Wasted Dreams - the story of a forgotten game (pilot article from the series "The History of the Game Industry")

In Search of the Lost Ark - Part I

Imagine that you are a shredded player. Old. Experienced. A man who is hard to surprise. The man who saw a lot. The man who saw Origins. Each new game is accompanied by your creak, - “But before ...”, “I remember, there were times ...”, “Children, what you consider new, is nothing more than a well-forgotten old, I saw it at 19 ..”. Suppose also that you are a new Indiana Jones of your time, a fighter of the invisible archaeological front, who every day is trying to find his Grail. The future interests you a little, the present causes skepticism, the purpose of your search is the past. I believe that we are with you, today, on the way.

Why the past? Because from there with enviable constancy comes what is in the present and what is coming in the future. Half, if not most of the brilliant ideas of the “enlightening” developers today are games made by someone for a long time. All that is needed in this case is to shake off the find, re-paint and make a casual controller, adding a couple of innovations.
It is no secret that in many of the old games the player of our time is difficult to understand, and the old player often stalled. Conventional solutions for ease of use of interfaces, the usual schemes that have become the norm of today, were not implemented even in the buds. Each new game was, in fact, a completely independent world, often without looking at other developers. It was a great time of experiments, undervalued potentials, games that many people still cannot recreate and still cannot rethink.
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I often walk with a shovel through the streets and subways of long-forgotten cities. It is for this purpose. Search well forgotten old. The new one is certainly surprising, but what can be compared to a dusty bottle of good old scotch? I'll tell you. As an archaeologist to an archaeologist.

At the depth of the temporary layers of the period of 1999, my shovel with a ringing hit an unknown object. According to my calculations, there should not have been large and unexplored games in this sector. Digging the object around the perimeter and blowing the dust where it made it difficult to see the characters, I saw ... a miracle. It seems impossible, but in our short game age we still continue to find the works of ancient architects unknown to the general public. You can imagine my surprise, amazement and awe, when I saw the game created in the style ...

Necessary retreat

The parameters of a miracle, each for himself determines. For someone, it will be marvelous every single day, for someone it will be miraculous salvation from everyday life in some vivid experience. Others, opening a refrigerator, in which there is nothing by default, will find the onion with surprise, and a stale piece of bread in the breadbasket, a regular phenomenon, but with a certain vector of sight, it is perceived by him not only as a source of joy, but also as a miracle.
I refer myself to the latter, preferring to see the wonderful in the regular. Working in the gaming industry, I have long ceased to perceive it as a miracle, seeing in it just a favorite job. Nevertheless, she still continues to amaze me.

For me, the game, made in the style of “ Another World ” and “ Flash Back ”, which has not yet been noticed by a mass player, is a miracle. It is absolutely incomprehensible to me how it happened that in 2011 (and the game was found just then) practically nobody knows anything about it.

It is also quite obvious to me that over time a generation of historians from the gaming industry should appear, thoughtful, detailed, fanatically dedicated people. Our industry is still too young for this. The firstborn who created the first games are still alive and well.

But even now we are losing information, we have already begun to forget our fathers. Having no prophets in our own country, living in the present, being hostage to fashion and trends, we lose our history. Kinship does not know. Worth starting, don't you think? With little things. With individual cries of discontent. And even in complete solitude continue his work in the hope that his descendants will appreciate it.

In Search of the Lost Ark - Part II

We stopped at the fact that I ejected a cry of delight, stifled by the feeling of the discoverer, not believing my eyes and squeezing something in my hands (besides a shovel). I am sure that for the opportunity to play such a game I, in the distant 1999, would gladly give my soul. At that time, it should be noted, souls were cheaper. One of the properties of youth leads to the fact that some carelessly left as a pledge once, then it has to be redeemed from a variety of usurers, overpaying, if lucky, only three times.



At first it was just one image found. Breaking a few long-abandoned network communication branches, I found mention of Wasted Dreams. With the name of the game, the search went faster. For a great game with recognizable styling (I didn’t doubt it, looking at the visual style of WD) there were very few mentions on the net. Thank God, on YouTube, found the passage of this game. I want to draw your attention to the fact that this is the passage. Walktrough If you ever plan to play this game - immediately close this video.


