the Sega Mega Drive
, and the Apple IIGS
in 1992. The Super Nintendo and Apple IIGS ports were also programmed by "Burger" Bill Heineman and were unique in that they both used changing background musical scores throughout the game, adding a very cinematic feel to specific scenes. This differed from other ports which only had music for the opening and ending. Interplay wanted to add additional tunes by Charles Deenen
. They also wanted to exchange Jean-François Freitas's music for a different soundtrack, but Chahi did not agree to the change. It was Delphine's lawyer who helped the original intro music be kept. Nintendo then requested that all scenes that feature blood, or any blood-like thing, such as the venus flytrap
saliva, as well as a brief nudity scene, be redrawn. Of interest is the fact that Out of This World was the only game directly ported from the Super Nintendo over to the Apple IIGS, which shared the same 65C816 microprocessor.
The 3DO
port was developed by Interplay in 1993, and features very detailed backgrounds. However, Chahi believes that this actually detracts from the game because the polygons don't fit in with this, and thus make the backgrounds look flat. The game's soundtrack was changed again, albeit without any legal troubles, due to Chahi's focus on Heart of Darkness
. Some new tunes were also added, such as when Lester escapes the big pool in the first level and when he is grabbed by the guard that appears at the end. These tunes are all played from the disc. At the ending was a fragment of intro of Heart of the Alien
. Also included in some versions of this 3DO release was a separate mini game called "Stalactites", in which the player pushes up Stalactite
s shapes falling from the top of the screen. Another hidden feature of this version is the animation of Bill Heineman getting his head chopped off.
The Super Nintendo, Mega Drive, 3DO and Apple IIGS ports each contain a prologue
before the introduction begins, which consists of an entry that comes from Lester's diary. The Mega Drive port's prologue was different from that of the SNES and 3DO ports.
The game was also intended to be ported to the Atari Jaguar
, but the project was cancelled even before development began on it. However, Jagware got permission from Chahi to port it to the JagCF.
Chahi acquired the rights to Another World' s intellectual property
from Delphine
after they closed down in July 2004. Magic Productions then offered to port the game to mobile phone
s, and it was ported with help from Cyril Cogordan. Chahi saw that the game's playability could be improved, so he used his old Amiga for reprogramming certain parts of the script. He made the graphics' shading clearer in order to counter mobile phones' low resolutions. In July 2005, almost a decade and a half after it was first released on the Amiga, the game was released for mobile phone handsets using the Symbian
operating system, thanks to Telcogames and developer Magic Productions. The mobile phone version is currently distributed to mobile operators (notably via Handango) by Telcogames. Magic Productions also released a Pocket PC
version for Windows Mobile 5 OS or higher in QVGA (320×240 resolution).
At the 2011 Game Developers Conference
, Chahi announced that an iOS port of the title will be created by DotEmu
and distributed by BulkyPix.
. Emmanuel Rivoire increased the resolution to 1280×800 pixels and Chahi created more detailed backgrounds. He found that his original choice to use polygons for the game characters enabled him to use the original character art at a higher resolution. The game still supports the original 320×200 resolution, as well as the original background art (as an option), and it features twice as many checkpoints as the original, which makes it somewhat easier. The game does not include Interplay's extra music, but it does include the extra level, as well as the added enemies and hazards from the console versions along with updated sound quality. This version is known as the Collector's Edition and regarded by Chahi as the ultimate version of the game.
This version is also part of the Another World 15th Anniversary Edition CD-ROM released in 2007, which also included a development diary, a technical handbook, a manual and an 18-minute video with interviews of the designers Eric Chahi
and Jean-François Freitas talking about the development of the game. The 15th Anniversary Edition was planned to feature an audio CD with the exclusive soundtracks of Another World by Jean-François Freitas; however, a separate CD is not present in 2007 prints of the Anniversary Edition, which instead offers the soundtrack in form of MP3, Ogg Vorbis and WAV audio files.
The digital rights management
on the 15th Anniversary Edition CD-ROM is particularly draconian – upon installation, the game verifies the user's serial number through the Internet, allowing only for five installations of the game using any given serial number. Uninstallation does not reset the count, so after five installations, no matter the circumstance, one must purchase a new copy. This problem does not exist on the digital copy sold by Good Old Games.
and iPad
, featuring a switch between the original and HD graphics, a new intuitive touch controls or classic D-pad, three difficulty modes, and remastered sound effects.
. The beast creature from the first level was ranked sixth on the GameSpot
's 1999 list of The Best Monsters in Gaming, while the alien "Buddy" was ranked third on the list of The Ten Best Sidekicks in 2000, along with a comment that the "groundbreaking" Another World "is one of those rare games that everybody seemed to love." In 2007, Eurogamer
called it "one of the most visionary and memorable games of its time."
s as he wants the ending to the original to remain ambiguous so that fans could make their own conclusion to the franchise. Despite this, a sequel entitled Heart of the Alien
was released exclusively for the Sega CD in 1994. The game is similar in graphics and gameplay. The player plays as Lester's alien friend, who is nicknamed "Buddy". It is commonly mistaken as taking place in the middle of Another World's story, probably due to the presence of trichromatic flashbacks in the game's introduction, which show the events of Another World during portions where Buddy and Lester were separated, all from Buddy's view. Chahi had nothing to do with the development of the game, beyond suggesting Lester's death, but has since regretted that decision stating that he did not like it because it made a definite conclusion to the story, which he had deliberately left open-ended. He also suggested the game to be a parallel to Another World.
ian company which produced and distributed Another World, Delphine Software, has since gone into administrative receivership and Another World remains their most recognized game. The 1992 game Flashback, which is also from Delphine but made without the involvement of Chahi, is often mistaken as a sequel to Another World because of similar gameplay and graphics. Flashback does seem to make a few direct references to Another World, including the prominent use of personal force fields in combat, a nearly identical end text in the ending cutscene, and an almost exact motion recreation of the gun pickup cutscene.
