Elsewhere Entertainment visit, September 23rd 2005
by twonha, October 5th 2005

PROLOGUE: A DAOKA WOULD'VE BEEN EASIER

Coming home from work late at night, I ran a few things through the printer, packed my bags and headed for bed. A couple of hours of sleep would have to do. But once in the comfort of my own bed, I only found myself tossing and turning. What if the alarm doesn't wake me? What if I miss a stop at any of the train stations? What if I don't find Fabian (Messiah)? How will we get where we have to go? What will we see when we do get there? Will there be enough time? Will they even know we're coming? Will we be the only ones visiting?

Visiting some of the people behind Outcast was, and still is, a dream come true for mere mortals like us. To meet them, to speak with them, to see them work - there are many developers we'd love to give a visit, to catch a glimpse of what it's like to design, to create the best games in the industry, but with Elsewhere it's just that bit more special. After all, we've been trailing Elsewhere for years now, closely examinating every single bit of information anyone could get our hands on. Elsewhere Entertainment Gamers has even become the only official fan site; we are just about all that is left from the community that started in 1999. So naturally, this visit had me thrilled beyond what words can describe.

It became clear to me I would not be getting any sleep this night, not with so many questions and thoughts running rampant through my head. So I got back up and took yet another look at the forums. Just like me, forum members were very excited about Fabian and myself visiting Elsewhere Entertainment. It's been six years since Outcast, and the dreadful deaths of Outcast 2: The Lost Paradise, Appeal, Symbiosis and even, in a way, Elsewhere's racing game haven't made waiting for another game of brilliance any easier. In fact, there were times all hope was considered lost when even Elsewhere Entertainment, the last remaining bastion of the Outcast legacy, would remain quiet for months on end. But today, September 23 2005, would mark the beginning of a new era. Us being invited to Elsewhere's own offices meant they'd have something to show, they were confident, they were ready. And so were we.

Around five o'clock in the morning, it was still dark outside, I got ready to leave. Breakfast, a much-needed shower, money, my bag... The preparations were done. The train would leave at 06:19; it'd take me some ten minutes to get from my home to the train station. A quick glance at the clock: 05:00. Damn. Having some time to fill, I wandered around the living room anxiously, checking my tickets, ID card, money, the preparations for an interview... And then I marched out the front door towards Nijmegen Central Station.

A couple hours later, now in the French-speaking part of Belgium, I found myself in a country different from my own. People spoke a language I could read, but not understand when spoken. Everything looked old, as if the nation had stopped developing since the 1980s. But I hadn't come here to see the sights - by now, I was more worried whether or not I'd find Fabian who I was supposed to meet in Charleroi, Elsewhere's home town. By now he'd have to be on this exact train. He'd be wearing a first test of a Totems t-shirt and, considering he'd come all the way from Austria, he'd probably be packing quite a bit. Having only seen a couple of old photos of him, recognizing him would probably not be easy. To make matters even more worrying, my cell phone hadn't properly charged during the night, so even calling him wasn't going to be easy.

After almost four hours worth of public transport, I was arriving at Charleroi Sud, final destination. I got up from my seat and walked towards the nearest door. I noticed, right in front of me, a young man carrying a loaded backpack. He was wearing a black t-shirt; it had some writing on the front. Could this be who I was looking for? A couple dozen passengers left the train and I immediately went for this young man to make sure. I read the t-shirt: "Walk in the steps of our ancestors".

I came up to him and, with a smile, shook his hand, introducing myself as Mark. He looked a bit shocked, but he probably knew just as well as I did there was no mistake about it. If anyone would know him in this crowd, he knew it'd be me. If anyone would be wearing a Totems t-shirt, I knew it'd be him. This was going to be a wild, crazy day, no doubt about it, but so far... so good.

Following the crowd, we exited the station. We talked about the journey here – my €20, four hour train ride seemed insignificant compared to his €200 fourteen hour train ride – and our anticipation for this day. Once in broad daylight, the oh so vital question came up: “Where’s Elsewhere?”… Fabian had a map, but it wouldn’t do us much good. After walking around for a good ten minutes we headed for a tourist stall. Equipped with a larger, clearer map and some general directions, we were on our way again and approximately fifteen minutes after that we came to Boulevard Audent, number 31.