Amiga Longplay [514] Wasted Dreams - link duplicate and complain that I can not center the video on the center of the page.

I can assume that you still do not realize the importance of this discovery. Why? Because ... open your eyes, damn it!

A wonderful animation of characters, an amazing sense of color and shape, the world around is worthy of the pen of Delphine Software . The waterfalls are full of water, the swamps are releasing bursting bubbles on the surface, everywhere there are moving drilling rigs, buildings, lights - all this is moving properly, causing truly childish delight. The game of 1999 has a lively background. Her dad, Flash Back, 1992 release, could be proud of such a little boy. There is a good plot, references to old games, interesting riddles, battles with opponents, etc. Everything that makes a game is a game. What is needed is a real adventure. All components are assembled.



In the screensaver of the video passage, the name of the company is mentioned - Digital Dreams Entertainment, and in the comments to the video there is a mention of the fact that the platform of the game is Amiga. Here I understand that you need to call Madzhik (my closest friend, permanent partner and partner. Real-life. As in the films about police officers. Classically aware of my life more than the whole family and relatives together) .

Information has been collected more than enough to start an investigation-investigation, we are both big fans of Another World and Flash Back, so this finding is symbolic for us. On the back of the pipe, I hear about the same cries of delight, which I pulled about an hour ago, something like “What the devil ?! Why have I never heard of this game? !!! ”.

The investigation began ...

In its course, we found out that two people were involved in the game, one of whom was Thomas C. Cvijanovi and the other was Raymond Cindris . We find the first mention on the MobyGames website through a search by office (as we remember, our goal is Digital Dreams Entertainment). However, in the profile he has only “Code name Hell Squad” released in the 2000th year (also adventure as well as WD). The mention of the second person we find there, too, and without any hints of Wasted Dreams. What is it? A phantom game? Ghost? Optical illusion?

About Wasted Dreams on MobyGames - not a word. However, after a couple of hours of searching, the game can be found online. Then begin dancing with tambourines. We are not “amizhniki” and what is simple and natural for them is incredibly difficult for us. Install the Amiga system, set up the BIOS correctly, connect the image of the game and launch it - this is a real quest for us.
About 4 hours we spent in continuous online, in two hands trying to solve problems growing like mushrooms after rain, then losing hope, then finding it again. It was a real, one hundred percent adventure.

And we succeeded.

In the process of solving this problem, we repeatedly asked the question “why is everything so difficult?”.

Alas, the farther we go from the Source, the more difficult it becomes to save information about how an old game is launched, information about it is erased, operating systems change, comes and presses on all flanks the stereotypical thinking formed by the modern market, which makes it extremely difficult process of immersion in old games. Why?
Because the market teaches us to think in a certain way, teaches us to certain game mechanics, to certain solutions in the field of interfaces, teaches us to certain types of controllers in games. We are all hostages of Standardization. The result is a kind of "thinking bobsleigh."

To make sure of this, it is enough to launch any old game of the range from 1985 to the 1995s. In 50% of these games you will be extremely difficult to understand. There is no familiar organization of gameplay, there are no familiar solutions in interfaces, often there are no tutorials (either as unnecessary, because they could have figured it out themselves before, or a paper manual was supplied with the game). If the game uses the original mechanics - the chances to deal with the game with a swoop tend to zero.

However, let's not talk about sad things. Let's return to the find. Titles pointed us only two people. Already mentioned Raymond and Thomas. Emotions from delight turned into complete frenzy when it turned out that for the most part only two people made the game. And one of them did most of it. For me, this is a flag by which I regularly wave on the roof of my bastion. This is a confirmation that - there is a warrior in the field, and this is important for me. However ... it's not about me.

