Anachronox
Template:Short description Template:Main other{{#invoke:infobox|infoboxTemplate | child = | subbox = | bodyclass = ib-video-game hproduct {{#ifeq:|yes|collapsible {{#if:|{{{state}}}|autocollapse}}}} | templatestyles = Infobox video game/styles.css | aboveclass = fn | italic title =
| above = Anachronox
| image = {{#invoke:InfoboxImage|InfoboxImage|image={{#invoke:WikidataIB |getValue|rank=best|P18 |name=image |qid= |suppressfields= |fetchwikidata=ALL |onlysourced=no |noicon=yes|Anachronoxcover.jpg}}|size=|sizedefault=frameless|upright=1|alt=|border=|suppressplaceholder=yes}}
| caption = {{#if:Anachronoxcover.jpg|North American box art|North American box art}}
| label2 = Developer(s) | data2 = Ion Storm
| label3 = Publisher(s) | data3 = Eidos Interactive
| label4 = Director(s) | data4 = Tom Hall
| label5 = Producer(s) | data5 = Jake Strider Hughes
| label6 = Designer(s) | data6 = Tom Hall
| label7 = Programmer(s) | data7 = Brian Eiserloh
| label8 = Artist(s) | data8 = Template:Unbulleted list
| label9 = Writer(s) | data9 = Richard Zangrande Gaubert
| label10 = Composer(s) | data10 = Template:Unbulleted list
| label11 = Series | data11 = Template:If first display both
| label12 = Engine | data12 = Quake II engine
| label13 = Platform(s) | data13 = Microsoft Windows
| label14 = Release | data14 = Template:Video game release
| label15 = Genre(s) | data15 = Role-playing
| label16 = Mode(s) | data16 = Single-player
| label17 = Arcade system | data17 = Template:If first display both
| data30 =
| below = Template:EditOnWikidata
}}Template:Main other{{#invoke:Check for unknown parameters|check|unknown=Template:Main other|ignoreblank=1|preview=Page using Template:Infobox video game with unknown parameter "_VALUE_"| alt | arcade system | artist | caption | border | child | collapsible | commons | composer | designer | developer | director | embedded | engine | fetchwikidata | genre | image | image_size | image_upright | italic title | modes | noicon | onlysourced | platform | platforms | producer | programmer | publisher | qid | refs | release | released | series | state | subbox | suppressfields | title | writer }}Template:Main other{{#if:Anachronoxcover.jpg|}}
Anachronox is a 2001 role-playing video game produced by Tom Hall and the Dallas Ion Storm games studio. The game is centered on Sylvester "Sly Boots" Bucelli, a down-and-out private investigator who looks for work in the slums of Anachronox, a once-abandoned planet near the galaxy's jumpgate hub. He travels to other planets, amasses an unlikely group of friends, and unravels a mystery that threatens the fate of the universe. The game's science fiction story was influenced by cyberpunk, film noir, and unconventional humor. The story features a theme of working through the troubles of one's past.
Gameplay in Anachronox is a mix of real-time exploration and turn-based combat; the player controls a party of up to three characters as they explore a 3D environment of futuristic cities, space vessels, and outdoor areas. Inspirations for the game include older role-playing video games such as Chrono Trigger and the Final Fantasy series, animator Chuck Jones and the novel Ender's Game.<ref name="viceretro" /> The game was built with a heavily modified version of id Software's Quake II engine, rewritten chiefly to allow a wider color palette, emotive animations and facial expressions, better lighting, particle effects, and camera effects.<ref name="ageneralinformation">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
The development of Anachronox was long and difficult. Originally planned for a third-quarter 1998 release, it was released worldwide in June 2001 for Microsoft Windows. Tom Hall planned to create a sequel with the copious content removed during production. Critics enjoyed the game and awarded it high marks for its design and story. Ion Storm's Dallas offices were closed mere days after the game's release. In 2002, Anachronox cinematic director Jake Hughes spliced together gameplay footage and cutscenes to create a feature-length, award-winning machinima film.
GameplayEdit
Anachronox is a role-playing game similar in nature to many Japanese role-playing video games like Final Fantasy. The player controls a party of up to three characters as they explore a 3D environment (colloquially known as a "field map") of futuristic cities, space vessels, and outdoor areas.<ref name="gameplaymanual">Template:Cite book</ref> Players can swap for new party members, talk to non-player characters, and collect and shop for equipment and items. When players near an interactive character or item, a floating arrow-shaped electronic device called the LifeCursor appears, which lets the player click on the person or item.<ref name="gameplaymanual" /> After a certain point in the story, players can travel by shuttle to other planets, triggering cutscenes of the shuttle trips. Each playable character has a unique skill, such as lockpicking, which may be used to solve puzzles.<ref name="gameplaymanual" /> Some sequences involve minigames, such as an unnamed mission in which the player pilots a fighter spaceship to destroy enemies with lasers. Certain field maps also feature simple two-dimensional minigames, including the original games Ox and Bugaboo.<ref name="gameplaymanual" /> The protagonist Boots also possesses a camera, which the player can use to take screenshots for their own enjoyment or as part of quest objectives.<ref name="gameplaymanual" />
Enemy encounters trigger a combat mode. As in Chrono Trigger, enemies are openly visible on field maps or lie in wait to ambush the party and thus are not random.<ref name="pcgamerpreview" /> Similar to Final FantasyTemplate:'s Active Time Battle, each character has a meter that gradually fills with time.<ref name="gameplaymanual" /> When the meter is full, characters can physically attack enemies, use MysTech magic, unleash BattleSkill attacks, use items, move to a different position, or use a nearby object to attack, if present.<ref name="gameplaymanual" /> For playable characters and computer-controlled enemies, each attack has their number of hit points (a numerically based life bar) get reduced, which can be restored through healing items or MysTech slags. Use of MysTech and equippable shield cells require Neutron-Radiated Glodents (NRG), a separate energy reserve displayed beneath a character's life bar.<ref name="gameplaymanual" /> NRG is replenished through certain items. Use of BattleSkills require Bouge, a third bar beneath NRG that automatically fills with time; players can use different BattleSkills depending on how full the Bouge bar is.<ref name="gameplaymanual" /> Some characters must undergo certain plot developments to unlock their BattleSkills. When a playable character loses all hit points, he or she faints. If all the player's characters fall in battle, the game ends and must be restored from a previously saved game. Winning battles earns experience points and raises characters' levels, granting them improved statistics.<ref name="gameplaymanual" /> These statistics can be viewed through the status screen, which displays important character information and current quests. Unlike many other RPGs, Anachronox displays a character's attributes with qualitative descriptors (such as Poor and Excellent) instead of integers.<ref name="gameplaymanual" />
MysTechEdit
The Mysterium Tech (or MysTech) system allows players to use in-game objects collectively known as MysTech, and create new MysTech by using a configuration screen accessed through Elementor Host items.<ref name="gameplayprimaguide">Template:Cite book</ref> MysTech cannot be used until they are awakened after a certain story event. Eight basic colors of MysTech exist, representing different elements; for example, green represents poison.<ref name="gameplayprimaguide" /> Players can use MysTech to inflict damage upon enemies, plague them with certain status effects (such as freezing them in place), or heal party members.<ref name="gameplayprimaguide" /> Casting status effect-MysTech on party members will cure them if afflicted by enemy status spells. MysTech slabs and Elementor Hosts can be found as treasure in the game world or bought from shops. To create MysTech, players place colored bugs (found on small hills in several game locations) in empty slots on an Elementor Host.<ref name="gameplayprimaguide" /> The color of bugs placed in the function slot determines the color of MysTech, while other slots modify the power and/or range of the spell. Players can add special bugs known as Cobalt Crawlers to make a spell target all enemies instead of one; a Host filled with eight Crawlers unlocks a secret spell.<ref name="gameplayprimaguide" /> The effect of bugs can be amplified by feeding them petals from Lifeflowers, which can be found scattered throughout the world of Anachronox.<ref name="gameplayprimaguide" /> Special types of Hosts with two or three different functions allow players to pick which MysTech function to use in battle.<ref name="gameplayprimaguide" />
PlotEdit
SettingEdit
The game takes place on Anachronox (a portmanteau of anachronism and noxious, meaning "poison from the past"<ref name="abackground" />), a small planet floating inside a huge artificial sphere known as Sender One.<ref name="abackground">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Husks of futuristic cities exist on artificial tectonic plates, which constantly shift to connect different parts of the planet. Inhabitants believe that diseased aliens were quarantined there eons ago, resulting in the name Anachronox. Northern Anachronox is clean and upscale, while southern Anachronox is crime-ridden and run-down.<ref name="abackground" /> Humanity travels to different planets from Sender One, which had been the center of a transportation system for a race of non-humanoids enabling faster-than-light travel.<ref name="abackground" /> Inbound and outbound traffic stops at Sender Station, an orbiting construct above Sender One with hotels and a red light district.<ref name="redlightdistrict">Template:Cite video game</ref> Civilizations conduct business using currency like the one-dollar coin known as a "loonie",<ref name="loonie">Template:Cite video game</ref> while several people collect MysTech—shards of rock with markings, believed to be dormant weapons or art pieces created by an extinct alien race.<ref name="abackground" /> MysTech were first found 300 years ago, and are poorly understood, though avidly collected.<ref name="abackground" />
Other planets in Sender One include Sunder, Hephaestus, Democratus, and Limbus. The galaxy's scientific community is headquartered on the temperate planet of Sunder, and people are only permitted to go there if they are sufficiently intelligent. Hephaestus is an important religious center. A mostly volcanic planet, Hephaestus hosts a town and temple complex of monks who study MysTech. Democratus is climatically similar to Earth, with regions of desert, snow, forest, and prairie. Several populations of different sentient species exist on the surface, but the planet is ruled by a race of tall, thin humanoids with large craniums who dwell on a large mechanical ring constructed around the planet. This race is obsessed with the ideal of democracy, and though they possess incredible scientific and engineering knowledge, they are constantly bogged down by their own ineptitude and the frailties of the democratic process.<ref name="democratusbg">Template:Cite video game</ref> Limbus is known as the "planet of death", as voyagers never return; its surface is arid and rocky, with sparse vegetation.<ref name="limbusbg">Template:Cite video game</ref> A planet mentioned but not seen in the game is Krapton, home to superheroes and villains. Most of Krapton's human population has fled, tired of being constantly abducted and saved by warring superpeople.<ref name="kraptonbg">Template:Cite video game</ref>
CharactersEdit
The protagonist of Anachronox is Sylvester "Sly Boots" Bucelli, a human and former private detective on Anachronox. Twenty-nine years old and described as "bold, brash, and overconfident", Boots has gotten himself into trouble and now runs his agency out of rented storage space above a seedy bar.<ref name="cboots">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> His only friends are PAL-18, his spirited, sarcastic robot assistant since childhood, and Fatima Doohan, his secretary. Fatima was fatally injured and digitized by Boots onto a PDA-analogue "LifeCursor", where she bitterly lives to render assistance.<ref name="cboots" /><ref name="cfatima">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Several allies join Boots over the course of the game; first is 71-year-old Grumpos Matavastros, a "scholar, outdoorsman, eccentric recluse, and renaissance man"—and a very grumpy person.<ref name="cgrumpos">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> A former curator of the MysTech museum on Anachronox, Grumpos devotes his life to studying the artifacts. Dr. Rho Bowman joins the party on Sunder; she is a brilliant scientist who's been branded a heretic after publication of her book, MysTech Awake!<ref name="crho">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> The team then gains support from Democratus, an eccentric planet boasting a planetary ring and brilliant technology. Said technology includes having the planet shrink to human height to be part of the team. Two further allies are the femme fatale Stiletto Anyway—a 25-year-old former companion of Boots known for being stealthy and aloof<ref name="cstiletto">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>—and Paco "El Puño" Estrella, a washed up superhero who's turned to alcoholism after his comic book series was canceled.<ref name="cpuno">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Their foes include Detta, a heavyset crime boss/kingpin on planet Anachronox,<ref>Template:Cite video game</ref><ref name="Hardcore">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> and several other monsters and shady characters.
StoryEdit
Sly Boots lives in a cheap apartment above Rowdy's, a bar in the seedy "Bricks" section of South Anachronox. Grumpos Matavastros commissions Boots to find a piece of MysTech, but a crime boss called Detta accosts them and steals it. Grumpos, Boots, and robot assistant PAL-18 then seek out Dr. Rho Bowman, an expert on MysTech, at an institute for troublesome scientists on Sunder.<ref name="storyrainbow">Template:Cite video game</ref> She undertakes an experiment to activate MysTech, apparently causing the destruction of Sunder. Rho and the others escape the planet on a shuttle, and drift in space for seventeen days until they are brought on board a habitat ring around the planet Democratus. Rho discovers that all MysTech is now active, and can grant powers and spells.<ref name="storyactive">Template:Cite video game</ref> Boots pilots a fighter ship to save Democratus from insectoid invaders known as the Verilent Hive. The heroes return to Sender Station's Lounge of Commerce; Democratus joins the party, the High Council having shrunken the planet to human height.<ref name="storydemocratusjoins">Template:Cite video game</ref> While searching for equipment, Boots earns money as an erotic dancer and encounters Stiletto Anyway, an old flame who's become an assassin and plots revenge against Detta. Rho explains that the universe operates on the big bounce principle; a universe that forms with a Big Bang will eventually suffer a Big Crunch, giving rise to a new big bang. She explains that Sunder was destroyed by an injection of matter from the previous universe, which will hasten the current universe's big crunch. If enough matter is switched between universes, the previous one can escape a big crunch and the current one will cease to exist.<ref name="storyrhoexplanations">Template:Cite video game</ref>
The team heads to Hephaestus, transformed to a tourist destination now that MysTech is active. They realize MysTech functions can be customized through the use of small, colored bugs and a MysTech host. Sly gains audience with the Grand Mysterium, who tells him that in the next universe, species known as "Chaos" and "Order" fought a bitter war.<ref name="storymysterium">Template:Cite video game</ref> Order enslaved Chaos in the current universe, but Chaos wishes to escape to the previous universe to prevent future ones from existing and thus eradicate Order.<ref name="storymysterium" /> The Mysterium tells Sly he must find and seal off the gate to the previous universe, and to journey to Limbus.<ref name="storymysterium" /> The team is captured en route by comic supervillain Rictus; Boots meets former superhero Paco in his prison. Rictus flushes them into empty space; the High Council of Democratus restores the planet to its original size to save them.
Scenes of reflection reveal the past on Anachronox. Stiletto had been Sly's young assistant at his upscale agency; he was in love with her, but Fatima was in love with him. Detta abducted Stiletto, spurring Sly's search. Her love unrequited, Fatima went into his office one night to leave a note of resignation.<ref name="storyfatima">Template:Cite video game</ref> Sly burst in with news of Stiletto's location, and he and Fatima pursued Detta across Anachronox by flying car. Sly lost control, wrecking it and accidentally killing Fatima. Suffering from major depression, Sly ran up debts with Detta to pay for Fatima's revival inside the LifeCursor.<ref name="storyfatima2">Template:Cite video game</ref>
The team regather at Democratus and journey to Limbus, where they meet creatures of the same race as the Grand Mysterium. They repel invaders called the "Dark Servants" from an orbital portal. The leader of Limbus explains that though Chaos is enslaved in the current universe, the Dark Servants (who originate from the current universe) are trying to free them and have found a way into the previous universe, where they initiated the destruction of Sunder.<ref name="storyservants">Template:Cite video game</ref> MysTech is a gift from the forces of Order to help the current universe's inhabitants fight Chaos.<ref name="storyservants" /> The team return to Anachronox to find Rowdy, a disguised citizen of Limbus who has been searching for the gate to the previous universe.<ref name="storyroweid">Template:Cite video game</ref> Rowdy notes that they must destroy the key to the gate, now in the possession of Detta. The team infiltrate his fortress, kill him, and prepare to destroy the key at the gate itself—the fountain spiral of Anachronox. Grumpos seizes it, revealing himself to be a Dark Servant; he escapes with the agents of Chaos into the previous universe.<ref name="storygrumposevil">Template:Cite video game</ref> Sly and the others prepare to follow them and save the universe; the game ends as they approach the gate.
DevelopmentEdit
ConceptionEdit
Ion Storm began developing Anachronox in 1996, funded by Eidos Interactive as part of a three-game deal alongside Daikatana and an unplanned third game.<ref name="viceretro">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Formal announcement followed in April 1997, promising a third-quarter 1998 release.<ref name="firstwire">Template:Cite news</ref> Tom Hall, veteran designer and one of the founders of Ion Storm, helmed the project and originated most of its story and design. Other founding members of the team were Todd Porter (producer), Jake Hughes (associate producer and director of cinematics), Ben Herrera (artist), Brian Eiserloh (programmer), and David Namaksy (lead mapper).<ref name="gamespotdiary1" /> Mapper Larry Herring was hired after being mentored by John Romero and submitting a custom Doom 2 map to Tom Hall.<ref name="herringinterview">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Hall first conceived Anachronox in his bathroom, prompting him to install a whiteboard and sound-recorder in his shower, as well as several notepads around his house for future ideas;<ref name="gamespotdiary1" /><ref name="oldcgmfeature" /> he had conceived the character Sly Boots years earlier in college.<ref name="planethall">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> He wrote a 460-page design document (completed in May 1997)<ref name="gamespotdiary1">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> outlining the universe of Anachronox, beyond the game's scope;<ref name="oldcgmfeature" /> other game design documents of the period, he noted, were usually only 125 pages in size.<ref name="oldcgmfeature" /> He then condensed the story, leaving a third beyond the scheduled game.<ref name="oldcgmfeature" /> The game's design phase lasted three months.<ref name="gamespyhinterview">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Hall made plans for two expansion packs from the outset of development, owing to the huge story.<ref name="pcgamerpreview" /> Developers told Next Generation the story would be "Campbellian" and feature immense environments.<ref name="ngmpreview">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Hall noted in mid-1997, "Not since Keen has a universe been so clear in my head."<ref name="gamespotdiary1" />
Tom Hall announced that Anachronox would feature a "turbulent story with a roller coaster of emotion", and promised it would bring personality and humor to the role-playing genre.<ref name="firstwire" /> Hall aimed to make an emotionally gripping, cinematic experience from the beginning: "I want this game to answer the question, 'Can a computer make you cry?' I want to make the characters so warm and friendly and lovable and identifiable... I want to start them off in fun situations, but as the game goes on, I want the atmosphere to get darker and darker. Friends betray the lead character, other friends die, and you will feel some of what they feel because you have been with these people for 50 hours, and in a sense, lived part of their lives with them."<ref name="bostonglobe">Template:Cite news</ref> Hall remarked that the characters were facets of his childhood.<ref name="oldcgmfeature" /> He later compared the name Anachronox (meaning poison from the past) and the internal struggles of each character, caused by turbulent events in their pasts and "psychic poison."<ref name="oldcgmfeature" /><ref name="computerandvideopreview" /> Hall aimed to feature high-quality direction and camera-work in Anachronox,<ref name="ngmpreview" /> reminiscent of epic cinematic themes in role-playing video games like the Final Fantasy franchise.<ref name="pcgamerpreview" /><ref name="oldcgw01">Template:Cite magazine</ref> Hall enlisted producer Jake Hughes to direct cut scenes; Hughes had previously worked on several short independent films.<ref name="oldcgmfeature" /> Developers used real-time game cutscenes instead of live-action cinematics to avoid "[taking] players out of the game."<ref name="machinimachoice">Template:Cite magazine</ref> Hall remarked, "All these games switch to cutscenes that look five hundred times better than the game. The secret is not to let the cutscenes kick the game's ass."<ref name="pcgamerpreview" />
Tom Hall chose the Quake engine for Anachronox; its developer John Carmack took interest in its use for a role-playing game.<ref name="pcgamerpreview" /> Ion Storm would soon switch to the Quake II engine, necessitating a transition from December 1997 to March 1998.<ref name="oldcgmfeature" /><ref name="gamespotdiary7">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> The team would implement engine support for 32-bit color, particle systems, a spline-based camera scriptor, facial deformations, and lip-synching.<ref name="computerandvideopreview" /> The team mimicked filmography via sweeping camera shots to compensate for graphical limitations.<ref name="viceretro" /> Facial deformation involved moving the vertices of a character's face, thereby creating emotional expressions and body language.<ref name="gamespyhinterview" /> Developers built the first models in Lightwave; the main characters had polygon counts of 500–700.<ref name="planethosfelt">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> By the end of 1997, Hall had scripted interaction with 130 non-player characters for 160 planned locations.<ref name="pcgamerpreview" /> Hall cited Chrono Trigger as a strong influence;<ref name="pcgamerpreview">Template:Cite magazine</ref><ref name="ngmpreview3">Template:Cite magazine</ref> previewers drew parallels with the Final Fantasy series and Ultima III.<ref name="oldcgmwebsitelaunch" /> As in Chrono Trigger, battles were scripted and not caused by random, unavoidable encounters.<ref name="pcgamerpreview" /> Hall explained, "if there's a dragon guarding a door, I want the chance to say, 'whoah, look at the time, gotta run', not, 'think I'll check this door. (*roaaar*) Dragon? Where the hell was that?!?'"<ref name="oldcgm02" /> The team expanded the Final Fantasy-style combat by allowing actions to be queued in advance.<ref name="oldcgm02" /> Hall listed some of his inspirations for Anachronox in mid-2000: "In movies, some inspirational people are Spielberg, Hitchcock, George Roy Hill, Rob Reiner, and now Sam Mendes. Also a big fan of Chuck Jones, who directed Warner Brothers cartoons. Novels: Gateway, Ender's Game, Snow Crash, Hitchhiker's, so many more. Games: Chrono Trigger, Final Fantasy, LucasArts adventures (Ron Gilbert and Tim Schafer rock), Ape Escape (buy it now), Mario, Ultima III, Wizardry I, oh, I'm sure I'm forgetting some!"<ref name="teamigninterview">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Hall also drew dramatic inspiration from a scene in Chrono Trigger in which the characters discuss the theme of regret around a campfire.<ref name="ngmpreview3" />
Programming and designEdit
As production continued, Tom Hall dubbed the game's scripting language "APE" (Anachronox Programming Language).<ref name="oldcgmfeature" /> Hall explained, "I call it my new Apple II because it's so much fun to program in and it takes all the drudgery out of it. It's sort of if you mushed together C, Basic and Java in a way—for programming people it's sort of Windows based. It began as a defined dialogue window, but provided variables so that you could position and move a picture. So from there it grew like UNIX with little bits and pieces, and you have things that initialize data to the window, things that constantly update the window, and things that happen after the window, in little code chunks and with that you can do any little thing."<ref name="oldcgmfeature" /> Hall wrote and coded the mini-game Bugaboo for Anachronox in 15 hours to demonstrate the environment's simplicity.<ref name="oldcgmfeature" /> Other tools developed for the game were B.E.D. (a battle editor), ION Radiant (for level design, based on QERadiant), NoxDrop (for item and character placement), and Planet (a spline-based camera system coded by Joey Liaw).<ref name="gamespyhinterview" /><ref name="sitetools">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Ion Storm worked with QuakeEd developer Robert Duffy to create QERadiant, later adapted to ION Radiant.<ref name="herringinterview" /> Hall lauded Planet: "you can control entities on paths, trigger events, manipulate particles, and do just about anything you please. One of the more common team beliefs is that the only true limit to Planet is the person controlling it."<ref name="sitetools" /> Hall aimed to provide several end-user modification tools, such as one to allow gamers to create their own MysTech elements.<ref name="oldcgw01" /> Other programs would allow implementation of new dialogue, voice-acting, and camera work.<ref name="oldcgm01">Template:Cite magazine</ref> Ion Storm developed tutorials and documentation for each tool.<ref name="ngmpreview2" />
Developers tasked both art and map design personnel with creating levels, ensuring visual quality.<ref name="visualquality">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Hall implemented a "grow as you play" philosophy, choosing to show certain features and statistics (like "Beat" or the use of MysTech) only after the player enabled their use.<ref name="oldcgm02" /> Developers sought to make the game accessible to expert and casual players through two statistic displays—numerical or qualitative (using categories such as "very good" or "bad").<ref name="oldcgm02" /> Hall disparaged complicated number systems found in other games: "One of the things I hate about RPGs is, you've got, like, 'here's this thing and here's that thing' and it's like 'this is 52 and that's 53' I mean, what's the difference? It's like, OK it's 'a point,' and the formula will come up to be like 'two points' and like, sure, that's going to make a difference. So now I have to hit the guy three times..."<ref name="oldcgmfeature" /> Hall also sought to ensure players knew their next goal, and invented the character of Fatima Doohan to keep track of missions. Fatima's name is a pun born from the phrase, "What am I doing?"<ref name="oldcgmfeature" /> Hall named her after the experience of loading an old saved game in an RPG and having forgotten what comes next in the current quest or storyline.<ref name="oldcgmfeature" />
Ion Storm contracted Soundelux Design Music Group to provide music for Anachronox.<ref name="sitediary07" /> The firm hired Bill Brown for additional music.<ref name="billbrown">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Tom Hall was impressed with Brown's work, particularly music for the planet Democratus.<ref name="sitediary07" /> Hall worked with musician Ron Jones and a local Dallas band to record the game's two funk numbers by mid-1998.<ref name="gamespotdiary8">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Tom Hall planned for each character to have their own theme music, and for songs to change via interaction or exploration.<ref name="pcgamerpreview" /> He spoke of the planned music, "The Anachronox sound will be industrial, mixed with forties bluesy swing. As you get on later in the game, the music gets scarier, more chaotic, and gets down to hard-core metal."<ref name="pcgamerpreview" /> Developers integrated DirectMusic support in 1999 to allow dynamic changing of background music.<ref name="directmusic">Template:Cite press release</ref> Sound programmer Henrik Jonsson implemented 3D sound and other capabilities using the Miles Sound System.<ref name="teamigninterview" /> Developers also planned to use software called Magpie Pro to lip-sync animated mouths to spoken words.<ref name="pcgamerpreview" /> The team chose not to record voices for each line of dialogue, as Tom Hall felt certain speech would become repetitive.<ref name="oldcgmfeature" /> The Undermain Theatre group of Dallas provided several voices.<ref name="teamigninterview" /> Tom Hall voiced PAL-18 reportedly because "no one else got it goofy enough".<ref name="oldcgmfeature">Template:Cite magazine</ref>
Promotion and later developmentEdit
Ion Storm debuted a trailer for the game at E3 1997.<ref name="gamespotdiary2">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> The team worked several long nights and slept in a cardboard fort (named "Fort Nox") in the office to prepare the trailer.<ref name="gamespotdiary2" /> A thief stole the developers' laptop at the Dallas airport, requiring Ion Storm to upload a new demo for the conference.<ref name="tomsbraine397">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Hall continued writing and designing; he invented the Brebulan language by creating several phonemes and glyphs of the letter 8 turned on its side.<ref name="gamespyhinterview" /> Ben Herrera completed several sketches of characters and worlds by August 1997, and the team hoped to achieve full engine functionality by September 2, Hall's birthday.<ref name="gamespotdiary3">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> The game would suffer serious delays in its production.<ref name="dallasstorm">Template:Cite news</ref><ref name="scotsmanreview">Template:Cite news</ref> Eidos regularly sent producer James Poole to Dallas to check progress.<ref name="viceretro" /> After Ion Storm exhausted the initial $13 million provided for Daikatana and Anachronox, Eidos purchased a controlling stake in the company to install John Kavanagh as President in hopes of speeding development; monthly expenditures meanwhile rose to $1.2 million.<ref name="viceretro" />
Ion Storm solicited feedback from fans after demonstrating progress on Anachronox at E3 1998,<ref name="boothwire">Template:Cite news</ref> and assured inclusion of a multiplayer mode.<ref name="e3981">Template:Cite news</ref> Tom Hall touted, "It is going to be very cinematic and about as non-linear as you can get. Some levels will be bigger than anything ever seen in a 3-D environment. We are really pushing the engine for this, with loads of textures."<ref name="e3982">Template:Cite news</ref> Developers made two demonstrations; the second featured lasers, lens flare, and volumetric fog.<ref name="tomsbraine398">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> The gaming press received Anachronox well; one reporter wrote the game was "stunningly beautiful...[with] some of the most superb effects ever seen in a computer game, including rippling water, stunning laser lights and shadow effects".<ref name="e3982" /> Another wrote that the game would be "graphically spectacular, with detailed characters".<ref name="e3981" /> Panelists at E3 nominated Anachronox in the "Most Promising Game" and "Best RPG" categories for the Game Critics Awards.<ref name="gamespotdiary9">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Ion Storm planned for a 1999 release,<ref name="e3982" /> and unveiled new screenshots at the 1998 European Computer Trade Show.<ref name="oldcgmeuro">Template:Cite magazine</ref> Among the game's maps developed in 1998 were Hephaestus (polished by David Namaksy); Whitendon (Iikka Keränen); Democratus, "Matrix 0", and certain interiors of Anachronox (Larry Herring); and the city of Limbus (Rich Carlson).<ref name="herringinterview" /><ref name="gamespotdiary8" /> Lead programmer Joey Liaw left Ion Storm to attend Stanford University in mid-1998.<ref name="oldcgmliaw">Template:Cite magazine</ref> That November, several developers at Ion Storm departed to form their own company; among them was David Namaksy, lead level designer for Anachronox.<ref name="isdeparture">Template:Cite news</ref> Leaked e-mails evidencing leadership struggles at Ion Storm the following January eroded morale among the remaining team.<ref name="portershipper" /><ref name="viceretro" />
As of January 1999, Ion Storm CEO Todd Porter expected the game to ship 2.5 million copies.<ref name="portershipper">Template:Cite news</ref> Ion Storm decided to produce a sequel for Anachronox around early 1999, feeling there would otherwise be too much content for one game, requiring prohibitive costs and delays.<ref name="oldcgmhalf">Template:Cite magazine</ref><ref name="bluenewsstory">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Team member Brian Eiserloh noted that several art assets had already been created for the sequel.<ref name="bluenewsstory" /> By May 1999, the team had settled on a cast of 450 non-player characters,<ref name="ngmpreview3" /> and planned for a late 1999 or early 2000 release date.<ref name="autumn99">Template:Cite news</ref><ref name="early2000">Template:Cite news</ref> Ion Storm launched the Anachronox website in early 1999 with a movie-style trailer.<ref name="oldcgmwebsitelaunch">Template:Cite magazine</ref> Tom Hall featured four Anachronox non-player characters in his online tongue-in-cheek spoof of Kasparov versus the World.<ref name="oldcgmversus">Template:Cite magazine</ref><ref name="hallversusworld">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Among the game's maps completed in 1999 were the Bricks slums of Anachronox (Seneca Menard), Ballotine (Josh Jay), Sender Station (Lee Dotson), others parts of Democratus (Matt Sophos), the Casinox area of Anachronox (Brian Patenaude), and the junkyard maze of Anachronox.<ref name="sitediary04">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Tom Hall reported in 1999 that an option was being developed to remove adult themes, later manifested as an option to turn off profanity.<ref name="gamenoir" /> Ion Storm demonstrated the game at E3 1999; the team drove an RV to the event, which suffered a blowout and electrical failure.<ref name="teamigninterview" /> Computer Games Magazine afterward commented that Anachronox had "wider roots than a Banyan grove and more promise per square byte than a CD collection of political speeches."<ref name="oldcgm02" />