It was an old building, from the looks of it, an ordinary flat. As giddy tourists we took a few snapshots while joking Yves probably still lived with his parents, working on Totems between doing the dishes and getting the groceries. Once inside, we hit the buzzer and, somewhat excited about having actually found the right building, just stood there when a female voice spoke to us in French…

Fabian took the lead, introducing us as the guys from the fan site. “You know we’re coming, right?” He too was, apparently, afraid Elsewhere would’ve forgotten all about us. But to our surprise the lady responded cheerfully and asked us to come up straight away. We rushed inside, went for the elevator, but were initially scared off by its cramped little room. The stairs across the room looked quite appealing from this end, but by the time we had gotten two floors up we we’d only found locked doors. Back to the elevator, then, and upward to the second floor (or third, depending on whether or not you count the ground floor too).

We exited the elevator and, in sharp contrast with what we’d seen before, entered a very modern office complex. Pleasant lighting, warm colours, and one cute receptionist – presumably the lady we’d spoken with on the intercom – welcomed us into the Valhalla of Elsewhere Entertainment’s offices. She told us the big boss, Yves Grolet (his first name pronounced ‘Eve’, we quickly found out after having wondered about that on the way here), wouldn’t be in for ten minutes. She lead us to some kind of conference room – big round table, comfortable chairs, projector – and offered tea or coffee.

And so, there we were, Fabian and I. Elsewhere Entertainment’s offices. Cameras at the ready we scoured the room and looked in awe at a large Totems poster and artwork. After the initial thrill of actually being in their offices, we sat down, relaxed, and did what any bunch of gamers would do: we talked games.

Neither of us knew what to expect of Totems, or Elsewhere’s other projects. We tried to come up with comparisons, we talked to each other about other games we enjoyed, and we wondered why Symbiosis was ever cancelled. Too innovative, I figured, as the promises made at the time would sound too good to be true even today, let alone two years ago. And then, all of a sudden, three men came walking into the room.

You instantly recognize him. He’s not that hard to pick out in a crowd. Before we knew it, Fabian and I were shaking hands with Yves Grolet himself, the CEO of Elsewhere Entertainment and one of the three founders of Appeal. With him, a man who quickly left again, and Stephane Bura, Elsewhere’s Game Design Director and, so we found out during the day, the beating heart behind Totems.

CHAPTER TWO: TURN ON YOUR RECEIVERS!

After Yves and Stephane had introduced themselves, we agreed to talk a bit about the company itself. After all, Elsewhere Entertainment had been relatively quiet for a long time. After Appeal went bankrupt, they’d been working on Symbiosis, but when that too was cancelled it had looked as if all hope was lost. So naturally, we were curious about what Elsewhere had really been up to during all that time and if the speculations on our web site were accurate. And so, we started with the end, the end of Appeal. Much to Yves’ surprise, he admitted, we were right about a lot of things. The development of Outcast 2: The Lost Paradise had gone awry which had caused its death. Then, he made a confession that quite shocked both Fabian and me: what had killed The Lost Paradise, was Metal Gear Solid 2.

We all knew the video. The E3 2000 video presentation of Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty. At the time, it looked absolutely stunning, even to us PC gamers. And apparently, most people in Appeal and Infogrames. Supported by focus groups that where very negative about the adventure part of Outcast1 & 2 they all pushed for more action, more spectacle, more efects and a more console oriented experience. Understandably, Yves Grolet didn’t really like the sound of an “adventure-less” Outcast, but with his partners and their publisher Infogrames choosing for this new route he felt isolated, alone. He left Appeal in June 2000.

Appeal went on to turn Outcast 2: The Lost Paradise into a more 3d technology centric action-only-based gameplay. How all that didn’t work out well needs no further explanation: Infogrames wasn’t too happy with the “everything on 3d technology” approach, Appeal wasn’t comfortable with the production, Outcast died and with it came the community’s roller coaster ride to Elsewhere Entertainment.

Elsewhere itself, Yves continued, spent its first year or so on Symbiosis. Having gotten closely involved with a major European publisher (which will remain nameless for now), Elsewhere had started working on this highly innovative videogame. Artificial intelligence was to play a large role in Symbiosis, and a lot of the design that surrounded something as ambitious as this was ground breaking and cutting edge at the same time. Unfortunately, to cut a long story short, the secret publisher got wet feet. If Elsewhere Entertainment couldn’t pull off its maiden project, that would’ve been a big waste of time, effort and money – and so, the ambitious game was put aside.