About a day we fell out of reality, exchanging short messages about progress. It was a kind of competition for one whose brain is younger, whose instincts still remember how and what to do in the Old Worlds. Quest for wit, quick wit and entrepreneurial skills. We could not master the whole game, corny did not have enough time. Being indie developers every day we are looking for a piece of bread, every day we break our heads how to feed our families, while preserving our hungry independence. A few days of the game in hard drinking is an unaffordable luxury. But the fact that we drank, what could pick up from the game - ambrosia.



What do we have as a result? An interesting adventure game, with a plot and action-component. Hardcore enough (for inexperienced archaeologists) to do the save / load operation a hundred times (ascertaining that there are fatal situations, and that it is better to think a little during the game before you do something, regularly signing in), but it’s enough interesting, so that this process does not strain, and so that we would like to move on. In fact, this is an isometric quest, with lots of items and fun solutions. With a decent bit of action. Voiced by enthusiasts of their business (which in no way spoils the impression from it). The game, apparently, was a budget for the part of the sound, otherwise it is a product of the highest grade.

Once you are comfortable with the controller, save / load will disappear as a kind of rudiment, like a tail, which you will need only to illustrate your emotions. A game of emotions will cause a lot. Therefore, during the game, the newly fallen off tail will have to be sewn back.

Rescue representatives of an alien race at the hands of jailers. Those you save will help you in turn, and their actions will remind you of the unforgettable Flash Back. The world around will change (it really changes), including the NPC will change it. Their actions are not reduced to the fact that they disappear, giving you the desired item. They act, sometimes with you, sometimes without you. The result of their actions is visually affected by changing the scenery. And the scenery must be said - great. Jungles, ruins, secret zones, bases, underground complexes, collectors - a variety. Do not forget that it all moves. Lives and breathes. Because the artist definitely took care of the visual part of the game. This is something that I can always say, and I will not sin against the truth - done with love!

As soon as I saw the game, I exclaimed - “This is it! This is the good old Flash Back. Now I can say the same thing. 2 years have passed since the excitement, but I still remember this story. She was exciting, almost detective, and in some ways very dramatic. However, we are running ahead.



What we have? The game, where much attention is paid to the graphic component, which forms an amazing style worthy of the best games of the past. The game, which came out on the Amiga during its sunset, which, apparently, is due to its almost complete obscurity today. We have the office of Digital Dreams Entertainment, which then released another game, and about which after that nothing is known. Also unknown is the fate of the team. More puzzles than answers.

Where are these people now? Unknown. Why didn't they continue the Digital Dreams Entertainment business? Where is this office now, and why are the creators limited to only two games? Why did the Wasted Dreams 2 press release on one of the sites remain a press release? Perhaps, not being able to accept the decline of the Amiga, they went into oblivion with her, like captains who go to the bottom with their ships? Who knows who knows. Sounds romantic, but implausible.

Do you know this feeling when something in your memory keeps you awake? Attempt to remember some detail, driving off to a frenzy. Remembering and finding what you are looking for in the depths of your memory, you rather smile, saying to yourself, “the skull works, it still works.” It was the same with Wasted Dreams, except for the fact that you don’t know what you don’t know. One of the immutable rules of students. This game and these people gave me no peace. Falling asleep, I thought about this game, I woke up with the same thoughts. Obsession was necessary to remove. And there was only one way to ease the suffering of ignorance.

Contact the developers.

Back on the road

Search by name gave nothing. Too many results. With keywords that reflect the essence of the sought, and even less. No fan sites, almost no web posts. It's good that we managed to find the game itself and this video. Great luck.

We were lucky that there is a site MobyGames (some kind of IMDB from in terms of games and developers), and it’s good that we managed to roughly determine the search region. In my opinion, based on the sound of the names, the authors could easily have been the homeland of the authors - Bosnia, Serbia, Herzegovina, Montenegro, Hungary, Slovenia and Croatia. The list was disheartening, and something had to be done. It’s one thing to find people here, in Russia, it’s completely different to search for people in a country unfamiliar, especially if you don’t have knowledge of the language, and indeed it’s difficult to determine whether a person belongs to a particular nation.