Eric Chahi returned to the concept after leaving Delphine. In 1998, he and his new company Amazing Studio made Heart of Darkness
, which is in many ways very similar in spirit to Another World, although it, too, has a completely different storyline. Chahi disappeared from the game industry for some years, but has recently regained interest in making games. He attended the Game Developer's Conference in 2005. Despite criticizing the games industry for no longer supporting much creativity, Eric Chahi says he is "still very excited" to start working on an entirely new game.
1991 in video gaming
-Notable releases:*Microprose creates Civilization, Sid Meier's most successful game .*Electronic Arts releases James Pond 2 and Road Rash for Sega Genesis/Mega Drive, starting a series of games that were popular in the 1990s....
cinematic platformer designed and developed by Eric Chahi
Eric Chahi
Éric Chahi is a French computer game designer best known as the creator of Another World .- Career :Éric Chahi started programming on Oric Atmos and Amstrad during 1983 for the company Loriciels...
. Selling around 1 million copies in the 1990s, Another World was innovative in its use of cinematic effects in the graphics, sound and cut scenes, with characters communicating through their facial features, gestures, and actions only. This cinematic style granted Another World cult status amongst critics and fans.
Originally developed on an Amiga 500
Amiga 500
The Amiga 500 - also known as the A500 - was the first “low-end” Commodore Amiga 16/32-bit multimedia home/personal computer. It was announced at the winter Consumer Electronics Show in January 1987 - at the same time as the high-end Amiga 2000 - and competed directly against the Atari 520ST...
for the Amiga
Amiga
The Amiga is a family of personal computers that was sold by Commodore in the 1980s and 1990s. The first model was launched in 1985 as a high-end home computer and became popular for its graphical, audio and multi-tasking abilities...
, Atari ST
Atari ST
The Atari ST is a home/personal computer that was released by Atari Corporation in 1985 and commercially available from that summer into the early 1990s. The "ST" officially stands for "Sixteen/Thirty-two", which referred to the Motorola 68000's 16-bit external bus and 32-bit internals...
, Apple IIGS
Apple IIGS
The Apple , the fifth and most powerful model in the Apple II series of personal computers produced by Apple Computer. The "GS" in the name stands for Graphics and Sound, referring to its enhanced graphics and sound capabilities, both of which greatly surpassed previous models of the line...
and DOS
DOS
DOS, short for "Disk Operating System", is an acronym for several closely related operating systems that dominated the IBM PC compatible market between 1981 and 1995, or until about 2000 if one includes the partially DOS-based Microsoft Windows versions 95, 98, and Millennium Edition.Related...
platforms, the game was widely ported to other contemporary systems. Later efforts resulted in several game engine recreations for the game that permitted it to run on modern computers, consoles and mobile phones. In 2006, Chahi independently released a 15th Anniversary Edition for Windows which allowed the game to be played on modern computers with original or enhanced visuals.
Gameplay
Another World is a platform gamePlatform game
A platform game is a video game characterized by requiring the player to jump to and from suspended platforms or over obstacles . It must be possible to control these jumps and to fall from platforms or miss jumps...
, where the player uses the keyboard or gamepad to make the protagonist Lester run, jump, attack or perform other actions. In the initial part of the game, Lester is weaponless, able to kick at small creatures but otherwise vulnerable. After escaping with his alien ally, Lester acquires a laser pistol from a fallen foe. The pistol has three capabilities: a standard fire mode, the abilities to create force fields to block enemy fire, and a powerful charged shot that can break through force fields and some walls. Later, Lester also gains a plasma ball that can be used like a grenade to defeat foes. Enemies will also have the same capabilities, requiring the player to take advantage of the three gun modes and the environment to overcome hostile forces and escape.
Lester and his alien ally cannot sustain any damage, and the game will be over if either takes a hit. However, the game uses numerous checkpoints
Saved game
A saved game is a piece of digitally stored information about the progress of a player in a video game. This saved game can be reloaded later, so the player can continue where he or she had stopped...
, and the player can restart at the last point indefinitely. On older consoles without the ability to save a game, the player can write down an alphanumeric code for these checkpoints and re-enter it when they restart the game later.
Plot
The protagonistProtagonist
A protagonist is the main character of a literary, theatrical, cinematic, or musical narrative, around whom the events of the narrative's plot revolve and with whom the audience is intended to most identify...
of the game is Lester Knight Chaykin, a young, athletic physicist
Physicist
A physicist is a scientist who studies or practices physics. Physicists study a wide range of physical phenomena in many branches of physics spanning all length scales: from sub-atomic particles of which all ordinary matter is made to the behavior of the material Universe as a whole...
. Lester arrives at his high-tech underground laboratory in his Ferrari during a thunderstorm, and continues to work on his experiment using a particle accelerator
Particle accelerator
A particle accelerator is a device that uses electromagnetic fields to propel charged particles to high speeds and to contain them in well-defined beams. An ordinary CRT television set is a simple form of accelerator. There are two basic types: electrostatic and oscillating field accelerators.In...
. Right before the particles reach their intended destination, lightning
Lightning
Lightning is an atmospheric electrostatic discharge accompanied by thunder, which typically occurs during thunderstorms, and sometimes during volcanic eruptions or dust storms...
strikes the laboratory and interferes with the accelerator, causing the unforeseen teleportation
Teleportation
Teleportation is the fictional or imagined process by which matter is instantaneously transferred from one place to another.Teleportation may also refer to:*Quantum teleportation, a method of transmitting quantum data...
of Lester to a barren, alien planet.
