The Dreamland Chronicles: Freedom Ridge

Last updated
The Dreamland Chronicles:
Freedom Ridge
Dreamland Chronicles logo.jpg
Logo of the game
Developer(s) Mythos Games
Designer(s) Julian Gollop
Engine NetImmerse, Havok
Platform(s) PlayStation 2, Windows
ReleaseUnreleased
Genre(s) Strategy, turn-based tactics, first-person shooter

The Dreamland Chronicles: Freedom Ridge is an unreleased video game for Microsoft Windows and PlayStation 2 by Mythos Games. Developed by the team which produced X-COM: UFO Defense , including lead designer Julian Gollop, the game was planned to be "a remake of the first X-COM with 3D graphics," [1] as the first of four games planned in the new series. [2] Cancelled in 2001, the unfinished game was later bought and partially turned into UFO: Aftermath by Altar Interactive, [3] which was in turn itself followed by two sequels. Some elements of the game are also present in Gollop's own Phoenix Point . [4]

Contents

Gameplay

According to the GameSpot preview, the Freedom Ridge interface followed the three-tiered format of a rotatable and zoomable global strategy view, showing various cities areas of interest spread and an outline of the human (allied) and alien (enemy) zones of control (similar to the Geoscape in the X-COM: UFO Defense and also in accelerated real-time), a 3D isometric view tactical screen when the player controls a squad in turn-based combat, and a first-person view to control the squad's individual units while aiming their weapons. The game's environment was presented with a detailed 3D graphics and fully destructible ("floors, beams, and roofs can collapse, and entire buildings can be leveled if enough damage is sustained"). During the action sequences, the camera would switch from the isometric or first-person view for special effects such as to trail behind a fired missile. [5]

The project leader Julian Gollop later said it was "quite an ambitious project" of turn-based tactical strategy game, featuring such innovative elements as a destructible terrain system. He said that had it been released, The Dreamland Chronicles would be very similar in gameplay terms to the much later tactical role-playing game Valkyria Chronicles , released for the PlayStation 3 in 2008: "We had a third-person camera view behind your character with a bar representing your Action Points, which went down as you moved. When you went into shooting mode it went into a first-person view and you could select snap shots or aimed shots, which altered the size of an aiming circle on screen." [6]

Plot

In the game, the humankind had lost Earth to the invading aliens following a devastating 70-day war against the dinosaurlike Saurans in the year 2003. In the aftermath of the war, the player takes command of a small resistance group named the Terran Liberation Army in a desperate struggle to regain the planet. They must scramble to protect the areas left in their control and find more supplies and troops, and capture aliens and their equipment to research the alien technology and use it against them. Along the way, human resistance uncovers the truth behind alien abductions, UFO conspiracies, and Area 51 ("Dreamland" is a name often used for Area 51, [7] located near the location called Freedom Ridge), and soon discover other powerful forces at work, including another alien race other than the invaders (Reticulans [8] ) and the reclusive and mysterious Men in Black. [5]

Development

Freedom Ridge was announced in 2000, using "a lot of new technology" such as the sophisticated environment physics engine Havok. [6] The development was first put on hold in February 2001, as Gollop's team failed to find the publisher for their game. [9] It was restarted by Bethesda Softworks, which in turn ceased funding the project in April 2001. [10] Eventually, it was ultimately cancelled later in 2001 by Titus Interactive and Mythos Games ceased to exist. According to Gollop in 2011: "Titus had no interest in what we were doing – they were only after Interplay's assets, and they cancelled the project...we had no choice but to wind up the company at that point." [6]

UFO: Aftermath

In mid-2001, Virgin Interactive, who possessed Dreamland rights, prompted the Czech developer Altar Interactive to restart production on the PC version. However, the game was renamed, first to UFO: Freedom Ridge, [11] [12] and then to UFO: Aftermath. More and more other changes were also made as the reboot progressed. Even the game engine was completely different in the final product, as the new developer did not acquire rights to the game's Havok physics engine and other middleware graphics and sound elements and instead made their own. Eventually, very few elements of the original Freedom Ridge project remained in the finished UFO: Aftermath when it was released in 2003. Altar themselves described it as "a completely new game with a different combat system, new graphics, and a vastly different background story." [13] Their game nevertheless still begins following the alien conquest of Earth (here instant and completely apocalyptic) and also features a struggle to stop the alien terraforming of the planet, and even a mission "Dreamland Files" in Area 51, but the Reticulans became the enemy (controlling mutated dead humans and animals) and the Saurans do not appear at all. UFO: Aftermath was later followed by two sequels, UFO: Aftershock and UFO: Afterlight .