Working on several other small projects here and there, Elsewhere Entertainment spent several long months in silence trying to salvage the company. Every developer needs a game to develop, needs funds to do so, and at the time neither were easily found. Rather than personal experience, in this industry it pays to be an existing company that has already shipped a title, and unfortunately for Yves Elsewhere had nothing to show for itself. This made things very difficult. But, as we all know, things took a turn for the better when 10Tacle Studios showed up.

With funding projects (Game Fund no. 1, Game Fund no. 2) and plenty of games to work on, the young German publisher 10Tacle Studios was headed for a way to the top and needed developers to create their high-end games. As Yves explained, publishers and developers need each other to create games, and this bore fruit to the collaboration of the two. Elsewhere Entertainment, in the meantime, had been harbouring the idea of Totems, and 10Tacle was looking for someone to create a big game for them. Put two and two together, and you’ve got a publisher, developer and a game: Totems was now on track. Yves also told a little about the FIA racing game they had worked on, as a job on the side to acquire more funds. They were in fact right now also working on another job on the side – their secret, not yet unveiled other game project. Due out early next year, Elsewhere Entertainment is currently working on a fight sport game for current generation consoles and PC. We’d get to see the game shortly, Yves told us with a sense of pride at what they’d achieved thus far.

Last but not least, A significant operation in-between Elsewhere and 10Tacle will be soon disclosed, stay tuned ;-)

After having acquainted ourselves with each other a bit, and concluded the chat on Elsewhere’s recent state, Yves and Stephane invited us for a tour around the offices.

CHAPTER THREE: SMILING FACES AND PEOPLE FIGHTING

Fabian and I humbly followed Elsewhere’s crew around the offices, looking at everything around us as if we were two small children in an amusement park. Taking pictures here and there – but not too many, a lot of stuff was not to be seen by outsiders’ eyes – we quickly found ourselves in a large, L-shaped room with at least a dozen computers and several programmers. It was here that we got to see the fight sport game (which hasn’t gotten a final name yet) being worked on.

Yves and Stephane introduced Fabian and me as ‘the guys from the fan site’. Not everyone seemed familiar with EEGamers.com, but they were all smiling at the sight of two fans drooling at everything they were seeing in those offices. One thing I personally noticed was that English definitely wasn’t a very popular language, as was to be expected most employees stuck to their native French tongue. We didn’t catch many names, but to see them hard at work in this pleasant working environment was very amusing to watch. Cluttered desks, monitors with game code, art being worked on – this was definitely a place where many people spent long days at a job they were passionate about.

On one of the monitors we could clearly see an artist at work on character models for the fight sport game. Yves explained this game uses the NeoReality engine, in a limited form suitable for the current generation consoles (Xbox, Playstation 2). We were also shown an in-game screenshot of what appeared to be a fighting dojo – the lighting effects looked particularly impressive, setting a very fitting mood for the sport.

We could hardly miss it: the fight sport game will make heavy use of motion captured animations. Elsewhere Entertainment has its own motion capturing studio not far from the offices and a video was shown to us of two professional fighters performing several seemingly painful moves, covered with the red lights of their motion capturing gear. Although the fight sport game is not really a high end project, Yves sounded full of commitment to the title, talking about how it is so special for a fighting game to have characters that are constantly in touch with each other. Unlike the more traditional fighting game where characters only touch when they attack, in this game players will often find themselves entangled with their opponents – this provided Elsewhere not only with issues for the controls and gameplay to work out, but also with technical difficulty to make it all look convincing.

We continued our tour of the offices and came to the Totems room. Here, we saw a handful employees working on the one game we’d come to see. Again, a lot of game code on the monitors, cluttered desks and game pads lying around. Stephane was obviously quite eager to tell us about his ideas for Totems, though at the same time he was hesitant because Totems is still in pre-production; anything he’d tell us could easily have changed by next month. That’s one thing that slightly disappointed at least me personally: because of the game funding projects Elsewhere Entertainment relies on, full-scale production of Totems will not begin before early 2006. Totems is not far in development, a lot of ideas have been fleshed out but Elsewhere is still working on plenty of conceptual prototypes for the gameplay.