After evading a number of dangerous indigenous animals, Lester is enslaved by a race of humanoid
Humanoid
A humanoid is something that has an appearance resembling a human being. The term first appeared in 1912 to refer to fossils which were morphologically similar to, but not identical with, those of the human skeleton. Although this usage was common in the sciences for much of the 20th century, it...
aliens
Extraterrestrial life in popular culture
In popular cultures, "extraterrestrials" are life forms — especially intelligent life forms— that are of extraterrestrial origin .-Historical ideas:-Pre-modern:...
and taken to a subterranean mine/prison system. With the help of a captive alien, Lester tries to escape, and must continue to evade capture whilst travelling through dangerous environments, battling wild creatures and solving numerous puzzles to survive natural hazards.
In the end, Lester is severely wounded by a guard, but manages to save his alien friend from death. His friend picks up the weak Lester and they escape on a giant pterodactyl-like creature, flying off to the horizon.
Development
Eric Chahi had previously developed video games since 1983 without any significant success. In August 1989, two years since his last program, Chahi was impressed by the flat-color animations that the Amiga version of Dragon's LairDragon's Lair
Dragon's Lair is a laserdisc video game published by Cinematronics in 1983. It featured animation created by ex-Disney animator Don Bluth....
had and thought that it would be possible to use vector outlines to create a similar effect using much less computer storage
Computer storage
Computer data storage, often called storage or memory, refers to computer components and recording media that retain digital data. Data storage is one of the core functions and fundamental components of computers....
. After first attempting to write the graphical routines in C
C (programming language)
C is a general-purpose computer programming language developed between 1969 and 1973 by Dennis Ritchie at the Bell Telephone Laboratories for use with the Unix operating system....
, he turned to assembly language
Assembly language
An assembly language is a low-level programming language for computers, microprocessors, microcontrollers, and other programmable devices. It implements a symbolic representation of the machine codes and other constants needed to program a given CPU architecture...
. He wrote a polygon
Polygon
In geometry a polygon is a flat shape consisting of straight lines that are joined to form a closed chain orcircuit.A polygon is traditionally a plane figure that is bounded by a closed path, composed of a finite sequence of straight line segments...
routine for the Motorola 68000
Motorola 68000
The Motorola 68000 is a 16/32-bit CISC microprocessor core designed and marketed by Freescale Semiconductor...
on an Atari ST
Atari ST
The Atari ST is a home/personal computer that was released by Atari Corporation in 1985 and commercially available from that summer into the early 1990s. The "ST" officially stands for "Sixteen/Thirty-two", which referred to the Motorola 68000's 16-bit external bus and 32-bit internals...
to test his theory, with much success. Later, he found that he could run the code on the Amiga
Amiga
The Amiga is a family of personal computers that was sold by Commodore in the 1980s and 1990s. The first model was launched in 1985 as a high-end home computer and became popular for its graphical, audio and multi-tasking abilities...
platform and achieve a frame rate
Frame rate
Frame rate is the frequency at which an imaging device produces unique consecutive images called frames. The term applies equally well to computer graphics, video cameras, film cameras, and motion capture systems...
of about 20 frames per second, later recognizing this as "a major turning point in the creation of the game" and the point where he knew the polygon approach would work. He was able to take advantage of the Amiga's genlock
Genlock
Genlock is a common technique where the video output of one source, or a specific reference signal from a signal generator, is used to synchronize other television picture sources together. The aim in video and digital audio applications is to ensure the coincidence of signals in time at a...
capabilities to create rotoscoped animations with the polygons, using video recordings of himself performing various actions. Though he had tried to use smaller polygons (which Chahi called "pixigons") to construct the backgrounds for the scenes based on Deluxe Paint
Deluxe Paint
Deluxe Paint is a bitmap graphics editor series originally created by Dan Silva for Electronic Arts .The original version was created for the Commodore Amiga and was released in November 1985...
artwork, the process of creating them was excrutiatingly slow, and he returned to using bitmap
Bitmap
In computer graphics, a bitmap or pixmap is a type of memory organization or image file format used to store digital images. The term bitmap comes from the computer programming terminology, meaning just a map of bits, a spatially mapped array of bits. Now, along with pixmap, it commonly refers to...
ped images.
While he had a clear idea of how to implement his game engine
Game engine
A game engine is a system designed for the creation and development of video games. There are many game engines that are designed to work on video game consoles and personal computers...
, he mostly improvised when creating the actual content of the game, allowing the game to develop "layer by layer without knowing where it was going". He planned on creating a science fiction
Science fiction
Science fiction is a genre of fiction dealing with imaginary but more or less plausible content such as future settings, futuristic science and technology, space travel, aliens, and paranormal abilities...
game that was similar to Karateka and Impossible Mission
Impossible Mission
Impossible Mission is a platform computer game for several home computers. The original version for the Commodore 64 was programmed by Dennis Caswell and published by Epyx in 1984.-Description:...
. Because he wanted to create a dramatic, cinematic experience, the game has no HUD
HUD (computer gaming)
In video gaming, the HUD is the method by which information is visually relayed to the player as part of a game's user interface...
or dialog, giving the player only a representation of the surrounding game world during both gameplay elements and the cut scenes progressing the story. However, with no idea of the technical limitations he would face while building out the story, he focused more on creating ambiance, rhythmic pacing, and narrative tension to the game. Chahi resorted to developing his own tool with a new programming language through GFA Basic
GFA BASIC
GFA BASIC is a dialect of the BASIC programming language, by Frank Ostrowski. The first version was finished in 1986. In the mid and late 80s, it became very popular for the Atari ST homecomputer range . Later, ports for the Commodore Amiga, DOS and Windows were marketed...
coupled with the game's engine in Devpac Assembler, to control and animate the game, interpreted in real-time by the game engine, effectively creating his own animation sequencer.
