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[iain]

Hello all! I'm using your wonderful program to make a game for my third year of university. I'm actually studying photography and thats my area really but im getting into this side of things more. I just thought one day, why can't i make a game with photos? Anyway the game is set in mostly in woodland and by the sea in Cornwall. My biggest influence gamewise is probably Syberia but the project started with a set of photo I took mimicking the style of filmmaker Tarkovsky, particuarly in the film Stalker.

You probably all know the game S.T.A.L.K.E.R which was heavily based on bits of the film and came out after I started work on my game. It's not that I hate the game but it missed the point of the film entirely; for example in several scenes of the film we see pistols rusting in puddles of water as guns cannot be used in the zone of the film, every step must be treaden carefully and the landscape respected. Playing S.T.A.L.K.E.R just spurred me on to make a game with tarkovsky's style which I think point and click game can do better, Stalker has lots of slow panning or even still shots for long periods.

Enough guff, here are some shots. As with Stalker there's lots of water in scenes which i've animated mostly in camera (the right image below is an after effect), i found elements like wind and water easier to animate using the camera as my SLR can only shoot 3fps, other things like my friend talking I had to ask him to slow down but it looks good.














I do have an actor but it's not finished yet, close ups like the top 2 images will not have an actor. I do have a story in mind but really it more about exploration, finding new scenes and things to do and just enjoying being in the game so lots of atmosphere with rain etc. I think the photography/game thing has a lot of potential, i'm curious if anyone else out there is doing the same or knows of anyone who is? My game should be ready to play in a few months but I might develop it further after that to make into more of a "game" ie more challenging.Cheers
Iain

[Schnuffel]

Great photos... I like the general idea, too.

There are several independent and commercial games that use still photographies as backgrounds, usually from a first person perspective. For example The Oracle (independent) or A quiet weekend in Capri (commercial). Or the german game Timanfaya (also independent) where the creator uses some of his holiday photos and alters them to fit in with the style of the game.

Those are just the ones that come to mind right now. I don't remember a photography game with the level of artistic ambition that you're aiming for. Should be interesting

[metamorphium]

very cool. Also check out East Side Story (created with Wintermute engine).

My personal preference is to have story in the game so one knows at least a general direction of what he's supposed to do. Too much freedom makes player lost and his interest in the game rapidly falls down. Remember that you have personal connection to pictures you're taking while the player isn't that connected to the environment so providing him reason why he should explore the places is better than leaving him in the void.

[iain]

Cheers guys, some interesting games, i like East Side Story's style. The online Lost game is another example that used photos and video a lot www.find815.com
There will be a story metamorphium, the problem is my first audience is going to be my photography tutors and they don't play games and wont have much time to play it when they mark it, so i need to make it easy for them to explore etc.

After that i might develop another version which is more staggered, you'll have to do more to get through scenes maybe. I still think the exploring/playing thing could be good though, one idea i have is you can pick different mushrooms in certain scenes and if you eat them then you start hallucinating; the scene image could change to an edited version. This could effect different scenes differently so theres an experimental aspect to it.