[Dais]

(*I use Playstation and PSX interchangeably, even though they are technically not the same, and expect other people to learn to live with that)

okay. I'm submitting a case for review by the LostLevels detectives - and the data collected so far is pretty sloppy, and laid out in a narrative format by necessity of my own trying to keep track of what I've found. So please bear with me, okay?

It starts (kind of) with my looking through one of my many junk image folders today for something HILARIOUS to annoyingly post. While rummaging around, I ran across this:

http://img90.imageshack.us/img90/1931/scan60ib.jpg

To condense the data given by that article: Sirens was going to be a sidescrolling platformer/shooter for the Sony Playstation with some heavy sci-fi/alien world overtones. It was being developed by Caps Software, who previously worked on X-men 2: Clone Wars and Taz in Escape from Mars (not the worst resume ever, I suppose), with lead design by a Steve Ross. The game featured the same odd in-and-out seen in Skeleton Warriors and Bug (I think).

What especially marks this game as interesting (to me) was the apparently focus on the world as one which contained a unique ecology, the kind you still rarely see in games of this nature. Believe me, I love enemies respawning offscreen as much as the next guy, but I've been dying for more games that simulate the fact that you aren't the only predator/prey out there.

Where did I get this image from? Apparently, here (hi sketch!). How did I stumble across that? God only knows. The sources of most of the images of my system have been forever lot to time.

Anyways. This game looks cool, right? Maybe I can find a topic out there about it. Maybe I can find somebody who works or used to work for Caps and bug them via email. Maybe even that Steve Ross guy.

First, let's look at Mobygames for Caps Software.
Hmm, that doesn't seem to be them. Who developed Taz 2, then?
Headgames, Inc. Who also developed Clone Wars, Pink Panther Goes to Hollywood, and....wait, what?

[ProgrammingAce]

best i can do:

http://www.thelostworlds.net/BO2/Chakan_and_Sirens.html

Looks like that has some (all?) of the missing screenshots.

It also says that the developer was "Silo Productions" which i can't find any record of.

His email address was gordon@crl.com, but that domain only went to an ISP, and they're long out of business.

This is somewhat irrevelant, but amusing none the less:
http://www.faqs.org/ftp/usenet/news.announce.newgroups/rec/rec.games.video.sony

And here's an ironic article written by gordon in gamasutra talking about how to finish a game:
http://www.gamasutra.com/features/20000104/gordon_01.htm

and a pdf if you don't feel like registering:
http://accad.osu.edu/~pgerstma/class/gmz/articles/Artists%20and%20Game%20Design%20Documents.pdf

Just from what i found on google, it looks like Sirens became a game called Chakan, which later sort of became Blood Omen 2.

I have the developer listed as AndNow, Caps development, and Silo Productions. At best, it looks like it was a 2 man crew who made a 1 level demo in the quake engine that was never picked up by a publisher.

[TheRedEye]

[handofg0d]

Very interesting, but I just don't see the logic from it being a PS1 Side-scrolling shooter in the vein of Contra/Metroid, to a Quake1 mod, to a 3rd person 3D Action game.

I mean, I guess that's what happens sometimes when projects take forever - you keep chaning the look to keep up with the times. I think I'd prefer the initial concept from that scan though.

[The_bag_of_sand]

Yeah the side scrolling one looked cool, kind of like Flashback and Out of this World.