ANOTHER WORLD

th
15 Anniversary Edition

Development Diary
Introduction

You will find in the following pages a set of drawings, notes and sketches made
by the author during the creation of the game. The organization is chronological
rather than thematic.
The creation is an iterative process where things evolve, mature and then often
simplify along the successive steps of the work. Above all, this skipping through
behind the scenes enhances the evolution of the ideas.
This non exhaustive mosaic of notes also shows how, sometimes by constraint,
an ordinary idea is being transformed to become interesting.
“Another World" has been an experimentation field, the creation techniques and
methods evolved during the development, this explains the mismatch of the
presented documents in contrast to the unity of he finalised game.

Eric Chahi
 First sketches

This plan was restructured to fit the frame of the video recording
of the car skid (scale model)

The guard wasn’t kept in the final version (below). The absence
of any human presence, apart from Lester’s one, strengthens the
feeling of loneliness of the game.
Below, the more precise sketches of the game. This was not generally the case as
the pictures were often directly finalised on computer during the realisation.

Several techniques were tried: on paper (pencil, ink), on computer using Deluxe
Paint (the reference drawing tool at that time) or directly in polygon using the
game editor. That was research, no technique was perfect, the essential being to
find the most appropriate method to reach the final wanted result in the game.
These sketches of Lester have a bald vectorial style, particularly the eyes; it
was useless to enter in the details considering the used polygon-based
graphic method.
This first sketch was tremendously refined at its finalisation on computer, in
particular the composition. We will notice below that the two moons
overlap, the small moon hidden behind the big one suggests the outline of an
imaginary line only by contrast. The clouds, as many as vanishing lines now
converge towards the right, in direction of the game progression.

The colour palette, only 16 in total, was particularly difficult to define, they
had to be various, so some colours are sometimes used both for the
landscape and for the character. For instance, the hero’s flesh colour was
also used to suggest the sunset reflects on the rock.
A whole week was needed to define the first colour palette. A determining
choice for the atmosphere of the game.
The series of platforms initially planned would have been too
penalizing for the player already in full stress with the black
monster on his heels. The rhythm of that pursuit would have been
broken. The gesture towards that vine had to be both salutary and
hopeless.
THE EXTRATERRESTRIAL HUMANOIDS

GRAPHIC DRAWINGS
This character was the departure point to create the extraterrestrial friend and all the
humanoids of the game.
On the contrary to what we might think,
this drawing dates from the end of the
development. The friend’s design was
conceived directly in polygons by making
a synthesis of the all the sketches shown
here.
 The prison: Research of a scenario
The creation is often an iterative process where we progressively refine our ideas. Here is the
first draft of notes to help me to determine the progress of the history and the production.

Only the eyes shot and

the blurred effect were
kept in the end.

1) the player must escape

2) with someone?)
3) does the player release someone?
4) does someone release the player?
5) does the fate release the player?
6) a small room where he is chained?
7) a cells corridor?

To release himself, he has

to:
- open a door?
- free himself from the
chains?
- getting out of cage?
 The prison: Game research.

After the escape, the initial idea was to develop a game based on defence.
Progress from a shelter to another one to escape from the places without being
reached by the guards’ shots. It was abandoned, because too complicated to
build up; it demanded a management of the depth, when all was coded in 2D
on a single plan.

In the end, the development of strategies around the defence made its way to come to
the concept of protective fields, shelters generated by the player himself. The
absence of particular cases linked to the scenery simplified, and overall was bringing
interesting game mechanisms!
 VIEW ON THE CITY
Design and graphic realisation
Initially, the places visited later in the city, the bridge, the wall, the cascade,
were to be observed from the top of the tower. In the end, wanting to formalise
things too much, we loose all poetry. The ideas were thus abandoned.

I wanted details for that view and exceptionally I decided to use bitmap only,
the final picture was drawn using Dpaint, and not in polygons at all. The
drawing below was realised in 2D and not with a 3D software as might let
believe the vanished lines drawn by hand...
This second version does not satisfy me as well because too urban and stifling,
it was too close to a terrestrial town.
It is sometimes better to restart from
zero… This time, on the contrary to
the other trials, I started by the upper
part of the picture, that is the most
important frame, the one we observe
the most at the end of the panoramic.
Releasing myself from the
constraints of the perspective, letting
my feelings go, the ideas came
quickly: Walls like claws closing on
the fate of this poor Lester.
 The first sketch of the citadel screens.