Hall personally invented and scripted Boots's erotic dancing mini-game.<ref name="sitediary07">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> He noted, "we're not above degrading our main character."<ref name="computerandvideopreview">Template:Cite magazine</ref> Ion Storm showed off the mini-game at E3 2000, drawing humored reactions.<ref name="igne3erotic">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Art director Lee Perry noted in March 2000 that perfecting the battle system was the biggest remaining hurdle for release.<ref name="voodooextremeinterview">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Ion Storm promoted a fall 2000 release date in May,<ref name="mmwiredate">Template:Cite news</ref> and IGN reported in July that a Dreamcast port of Anachronox was planned for production after the PC version's release.<ref name="igndreamcast">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Ion Storm issued a clarification that they were only considering a Dreamcast port.<ref name="igndreamcast2">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> The team finished the game's control setup in August.<ref name="tomhallplan1">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Ion Storm loaned staff to the team of Daikatana to speed its release in summer 2000.<ref name="grandadmiralperry">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Though losing money, Eidos allowed development of Anachronox to continue due their high esteem of Tom Hall, as well as a desire not to punish the game's team for the delays resulting from assisting Daikatana.<ref name="viceretro" /> Eidos maintained no expectations of profit, and merely hoped Anachronox would recoup its budget.<ref name="viceretro" />
The team began working six-day weeks by late 2000.<ref name="sitediary07" /> By 2001, the team was working 12- to 16-hour days and 6- to 7-day weeks.<ref name="sitediary08">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Hall described weekly bug meetings before release: "you see 100 bugs at the start of the week, fix the 80 you can replicate, and then meet the next Monday to address the 200 bugs they found, fix the 160 you can replicate, then meet to discuss the 400 they found...the time in-between is scary. Usually, the programmers find the bug, then stumble out of their cube, 'we were SO lucky to find that' or 'how did that EVER work?' It's like some bizarre divination method that no one is quite sure how it finds things, but no one wants to 'disturb the mojo'."<ref name="sitediary08" /> Several Internet rumors that Ion Storm would soon close spread in May 2001.<ref name="ignrumors">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> By June 2001, all dialogue had been recorded and Ion Storm was working on balancing, playtesting, and adjusting gameplay; release was set for the next month.<ref name="computergamingworldplaytesting">Template:Cite magazine</ref> Anachronox went gold and shipped to manufacturers in late June.<ref name="igngold">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Release and patchesEdit
Anachronox was released on June 27, 2001,<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> in North America, July 6 in the United Kingdom,<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> and July 31 in Australia.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> PC Gamer packaged a game demo of Anachronox with its 100th issue.<ref name="pcgamerdemo">Template:Cite magazine</ref> The Canberra Times staged a giveaway of three game copies to coincide with its release in Oceania.<ref name="canberratimesgiveaway">Template:Cite news</ref> By the end of 2001, sales of Anachronox in North America had reached 20,480 units, according to PC Data.<ref name=randysales3>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Vice later estimated sales four months after initial launch at 40,000 units.<ref name="viceretro" /> The game was rereleased in Oceania as a budget title in 2004.<ref name="melbournerelease">Template:Cite news</ref>
Team member Lucas Davis compiled the development tools and documentation for Anachronox and released them in August 2001.<ref name="devtools">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Four bug-fixing patches exist for Anachronox. Ion Storm created the first (1.01), which fixes a buffer overrun crash occurring especially under Windows 2000.<ref name="patch101ign">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref name="patch101">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref name="planeiserlohpatch">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Ion Storm released the first patch (1.01) on July 2, 2001, shortly before its offices were shuttered.<ref name="patch101ign" /><ref name="viceretro" /> Joey Liaw set up a GeoCities website for reporting bugs and technical information after the game's release, and worked on a new patch in his spare time.<ref name="planliawpatch">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> The second patch (1.02, or build 44) was released in May 2003. This patch overhauls the save-game system, adds taxi-cabs between distant points in the Bricks and provides important stability fixes.<ref name="patch102build44">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> It was followed by another patch by Joey Liaw, version 1.02 (build 45), released September 2003.<ref name="patch102build45">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> In April 2004, a fan-made unofficial patch got released (version 1.02 (build 46) which fixes most of the remaining bugs.<ref name="patch102build46">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Fans have translated the game into German and released a conversion patch.<ref name="patchgerman1">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref name="patchgerman2">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Level designer Rich Carlson released a scrapped secret level for Anachronox in February 2004 after finding it on an old floppy disk.<ref name="oblivionmap">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
ReceptionEdit