According to Martin Klíma, leader of Altar team, they have received the five CD-ROMs with source code from original developers through Virgin. According to Klima, playable version of the game never existed in technically stable form: "There was some basic source code, which could not be compiled, although we tried to put it together for quite long time. Especially because to it (source code) were linked perhaps all middleware libraries. Mythos did not do any own work. Physics engine, 3D engine, that all was licensed and the question is, what they really did for that year and £800,000. We had to begin from start, we could not use single line of code either from original Dreamland or [Altar's own] Original War , which was written in Delphi language." [14] Gollop retorted: "Unfortunately they [Altar] stripped out our fantastic turn based stuff and they put what I thought was a rather weak real-time thing in there." [15]

See also

Related Research Articles

<i>XCOM</i> Video game series

XCOM is a science fiction video game franchise featuring an elite international organization tasked with countering alien invasions of Earth. The series began with the strategy video game X-COM: UFO Defense created by Julian Gollop's Mythos Games and MicroProse in 1994. The original lineup by MicroProse included six published and at least two canceled games, as well as two novels. The X-COM series, in particular its original entry, achieved a sizable cult following and has influenced many other video games; including the creation of a number of clones, spiritual successors, and unofficial remakes.

<i>X-COM: Apocalypse</i> 1997 video game

X-COM: Apocalypse is a 1997 science fiction tactical strategy game. It is the third game in the X-COM video game series. It was developed by Mythos Games, and published by MicroProse in 1997 for DOS and Microsoft Windows.

<i>X-COM: Terror from the Deep</i> 1995 video game

X-COM: Terror from the Deep is a strategy video game developed and published by MicroProse for the PC in 1995 and for the PlayStation in 1996. It is a sequel to X-COM: UFO Defense and the second game of the X-COM series, this time taking the war against a renewed alien invasion into the Earth's oceans.

<i>X-COM: UFO Defense</i> 1994 video game

UFO: Enemy Unknown, also known as X-COM: UFO Defense in North America and as X-COM: Enemy Unknown, is a 1994 science fiction strategy video game developed by Mythos Games and MicroProse. It was published by MicroProse for DOS and Amiga computers, the Amiga CD32 console, and the PlayStation. Originally planned by Julian Gollop as a sequel to Mythos Games' 1988 Laser Squad, the game mixes real-time management simulation with turn-based tactics. The player takes the role of commander of X-COM – an international paramilitary and scientific organization secretly defending Earth from an alien invasion. Through the game, the player is tasked with issuing orders to individual X-COM troops in a series of turn-based tactical missions. At strategic scale, the player directs the research and development of new technologies, builds and expands X-COM's bases, manages the organization's finances and personnel, and monitors and responds to UFO activity.

Tactical role-playing games, also known as strategy role-playing games and in Japan as simulation RPGs, are a video game genre that combines core elements of role-playing video games with those of tactical strategy video games. The formats of tactical RPGs are much like traditional tabletop role-playing games and strategy games in appearance, pacing, and rule structure. Likewise, early tabletop role-playing games are descended from skirmish wargames such as Chainmail, which were primarily concerned with combat.

<i>X-COM: Alliance</i> Cancelled video game

X-COM: Alliance is a cancelled video game in the X-COM series. The game was developed by two different teams of MicroProse developers between 1995 and 2002. It had the player assume the role of commander of the militarized scientific mission lost in space during the aftermath of X-COM: Terror from the Deep.

<i>Laser Squad</i> 1988 video game

Laser Squad is a turn-based tactics video game, originally released for the ZX Spectrum and later for the Commodore 64, Amstrad CPC, MSX, Amiga, Sharp MZ-800 and Atari ST and PC computers between 1988 and 1992. It was designed by Julian Gollop and his team at Target Games and published by Blade Software, expanding on the ideas applied in their earlier Rebelstar series. Laser Squad originally came with five mission scenarios, with an expansion pack released for the 8-bit versions, containing a further two scenarios.

Julian Gollop is a British video game designer and producer specialising in strategy games, who has founded and led Mythos Games, Codo Technologies and Snapshot Games. He is known best as the "man who gave birth to the X-COM franchise."

<i>Rebelstar</i> 1984 video game

The Rebelstar games are a series of turn-based tactics video games designed by Julian Gollop. Rebelstar Raiders was published in 1984 by Red Shift for the ZX Spectrum. It was reworked in machine code as Rebelstar, published by Firebird in 1986. A sequel, Rebelstar II, was published in 1988 by Silverbird. Rebelstar, but not its sequel, was also adapted for the Amstrad CPC home computer.

<i>UFO: Aftershock</i> 2005 video game

UFO: Aftershock is a real-time tactics/turn-based strategy video game developed by Altar Interactive and released by Cenega Publishing in Europe and Tri Synergy in North America in 2005. It is a squad combat game at its core with overlying strategic elements inspired by the 1994 classic X-COM: UFO Defense, though less than its own 2004 predecessor, UFO: Aftermath. It was followed by UFO: Afterlight in 2007.

<i>UFO: Aftermath</i> 2003 video game

UFO: Aftermath is a 2003 real-time tactics/turn-based strategy video game created by ALTAR Interactive. It is a homage to the X-COM game series, with roots in the unfinished game The Dreamland Chronicles: Freedom Ridge. It was followed by two sequels, UFO: Aftershock (2005) and UFO: Afterlight (2007).