With the creation of the tools needed for building out the rest of the game by December 1989, Chahi began working on the introductory sequence as a means to validate the full capacities of his engine. The introduction sequence also gave Chahi the chance to explore the types of cinematics he could create through the engine. Chahi later considered this the "first step in the improvisation process" that he used throughout the rest of development. He finished the game's introduction sequence in early 1990 and started working on the first level
Level (computer and video games)
A level, map, area, or world in a video game is the total space available to the player during the course of completing a discrete objective...
. Chahi worked at the game at a linear pace, developing each section of the game in the chronological order and influenced by his own personal feelings and attitude at the time. For example, as Chahi recognized he was trying to create a game on his own, the first portions of the game evoke loneliness and isolation, reflecting Chahi's mood at the time. He did not have the original intention of the character meeting an ally, but again described the improvisation approach led him to include the alien friend, and had included specific cinematics that showed a close up of the alien to help the player imagine this world.
Later in the game's development, Chahi added laser pistols, including the one that Lester carries for several effects. The idea was influenced by the Star Wars
Star Wars
Star Wars is an American epic space opera film series created by George Lucas. The first film in the series was originally released on May 25, 1977, under the title Star Wars, by 20th Century Fox, and became a worldwide pop culture phenomenon, followed by two sequels, released at three-year...
franchise, but added depth to the gameplay giving the player more options. He also found that repeated laser fire by the enemies also helped to enunciate the rhythm of the game. Chahi would later add in the plasma ball that increased the available strategy to players. Several points in the game use elevators or teleporters to move Lester between levels; Chahi had used these instead of stairways as it was difficult to produce proper animation for these.
After seventeen months of development, Chahi was only about one-third completed with the game, and realized that this rate would have been impractical. He began to take steps to simplify the development, including reusing background graphics and creating building blocks that allowed him to focus more on the game's puzzles. At the same time, he began to seek a publisher for the game. He first spoke to his former employer, Delphine Software, but also sought other distributors. One, Virgin Games, were favorable to Chahi's game but had suggested that he change it to a point-and-click
Point-and-click
Point-and-click is the action of a computer user moving a cursor to a certain location on a screen and then pressing a mouse button, usually the left button , or other pointing device...
adventure style game. Chahi had considered changing the game by this request but realized "the effort to do this would have been too huge, and some friends who played the game loved it". Ultimately, he accepted Delphine's offer in June 1991, and set a tentative release date in November. To meet this deadline, Chahi used storyboard
Storyboard
Storyboards are graphic organizers in the form of illustrations or images displayed in sequence for the purpose of pre-visualizing a motion picture, animation, motion graphic or interactive media sequence....
s to sketch out the rest of the game's plot, balancing the overall pacing of the game. One ending captured on these storyboards but abandoned was Lester becoming the leader of the alien world. The game was finished in 1991, which inspired the game's tagline: "It took six days to create the Earth. Another World took two years"; Chahi noted his own exhaustion at completing this project mirrors in the near-death of Lester at the end of the game.
Upon publishing, Delphine did not perform a playtest of the full game, only having previously tested the first portion of the game. Delphine's U.S. publisher, Interplay
Interplay
Interplay may refer to:* Interplay , a 1957 album by jazz musician John Coltrane* Interplay , Jerome Robbins, 1945* Interplay , a 1962 album by jazz musician Bill Evans...
undertook a full playtest, and Chahi fixed a number of bugs that arose from this. Interplay had also requested additional changes in the game, including making the game longer and changing the game's introduction music. Chahi was adamant about retaining the game's opening music, and had attempted to change Interplay's minds by sending them an "infinite fax," a looped piece of paper, with the message "keep the original intro music" on it. Only until Delphine got involved and told Interplay they legally could not change the music did Interplay relax this change.
Versions
Display resolution
The display resolution of a digital television or display device is the number of distinct pixels in each dimension that can be displayed. It can be an ambiguous term especially as the displayed resolution is controlled by all different factors in cathode ray tube , flat panel or projection...
of 320×200 pixels. These versions received less play-testing than other versions, making for a less-fluid game, but the Amiga's sound capabilities afford it a high sound quality compared to contemporary ports. The game released on the Atari ST
Atari ST
The Atari ST is a home/personal computer that was released by Atari Corporation in 1985 and commercially available from that summer into the early 1990s. The "ST" officially stands for "Sixteen/Thirty-two", which referred to the Motorola 68000's 16-bit external bus and 32-bit internals...
is identical but with a less refined sound. These versions had code wheel
Code wheel
A code wheel is a type of copy protection used on older computer games, often those published in the late 1980s and early 1990s. It evolved from the original "manual protection" system in which the program would require the user to enter a specific word from the manual before the game would start...
protection that made it difficult to use unauthorized copies, forcing the player to enter a code (series of figures) looked up from a code wheel that came with the game. The player had to turn the wheel according to the number that was requested in the screen whenever the game is loaded or he/she would have to re-load the game. Another small change between the Amiga and ST versions and the others was that Lester would yell as he grabs the vine in the first area if he wasn't being chased by the beast in these versions. This feature was omitted from most other versions.
