Zanzarah: The Hidden Portal
Preview
Developer: Funatics
Development GmbH
Projected Release Date: Q2 2002
Platform: WIN
Genre: Fantasy Role-playing Adventure
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“Amy’s eighteenth birthday is a miserable disaster. She had
a argument with her family and has run away to hide in her room. Something
is wrong with her world and she is very confused. Why does she alone
have the key to another world, one of elves, goblins, dwarves and
fairies? A long time ago, these creatures fled for fear of burning
at the stake, of inquisition and suppression by mankind. Henceforth,
they lived in seclusion in a place called Zanzarah, their own private
paradise. The legend speaks of a long forgotten prophecy….. A gleaming
hero and of perilous adventures….. Of sinister powers, strange worlds
and hosts of fairies….. But they say nothing of a girl with more
heart than muscle….. But then, even legends can be wrong.”
Funatics
The development team at Funatics say that “Computer games are
our life and that they are among the most famous game companies in
Germany”. They have been in business for more than two years
and include Ravensburger Interactive, THQ Inc. and Phenomedia among
their partners.
I had a recent opportunity to have an email chat with a Zanzarah:
The Hidden Portal development team member. She was kind enough
to respond to several questions that I had about the game. I hope
that you will find her answers interesting.
How long has this game been in development?
Two years exactly.
The concept of the game seems (to me) to be reminiscent of The
Longest Journey. Was the Zanzarah concept on the drawing
board before The Longest Journey? Or is the similarity a coincidence?
Or is there a similarity at all?
No, every similarity is incidental. We have never played The Longest
Journey. But the plot of Zanzarah is classical, of 
course,
so there is a similarity to other films and games.
Has the Zanzarah storyline been developed from a legend,
a myth, a fantasy story or novel?
No. We used famous fairy books from different sources, such as, The
Good Fairies, Bad Fairies from Brian Froud (The Dark
Crystal and Labyrinth). But only for inspiration.
Where did the title come from?
A long, hard session with much coffee. It’s a pure fantasy title.
Is this game planned as the beginning of a series?
It’s a possibility. The features of the game have much potential
for more games like Zanzarah.
Tell us about the game engine that you are using.
We are using the licensed RenderWare Engine. It’s a powerful engine
which allows cross-platform development and quickens the development
time of our game. In addition, we have improved the engine for effects
like real-time shadows, volume fog and so on. The concept of Zanzarah
allows us to realize a detailed world, full of graphical objects like
flowers, mushrooms and much more. We are able do this without forcing
the use of high-end PC’s.
Tell us about the music.
The music for Zanzarah is currently under development. We
have an experienced musician in Cambridge who is perfect for our fairy
tale theme.
How
will the storyline tie into the actual mechanics of the game? Will
the game be puzzle driven, inventory driven, point and click? What
else?
The storyline is mainly driven by non player characters and puzzles.
There are different layers of quests, so the player has the freedom
to chose his next action, such as, hunting fairies, searching for
objects or following the lines of the plot.
What do you think that the players will enjoy the most about Zanzarah?
The main focus of the game will be to search for fairies. The player
will set up his deck of fairies, equip the fairies with new and better
spells, test the fairy decks in flight with other trainers or against
other players on the Net. Solving puzzles and exploring new areas
of Zanzarah are important also.
Is there anything else that you (the developer) would like people
to know about Zanzarah?
Take Zanzarah as an alternative to a world of games which
are mainly gray and dark, without visual changes and with only one
target: to kill enemies. We have such areas too, like our dark shadow
realm, but it is only one of many other places in Zanzarah.
You will visit deep forests, light filled gardens and colorful caves.
Zanzarah is a journey with many new impressions and adventures
combined with creative game play.
The
Zanzarah: The Hidden Portal Site
The Zanzarah site is very attractive. Click here
to pay a visit, read more about the game and to watch a video that
is produced on the engine of the game.
