August 12th, 2008

Map Of Himalayan Mountains

...is not enough to help you survive, but it can surely help you enjoy the view, don't you think? Although I would really enjoy going to see the top of the world, I know I don't have the training required, so I'll pass for now. After all, there are faster suicide methods, but since I have no suicidal tendencies, let's see what can be said about the map of Himalayan mountains...turned into a virtual landscape and involved in a horror survival game!

Today, Sproing Interactive Media GmbH from Vienna announced that, together with Deep Silver, they are developing a Wii survival horror game called Cursed Mountain. In the game, you are taking the role of a mountaineer in search of his lost brother, and while ascending the mountain, you encounter an ancient curse...the souls of those that died in the region before are caught in the Shadow World, obviously.

Harald Riegler, Sproing's CEO, said "Aside from the challenge to develop an innovative title with spectacular levels and new controls, the focus in Cursed Mountain is the overwhelming environment of the Himalayas.

It is really important to us that the player experiences nature's powers as realistically as possible, and that the game's viewing distance allows the player to see the monumental landscapes at all times. We are also going to great lengths to make the dead souls look as convincing as possible in order to deliver the level of immersion necessary for really effective and believable survival horror."

Leaving gameplay aside, you should also get ready for the "Athena" game engine, able to provide "HDR-Rendering, shader simulations developed especially for Wii in order to display ice, heat and water (realistic reflections and refractions), an ultra-fast particle system for amazing snow storms, soft particles for realistic fog and smoke, depth of field, motion blur, dynamic soft shadows, spherical harmonics lighting, as well as a high performance level-of-detail and streaming system in order to provide long viewing distance of the entire surrounding."

I am not crazy about horror games, but all the above made me really curious about this project. If only they would add some videos and screenshots to that website faster...because I'll get tired of studying the map of Himalayan mountains, sooner or later!