The game was released in North America
North America
North America is a continent wholly within the Northern Hemisphere and almost wholly within the Western Hemisphere. It is also considered a northern subcontinent of the Americas...
under the title Out of this World in order to avoid confusion with the popular but unrelated soap opera
Soap opera
A soap opera, sometimes called "soap" for short, is an ongoing, episodic work of dramatic fiction presented in serial format on radio or as television programming. The name soap opera stems from the original dramatic serials broadcast on radio that had soap manufacturers, such as Procter & Gamble,...
Another World
Another World (TV series)
Another World is an American television soap opera that ran on NBC from May 4, 1964 to June 25, 1999. It ran for a total of 35 years. It was created by Irna Phillips along with William J...
. Coincidentally, the science fiction sitcom Out of This World
Out of This World (TV series)
Out Of This World is an American fantasy sitcom about a teenage girl who is half alien, which gives her unique supernatural powers. It first aired in U.S. syndication on September 17, 1987 and ended on May 25, 1991. It was first broadcast in the UK on the ITV network on April 9, 1990, usually at...
aired at the same time of the game's USA-Canada release.
Reviews praised the game's graphics, sound, and gameplay, but criticized its brevity. Chahi responded with a new level just before the arena when the alien friend rescues Lester at the end of a long dead-end corridor. Also added were more dangers, which were a guard in the prison at the bottom of the lift, more lethal steam jets added in the maze-like ventilation system, and two enemies on the bottom of the pool in the power circuit area. This ended up being the 1992 DOS
DOS
DOS, short for "Disk Operating System", is an acronym for several closely related operating systems that dominated the IBM PC compatible market between 1981 and 1995, or until about 2000 if one includes the partially DOS-based Microsoft Windows versions 95, 98, and Millennium Edition.Related...
version, which was coded by Daniel Morais, and had the exact code wheel protection of the Amiga and ST versions. The Macintosh
Macintosh
The Macintosh , or Mac, is a series of several lines of personal computers designed, developed, and marketed by Apple Inc. The first Macintosh was introduced by Apple's then-chairman Steve Jobs on January 24, 1984; it was the first commercially successful personal computer to feature a mouse and a...
version programmed by "Burger" Bill Heineman
Rebecca Heineman
Rebecca Ann Heineman is an American video game programmer. A long-time veteran of the computer game industry , Heineman was a founding member of Interplay Productions, Logicware, Contraband Entertainment...
features higher resolution than the DOS version, but is otherwise identical.
Through Interplay
Interplay Entertainment
Interplay Entertainment Corporation is an American video game developer and publisher, founded in 1983 as Interplay Productions by Brian Fargo. The company had been a quality developer until they started publishing their own games in 1988, like Neuromancer and Battle Chess. The company was renamed...
, the game was ported to the SNES
Super Nintendo Entertainment System
The Super Nintendo Entertainment System is a 16-bit video game console that was released by Nintendo in North America, Europe, Australasia , and South America between 1990 and 1993. In Japan and Southeast Asia, the system is called the , or SFC for short...
, the Sega Mega Drive
Sega Mega Drive
The Sega Genesis is a fourth-generation video game console developed and produced by Sega. It was originally released in Japan in 1988 as , then in North America in 1989 as Sega Genesis, and in Europe, Australia and other PAL regions in 1990 as Mega Drive. The reason for the two names is that...
, and the Apple IIGS
Apple IIGS
The Apple , the fifth and most powerful model in the Apple II series of personal computers produced by Apple Computer. The "GS" in the name stands for Graphics and Sound, referring to its enhanced graphics and sound capabilities, both of which greatly surpassed previous models of the line...
in 1992. The Super Nintendo and Apple IIGS ports were also programmed by "Burger" Bill Heineman and were unique in that they both used changing background musical scores throughout the game, adding a very cinematic feel to specific scenes. This differed from other ports which only had music for the opening and ending. Interplay wanted to add additional tunes by Charles Deenen
Charles Deenen
Charles Deenen , is a Dutch computer/video game Audio Director, Music Composer, Sound Designer & Mixer. He is also known for his music and sound efforts for games of C64 and Amiga era. He was one of the first demosceners....
. They also wanted to exchange Jean-François Freitas's music for a different soundtrack, but Chahi did not agree to the change. It was Delphine's lawyer who helped the original intro music be kept. Nintendo then requested that all scenes that feature blood, or any blood-like thing, such as the venus flytrap
Venus Flytrap
The Venus Flytrap , Dionaea muscipula, is a carnivorous plant that catches and digests animal prey—mostly insects and arachnids. Its trapping structure is formed by the terminal portion of each of the plant's leaves and is triggered by tiny hairs on their inner surfaces...
saliva, as well as a brief nudity scene, be redrawn. Of interest is the fact that Out of This World was the only game directly ported from the Super Nintendo over to the Apple IIGS, which shared the same 65C816 microprocessor.
The 3DO
3DO Interactive Multiplayer
The 3DO Interactive Multiplayer is a video game console originally produced by Panasonic in 1993. Further renditions of the hardware were released in 1994 by Sanyo and Goldstar. The consoles were manufactured according to specifications created by The 3DO Company, and were originally designed by...
port was developed by Interplay in 1993, and features very detailed backgrounds. However, Chahi believes that this actually detracts from the game because the polygons don't fit in with this, and thus make the backgrounds look flat. The game's soundtrack was changed again, albeit without any legal troubles, due to Chahi's focus on Heart of Darkness
Heart of Darkness (game)
Heart of Darkness is a 1998 video game by Amazing Studio and released by Interplay for Microsoft Windows-based PCs and the PlayStation. A Game Boy Advance port was announced in 2001 but never released. It is the first game to have its score recorded by an orchestra though because of delays, it was...