After that, we entered another room where people were working on Totems. We found an artist creating sketches of possible characters, and we found Stephane’s own computer with, behind it, a large poster summarizing the Totems storyline. Terrified that we’d spoil the game for ourselves two years in advance, Fabian and I did our best to look away and fight our curiosity! Even though Stephane made it quite clear that poster was merely an early draft and was already outdated, we still didn’t dare look at what might have contained secrets even we do not want to know…

Planning ahead for the remainder of the day, the four of us agreed to go out for lunch and do a video interview when we’d get back. We’d also get to see some special other things, such as a Totems video that was used to market the game to potential investors, as well as a Symbiosis tech demo. At this point, Yves and Stephane left us alone for a few moments in order to attend to some other business, giving us the opportunity to walk around the offices freely and take more pictures.

We spoke with several other employees, we took pictures here and there, and after a short while Stephane and Yves came back. The McDonald’s around the corner was considered, but a favourite restaurant down the street came out on top when trying to pick a place for lunch.

CHAPTER FOUR: IMPATIENT DINNER GUESTS

With Marco joining, the five of us left the offices and headed down the street to a restaurant where Elsewhere’s employees often eat. We entered narrow, crowded restaurant and sat down at one of the few remaining empty tables. Drinks were ordered, beer was quickly delivered, and conversation quickly arose.

Fabian and I had come a long way. He from Austria, me from the Netherlands, the two of us had travelled a combined time of almost twenty hours. We’d found each other, we’d found Elsewhere Entertainment, we’d seen the offices. We’d spoken of the past, we’d spoken of current developments, but Yves and Stephane could not help notice: their guests, and myself in particular, were getting impatient. Fabian and I could not hide the fact we wanted to know about Totems, we wanted to hear everything there was to hear.

Although the video interview covering Totems in-depth would follow later, Stephane agreed to just go ahead and tell us about the game over lunch. After some thought on where to start, Stephane explained to us in great detail how he envisions Totems, its style, its gameplay and its particular strengths. Fabian and I just sat there, listening carefully to his every word, asking questions here and there… This was what we’d come for, this was Totems.

Two pillars make Totems the ambitious, innovative title it will become. First of all, the player moves around the world freely. While Totems is best described as a platform game with action elements, Totems differs greatly in how it handles its jumping and moving. With four vital animal powers, the player’s abilities are greatly extended. Second, the player can change the world around him, not the morphology of the world but his rules. With special mana powers, the player can designate an area with one of the four particular strengths, creating traps or a local tactical advantage over the enemy.

Totems draws heavily from Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time, one of the best platform games of recent years. Stephane and I saw eye to eye on this: if you haven’t played Sands of Time, you’re doing yourself a great disservice. On storyline, innovation, platform jumping, action, technology and overall quality it is of a high class we rarely see in the industry. While Fabian hadn’t played the game that much, I personally was thrilled to hear Elsewhere Entertainment had such praise for a game I love so dearly myself. Stephane made it quite clear though that his plans for Totems are not to copy Sands of Time, but to take it to the next level. He knew that a lot of things could be improved upon, and with Totems he wants to do so and more.

Also a great influence on Totems is the urban sport ‘Le Parkour’. While many will probably have never heard of Parkour, it is an admirable sport that seeks to push human movement into graceful, impressive acrobatics. It brings up the idea that anything is possible, if you wish to reach a place then you can reach it. And with the animal powers enhancing your abilities, Totems seeks to do just that as well.

As Fabian and I try to comprehend what Stephane is telling us, asking for specific examples and elaboration, we bring up all sorts of familiar franchises to compare Totems with. Quake III Arena, The Matrix, Fahrenheit, Far Cry and of course Outcast are all mentioned, and while our lunches disappear into our mouths, while glasses are emptied, I find myself amazed. Stephane and Yves are so passionate about what they’re doing, they’re so ambitious. Many of the things they like, many sources they look at for inspiration are so incredibly in touch with my own personal ideas and thoughts, I can’t help but feel Elsewhere Entertainment is perfect for me. Whatever they develop, I will almost certainly enjoy it a great deal, for the people behind the games like the same things I like!

