FUTURE BOY! – Preview
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Preview Future Boy!
Preview by Randy Sluganski |
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Up in the sky….is it…Underdog? Mighty Mouse? Superman?!
No! It’s Future Boy – and he’s on his way to save adventure games.
We first met Future Boy on a cold, dank night when we received a phone call from the mysteriously named The General Coffee Company Film Productions. I was immediately suspicious – not only had I recently kicked my java addiction, but I couldn’t recall any films about coffee currently in production. As I gritted my teeth for the upcoming sales pitch, I was instead pleasantly surprised to speak with owner Kent Tessman.
This Canadian based company supposedly at one time did make coffee. But they also produce independent films such as Apartment Story and software such as the Hugo development system for producing sophisticated interactive fiction computer games. Now they are focusing their talent on entertainment software.
Future Boy! is an adventure game unlike any you’ve ever played. It’s more than interactive fiction – it’s an interactive comic book that promises to combine excellent writing, rich story, and a sophisticated game world reminiscent of the best classic interactive fiction adventure games with original animation, illustrations, and music, plus a host of unique and unforgettable characters.
Who is Future Boy? He’s an honest-to-goodness, leaping-tall-buildings-in-a-single-bound superhero, and the masked, cape-wearing protector of Rocket City. And you…
Imagine a classic adventure game interface like the original Zork’s, but refitted with graphics, sound, animation, music, spoken dialogue, and mouse control.
The screenshots give you an idea of what to expect and the game will be available for Windows, Macintosh, PocketPC, Linux/Unix, BeOS and DOS. For those playing the pc version the game can be controlled by either typing the commands on the keyboard or by using your mouse to click onscreen on a movement compass or selecting commands from a contextual menu.
So keep your eyes on the sky and your lips to your coffee cup, for you never know when Future Boy might come swooping down to put a new spin on the adventure genre.