. Some new tunes were also added, such as when Lester escapes the big pool in the first level and when he is grabbed by the guard that appears at the end. These tunes are all played from the disc. At the ending was a fragment of intro of Heart of the Alien
Heart of the Alien
Heart of the Alien is an action-adventure video game that was made by Interplay and released in 1994 for Sega CD.Heart of the Alien is a sequel to Another World and continues the story directly from where the original ended...
. Also included in some versions of this 3DO release was a separate mini game called "Stalactites", in which the player pushes up Stalactite
Stalactite
A stalactite , "to drip", and meaning "that which drips") is a type of speleothem that hangs from the ceiling of limestone caves. It is a type of dripstone...
s shapes falling from the top of the screen. Another hidden feature of this version is the animation of Bill Heineman getting his head chopped off.
The Super Nintendo, Mega Drive, 3DO and Apple IIGS ports each contain a prologue
Prologue
A prologue is an opening to a story that establishes the setting and gives background details, often some earlier story that ties into the main one, and other miscellaneous information. The Greek prologos included the modern meaning of prologue, but was of wider significance...
before the introduction begins, which consists of an entry that comes from Lester's diary. The Mega Drive port's prologue was different from that of the SNES and 3DO ports.
The game was also intended to be ported to the Atari Jaguar
Atari Jaguar
The Atari Jaguar is a video game console that was released by Atari Corporation in 1993. It was the last to be marketed under the Atari brand until the release of the Atari Flashback in 2004. It was designed to surpass the Mega Drive/Genesis, Super Nintendo Entertainment System, and the Panasonic...
, but the project was cancelled even before development began on it. However, Jagware got permission from Chahi to port it to the JagCF.
Chahi acquired the rights to Another World
Intellectual property
Intellectual property is a term referring to a number of distinct types of creations of the mind for which a set of exclusive rights are recognized—and the corresponding fields of law...
from Delphine
Delphine Software International
Delphine Software was a French video game developer company. They were famous for their games Another World and Flashback, which bore a similarity to Prince of Persia, both in gameplay and in utilizing rotoscoped animation...
after they closed down in July 2004. Magic Productions then offered to port the game to mobile phone
Mobile phone
A mobile phone is a device which can make and receive telephone calls over a radio link whilst moving around a wide geographic area. It does so by connecting to a cellular network provided by a mobile network operator...
s, and it was ported with help from Cyril Cogordan. Chahi saw that the game's playability could be improved, so he used his old Amiga for reprogramming certain parts of the script. He made the graphics' shading clearer in order to counter mobile phones' low resolutions. In July 2005, almost a decade and a half after it was first released on the Amiga, the game was released for mobile phone handsets using the Symbian
Symbian
Symbian is a mobile operating system and computing platform designed for smartphones and currently maintained by Accenture. The Symbian platform is the successor to Symbian OS and Nokia Series 60; unlike Symbian OS, which needed an additional user interface system, Symbian includes a user...
operating system, thanks to Telcogames and developer Magic Productions. The mobile phone version is currently distributed to mobile operators (notably via Handango) by Telcogames. Magic Productions also released a Pocket PC
Pocket PC
A Pocket PC is also known by Microsoft as a 'Windows Mobile Classic device'. It is a hardware specification for a handheld-sized computer, personal digital assistant , that runs the Microsoft 'Windows Mobile Classic' operating system...
version for Windows Mobile 5 OS or higher in QVGA (320×240 resolution).
At the 2011 Game Developers Conference
Game Developers Conference
The Game Developers Conference is the largest annual gathering of professional video game developers, focusing on learning, inspiration, and networking...
, Chahi announced that an iOS port of the title will be created by DotEmu
DotEmu
DotEmu is a French video game company created in 2007 by Xavier Liard and Romain Tisserand, with its headquarters in France. This company initially dedicated to B2B adaptation and emulation of old games and now provides a B2C distribution service on dotemu.com.Distribution service: Users can...
and distributed by BulkyPix.
15th Anniversary re-release
After the release of the Pocket PC version, in 2006 Chahi created a new Windows version that was targeted at Windows XPWindows XP
Windows XP is an operating system produced by Microsoft for use on personal computers, including home and business desktops, laptops and media centers. First released to computer manufacturers on August 24, 2001, it is the second most popular version of Windows, based on installed user base...
. Emmanuel Rivoire increased the resolution to 1280×800 pixels and Chahi created more detailed backgrounds. He found that his original choice to use polygons for the game characters enabled him to use the original character art at a higher resolution. The game still supports the original 320×200 resolution, as well as the original background art (as an option), and it features twice as many checkpoints as the original, which makes it somewhat easier. The game does not include Interplay's extra music, but it does include the extra level, as well as the added enemies and hazards from the console versions along with updated sound quality. This version is known as the Collector's Edition and regarded by Chahi as the ultimate version of the game.
This version is also part of the Another World 15th Anniversary Edition CD-ROM released in 2007, which also included a development diary, a technical handbook, a manual and an 18-minute video with interviews of the designers Eric Chahi
Eric Chahi
Éric Chahi is a French computer game designer best known as the creator of Another World .- Career :Éric Chahi started programming on Oric Atmos and Amstrad during 1983 for the company Loriciels...
and Jean-François Freitas talking about the development of the game. The 15th Anniversary Edition was planned to feature an audio CD with the exclusive soundtracks of Another World by Jean-François Freitas; however, a separate CD is not present in 2007 prints of the Anniversary Edition, which instead offers the soundtrack in form of MP3, Ogg Vorbis and WAV audio files.