This map allowed roughing out the work while having an overview.
The lines and columns define the coordinates of each place using an alphanumeric
code.
Initially, at the moment when the player was reloading his weapon,
we were going to a subjective view, the weapon was then taken out
of Lester’s hand to dive in the energy field and come back into his
hand. I partially realised it, a picture was even published in a
magazine of that time (Gen4).
Here, we had to go over a pit using
the horizontal equivalent, the
“teleportation” system between
levels. That didn’t bring much
compared to the required work, the
idea was abandoned.
First sketch realized using DPaint Final version

Research and
adjustment on paper
(Top) The ledge of the right screen was moved
forward the left one in order to allow the player
jumping on the stalactites and hanging them.
A simple luminous stain
can suggest a lot of things.

Here, it is the movement

of the reflect associated to
a step noise that
materialise the presence of
a guard located out of shot.
 “Louder steps noise behind the
door.
Lester falls down, all the doors
are shut.
1 minute has elapsed and no
door opens, they are
indestructible.
A door opens, max 15 seconds, if
Lester comes closer it shuts
under his nose.
Another one opens max 10s
Two other ones, max 5s. Another
one, 2s.
The a real ballet of doors open
and shut during 7 s
(Never close to Lester so that he
can’t enter)
The four doors open.
Guards everywhere…”

These ideas were not integrated, in

particular because I didn't see how
Lester could get out of there. I wanted
something more oppressive and easier
to realise. The ballet of doors has been
moved towards the next screens
during the walk along the long
corridor where the doors explode
according to a quite musical rhythmic.
The total absence of guards enhances
the feeling of panic face to the
devastating fires pursuing Lester.

It’s precisely at this moment that I became fully aware of the importance of the
rhythm.
 Progression of the game intensity

I have looked for representing graphically with curves the

evolution of the “levels” intensity already created to better
understand the rhythmic process and better project the
continuation of the events.

The idea was to better perceive all

the game in order to balance the
final progress in comparison with
all that the player had experienced.
Then start the creation of the
screens only after having clearly
defined the global progression of
the game rhythm.
In this sketch, the armour just had to cross the
arena, break up a wall and enter in the palace
of the city. It was a little bit complex to
realise, I found much more interesting to
place the player in a situation where he does
not control the machine at all, spreading then
“by chance” the chaos in the ambient
barbarity.
The arena reveals itself to be the only moment where the player controls the situation.

Below various graphic searches made using Deluxe Paint to determine the location of the control
panel. The A version would have prevented any animation in the foreground (ex: the guards
throwing grenades, leaping wildcats), and moreover it looked too much like a subjective view,
which would have been disturbing. In the B version, the hand would have masked buttons too
much small. The C version of which the frame form recalls the tank one didn't have these
drawbacks.

Version A

Version B

Version C
During all the game the technology leaks out in this city with primitive ways.
Around the end I wanted to leave a fleeting and dense fragment of it. Something
vertiginous and dark. Lester’s fall lent itself well. Rather than starting from zero, it
happened that I had in stock an unpublished picture created for a project finally
abandoned (one more!). The atmosphere fitted perfectly, I just had to adapt it.
During the development, some doubts pushed me to explore other directions
(above and next page), abandoned because out of touch with the initial tone of
the game.
Another World – Legacy :

Format France Pack

Commodore
Amiga –
Atari ST –
PC

Format UK Pack

Commodore
Amiga –
Atari ST –
PC

Format USA Pack

PC DOS

Format USA Pack

PC DOS

Format USA Pack

MAC

Format International Pack

3DO

Format International Pack

SEGA
Megadrive -
Genesis

Format International Pack

SEGA
Mega CD

Format USA Pack

Nintendo -
Super
Nintendo
Press reviews: Generation 4
 Credits
Programming, Graphics And Original Design
Eric Chahi

Music and sound effects

Jean-Francois Freitas, Eric Chahi

PC Porting
ManuTOO (aka Emmanuel Rivoire)
Nicolas Hamel & Cyril Cogordan,
Extra Gfx: Bertrand Dupuy (menu)

Production and publishing of the 15th Anniversary version

Elektrogames :
Ivan LEBEAU, CEO
Abrial DA COSTA, VP Sales & Marketing
Norbert CELLIER, Production Director
Claude AMARDEIL, Legal
Franck LALANE, Marketing Manager
Alexandre CHIVOT, Producer

Acknowledgements:
Jacques Harbonn, Thierry Falcoz,
The Game Production Team, Pierre Gousseau, Virginie Pey,
Cecile Chahi, James Spafford, Bob Watson, Damián Conde,
Frédéric Sardain, Sébastien Berthet, Daniel Morais, Paul de
Senneville, Victor Perez, Anne-Marie Joassim, Chantal
Duviquet, Philippe Delamarre

Another World ©1991-2006 Eric Chahi.

Another World is a registered trademark of Eric Chahi