We have been asked so many times in the last few months about the status of Soul Revenant and I am sorry I couldn´t post anything new earlier. I have been very busy but finally I got some free time to fully start working on Soul Revenant and made some progress.
Today I can finally reveal some new screenshots and information about the game. If you have any further questions, feel free to leave a comment.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------What is this project and why are you doing it?
Ever since I have learned about the deleted content and the ending of Soul Reaver, I craved to roam those areas. I had many dreams where I was trying to find the entrance to the Undercity or got lost on a search for Kain´s Mountain Retreat.
Most of this content was cut due to time restraints and hardware limitations, but I always wondered, what would the game be like if there hadn´t been any?
For years I was waiting, but it became clear that the game will never be remade as its sequels were produced. We want the game to be like a sister project to Blood Omnicide, and we think now it is a good time re-introduce this game back onto pc platform, in the wake of the release of a new mp game War for Nosgoth.
Our goal is not to surpass the original Soul Reaver, which would be impossible due to the amount of work needed, but to honour it. Only Dreamcast got a superior version back in 2000 and ever since, it never came to the pc.
The second main aim is to include the much eluded cut levels like the Undercity, Turel´s lair and the Mountain Retreat back into the game. Reconstructing them won´t be easy, as there are only few scraps of concept art, dialogue, videos and screenshots left. I will do my best to bring them back in form as close as possible to the original intentions of the authors.
The name and idea of Soul Revenant has been conceived by Jake and I took upon myself to direct this project since he is busy with Prodigal Sons and his other games. He is still on the team and helping out a lot.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Most of this content was cut due to time restraints and hardware limitations, but I always wondered, what would the game be like if there hadn´t been any?
For years I was waiting, but it became clear that the game will never be remade as its sequels were produced. We want the game to be like a sister project to Blood Omnicide, and we think now it is a good time re-introduce this game back onto pc platform, in the wake of the release of a new mp game War for Nosgoth.
Our goal is not to surpass the original Soul Reaver, which would be impossible due to the amount of work needed, but to honour it. Only Dreamcast got a superior version back in 2000 and ever since, it never came to the pc.
The second main aim is to include the much eluded cut levels like the Undercity, Turel´s lair and the Mountain Retreat back into the game. Reconstructing them won´t be easy, as there are only few scraps of concept art, dialogue, videos and screenshots left. I will do my best to bring them back in form as close as possible to the original intentions of the authors.
The name and idea of Soul Revenant has been conceived by Jake and I took upon myself to direct this project since he is busy with Prodigal Sons and his other games. He is still on the team and helping out a lot.
Are you using the same engine as Soul Reaver had?
No, it´s running on a commercial engine (3D game studio) which does not have the limitation of original Soul Reaver (It has its own in return, though) and the game is being built using some of the assets from Soul Reaver1, 2 and Defiance and rest is custom models. Game´s code is being written from scratch to play and behave like the original Soul Reaver game by our programmer.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Will it still play the same?
Bear in mind that certain things could not be achieved only mimicked to best of our ability, as being a team of three people with no budget can only go so far. We did invest a lot of time into this project so I hope you will commend our efforts. We cannot reach the professional level of quality of the original Soul Reaver, but at least try to achieve a similar experience. Certain gameplay changes will be necessary but we will do our best to direct them in a manner which won´t interfere with the current gameplay mechanics.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------What would I need to play this?
In order to play Soul Revenant, you must legally own Soul Reaver 1, 2 and Defiance. It will require a simple check for these games on your hard drive, to prevent any legal problems (just like in the case with Blood Omnicide). We are using updated Raziel, Kain and Ariel models from Defiance which had been modified by me and retextured by the Hylden and the Pillars and Sluagh models are from SR2. Everything else is either from SR1 or custom made.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Will there be a demo?
Yes, we plan a demo release and some trailer/gameplay video later.
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How far along is it and when it will be done?
So far it has been in development for two weeks and is being worked on almost daily. It´s still in a very early stage of development and lots of stuff is unfinished or temporary, so please bear that in mind when looking at the screenshots below.
We got a basic movement for keyboard&mouse and joypad input, character can run, jump, glide, attack, crouch, devour souls and shift realms. Animations need work but for now, we focus on making it playable at first, polish stuff later. I´ll post updates as the development goes further along.
As for the environments, Underworld, the path from Pillars Sanctuary to Abyss is done, for both spectral and material realms. They are currently just placed in the game, no additional models or decoration are in yet. The phase which we are in now is the assembly of the levels and programming all necessary actions for the game to work properly.
For a release date, I think when it´s done approach is best and updates will let you know how we are progressing.
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How is it an improvement over the original pc release?
In certain areas, it can never match the original game (e.g. animations), however, we strive to bring it as close as possible with certain improvements in mind:
- higher polygon characters and enemies
- improved distance visibility
- high res textures and menus
- additional level decoration
- includes the full soundtrack which was omitted in the pc release
- includes the cut levels, dialogue, abilities and story
- subtitles with language choice option
- gameplay changes (less block puzzles)
- lip sync
- bosses revamped
- enemies´ health and strength will vary
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Will it run on my pc?
Hardware-wise, this game won´t be too taxing on your pc, so you should be able to play this on most pcs with Windows.
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Is it for free?
Yes, there is no need to pay for anything BUT you must own the original Legacy of Kain games. If you do not have them yet, get them from GOG.com
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Can I help?
Yes, you can by submitting and contributing your ideas as how to improve the original gameplay of SR (ideas for puzzles, interactions, levels, etc.). You will be credited for any contributions which helped the development of this game. You can send your ideas and suggestions to ancientvampire(at)centrum.sk
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------The SoulRev Team:
The team consist of me as a director and designer (doing basically everything except programming), programmer Kelly (which tackles all the issues with the code and the engine) and Jake Pawloski, who helps out with lot of additional art, textures and ideas.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Disclaimer:
This is a non-profit, non-commercial project made by fans for fans of Legacy of Kain. We do not claim any ownership of the original game ideas, story, mechanics or assets. All of the original content is a copyright of their respective owners, e.g. Square Enix/Eidos and Crystal Dynamics.
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Screenshots:
