[Carnivol]

Yo! Long time no see, everyone!
I've sadly been very occupied with everything and nothing lately. This has totally prevented me from finishing lots of past commitments and other stuff. However, things are changing for the better, so I've finally been able to start crossing stuff off the list - so for starters; let's touch the subject of time.


So, since it's kinda Valentine's Day and stuff today (or tomorrow/yesterday/whatever, depending on when you're reading this), I figured I'd show some love for one of my favorite FPS games this genre; TimeShift.


"Wait a minute! TimeShift was released! This is the wrong forum, you wanker!", you might be thinking to yourself now... and you're absolutely correct ... at the released part, anyway.

TimeShift was originally announced for PC and Xbox 360 on the 10th of January 2005 (and probably started life on the original Xbox), before it two years later was re-announced for PC, Xbox 360 and PS3, along with a complete visual overhaul (new engine) and with a massive rewrite to the storyline. Developed by Saber Interactive, it was initially set to be released by Atari, but later Vivendi/Sierra took over publishing rights.

Some might remember this game's early version, as there's a playable PC demo available of it on the web (google it yourself, too lazy to find a link right now) and there was also a playable demo on OXM #57's cover disc (May 2006) (If anyone has this; please feel free to hook me up with a copy. I need it.)

The two versions of the game are actually surprisingly identical, for a game that changed so much between its initial reveal and release. So to just shortly sum up things; there are actually only 3 really big differences between these two versions, and none of them actually related to the core game and gameplay itself.

The three changes are:
-The game's storyline and cast.
The original storyline followed a Michael Swift with a tragic past, a person who'd have a reason to want to make amends to his life, as he sets out on a mission to save the day as the evil Professor Krone sets out to alter history. This version of Michael Swift was voiced by none other than Dennis Quaid! In the final version of the game, Michael Swift's character/storyline was pretty much entirely removed and his character is pretty much just a character model with a name, accompanied by some grunts and moans provided by Greg Grunberg (whom at the time of release was famous for his role of Matt Parkman in Heroes). The main plot and most of the cast remains pretty much the same in the final version, but all roles are severely cut down in terms of dialog and the lead couple's pretty much cut entirely from the game's script and given a bare minimum amount of screentime.


-The game's engine.
The game engine used in the final versus the version of the Saber Engine seen in the original version is the difference between night and day. Clearly a massive improvement. The general functionality of the game's weapons and such remains the same.

-The game's art direction.
The most noticeable change is without doubt the massive change in the game's art direction. The game went from having a very steam punk-ish design to go for a more sleek and smooth sci-fi look. The levels, although being visually updated and altered to fit the new art direction, appears to be mostly unchanged in terms of layouts and goals.


Anyway, enough talk! To kick off this little TimeShift party, here are 3 voice actor interviews from this old version of TimeShift (they were seemingly intended as bonus unlockables), displaying various footage from the old version of the game and well ... stuff:

Dennis Quaid Interview

Michael Ironside Interview

Nick Chinlund Interview


Stay tuned for more TimeShift stuff! Also, do yourself an FPS lovin' favor and buy yourself a copy of the final version. It's a good game!

[edit]
Seems like some audio producer woman person thing put out the Dennis Quaid interview on Vimeo sometime last year. Anyway, I'll see if I can fish out some of the cutscenes and stuff very soon.

[ProgrammingAce]

This game must have had a pretty screwed up development process, the early concept art depicts yet a 3rd design for the game:

(shamelessly stolen from game press)
http://dl.dropbox.com/u/1991183/ConceptArt_ZeppelinHQ.jpg

The accompanying press release is so bland it's a wonder the game ever got a green light:

[Carnivol]

Ahah. Yeah. The game seems like it's been a bit of a mess. I still think it's a bit sad that the final design ditched most of the story stuff and went for a more "sleek" design on everything.


Also, I've seen two different builds for the game. One is mostly complete (but seems to lack the final maps. Might've been deliberately removed) and the other is a 3 level demo (with huge on-screen PRESS ONLY watermarks when you play).

The level data in the 3 level demo is interchangeable with the map data in the old PC demo from the same era (but the audio format isn't compatible, so no audio - guess some format wizard familiar with the game's engine might be able to deal with this). The file formats have however changed in the other build, so I've not been able to load any data there (again, any wizards out there?).


Just need to remember how to mix and fix the audio tracks and I'll see if I can dig out some more video material. Used to have a few videos of the various levels being played, but I seem to have misplaced those or something... so I can't do a comparison run on the final version.