Anachronox earned positive reviews from critics.<ref name="dallasstorm" /><ref name="cgwunderrated">Template:Cite magazine</ref><ref name="cgwovershadowed">Template:Cite magazine</ref> The Daily Telegraph called it the most original game Ion Storm had produced,<ref name="telegraphreview" /> while The Scotsman's reviewer appreciated its "many original touches".<ref name="scotsmanreview" /> PC Gamer featured Anachronox four times in its top 100 PC games lists: #16 (2007), #17 (2008), #61 (2010), & #76 (2015).<ref name="pcgamer1001">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref name="pcgamer1002">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref name="pcgamer1003">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> It was also USA Today's Game of the Week.<ref name="usatodayminigames" /> Writer Jeff Green lamented that Ion Storm had shut down after Anachronox; he called it "easily the best console-style RPG ever made for the PC."<ref name="cgwretrospective">Template:Cite magazine</ref>
Reviewers highlighted the gameplay style, branded an unusual mix between role-playing video games and PC first-person shooters.<ref name="telegraphreview">Template:Cite news</ref><ref name="heraldsunreview" /><ref name="computergamingworld2001">Template:Cite magazine</ref> Some compared it to the Final Fantasy series and Deus Ex.<ref name="scotsmanreview" /><ref name="washingtonpostreview" /> The Evening Standard wrote, "Anachronox swaps puzzlement for humour while keeping the character interaction, deep storyline and strategic battles that make the Japanese games so good."<ref name="eveningstandard2" /> Computer Gaming World felt the game "incorporates the best elements of the adventure and role-playing genres."<ref name="computergamingworldreview" /> In contrast, Next Generation felt the genre-blending resulted in generic gameplay at times.<ref name="ngmreviewy" /> Lyndon Russell of the Herald Sun praised the basic mechanics, though he found the combat predictable.<ref name="heraldsunreview">Template:Cite news</ref> Erik Wolpaw praised the battle system's unique focus on movement, but wished characters could wait for a turn rather than perform an action.<ref name="gamespotreview" /> The puzzle elements,<ref name="usatodayminigames">Template:Cite news</ref><ref name="stevesreview" /><ref name="mobilereview" /><ref name="cgwreview2" /> such as those brought by Fatima, were well-received, even considered "indispensable".<ref name="cgwreview2"/><ref name="edmontonreview">Template:Cite news</ref>
The game's aesthetics were strongly praised. One reviewer appreciated the variety of styles in the music;<ref name="gamerevolutionreview" /> it has been compared to Yanni, Enya, John Tesh,<ref name="cgreview">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> and sci-fi scores.<ref name="ignreview">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Alan Dang contrarily found the music at times "neutral" and generic;<ref name="firingsquadreview" /> Paul Ward found it pleasant but sparse.<ref name="2ndadvertiserreview">Template:Cite news</ref> Numerous critics praised the voice acting and dialogue.<ref name="washingtonpostreview">Template:Cite news</ref><ref name="mobilereview" /><ref name="cgwreview2" /><ref name="2ndadvertiserreview" /><ref name="houstonreview" /> The game's cinematic cutscenes were also acclaimed; Computer and Video Games noted they were "superbly used for laughs or to create a real sense of dramatic tension",<ref name="computerandvideoreview" /> while Next Generation wrote that Anachronox would be remembered as the germination point for blending interactive gaming and cinema.<ref name="ngmpreview2" /> The Guardian, while also giving praise, found them somewhat predictable.<ref name="guardianrevue">Template:Cite news</ref> Several reviewers praised the field map and level design of all but the last levels. Earlier ones were said to contain many "little details that bring the game to life" and significant immersion.<ref name="ngmpreview2">Template:Cite magazine</ref><ref name="ngmreviewy">Template:Cite magazine</ref><ref name="gamespotreview" /><ref name="gamespyreview">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref name="eurogamerreview" /> The later levels were less well received, with one reviewer suspecting that Ion Storm ran out of time to polish the game, as some end-game locations were "hideously ugly, with huge slab-like polygons, dodgy backdrops and pixelated low resolution textures".<ref name="eurogamerreview">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> The Guardian felt the lighting was too dark in general,<ref name="guardianrevue" /> while Kevin Cheung of The Sydney Morning Herald found the graphics blocky.<ref name="sydneyherald">Template:Cite news</ref>
Reviewers hailed the story, characters, setting, and dialogue of Anachronox, citing its science fiction themes and offbeat, quirky humor.<ref name="telegraphreview" /><ref name="washingtonpostreview" /><ref name="mobilereview" /><ref name="2ndadvertiserreview" /><ref name="thetimesreview">Template:Cite news</ref> The Advertiser summarized the plot as "a beefy storyline loaded with strong characters, powerful dialogue, outrageous humour, seemingly endless surprises and a wild ride around the galaxy."<ref name="theadvertiserreview">Template:Cite news</ref> Elliott Chin singled out the game's humor, which, while divisive of Computer Gaming WorldTemplate:'s staff at first,<ref name="cgwreview2" /> won it the publication's "Best Use of Humor" 2001 award.<ref name="cgwhumor">Template:Cite magazine</ref> Even apart from humor, the dialogue was acclaimed as "so clever, it almost distracts from the game play"<ref name="houstonreview" /> and as "very natural and colloquial".<ref name="oldcgm02">Template:Cite magazine</ref> David Gordon of The Independent enjoyed the game for its "dark and ominous" plot and setting, centered on the quest to stop the destruction of the universe.<ref name="independentreview">Template:Cite news</ref> The setting was compared to Blade Runner,<ref name="scotsmanreview" /> film noir,<ref name="gamenoir">Template:Cite news</ref> The Matrix, Total Recall and the Dark City franchise.<ref name="early2000" /><ref name="guardianrevue" /><ref name="whatpcreview" /> Reviewers enjoyed the game's odd characters and how the team of "has-beens and rejects" brought new life to the genre,<ref name="stevesreview" /><ref name="cgwreview2" /><ref name="gamerevolutionreview">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> particularly by averting the coming-of-age cliché.<ref name="electricplaygroundreview">Template:Cite magazine</ref> Sly was well-received, described as a "typical downtrodden B-movie private eye",<ref name="telegraphreview" /> a "Mickey Spillane-style hero" in a cyberpunk setting,<ref name="floridatimesunionreview">Template:Cite news</ref> and a "space-age Sam Spade".<ref name="eveningstandard2">Template:Cite news</ref> Several critics complained about the game's slow start on the planet Anachronox,<ref name="washingtonpostreview" /><ref name="stevesreview">Template:Cite news</ref><ref name="firingsquadreview">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref name="whatpcreview" /><ref name="dailyrecordreview" /> especially its elevator-riding scenes.<ref name="gamespotreview">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Reviewer Elliott Chin disagreed, evoking "a superb sense of timing, starting out small and slowly building to the main event",<ref name="cgwreview2">Template:Cite magazine</ref> while David Phelan stated that strong character writing would encourage gamers to play beyond the "pedestrian-paced" opening scenes.<ref name="timeoutreview">Template:Cite news</ref>
