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Crichton Gets Medieval on PCs
The modern-day Renaissance man has just finished designing his first computer game.
Timeline, based on Crichton's highly successful novel of the same title (which has sold over 1.5 million copies to date), is the premiere product to come from his Cary, North Carolina, based development studio, Timeline Computer Entertainment. He founded the company in 1999 with a mandate to combine innovative storylines with highly interactive worlds.
Currently scheduled for release for PCs this holiday season by publisher Eidos (the company behind the hugely popular Tomb Raider series), Timeline blends action and adventure in a story-driven, wholly immersive 3-D world. As in the novel, players travel backwards in time to 14th century feudal France, where one can only hope the locals are friendlier than usual. As one of a pair of students searching for their lost professor, would-be heroes will find both the environment and in-game characters to be markedly interactive.
Believing games should have more "cinematic qualities," Crichton says he wants his company and its titles to break new ground. "Game narratives have to evolve to keep up with future trends," he tells E! Online. "Most of the game genres now are historical archives of previous technology. But there's a lot more to design than that."
He also promises that playing Timeline won't overwhelm the player with complexities. Difficult controls and encyclopedia-esque manuals are some of Crichton's pet peeves when it comes to gaming. "If there was one style of game I'd never care to see again, it'd be the overly complicated ones!" he exclaims.
And Crichton is speaking from the experience of an avid gamer.
"My favorite technological toy is the PC," the author confesses. "I use it for playing games, doesn't everybody? Two current faves are Microsoft's Pandora's Box and Unreal Tournament. Unreal Tournament I find especially fascinating because of the user-created modifications. An entire culture is built around them...There's really nothing like it to be found in any other medium.
As for Timeline the game, Crichton asserts its biggest challenge will be to bridge the gap between audiences. Says the novelist-cum-game designer: "Books and games are unique constructs, and designing one's totally different from creating the other." He sees significant obstacles arising from video games' looser structure and the need to provide players with instantly recognizable environments.
Overall, though, Crichton remains positive, if candid, about the venture. "The entire project's been a challenge. But it comes with the territory. We're trying to create something new here and breathe a movie-like atmosphere into it."
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