<i>Rebelstar: Tactical Command</i> 2005 video game

Rebelstar: Tactical Command is a turn-based tactics video game developed by Codo Technologies and published by Namco and Atari Europe for the Game Boy Advance in 2005. It's the fourth game in the Rebelstar series. The game was created by Julian Gollop, who previously designed X-COM: UFO Defense, Laser Squad and the original Rebelstar games.

UFO: Alien Invasion is a strategy video game in which the player fights aliens that are trying to take control of the Earth. The game is heavily influenced by the X-COM series, especially X-COM: UFO Defense.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mythos Games</span> UK video game developer

Mythos Games was a British video game developer company founded by Julian Gollop and Nick Gollop in 1988 as Target Games. It is best known for its 1994 strategy game X-COM: UFO Defense, which went on to become the first installment in the later XCOM series. Following the closing of Mythos Games in 2001, the brothers founded Codo Technologies.

<i>Xenonauts</i> 2014 video game

Xenonauts is a turn-based science fiction video game developed and published as the maiden title of London-based independent game studio Goldhawk Interactive. Inspired by the 1994 game X-COM: UFO Defense, gameplay involves the player taking the role of the commander of a clandestine organization known as the Xenonauts, and attempting to defeat an alien invasion of Earth in the alternative history year 1979. The game was released on June 17, 2014 for Microsoft Windows. Ports to Mac OS X and Linux were initially based on the Wine compatibility layer, until native ports became available in September 2015. A sequel, Xenonauts 2, was released through early access in 2023.

<i>XCOM: Enemy Unknown</i> 2012 video game

XCOM: Enemy Unknown is a 2012 turn-based tactics video game that was developed by Firaxis Games and published by 2K. It presents a "reimagined" version of the 1994 strategy game X-COM: UFO Defense—also known as UFO: Enemy Unknown. XCOM: Enemy Unknown is set during an alien invasion of Earth in an alternative version of 2015; the player controls an elite, multinational, paramilitary organization called XCOM and commands troops in a series of turn-based tactical missions. Between missions, the player directs the research and development of technologies from recovered alien technology and captured prisoners, expands XCOM's base of operations, manages finances, and monitors and responds to alien activity.

Ian Paul Terry is an English computer game designer and artist. He was responsible for designing a variety of games from the early ZX Spectrum through to PC. He has co-designed successful games such as Rebelstar and Lords of Chaos, and was the lead designer in the creation of Magic and Mayhem.

<i>Xenonauts 2</i> 2023 video game

Xenonauts 2 is an upcoming turn-based tactics video game developed by Goldhawk Interactive and released on July 18, 2023 through early access. It is the sequel to 2014's Xenonauts.

<i>Phoenix Point</i> 2019 video game

Phoenix Point is a strategy video game featuring a turn-based tactics system that is developed by Bulgaria-based independent developer Snapshot Games. It was released on December 3, 2019, for macOS and Microsoft Windows, for Stadia on January 26, 2021, and Xbox One and PlayStation 4 on October 1, 2021. Phoenix Point is intended to be a spiritual successor to the X-COM series that had been originally created by Snapshot Games head Julian Gollop during the 1990s.

References

  1. ↑ "XCom UFO creators strategy game Laser Squad Nemesis". Codo Technologies. Archived from the original on 2010-02-06. Retrieved 2007-11-26.
  2. ↑ Hall, Charlie (26 April 2017). "Long-lost X-COM reboot would have played a lot like Valkyria Chronicles". Polygon.
  3. ↑ Gollop, Julian (17 October 2017). "The Gollop Chamber: XCOM is now a genre". PC Gamer.
  4. ↑ "I am the designer of X-COM and Phoenix Point - ask me anything • r/PhoenixPoint". reddit. 22 March 2017.
  5. 1 2 The Dreamland Chronicles: Freedom Ridge Preview, GameSpot, September 6, 2000.
  6. 1 2 3 "Interview With XCOM Creator Julian Gollop". NowGamer. 2011-08-30. Retrieved 2013-11-28.
  7. ↑ There is even a book titled Area 51: The Dreamland Chronicles .
  8. ↑ "Dreamland Gallery". 2001-04-09. Archived from the original on April 9, 2001. Retrieved 2013-11-28.
  9. ↑ Dreamland Chronicles cancelled?, FiringSquad, February 27, 2001.
  10. ↑ The Dreamland Chronicles is Set Free, IGN, April 11, 2001.
  11. ↑ UFO: Freedom Ridge site launched, GameSpot, February 27, 2002.
  12. ↑ UFO: Freedom Ridge, GameSpot, December 2002.
  13. ↑ UFO Aftermath Interview Archived 2012-02-18 at the Wayback Machine , IncGamers, 25 Oct 2002
  14. ↑ Interview published in the Czech gaming magazine LeveL 11/2012 (October 19, 2012).
  15. ↑ Dan Griliopoulos, Julian Gollop interview: on X-Coms old and new, the Ghost Recon strategy game that never was, AI, auteurs and "Fork My Fruit", PC Gamer, April 29, 2013.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.