Our first speaker of the day was Mike Bithell, the creator of the beautiful Indie game Thomas Was Alone. He spoke to us today about his new project that he's working on entitled Volume, which is a story based adaptation of a modern day Robin Hood. His project is going to be short, and be story based adaptation which includes famous characters like Robert Loxley, Alan-a-Dale and Gisborne all voice by incredible actors including the brilliant Danny Wallace, from his previous game and Charlie McDonald, which most people will know from his YouTube channel as charlieissocoollike.
The idea is based around creating a stealth game in which you play as Robert Loxley and attempt to steal from the rich. The main story idea is taken from original legends of Robin Hood. The figure of Robin Hood is obviously fictitious and has basically become stories since the 12th century in which he first appeared and early adaptations suggest that he would steal from the rich, but also commit violent acts of violence as well. But later adaptations suggest that he was actually quite peaceful and didn't do any of these things, but this is a type of character that can be changed at will and adapted to suit the need that you want to use him for.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1qNQJEQjks8
What Mike Bithell is trying to do with this game is use the basic concepts of Robin Hood but bring this into the 21st century but create a stealth game that didn't involve any violence. The basic idea behind the plot is that, the villain, Gisborne, has Volume technology which can be linked to the internet. This is what Loxley is after and he can link it to the internet as well but by hacking his system and downloading the floor plans of rich peoples houses so that he can share his stealing techniques with everyone online. Bithell wants to be able to create a story that is driven by narrative, much like the technique he used in Thomas Was Alone, and he also doesn't think that cut scenes are necessary in a game.
So, he begs the question, can I make a walk and talk game?
I do believe the answer is yes. In the game you communicate directly to the AI, which is portrayed by Merry Man Alan-a-Dale, and this will help narrate you through the entire game, giving you instructions, questioning what your doing and generally offering advice. The game allows you to continue what you are doing while you receive the instructions, a brilliant technique as at first it may seem strange but by the end it is merely background noise that you take in subconsciously.
To conclude, Volume is going to be a game that is a space where players can interact with everything around them, not to mention build there own levels, which will be an interesting and big part to the game, but also the players are then taken on somewhat of a journey through story and clever narrative. The game attempts to make you feel clever by giving you a character who has the ability to rob a bank, making you imagine that you can do it too but not by making you feel cheated or dumbed down; a fantastic display of a game that I can't wait to play when it eventually arrives to PC.
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