Networking people, just like in real life, leave traces that can be found. A big plus was the knowledge of the professions of Thomas and Raymond, information about the name of their office and projects. The names with the names disappeared immediately, the office could not be pierced, the tails of its existence are hidden in the darkness of time. After all these years, there was no need to talk about any websites. What to do? What are the next steps?

Search by specialization. Assuming that Thomas is the head of the company, he began with him. Past No information. I thought about what I know about the programmers of any software? For example, office or highly specialized? Absolutely nothing. Programmers, being an important link in the development of any software products, are often unknown heroes. You can often hear - "he drew it, he led it, he built it." Much less often you hear the words "the distinguishing feature of this code are" or "for this sparkling code is responsible."

I was very distressed by the failing part of the search for Thomas C. Cvijanovic. I did not manage to find any leads, possibly due to the very limited skills of searching the web, and due to the fact that Thomas is a programmer and I am not.

But one thing I knew for sure - if Raymond Tsindrich (artist Wasted Dreams) continues his work - he can be found. This is possible. More than. Trails, trodden by artists tangible, just enough to take the trail. Any work on the network should have been. Still, Raymond artists are significantly less than Raymond carpenters, Raymond system administrators or Raymond in general.

I found this site , sent it to the author and other "suspects" letters. It remains to wait for answers to confirm suspicions or suffer defeat, castling and start again.

A week later came the short answer “Yes, it's me. Sorry, but now I am very busy, I will try to spend some time in the near future. ”

I exhaled. Lightened. Happened! My journey in search of authors has come to an end. His final point was ...

Singapore

Raymond Cindric signaled that he was ready to talk, warning that time limits were very limited. First of all, I, of course, expressed my enthusiasm for this game and told me why it was so important to talk with the creators of the game. And what does it mean for us, the players, to find such things here. It turned out a brief interview. In response to my joyful thanks, I received the following lines:

Raymond: Please forgive me for such a late reply, but I am oh-oh-oh-oh. I am very glad that you liked our game! Since this is nothing less than a commercial failure of that time.
Now, after a long time, I still feel satisfied, looking at how everything turned out in the end. Some moments in the game were frankly annoying (we are talking about underground sewers with floating canisters and exploding in them, you know what I'm talking about, if of course they already reached them) but by and large everything worked.

Rick: Where are you from, Raymond?
Raymond: I am from ex-Yugoslavia, now Croatia. He emigrated many years ago and never lived here. Traveled all over the world, and now I am in Singapore.

Rick: What games or products are you currently working on?
Raymond: My portfolio, extremely old I must say, you can find here . I have not updated it for many years. Unfortunately, I do not have enough time for this. When it comes to me, I work on various private projects like this .

Rick: Do you miss old times and old games?
Raymond: Of course !!! To be honest, my favorite platform is GBA SP. I have one such device, and after all these years of daily violence, it still works, not like any XBoxes (smiles).

Rick: What happened to the studio Digital Dreams Entertainment?
Raymond: After we finished work on the second project “Codename: Hellsquad” I was forced to immigrate due to the very bad situation in the country - as a result I left the studio.

Rick: What is your role in the WD project and what is the role of Thomas C. Cvijanovi?
Raymond: I worked on graphics, was engaged in additional design related to puzzles, took care of some technological aspects of the game (like rotoscoping procedures), but by and large it was Thomas’s game.

Rick: What is Thomas's fate?
Raymond: I do not know ... I myself am curious. If you are lucky enough to find out, let me know, please!

Rick: Why did you stop working together?
Raymond: After emigrating, I gradually lost contact with Thomas. At that time, Skype, Facebook and other things that we now take for granted were not so common.

Rick: Why didn't you spread this wonderful game to other platforms? For example, on DOS?
Raymond: I see no way to run it under DOS. This game is only for Amiga. As far as I can tell, it would be just wonderful - but I don’t see a single way how this could be done.

Rick: Was it inspired by games like “Another World” and “Flash Back” when creating “WD”?
Raymond: Oh ... "Another World" is my favorite game at all times! I personally didn’t like FlashBack, but I believe that Thomas had a very high opinion of her. So I can say with confidence that both games had a strong influence on Wasted Dreams. In many aspects - from animation to history.

