Presentation

[White Birds]

Hi to all,
I am Michel Bams, one of the founders of White Birds Productions. We are now in the last months of production on "Paradise". The game will be released end of March by Micro Application in Europe and by Ubisoft in the USA.
In parallel, we are working on two new projects, "Sinking Island" and "Aquarica".
Hoping to have lots of questions to answer...

[Noone]

Hi Michel!
"Sinking Island" you say? Is it an adventure game? As far as i remeber your last game was "Martine ŕ la ferme" and it was a game for kids.
And as for Aquarica - in which state is it now& How much have been done? As far as I remember, you were preparing to make a movie along with the game? How much of ith has been done?

[White Birds]

Yes, a detective story adventure. Something "Sokal style" (graphics, scenario...), but more "Noir".

[imagine]

Hi and thanks to be here!
What is the word wich most represent Lost Paradise for you?
And for the other games what is the main subject of them, if it isn't to early for that?

[White Birds]

Sorry, I forgot the second part of your question. Yes, we have also produced a kids title called "Martine", but it is something quite different from the adventure games we're working on.

[Kate Walker]

Hello White Birds,

How far in development are Aquarica and "Sinking Island"?
Will they be in 2,5 D like Syberia and Paradise or in 3D?

[White Birds]

on "Aquarica", we are finalizing the design of the game and doing the first 3D real time experiments. In parallel, we are progressing on the movie side, with various interesting contacts. But nothing's done yet.
"Paradise" in a word... difficult question. I would probably say "Tragedy", as in ancient Greek tragedies.

[Noone]

I like the words "Sokal style" :-) Is Benoit working on this game? And also, Syberias had a great soundtarck - who is working on soundtracks to your current adventure projects?

About "Noir"... Is it set in modern world in our reality? Please tell a couple of words about the story.

[Oscar]

Hello!

At first thanks for the best Adventure Game ever, "SYBERIA". It was so emotional that i can´t find words to express. What can you say about "PARADISE" to this point? Thanks for your answer.

[basti]

Having one major adventure game just close to release and two more in the pipeline seems some kind of risky to me for a start-up company... Are there already publishers for these two new projects? How many people are working at White Birds on these projects?

[White Birds]

"Sinking Island" is a scenario from Benoit, and he will supervise the graphics as per "Paradise". In a few words, lets says the there is an island somewhere, a kind of tropical paradise (Maldives Islands are the ispiration) on which a millionaire has built a fabulous house/hotel for very privileged guests. A crime is commited. The purpose of the game is to discover who commited it.
It also seems that, at each tide, the water is going higher. But, as an ingeener from the continent says, "it is not the water that is going up, it's the island that is sinking"...

[Noone]

Hmm, reminds me Agatha Cristie's "Ten Little Indians". Aren't you frightened with such a comparison? ;-)
"The Island is sinking" - is it a paranormal factor? Or a something that can happen in everyday life?

[White Birds]

The comparison with Agatha Christie is quite flattering. There are some islands that are actually "sinking" today, namely due to the climate changing. Some experts are saying that the Maldives Islands may dissapear in less than 20 years from now. However, in the game, we do not provide a scientifical explanation. It sinks ! ;)

[Noone]

Ok, standart questions: What will be the graphics of this game (3d, 2.5d), how many characters and locations will be there, how many playable characters will be there, will the game be linear or not, will there be different endings, how many time it will take a Syberia player to finish this game...


Will the main character be a man or a woman?

And are there any sketches already?

[White Birds]

Ouch, many questions... and I don't want to talk too much about this project now. However, here are some answers :
- graphics : "Sinking Island" will be... 2D 3/4. We have found something very, very impressive for dynamizing 2D backgrounds.
- the game will have 13 characters
- and one playable : the detective
- there are various ways to solve the mystery, but only one ending.
- we expect the durahtion to be 2X the "Syberia" one.

[Noone]

And also, asking about paranormality and sinking of an island I had a "Black Mirror" in mind - it also had a detective plot but with some horror elements.

What auditory are you aming at with this game? Will it be suitable for children? Will there be blood and violence (like in "Still Life")?


- there are various ways to solve the mystery,
How global will be the difference of the alternative ways of solving? How many people will be killed? Will player's actions affect the number of killed people?


we expect the durahtion to be 2X the "Syberia" one.
Sounds good :-)

[Tomsess]

Hi. We are a small Hungarian adventure website http://www.adventuregames.hu and want to ask some questions about your prepairing games. Sorry for my english! ;)

[Tomsess]

Will be the Paradise just one episode, or two connected like the Syberia?

There will be some action in the game. What is that mean? How it will be working?

[White Birds]

We are thinking of "Sinking Island" as more mature than "Paradise". We will not display violence, but the general ambiance will be darker. We don't want to censor ourselves on some of the detective stories clichés such as seductive women, alcool... We know where the limit is in terms of rating ;D
... There will be more than one crime... and it will vary depending on the player's actions...

[Noone]

Will there be some forensic tools based puzzles (like in Stil Life and CSI, of course)?

[White Birds]

yes !

[Noone]

Hmm, maybe I missed something, but are the guests of the island unable to leave it? Is it impossible for other people to come to island (due to disaster ;-))? Will there be any use of mobile phones, inet? How much gameplay will be set on using forensic tools (and how many tools will there be)?

[White Birds]

Alex, you want to know too much ;D. You'll have to wait a little bit more, sorry.

[imagine]

I understand Alex,
the game seems to be attractive, we all want to play it now!
What about a demo (before, after, nope)?

[White Birds]

What we have today is a design + a playable mock-up, but we want to secure an agreement with a publisher before releasing material. It could happen quite fast, hopefully (fingers crossed).

[imagine]

Great new thanks!

[axelkothe]

Do you have a publishing deal for germany for any of these games? Especially Paradise, since it's near completion?

Who does the english localization - Ubi Soft or you yourselves?