When Noemi suddenly finds herself in a dreamlike world, and
two men from her past unexpectedly appear, she would never
have thought it would all soon turn into a nightmare.
As the three people explore the enigmatic castle world in
which they are trapped, they encounter an oracle. Its
predictions seem to become fulfilled every time.
But really every time?
And when one of the men suddenly disappears, it is the
beginning of great passion -- and an evil plot. A plot you
can unravel if you put together Noemi's destroyed diary,
solve strange puzzles, find hidden secret passages, and --
remember -- prepare to confront the evil before it's too
late...
The game consists of over 1,200 crisp 3D-pictures in 16-bit
color depth, animation sequences, environment sounds, and
background music. It features an intuitive point-and-click
interface. The game is the product of nearly two years of
development.
Players explore the 3D surroundings in quest of the scattered
pages of a mysterious diary, getting more and more involved
in the story about three people being trapped in an enigmatic
world. As the plot gradually unravels, players become aware
of having taken on an active role.
"We've built an entire 3D world up to the tiniest
detail", Dan C. Kueng, president of Blue Line Studios, said.
"We want to make you feel as if you are really there."
Extreme effort was put into ever so small details. The diary
for example, a vital point in the game play, is entirely
written by hand.
"It would have been so much easier to have used a typeface
for the diary", Mary, general assistant and alpha tester,
said, "but now, Noemi's diary looks very authentic. It has
that certain touch. We love it!"
Two CPUs were setup for the 3D rendering that took place in
batch mode, running around the clock. Still, the 3D
processing stage took well over 16,000 hours. Another
important part was the programming. The game keeps track of
the players' position and changes. Partially it features AI
(artificial intelligence).
"We were never satisfied with the result, and
kept doing every little thing over and over! At times we
thought we'd never ever get this thing finished, but now we
are certain that it has been worth it," Dan said. "It was
great fun to develop THE CASTLE, and the game has turned out
to be all we hoped for!"
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Blue Line Studios