Thank you for your interest in this old and unknown game!

And one small question for you ... how did you know my email?

Rick: There is nothing easier. When I find a game that I like, the first thing I do is go to the “Credits” or “About” section. I look who worked on what, looking for familiar names and memorize new ones. In the old games, thank God, the teams were small. One, two people. Found your name in credits, and began his little investigation. I asked myself - “How many people bear the name Raymond Tsindrik and work at the same time in the gaming industry?”. I thought for a moment and answered myself: “Not so much - I have a good chance to find it.”

Epilogue

On the one hand, the epilogue should be short, and I can make it so. On the other hand, this story has stirred up a number of strings in my soul, which were sleeping peacefully before. I would very much like to know what happened to Thomas and what was his fate, what he did and what he does now. Raymond casually mentioned that the situation in the country, at the time of his departure, was bad.

I regret that Raymond had so little time for this conversation. However, the main thing is that it happened in general, and that I managed to thank him on behalf of all gamers for his contribution to the gaming industry. Now I can sleep well.

Wasted Dreams is still only a version of the assumptions about the decline of the Amiga era as the reason for the disappearance. This period could have affected the sales of Wasted Dreams, but is the game capable, in almost complete silence, to go to the bottom along with the dying platform and even so that the fans would not notice? .. I do not believe. Fans of terrible power, especially if their power is aimed at creation. I do not understand the commercial failure of this game, but I can also assume that:

• Affected by the lack of information on this platform.
• It is impossible to fully link with the source.
• A ridiculous, insane scenario in the form of an unlucky star is possible. Such precedents in the history of the gaming industry have been. It also happened that the game doomed to success, being innovative, was perceived by the public extremely cold. Or coincided with the release of titanium. I will still have the opportunity to talk about such games, the quivering love for which on the part of the players contrasted sharply with the commercial failures.

A similar situation prevails in the case of the ruin of Interplay (another unfinished article), where the analysis of stingy data raises much more questions than answers. It is in our homeland if the scandal inside the company is an explosion that throws into the sky the tumbling figurants of the case, whose characters, according to the Matrix for a long time, find out the relationship, cursing and foul language so that there is no place on Earth where their swara would not be seen.
. , , . . , . — polite version. , , . -, , . , . ? .

In any case, all I want to do now is exactly the same as then - shake your fist in the direction of the game sky. Too many people and offices rest at the bottom of the ocean. Too many games and destinies are more like tragedies than good fairy tales. Unfortunately, only bits of information reach us, and we must do everything to preserve them. This is one such attempt. And I think ... not the last.

Installation of the game and detailed instructions for it - updated on 05/19/2013

Initially in this article there was no instructions for installing the game. It was not and could not be due to my “technical knowledge”. Being unfamiliar with the Amiga system, I, with all the desire, could not have done what I did a day later in my article “ Wasted Dreams. A quick launch guide ” by our dear NetBUG colleague . This is an invaluable help for poor people like me.

In any case, I’m not able to thank him fully (by making a translation in the form of “hundreds of Habré likes” on his account), I ask you to lend them to me and give him, or just to do it ... from the bottom of my heart. Without it, information about Wasted Dreams would still not be complete.

In which case I ... will definitely pay off with you a new article.

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():I would be pleased if as many people as possible would have stolen this article online. Not for the sake of promoting one’s beloved, but for the people who made this game, and for the sake of the game itself. I do not know how and what should be in this world, but I know for sure that games should not disappear in this way. If we cannot save information about other people's and extremely intelligent works, then how can we hope for a better outcome regarding our own games?
In addition, I naively, childishly believe that maybe ... this information will reach the authors. And they will be pleased. To summarize the article, the epilogue and these notes I would like to quote from "Mimino."

- You know what, I'll tell you a clever thing, but only you do not be offended: when I will be pleased, I will take it so ... that you too ... will be ... nice ...