For the relaunch of Alone In The Dark, I propose to get acquainted with the history of the creation of an innovative game of its time and find out what Howard Lovecraft has to do with it, why we hate Bruno Bonnell and where the idea to switch to 3D came from.
Origins
The history of the creation of a revolutionary game for its time begins with Frederic Renal. Born in France in 1966, he was part of the generation of Europeans who had easy access to the first personal computers. And, moreover, Frederick’s father owned a small store that rented video cassettes, the assortment of which he decided to diversify with computer components. Well, isn't it a dream? Since childhood, Frederick helped his father in the store, played his wonderful Sinclair ZX81 in his free time, and spent his evenings in the company of his favorite films: horror films.
At the age of 20, he releases his first game: the platformer Robix on Exelvision, and makes all his relatives worry. No, not because he thought of making a game on a dying platform, but because of the amount of time spent on the computer. One day he ran out of the room screaming and said that he had stopped distinguishing colors. Another day, he completely stopped understanding human speech and answering questions.
When Frederick was drafted into the army, everyone breathed a sigh of relief. There will certainly be no time for computers or games. Just before his departure, he uploads his second game to the French information system Minitel: an Arkanoid clone called PopCorn. This time on MS-DOS.
Infogrames
While all the other soldiers received news from their girls, Frederick was inundated with letters from connoisseurs of his work. Gaming companies were also not indifferent, they fiercely wanted to get such a talented programmer into their ranks.
Frederick chose the small studio Infogrames. Largely due to the fact that the office was located in Leon, near his native Brive-la-Gaillarde. After working there quite a bit, he realized that he had made a mistake in his choice. Infogrames was on the verge of bankruptcy, and CEO Bruno Bonnell even tried to resell the studio to the American publisher Epyx. The deal, by the way, did not take place. Epyx looked at the financial reports and decided that they didn’t need this for nothing.
Then Bonnell severely cut costs and set his sights on finding labor, which would lead his company out of debt. Frederick was the perfect fit, young and naive, he was ready to work for an idea, and not for a decent paycheck.
Despite all its capitalist essence, it was Bonnell who came up with the idea to create In the Dark. A game in which it was necessary to move in absolute darkness, occasionally burn an insignificant number of matches and navigate in space using only sounds.
In the Dark
And then everyone in the studio began to think: how to create a continuous environment with a sufficient level of elaboration and detail so that the player would have a strong feeling of being in the dark. The usual pixel adventure game was no longer needed. Frederick had just finished porting the 3D puzzle game Continuum from the Atari ST to MS-DOS and offered 3D polygonal graphics.
In the 80s, my dad had a cassette rental business and I watched a lot of movies. I loved horror. Especially “Dawn of the Dead” by George Romero, where the heroes were hiding from zombies in a supermarket. From then on I knew I would make a zombie game. One day, when technology allows.
Frederick Renal
Bonnell, of course, liked the idea, but he didn’t really believe in implementing the concept in 3D. Therefore, I gave the order to work on the project on weekends and after work.
Frederick was also not particularly happy. Firstly, he started development alone. Secondly, he had to create a functional 3D engine from scratch. Fortunately, Didier Schonfray decided to join him, who took care of concept art and levels, and, even later, artist Yael Barroz. It was from Didier’s pen, by the way, that this black and white sketch came out, ideally reflecting the whole essence that Frederic wanted to put into his future game.
After some time, in September 1991, they had the first, simplest prototype ready. The character could move around the room and move his limbs more or less realistically. The room itself could be viewed from several angles; it was illuminated or completely immersed in darkness, depending on the presence of a light source. There were even shadows that circled the walls and furniture eerily.
Lovecraft?
I don't know about you, but this part of the development story seemed the strangest to me. Infogrames director Bruno Bonnell woke up one day and decided to buy the rights to the game Call of Cthulhu from an American company called Chaosium and cross it with Frederick’s project. So to speak, two birds with one stone. We attract fans of the writer and, at the same time, put our hands on the game, which everyone in the studio talked about with great enthusiasm.
Let me remind you that Frederick could only work on the development of In the Dark outside of working hours. That is, in fact, the company did not pay for a minute of his work.
Bonnell, apparently, decided to spend the money saved over the whole year on attracting new personnel: composer Phillip Vache, writers Uber Chardot and Frank De Girolami (may French experts forgive me). By the way, it was at Shard’s suggestion that it was decided to add the word “alone” to the name of the game. In his opinion, this word conveyed all the existential horror of complete loneliness that was an integral part of Lovecraft’s work.
The team got to work. Frederick immediately determined the plan of action and the scope of work: create 170 images for 170 cameras, come up with monsters, objects, triggered events, think through the actions of the player, the story and the thread of the main narrative. The tasks were written six months in advance.
All that remains from Lovecraft himself and his “Call of Cthulhu” are monsters, references and some gameplay solutions. For example, the presence of a magazine.
At the 1991 ECTS exhibition the game was presented under the name Call of Cthulhu. Doom of Derceto. Only Chaosium were so unhappy with it that they decided not to confirm the license and thereby deprive the project of its corporate name. They wanted to see a CRPG, not a 3D adventure game.
This will not work
The conflict between Frederick, who develops the game for free, and Bruno, who is chasing fame and money, has been brewing for a long time. The situation worsened when journalist Dani Bulak decided to write an article about the innovative game in Tilt magazine and dub Frederick a genius author. Bruno arrived on time and asked to replace the phrase “the game was developed by Frederic Raynal” with “the game was developed by Infogrames.” Frederick remained silent, but harbored a grudge.
In the pre-release days it got even worse. Frederica's wife (and colleague) was in the hospital awaiting birth. Raynal himself did not know where to go because of his worries. But Bruno was already assembling a team to develop a sequel with clear instructions: “keep the engine the same and just come up with a new story.” Frederick again disagreed. For Alone In The Dark 2 he wanted 3D scenery, lighting and many other improvements. But there was no use arguing with Bruno.
In November 1992, the game finally came out on PC and created a real sensation. Frederick, financially and morally left out of the general fun, felt betrayed. But Bruno was incredibly happy at the prospect of launching a whole series of games and making history.
The final straw was Bonnell's performance at the Génération 4 awards ceremony. On behalf of Infogrames, he took the stage to receive the award and thanked “God, his dog, his grandmother and, of course, the entire Infogrames team.” I remind you for the second time: Frederic Raynal created the game at home, outside of working hours and without receiving a single minted coin for it.
So where are you now?
Frederick, naturally, had long been thinking about changing jobs. An old acquaintance helped him in this matter: Tilt magazine journalist Dani Bulak. Having met him at the European Computer Trade Show, he invited him to join Delphine Software.
We want to offer you a place where you can create, where you won't be bullied, where we'll make you a star.
We want to unleash the incredible talent you demonstrated in creating Alone in the Dark.
Paul De Senneville, Director and Founder of Delphine Software
A few weeks later, Frederick decided to leave the company. Other members of the Alone in the Dark development team decided to join him.
Paul De Senneville, by the way, kept his promise. Especially for Frederick, the Adeline Software studio was created with an office in Lyon, and not in Paris, where Delphine Software was located.
Frederick himself calls his experience of developing the game “the trauma of a lifetime.”
The game sold two and a half million copies. It brought in tens of millions of pounds to Infogrames. And they didn't show us one bit of recognition.
Only the support of the press and gamers allowed me to cope with this.
Frederic Raynal