Little Big Adventure 1 (Relentless)
The game that started all.
What do you do when the game company that makes your favorite game has gone out of business?
Start your own project, of course. And that's what we have done. With the status of Little Big Adventure 3: Genesis of the Stellar Entity in limbo and Twinsen's Odyssey being released almost a decade ago (hard to believe, isn't it?), those of us with the will and the talent to make a fangame have decided to pool our resources in order to make a fangame that is both fun to play and keeps the same sort of atmosphere that permeated the original games. By using the LBA engine, we can create a game where players of the original games will be able to step right in and play, and fans new to the series will be able to learn intuitively with simple controls.
Our first question was what would the game be about? A project without direction is like a boat without an oar, and with much debate about the setting and storyline, it was settled that the game would be loosely based on Twinsen's ancestor Hégésippe, who is mentioned in the first LBA game. We did this for two reasons: 1.) There have already been a number of LBA fan projects that have taken Twinsen on side-quests and adventures, so we wanted to do something no one else had ever done before and 2.) We wanted to create a story that would not clash with any potential storyline of LBA 3: Genesis of the Stellar Entity should it ever be released. While our story may not necessarily be the exact ideas of Frédérick Raynal (the creator of the LBA games), Hégésippe's adventures are open-ended enough to allow us some creative freedoms that will flesh out a really nice story, which may even become canonical. By basing our game around Hégésippe, we were able to write a plot that adds to, rather than contradicts, what has already been established in the official LBA games.
Though the project has gone through periods of activity and inactivity (as most fan-based projects do), there has been a recent surge in progress as the core members decided that it was time to begin work on the game this summer (2006). The team, though only four members strong, had already made significant strides rarely seen in fangames. We also have plans to work with the original members of the LBA team to gain some input and expertise in the continuing development of the Prequel. With an increased interest from the LBA community at large, and the involvement of fans from all across the globe, we hope to create a game that is built by-and-for the fans of the LBA universe.
Update (08.06.07): So, a year later, and what have we done? Well, our team has grown to include more than ten members from over eight countries across the globe. We have developed the necessary tools to complete our game, and the script and plot are finished. 2008 looks to be a bright year for LBA fangames, as we hope to release the final version sometime in the Spring.