Anacapri the Dream (The legend of the Obsidian Disk)

[geysavarese]

Hello everybody.

I am Gey Savarese, developer together with Silvio, my son, of "A Quiet weekend in Capri", our opera prima. I am former R&D Director of Texas Instruments Italy, later Micron Technolgy Italy. Silvio, PhD in Computer Vision, is Beckman Fellow at the University of Urbana-Champaign, Illinois. We both love to develop Adventure Games. Our second and new game, "Anacapri the Dream" (The legend of the Obsidian Disk) is in beta test right now. You should see it in the market late 1Q07, localized in both English and Italian. I am here to answer your questions about this and its parent game - see the other thread "A Quiet Weekend in Capri".

[axelkothe]

can you post some screenshots of the game?
will there be a german version of one or both of the games?

[geysavarese]

I will be happy to send you some screen shots after the formal launch of the game, that will be at the GameCon show in Naples, Italy, next Dec 8, 9 10. By that time, screenshots will be available at the official Anacapri site.

For Capri game, the German localization is done but we are looking for a publisher. The localization work for the Anacapri game will start 1Q07.

[Agustin]

Hello Gey! I'm just stopping by to wish you a very successful release for Anacapri

[geysavarese]

Thank you, Agustin! Your support to this game has been greatly appretiated... I wish you all the best with Scratches!

[Davero]

Maybe you can tell us something more about Anacapri?
What is the story: sci-fi, fantasy, political thriller...?
Is there any connection between Weekend in Capri and Anacapri?
Does the realization technique is the same as in Weekend in Capri?
What have been changed, improved in comparison with the previous game?

[geysavarese]

Anacapri is a completely new game. It may considered a sequel of Capri, but it is quite different in may aspects: the story is... are 3 interlaced stories: the legend/history of the island of Capri, The Dream and the Reality. They will all converge at the end. The technology also is largely improved: full screen images, cross-fading, panoramic views, and mostly, a lot of animations. It is still a 2D game, because, as a design philosophy, we like to focus on the story and on a huge world: more than 8000 pictures of the Capri island. There are 40+ characters, with deep insight in them...

However, you don't need to play Capri first, or there is any basic relationship.

And, our beta tests show that it will require 50+ hours of game play... it's huge, non linear, and it's not easy to solve. 8)

[Noone]

You say there'll be 40+ characters. Will it be static shots or will you use live video?

[geysavarese]

No living video in sense of avi files, but sequences of images. These are also applied to characters when they speak. In many cases, it looks like living video. It features a brand new proprietary technology for sea animations. Capri is an island, and the sea was not put in great evidence in the first game.

[Noone]

will there be a soundtrack in the game? If yes, what kind of music it will be (as you say you'll have three different storylines)?

[geysavarese]

Yes, of course, there is an original soundtrack. Most are musics by Silvio, and few also by myself. The style of the music is the same as in the Capri game: a sort of ethnic/new age/rock/modern music, as we call it: enchanted music. And plenty of true background noises, taken from the island. Fo example, as you go from Piazza Vittoria to Mount Solaro using the chair-lift, you will hear the true noise of the chair-lift engine plus the noise of the chairs over the pillars. As in Capri game, this game is based on the REAL Capri island. You go there and you visit the island... you'll find most of the characters of the game, in the real life! And of courses, the places. Then we added some fantasy scenery, like the mithical tunnel joining Villa Damecuta with the Blue Grotto. It is said it really existed at the times of Roman Emperor Tiberius. Now there is just a start in the Blue Grotto, but the tunnel is no more there. Well, we rebuilt it! ;D

[PolloDiablo2]

Wow, 50+ hours

Will the game be sold through brick-and-mortar stores or can it only be ordered online? I haven't found Weekend in Capri anywhere, not even secondhand, but I will keep looking because it sounds like something I would enjoy.

[geysavarese]

Just send me a message to [email protected] specifying your country and I will tell you where and how to buy the Capri game.

[Noone]

Can you tell a bit about the technology you use while creating the game? How do you manage to sort all these photoes and not mix up everything?

[geysavarese]

Sort the pictures? After I shot them? Nothing very special. I just use two computers, one of them is large screen, which allows me to look two pictures at the time. On the other (normal screen) computer, I have a third view. With 3 views, it is not very difficult to catalog all pictures, after, let's say, a raid to Capri to shoot 500 pictures.

[Noone]

But if you're doing a game based on real places, you should have some sort of a map of the place and attach made photoes to locations on map. I assume you do not name folders like "plus 50 meters forward" or "from that point 20 meters left"?

[geysavarese]

Each area has a name, and the folders have the name of that area. All pictures of that area go in the corresponding folders. Sometime I name the folders of the same area with a suffix, if I shoot pictures in two different period of the year or in different years. For example: Anacapri Center 2005, Anacapri Center 2006, Cetrella1, Cetrella2, Cetrella3, and so on. Really, nothing special at all.