From Dust (spiritual successor to Populous)

Tetlee

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So come on, who can not like the idea of a modern day Populous?:D

Been reading dribs and drabs about this game for a while now and it must be said I'm very much looking forward to it:)

Just found this director Q and A from videogamer.com which is a pretty interesting read...

Eric Chahi, creative director at Ubisoft Montpellier chats about his newly announced downloadable game, Project Dust.

Q: A lot of gamers are still today paying homage to "Out of this World" as their first great video game memory. How did you create this masterpiece?
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Eric Chahi: I've almost created it on my own on Amiga. I handled programming, tools, gameplay, graphics and animation. The only aspect of the game that I did not directly take care of was music. The development lasted two years and I finished game in 1991.

All the experience that I accumulated since 1983 when I've started to create games, was concentrated in this concept. My ambition was to provide the player a unique experience, the feeling of being lonely in an unknown world where friendship has a strong and special place. I decided to break all the video games traditional codes, such as score, lives, bonus etc. I wanted to remain focused on the essential: feeling, challenge and emotional pacing. Give the player a global experience is still part of my inner motivation.
project dust -

Q: What happened since the release of your latest game "Heart of Darkness?" in 1998?

EC: Heart of Darkness was a long and exhausting experience which lasted six year. After that, I made the decision to step back from video games and spend time on other passions such as travels, music, painting... and... finally I start developing a new idea about a game!

In 2005 this idea became more concrete, so I started to give structure to my ideas and built a real universe. At the end of 2006, I proposed Dust to Ubisoft and they considered it promising and very original.

Q: When did you start working for Ubisoft?

EC: I started 2 years ago. I'm now working in Montpellier Studios with a small team of people really talented and committed. At the beginning there were only 3 of us, by February 2008, we are at 17 people. That is at the same time a complicated and exciting experience since we are creating something new from scratch.

Q: What is your new project about?

EC: Project Dust is based on a technological breakthrough which allows us to have a world that's entirely dynamic. You've probably noticed the ground crumbling down in the video we presented at E3 Ubisoft's conference; well that's in the game. Players will be able to manipulate ground, water, vegetation, lava as if playing sandcastles on the beach. Breaching a lake open, digging craters, flooding valleys... And all this is simulation, not just graphics visualization.

The technology behind the game is at the top of what can be done on today's computer architecture. The team did some impressive work, way beyond my expectations when I conceived the design.

Q: Can you describe your project in a few words?

EC: Project dust is the spiritual heir to Populous. The game is set in an extreme version of Planet Earth where nature unleashes her power in a much more violent way than what we are used to. Tsunamis, earthquakes, floods, wildfires, volcanic eruptions are what the days are made of for the people of Dust. In this kind of God game, users will play with powers to manipulate the world around them. Ground, water, lava, fire, plants and trees -model the world like a child playing sand castles on the beach. With such powers, players will help their people resist, expand and migrate so they can accomplish their quest to find a safe place.

Q: What are your ambitions?

EC: With Project Dust, we want to be the most spectacular XBLA/PSN game to date by players a deep experience, in a believable world. Make them live an epic human adventure.

Q: What are your main source of inspiration for this game in term of others games / movies?

EC: Specifically for this game, inspiration came first from life experience! I decided to create Project Dust during a trip in Vanuatu in 1999, I was near the Yasur crater and it was strongly active. I could see its explosion; the sound was incredibly loud, like an air plane breaking the soundwall. Bombs were falling everywhere and sometimes really close to us. I was at the same time fascinated by this breathtaking beauty and really scared. I remember I had two thoughts at this very moment: "I want to create another game before I die" and "in the game I want to convey this ambivalence of Nature, beautiful and potentially violent at the same time".

Populous had also a big influence for sure, as well as games like Rez because music is an important part the universe of the game.

Q: On which platforms will your project be available and when?

EC: It'll be available on Playstation Network, Xbox Live Arcade and downloadable for PC on Spring 2011.

Q: Why that choice?

EC: We've chosen these platforms as we feel that they allow us a freedom and rapidity which match the tone of the game. We're able to be just that little bit more daring and creative. We also know that there are a lot of players out there today on XBLA and PSN - just look at the top ten on XBLA. It's full of really diverse genres like classic platformers and cool strategy games like Toy Soldiers. We think that Project Dust will find a good niche there.