Somewhere during the lunch, Yves suddenly starts talking to a group of ladies at the table behind us. Marco is somewhat confused, just like we are, but then Yves explains how these ladies are from sewing company used for the motion capturing studio! Small world it is then.

After the lunch we stick around for another drink, and then it’s time to head back to the offices. Yves handles the bill (not only did we lunch with Elsewhere, THEY paid for it too!), we get up and leave.

CHAPTER FIVE: BACK INTO THE LION’S CAGE

Back at Elsewhere Entertainment’s offices, the first order of business was actually getting to see the game in action. With Totems development not having taken proper shape yet, there wasn’t much they would feel comfortable with showing us, but Fabian and I convinced Yves to show us the marketing demo he’d mentioned earlier.

Proudly mentioning Le Parkour, the motion capturing studios, the innovative NeoReality engine and the Outcast track record the demo covered much more than just Totems itself. We saw some artwork go by, some conceptual designs, storyline basics – a lot of which we’d seen before – and then we got a real treat. Since Fabian and I wanted to see in-game material, Yves asked one of his employees to fire up one movie in particular. It showed a small part of a city building, and according to Yves it had been recorded from an actual real-time in-game rendering: what we were seeing was not pre-rendered or even sped up for performance reasons. In fact, the hiccups we occasionally saw were just the video playback, not the game itself.

The video was short and did not show much, but I must be honest and admit that what we saw reminded me a great deal of Unreal Engine 3. The amount of detail in the scene, the special effects like bump mapping and real-time lighting, the props lying about (no doubt influenced by real-time physics), it wasn’t a huge cityscape but it looked very promising nonetheless. If anything, it served as a decent re-assurance that Totems, even though it’s not scheduled for release before 2007, will have every bit of technology a gamer can ask for.

After this Totems tech demo and marketing presentation, it was time for what must have been Fabian’s favourite part of the day, the video interview. With his filming expertise and my capable English the roles were quickly decided, I would lead the interview while he would mostly handle camerawork. We were both nervous, but having already heard the whole deal about Totems over lunch made preparing a lot easier. Besides that, Stephane was probably even more nervous than we were – at first, he didn’t even want to appear in front of the camera!

The video interview itself, which I won’t comment too much on here so as not to spoil the whole thing, went reasonably well. We learned a bit more about Totems, and having Stephane and Yves talk about their efforts in such detail was very pleasant. Also, our final question received a rather interesting response – be sure to pay attention at the end when the video is released on our website!

With the Totems discussions over lunch, the tech demo and marketing reel, as well as the video interview now behind us, Fabian and I had accomplished our most important objectives. Now it was time for some fun: Yves and Stephane brought us back to a room in the offices we’d only briefly visited on our first tour for the Symbiosis tech demo.

When Symbiosis was announced and in development, we’d all seen the artwork and the screenshots. In 2003, those shots looked very impressive, even more so when they were accompanied with the promise of running at 30+ frames a second on GeForce4 technology. However, no-one outside Elsewhere Entertainment had ever actually seen the game in motion. For Fabian and myself, this was about to change.

The video started, and immediately what we’d previously only known as screenshots came to life. The bald character moved about, and graphics much resembling those of Splinter Cell or DOOM 3 poured off the large monitor. NeoReality was definitely a powerful engine, showing off detail and technology that would stand its own even today. It was a shame to realize that this game would most likely never materialize into something we could actually buy in stores…

The room we were in, by the way, was shrouded in mystery. With two desks and only two employees, it was definitely the quietest room of the offices. Also, it was one of the few rooms with a door of its own – not to mention the warning sign that said to keep the door closed as much as possible. Walking around the room I noticed some interesting artwork that stood out among the Totems posters: Outcast and Symbiosis were both well-represented here. An Outcast game box (American version, Yves told me, hence the peculiar shape) and an Outcast guide, as well as Yves’ comments that some secret projects were being worked on here only made this room all the more special.

But alas, Fabian and I considered ourselves so lucky already to even be here we dared not push to find out more about these secret projects. I personally figured this room was mostly dedicated to Elsewhere’s past endeavours: that was one logical explanation for all the Symbiosis and Outcast stuff lying around. Besides, with the Outcast rights firmly in ATARI’s hands, even the very thought of Elsewhere working on something Outcast-related was quickly put away into the small part of my mind where I keep all the silly dreams I hope to one day see come true… We’d learn more about this room, but now seemed not the time.