The digital rights management
Digital rights management
Digital rights management is a class of access control technologies that are used by hardware manufacturers, publishers, copyright holders and individuals with the intent to limit the use of digital content and devices after sale. DRM is any technology that inhibits uses of digital content that...
on the 15th Anniversary Edition CD-ROM is particularly draconian – upon installation, the game verifies the user's serial number through the Internet, allowing only for five installations of the game using any given serial number. Uninstallation does not reset the count, so after five installations, no matter the circumstance, one must purchase a new copy. This problem does not exist on the digital copy sold by Good Old Games.
20th Anniversary re-release
On the September 22, 2011, Apple released a special 20th anniversary edition for the iPhoneIPhone
The iPhone is a line of Internet and multimedia-enabled smartphones marketed by Apple Inc. The first iPhone was unveiled by Steve Jobs, then CEO of Apple, on January 9, 2007, and released on June 29, 2007...
and iPad
IPad
The iPad is a line of tablet computers designed, developed and marketed by Apple Inc., primarily as a platform for audio-visual media including books, periodicals, movies, music, games, and web content. The iPad was introduced on January 27, 2010 by Apple's then-CEO Steve Jobs. Its size and...
, featuring a switch between the original and HD graphics, a new intuitive touch controls or classic D-pad, three difficulty modes, and remastered sound effects.
Unofficial ports
- In 1995, a Windows 3.xWindows 3.1xWindows 3.1x is a series of 16-bit operating systems produced by Microsoft for use on personal computers. The series began with Windows 3.1, which was first sold during March 1992 as a successor to Windows 3.0...
version was released, which was ported by Alexander Okrug. This version includes MIDIMusical Instrument Digital InterfaceMIDI is an industry-standard protocol, first defined in 1982 by Gordon Hall, that enables electronic musical instruments , computers and other electronic equipment to communicate and synchronize with each other...
renditions of the intro and ending music. - In 2004, Cyril Cogordan "Foxy" released an unofficial Game Boy AdvanceGame Boy AdvanceThe is a 32-bit handheld video game console developed, manufactured, and marketed by Nintendo. It is the successor to the Game Boy Color. It was released in Japan on March 21, 2001; in North America on June 11, 2001; in Australia and Europe on June 22, 2001; and in the People's Republic of China...
port by reverse engineeringReverse engineeringReverse engineering is the process of discovering the technological principles of a device, object, or system through analysis of its structure, function, and operation...
the Atari ST version. This version's CC (programming language)C is a general-purpose computer programming language developed between 1969 and 1973 by Dennis Ritchie at the Bell Telephone Laboratories for use with the Unix operating system....
code eventually led to a Symbian mobile port. Originally Chahi was against the port, but in 2005 he decided to authorize its distribution. Around the same time, another unofficial GBA source port was made by Gil Megidish. This port was based on the 3DO version, and required the original 3DO CD to run so that only those who already owned the game would be able to play it. An unofficial GP32GP32The GP32 is a handheld game console developed by the Korean company Game Park. It was released on November 23, 2001, in South Korea only.- Overview :The GP32 is based on a 133 MHz ARM CPU and 8 MB of RAM...
port was made by Philippe Simons using reverse engineering by Grégory Montoir. The port won a prize during the GBAX 2005 competition. - The game was released as freeware for play on the Game Boy Advance on April 28, 2005, via a game engine recreation by FoxySofts. It has also been released as freeware for play on the GP32GP32The GP32 is a handheld game console developed by the Korean company Game Park. It was released on November 23, 2001, in South Korea only.- Overview :The GP32 is based on a 133 MHz ARM CPU and 8 MB of RAM...
on May 31, 2005, and the Dreamcast on December 31, 2005, via a game engine recreation by Gregory Montoir (cyx) entitled raw (rewritten engine for Another World). On December 2, 2006, the game engine was ported to the PalmOS Tapwave ZodiacTapwave ZodiacThe Zodiac is a mobile entertainment console, launched on 5 May 2003, and released in October 2003 by Tapwave, a former private company that was based in Mountain View, California....
, although the emulator requires original files to be playable. - An unofficial port was developed for the Atari 8-bit line of computers (Atari 400/800, XL, XE) by a Polish programmer Robert Drag. However, it seems to be only a demo version, as when the player breaks out of the cage at the beginning of the second level, the guard is not killed and there is no way to complete the scene.
- In 2010, a programmer known as djdron released "New RAW" - Another World Interpreter for DingooDingooThe Dingoo A320 is a gaming handheld that supports music and video playback and open game development. The system features an on-board radio and recording program. It is available in two colors—white and black—with a third color, pink, announced for future release. It was released in February 2009...
A320 Native OS, based on Gregory Montoir's previous work. The release was licensed under the GPL. - In 2011, a developer named Gil Megidish created a HTML5 JavaScript port of Another World available on his blog at AWJS.
- In 2011, a French homebrew developer Alekmaul ported the "New RAW" engine to the Nintendo DSNintendo DSThe is a portable game console produced by Nintendo, first released on November 21, 2004. A distinctive feature of the system is the presence of two separate LCD screens, the lower of which is a touchscreen, encompassed within a clamshell design, similar to the Game Boy Advance SP...
. This port is currently in development with updates being released frequently.
Reception
The game was met with a widespread critical acclaim. Among many other accolades, the console versions of Another World were given the title of the Most Innovative New Game of 1992 by Electronic Gaming MonthlyElectronic Gaming Monthly
Electronic Gaming Monthly is a bimonthly American video game magazine. It has been published by EGM Media, LLC. since relaunching in April of 2010. Its previous run, which ended in January 2009, was published by Ziff Davis...
. The beast creature from the first level was ranked sixth on the GameSpot
GameSpot
GameSpot is a video gaming website that provides news, reviews, previews, downloads, and other information. The site was launched in May 1, 1996 by Pete Deemer, Vince Broady and Jon Epstein. It was purchased by ZDNet, a brand which was later purchased by CNET Networks. CBS Interactive, which...
