Homesick (computer game)
| Homesick | |
|---|---|
| Studio | Lucky break |
| Publisher | Lucky break |
| Senior Developer | Barrett Meeker |
| Erstveröffent- lichung |
May 28, 2015 |
| platform | Windows |
| Game engine | Unreal 3 |
| genre | Point-and-click adventure |
| Game mode | Single player |
| control | Mouse keyboard |
| system advantages preconditions |
Windows XP SP3, 4 GB RAM |
| medium | Download |
| language | English |
Homesick is a point-and-click adventure from the US independent development studio Lucky Pause from 2015.
action
The player is transferred to an abandoned apartment within a high-rise ruin without any background information. As he gradually explores areas of the skyscraper, he occasionally comes across pictures or documents that illuminate the past and present of the player and the city in which the skyscraper is located. At night, the player regularly wakes up in a nightmarish black and white version of the skyscraper, in which he is followed by a black crowd. The aim of the game is to explore your own identity and background story.
Game principle and technology
Homesick is a first-person adventure, which means that what is happening is shown from the perspective of the player. The camera can be rotated freely in all directions. Movement within the game world is done using the WASD keys. Interaction with the environment takes place via a cursor fixed in the middle of the screen , which, when positioned over an object with which an interaction is possible, takes on an alternative form, whereupon a mouse click triggers the interaction. Objects can be picked up and, after they have been selected from the inventory using the mouse wheel, combined with interaction points. Instead of a free storage system common in Adventures, the game status is automatically saved when the player goes to sleep.
Production notes
The entire production minus the music and less 3D modeling work was the responsibility of Lucky Pause founder Marrett Meeker, who previously created and created special visual effects for advertising films and short films as well as for computer games such as Clive Barker's Jericho or Empire Earth III 3D models for Blur Studio in California started his own business with Lucky Pause in 2012. The game was funded through the crowdsourcing platform Kickstarter . The campaign ran in early 2013 and should bring in $ 8,000; delivery of the finished game was targeted for July 2013. In fact, the campaign raised approximately $ 28,000. The completion of the game was delayed by almost two years; The game was released for Windows PCs on May 28, 2015 via the Steam distribution platform . In an interview with Polygon Magazine, Meeker said that when he came up with Homesick, he was clearly inspired by the Adventure Dear Esther , published in 2012 . Meeker's partner, Morgan Wyenn, who is co-producing, is an attorney on the Natural Resources Defense Council . The game's underlying environmental theme emerged from discussions between Meeker and Wyenn.
The game has no speech output. In addition to sound effects for interacting with objects, there is an occasional faded in, ambient-like soundtrack that was played with piano and cello and for which the Canadian pianist Heather Schmidt is responsible. The cello was played by Shauna Rolston .
A Mac OS version of the game is in the works, for which the game will be ported to the Unreal 4 engine.
reception
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Homesick got a Metacritic score of 75 based on six reviews. The specialist magazine Adventure-Treff drew comparisons with Dear Esther , which also relies on exploration as the dominant play element. It praised the graphics, soundtrack and atmosphere, criticized the sometimes slow game pace and concluded that Homesick is essentially a successful interactive narrative, but has little to offer as a game. 4Players found the game to be “atmospheric”, praised the graphics as “convincing” and “impressive” and stated that Homesick cast a spell over the player “without a narrator or pre-rendered scenes”. Polygon magazine also drew comparisons to Dear Esther and Gone Home and described Homesick as "lovable" and "wonderful three-dimensional work of art". Adventure Gamers praised the “great atmosphere” created by the graphics and music, but criticized the story as “a bit thin”, the puzzles as too simple and the scope of the game too small.
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ Manufacturer website. Retrieved August 1, 2015 .
- ↑ Kickstarter project page. Retrieved August 7, 2015 .
- ↑ a b c Review on Polygon.com. Retrieved August 7, 2015 .
- ↑ a b review on 4Players. Retrieved August 5, 2015 .
- ↑ a b Review on Adventure Gamers. Retrieved August 8, 2015 .
- ↑ a b Review on Adventure Treff. Retrieved July 1, 2015 .
- ^ Metacritic overview. Retrieved August 8, 2015 .