Q: What are your artistic / creative influences?

EC: Paper like Real-Time Fluid Dynamics For Games from Joe Stam and Evasion team at INRIA. Conway's Games of Life, for all propagative elements like plants. Painter Zdzisław Beksinski has always been for me a very important reference for his incredible and surrealistic ambiance. And, last but not least, Koyaanisqatsi, the movie from Godfrey Reggio.

Project Dust Interview for Xbox 360 - VideoGamer.com

YouTube - Project Dust - E3 2010 Trailer [HD]

:thumbsup:
 
Oooooo I just gave out a wee bit sex wee, all we need now is a spiritual successor to Powermonger and I'll have to take the afternoon off and get some shares in Kleenex :laugh:

Isn't Eric Chahi the genius behind Another World too?!... Haha goosebumps...
 
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:laugh:Hmm, I sense a mod edit coming along there:)

Ah, Powermonger, what a great game, infact I preferred it to Populous. lol, just remembering how you used to gauge the reactions of your followers to know if they were happy with your decisions, "YEAH!" was good, "yeeeaaahhh" was bad:rotfl: Used to have the WWII expansion for it aswell.
 
Mod shmod :D

I didn't even know there was a WWII expansion for Powermonger, I got a loan of it for the Mega Drive years back and it was the first time I'd come across a manual which was thicker than the cartridge lol was always more into Powermonger than Populous too but to be honest, as soon as I realised Eric Chahi was involved with this (I thought he'd kinda fallen off the grid and was just working on Another World updates for the indie market) I can almost guarantee it'll be a purchase for me.

Thanks for bringing this one to light Lee!
 
indeed, cant wait to check out
 
Doh! I didn't even realise that there was a video to go with the excerpt, that'll teach me for scrolling through AVF at work :D

Looks pretty s****y, was that pre-rendered video or in-game footage?
 
Looks pretty s****y, was that pre-rendered video or in-game footage?

Come on Rory, sit up and pay attention:lesson:

7 seconds into the video, the quote... "the following video is entirely made of in-game footage" :D
 
Come on Rory, sit up and pay attention:lesson:

7 seconds into the video, the quote... "the following video is entirely made of in-game footage" :D

:laugh: :rotfl: :laugh: That'll teach me for watching videos with the sound off then I suppose :D ;)
 
MODS: Could you please change the thread title to From Dust

The official name has just been announced by Ubisoft.

An interesting little demo of the water physics was posted on joystiq yesterday...

How Project Dust's world-building world was built | Joystiq

Well worth a look to tide you over:)grin: spot the pun) until we see some actual gameplay footage, pretty impressive.
 
Sales will dictate if From Dust gets multiplayer, level editor | Joystiq
Eric Chahi, designer of the action-adventure classic Out of This World and Ubisoft's upcoming downloadable god game From Dust, has told Joystiq that sales of his latest creation will determine if it receives additional modes and content. "For the first release, it will be a solo experience," Chahi told us, explaining that, "We plan to have a major release where we can enhance the experience by adding an editor and a multiplayer mode, if the success is there."

"Xbox Live Arcade, PSN and Steam are good for us because we can offer the solo experience priced around 15 Euros or so," he added. "Then if it works we can enhance it in those ways I mentioned."

Chahi confirmed that he has "many ideas" for how to expand From Dust, and that multiplayer and others already exist in some stage of development. It's good to know we weren't alone in thinking there's nothing wrong with a volcanic eruption or tsunami between friends. Chahi's latest game hits in 2011.

I'm so looking forward to seeing some actual gameplay footage.
 
Not sure if you've seen the official site yet mate?

From Dust | Ubisoft

project_dust3_ts.jpg
 
Really (and I mean really!) looking forward to this one. Looking at some of the previews they mention a March 2011 release but I cannot find a solid release date for this anywhere.

Instabuy when it does show though. Anyone any idea at all?
 
That looks ****ing ace, hope the game isn't ruined by forcing you down a certain path, would love to just **** around with the world designer and seeing it evolve before my eyes
 
:D who cares what you're supposed to do, we all know we'll be trying to drown any inhabitants
 

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