Several critics took issue with the game's graphics and outdated Quake II engine;<ref name="washingtonpostreview" /><ref name="houstonreview">Template:Cite news</ref><ref name="dailyrecordreview">Template:Cite news</ref> reviewer Stephen Hunt named the game "a muddy affair" due to the "elderly" engine.<ref name="yorkreview">Template:Cite news</ref> Some reviewers, however, felt the game's charm made the engine's age irrelevant.<ref name="computergamingworldreview">Template:Cite magazine</ref><ref name="computerandvideoreview">Template:Cite magazine</ref> Reviewers also encountered several software bugs and glitches, among them incompatibility with Windows 2000<ref name="washingtonpostreview" /><ref name="mobilereview">Template:Cite news</ref><ref name="gamerevolutionreview" /> and a bug forcing the player to repeat a sequence near the end several times.<ref name="eurogamerreview" /> However, they differed in their opinions of the game as a result of them, ranging from "nearly unplayable" to "a flawed classic."<ref name="mobilereview" /><ref name="eurogamerreview" /> Reviewers also criticized the game's restricted display resolution choices; players could only choose from two options at polar ends of hardware requirements.<ref name="edmontonreview" /><ref name="whatpcreview">Template:Cite magazine</ref>
LegacyEdit
Before releasing Anachronox, Ion Storm retextured characters and adapted sequences from the game for Shiner, a production by the Undermain Theatre.<ref name="dallasshiner">Template:Cite news</ref> Scenes from the game were used to illustrate the vivid imagination and struggles of a paralyzed woman named Xela.<ref name="dallasshiner" /> Anachronox references the films Miller's Crossing and Barton Fink through street addresses on planet Anachronox; Tom Hall had studied acting at the University of Wisconsin–Madison and volunteered as an usher for Undermain.<ref name="dallasshiner" /> Though received well, the game did not prevent the closure of Ion Storm's Dallas office in July 2001; John Romero and Tom Hall departed after its release.<ref name="dallasstorm" /> The game became "semi-obscure"; Tom Hall explained: "Millions were spent making it, and upon release, $50,000 (~$Template:Format price in Template:Inflation/year) advertising it."<ref name="escapistretrofeature">Template:Cite magazine</ref> He reflected on the game in 2007:
<templatestyles src="Template:Blockquote/styles.css" />
Tom Hall{{#if:|{{#if:|}}
— {{#if:|, in }}Template:Comma separated entries}}
{{#invoke:Check for unknown parameters|check|unknown=Template:Main other|preview=Page using Template:Blockquote with unknown parameter "_VALUE_"|ignoreblank=y| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | author | by | char | character | cite | class | content | multiline | personquoted | publication | quote | quotesource | quotetext | sign | source | style | text | title | ts }}
Vice published a 2021 retrospective on the development of Anachronox, with the development team fondly remembering Hall's leadership.<ref name="viceretro"/> Vice concluded that Anachronox was an "unqualified success", writing that Tom Hall successfully translated the 2D console JRPG experience into a 3D PC game whose adult themes, varied gameplay, and unique dialogue fully realized his "ridiculously ambitious" vision.<ref name="viceretro" /> Hall later reflected, "There are many sadder stories than this one...we got our games out."<ref name="viceretro" />
Machinima filmEdit
Cinematic director Jake Hughes independently combined the game's cut-scenes into a two-and-a-half-hour film titled Anachronox: The Movie,<ref name="saltmachinima">Template:Cite news</ref><ref name="guardianmachinima">Template:Cite news</ref> released as 13 MPEG files on Machinima.com.<ref name="gamespotlength">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> The work was considered machinima's first feature-length production (incorrectly: the longer film The Seal of Nehahra predates it) and one of its most ambitious projects.<ref name="chicagofeature">Template:Cite news</ref><ref name="economist1">Template:Cite news</ref><ref name="sunambition">Template:Cite news</ref><ref name="filmireland">Template:Cite magazine</ref> Judges at the 2002 Machinima Film Festival (MFF) awarded it Best Picture, Best Writing, and Best Technical Achievement.<ref name="filmawards">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Machinima.com's editors said of the film, "Anachronox: The Movie is a tour de force, one of the finest Machinima films produced to date, and probably the most accomplished Machinima feature to date. Hell, it managed to hold two overworked jury members in a room for two and a half hours before the MFF 2002—what more can we say?" As of 2003, Machinima.com planned to release the film on DVD with extra footage and artwork.<ref name="gamespotlength" /> In 2006, the DVD images got distributed via BitTorrent.<ref name="machinimaforumdvd">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref name="machinimablogdvd">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
SequelEdit
Tom Hall felt the story of Anachronox was too large for one game (requiring an estimated 70 hours of gameplay<ref name="escapist2007" />), and planned for two expansion packs in 1998.<ref name="planethall" /> Each expansion pack would represent another third of the overall story.<ref name="planethall" /> He confirmed in 1999 that Anachronox would be followed by only one sequel;<ref name="ngmpreview2" /> several art assets had already been created for the sequel by mid-2000.<ref name="bluenewsstory" /> Hall speculated in 2000 that further adventures in two new universes may take place after the sequel.<ref name="escapist2007" /><ref name="gamespothinterview">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Ion Storm's closure nixed plans for a continuation; Hall has unsuccessfully tried to purchase the intellectual property rights to the Anachronox universe.<ref name="escapist2007" /> He later stated that he did not regret ending Anachronox on a cliffhanger, as most characters had resolved their inner turmoil.<ref name="escapist2007" />
Hall noted in 2007 that other team members were willing to come back to help: "We went through such turmoil but stayed for the love of the universe, the game and each other. Former team members often mention that if I ever got the intellectual property back and was going to make Anachronox 2, just tell them when and where. We have, as we say, 'The Love.Template:'"<ref name="escapist2007" /> Hall remarked in 2010, "If I don't do the game in the next 10 years, I'll just write up the rest of the story and put it on my website for closure, how about that?".<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref>
On February 17, 2015, Square Enix announced that it will allow developers to create games based on some of their old Eidos IPs via the Square Enix Collective project, including the Anachronox IP.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
ReferencesEdit
External linksEdit
- {{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation
|CitationClass=web }}
- {{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation
|CitationClass=web }}
Template:Portal bar Template:Ion Storm Template:Featured article