We took a group photo of Stephane, Fabian, me and Yves (in that order). By now, it was already 15:00h, which meant I’d have to leave soon: time to round up and make some final arrangements.

CHAPTER SIX: A MINIATURIZATION BACKPACK WOULD BE NICE

Fabian would stay for the rest of the day and spend the night at Marco’s place, but I had a train to catch. Besides, Yves and Stephane had to get some actual work done too, so now seemed as good a time as any to end the official visit. Yves promised us a CD-Rom with videos, screenshots and artwork, and then he came up with another little surprise. At the copy machine, he printed out a large, special flyer for each of us: “Totems – the next generation of platform games”. Totems artwork and descriptions, as well as screenshots from the real-time video we’d been shown made this flyer an awesome treat for Fabian and me. Careful as to not damage or even bend it at all, we put the flyers away safely.

The time had come for final goodbyes. Thanking both Yves and Stephane for their hospitality, their kindness and their gifts, we shook hands and made our way to the elevator. One look at the offices – it’s not every day you visit an actual game developer. Then we went down and exited the building.

With approximately twenty minutes left before my train would leave, I felt excited, exhausted, ecstatic. Fabian and I had learned so much, seen so much, and it’d been so much fun too! Now that we were alone, we freely discussed our mutual experience. Totems indeed looked amazing. The video looked impressive, the design of the game seems interesting, but what had really convinced me was Stephane’s enthusiasm, his pride, his passion for Totems. That, and the way he felt about Prince of Persia: Sands of Time – just like any Outcast fan is okay in my book, anyone who admires Sands of Time like that can do no wrong either. And… Outcast… There was something about that room, Fabian and I agreed. We couldn’t be certain, but a small flame of hope was rekindled. Even if we never return to Adelpha, it is quite clear Yves still cares very much for the game and for its community.

Hurrying through Charleroi’s narrow streets we made our way back to the train station, arriving only a few minutes before the train itself. Fabian and I shook hands and said goodbye to each other: next time we’d speak would be online again, as usual. May the Yods be silent.

I found myself a seat and relaxed. This had been one crazy day, and it wasn’t even dinnertime yet. I felt overwhelmed. The rush from Elsewhere’s offices to the train station had been yet another obstacle overcome. Totems. Fight Sport game. Secret publishers. Small projects. Making money. Developers need publishers and vice versa. Outcast. NeoReality. Sands of Time. God of War. Consoles, PC, next-gen and Windows Vista. How was I going to remember all this? Eegamers.com. More Totems. In-game. Real-time. Symbiosis. Video… Interview… Oh, no holds barred, Yves had answered just about everything we’d thrown at him.

I took the notepad from my bag, and reached for a pen. The man sitting across noticed. He had little hair on his head, a small pair of glasses on his nose. Neatly dressed, I took this man for a businessman of some sorts. Perhaps he worked at a bank. As he turned back to his newspaper again, I too went back to my own business and started writing down some initial thoughts. It did not last long: after ten minutes or so I decided writing a diary of the day would be easier, the results of which you’ve been reading here.

By the time I came to Liege, I had approximately five minutes to get to the train to Maastricht. A vital stop, since it meant crossing the border again between Belgium and the Netherlands. However, the station platform was narrow, it was crowded, and to make matters worse I found myself behind a blind man. And, as if I was starring in my own little drama scene, when I arrived at the platform of the Maastricht train the doors had just shut. The train left. I’d missed it. Delay: one hour. Not too bad, I’d be a little late for work but nothing major.

My body was reminding me I’d had practically zero sleep last night. It was getting dark outside, and every now and then I’d suddenly find myself waking up from a state somewhere between sleep and drowsiness. My MP3 player had kept me awake between Maastricht and Roermond, two girls talking about boyfriends kept me awake between Roermond and Nijmegen. It was as if somehow this day just could not go wrong – I had gotten from Nijmegen to Elsewhere Entertainment without a problem, I’d gotten home again with only a small delay.

Once in Nijmegen, my home city, I got off the train and rushed home. I had a quick bite to eat, and left for work. I’d called I’d be late, but apparently that information hadn’t been passed on. No matter. I had been Elsewhere today.

Totems is going to rock. 2007.