's 1999 list of The Best Monsters in Gaming, while the alien "Buddy" was ranked third on the list of The Ten Best Sidekicks in 2000, along with a comment that the "groundbreaking" Another World "is one of those rare games that everybody seemed to love." In 2007, Eurogamer
Eurogamer
Eurogamer is a Brighton-based website focused on video games news, reviews, previews and interviews. It is operated by Eurogamer Network Ltd., which was formed in 1999 by brothers Rupert and Nick Loman. Eurogamer has grown to become one of the most important European-based websites focused on...
called it "one of the most visionary and memorable games of its time."
Sequel
Eric Chahi has stated that he wishes the game to have no sequelSequel
A sequel is a narrative, documental, or other work of literature, film, theatre, or music that continues the story of or expands upon issues presented in some previous work...
s as he wants the ending to the original to remain ambiguous so that fans could make their own conclusion to the franchise. Despite this, a sequel entitled Heart of the Alien
Heart of the Alien
Heart of the Alien is an action-adventure video game that was made by Interplay and released in 1994 for Sega CD.Heart of the Alien is a sequel to Another World and continues the story directly from where the original ended...
was released exclusively for the Sega CD in 1994. The game is similar in graphics and gameplay. The player plays as Lester's alien friend, who is nicknamed "Buddy". It is commonly mistaken as taking place in the middle of Another World's story, probably due to the presence of trichromatic flashbacks in the game's introduction, which show the events of Another World during portions where Buddy and Lester were separated, all from Buddy's view. Chahi had nothing to do with the development of the game, beyond suggesting Lester's death, but has since regretted that decision stating that he did not like it because it made a definite conclusion to the story, which he had deliberately left open-ended. He also suggested the game to be a parallel to Another World.
Legacy
The ParisParis
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
ian company which produced and distributed Another World, Delphine Software, has since gone into administrative receivership and Another World remains their most recognized game. The 1992 game Flashback, which is also from Delphine but made without the involvement of Chahi, is often mistaken as a sequel to Another World because of similar gameplay and graphics. Flashback does seem to make a few direct references to Another World, including the prominent use of personal force fields in combat, a nearly identical end text in the ending cutscene, and an almost exact motion recreation of the gun pickup cutscene.
Eric Chahi returned to the concept after leaving Delphine. In 1998, he and his new company Amazing Studio made Heart of Darkness
Heart of Darkness (game)
Heart of Darkness is a 1998 video game by Amazing Studio and released by Interplay for Microsoft Windows-based PCs and the PlayStation. A Game Boy Advance port was announced in 2001 but never released. It is the first game to have its score recorded by an orchestra though because of delays, it was...
, which is in many ways very similar in spirit to Another World, although it, too, has a completely different storyline. Chahi disappeared from the game industry for some years, but has recently regained interest in making games. He attended the Game Developer's Conference in 2005. Despite criticizing the games industry for no longer supporting much creativity, Eric Chahi says he is "still very excited" to start working on an entirely new game.
- The 1997 Amiga game OnEscapeeOnEscapeeonEscapee is an action/adventure video game, developed by Invictus Games, Ltd. and published by the UK-Based Sadeness Software for the Commodore Amiga 1200...
, while not connected to either Another World or Flashback, features similar graphics and gameplay system. - In an issue of Official U.S. PlayStation Magazine, Japanese game designer Fumito UedaFumito Uedais a video game designer born in Tatsuno, Hyōgo Prefecture, Japan in 1970. Ueda is director and lead designer of the PlayStation 2 video games Ico and Shadow of the Colossus....
cited Another World as an influence for his creation of IcoIcois an action-adventure game published by Sony Computer Entertainment and released for the PlayStation 2 video game console. It was designed and directed by Fumito Ueda, who wanted to create a minimalist game around a "boy meets girl" concept. Originally planned for the PlayStation, Ico took...
for the PlayStation 2PlayStation 2The PlayStation 2 is a sixth-generation video game console manufactured by Sony as part of the PlayStation series. Its development was announced in March 1999 and it was first released on March 4, 2000, in Japan...
. - In an interview with the Japanese newspaper Yomiuri, game developer Hideo KojimaHideo Kojimais a Japanese game director originally employed at Konami. He is currently the director of Kojima Productions and was promoted to Vice President of Konami Digital Entertainment in early 2011...
, creator of the Metal Gear SolidMetal Gear Solidis a videogame by Hideo Kojima. The game was developed by Konami Computer Entertainment Japan and first published by Konami in 1998 for the PlayStation video game console. It is the sequel to Kojimas early MSX2 computer games Metal Gear and Metal Gear 2: Solid Snake...
series, stated that Another World is one of the five games of all time that has had an influence on him. - Goichi SudaGoichi Suda, is the CEO of Grasshopper Manufacture. The "51" in his nickname, Suda51, is a pun on his given name. In Japanese, "Go" means 5 and "ichi" means 1. His works include Moonlight Syndrome, The Silver Case, Flower, Sun and Rain, Michigan, killer7, the No More Heroes series, and most recently, Shadows...
, creator of Killer7Killer7is an action-adventure video game for the Nintendo GameCube and PlayStation 2. It was developed by Grasshopper Manufacture and published by Capcom. The game was written and directed by Goichi Suda, also known by the nickname Suda51, and produced by Hiroyuki Kobayashi...
and No More HeroesNo More Heroes (video game), is an action video game for the Wii video game system. It was directed by Goichi Suda , developed by Grasshopper Manufacture and published by Marvelous Entertainment Inc., Ubisoft and Rising Star Games...
, cites Another World as his favourite game.