EDIT: I now know The Dark Swarm has been around since 2007 - sorry about that. My thoughts are still valid, though 
Maybe Frictional decided to finally bring The Dark Swarm to life?
So, Frictional Games are releasing a new horror game! Drinks all around - this might be a really good one.
Judging by the teaser website they've released so far (nextfrictionalgame.com), we're dealing with a sci-fi horror game. So far so good
This is all the official information we've seen so far, and with the progress bar on the teaser site nearing completion, I assume we can expect some sort of announcement within the day. However, until then I'd like to share a few more tidbits I've discovered.
(This first one is pretty well-known already)
The teaser website contains garbled, cut up text that when reasssembled form the words "COGITO ERGO SUM". A well-known quote from René Descartes, this piece of philiosophy is often used when dealing with questions regarding artificial life and intelligence. AI - I think, therefore I am.
After seeing this, I attempted to use this phrase as a password for a few frictional sites without success. However, after on a whim pinging port ranges of the teaser website, this interesting little snippet was revealed:
An smtp address, pointing to horror.thedarkswarm.com? That sounds suspiciously like a game name to me. Couldn't hurt to check it out, so I hit the address up in my browser. Sure enough, the website is live and kicking, although not very interesting.
Right then. Nothing directly visible, but what about the page source?
Ah-ha. The website tells us it's a "The Dark Swarm, Frictional Games media hub". It also tells us to enjoy the scary game (will do, Frictional. Will do.) There's also some tags there that, while not very surprising, reveal a few things about the game. If the tags are to be trusted, we're dealing with a game containing:
Thinking back, this is essentially what Amnesia: The Dark Descent was. Newtonian physics puzzles, first person view, horror to the end of time and a fair bit of 3D graphics, if I recall. Don't change a winning concept, I suppose.
There's also some actual game code on the page (function.Swarm(), player(), swarm(), score()) that might be a red herring, but it could also mean a couple of things. Either the game is browser-based (yeah, fat chance), or there's a little teaser game being prepared. It could also be something else, but I'll leave that speculation to others.
The name itself could refer to a bunch of things, such as evil networked AI, hivemind aliens, bug swarms, Collectors and/or Reapers (although I think we've dismissed that claim). I hope Frictional moves away from the standard "evil AI" trope to be perfectly honest - it's getting a little old. Of course, if it serves the story and works I can't really complain - it is, of course, not even certain if this is the way the game is going yet.
So, The Dark Swarm, anyone? A new game from the creators of Amnesia: The Dark Descent which is still damn scary, even though its sequel developed by The Chinese Room didn't quite live up to the family name, is on its way, and we're beginning to scrape the surface of what the game is.
You've read my thoughts on this - now let's see yours ^.=.^
Maybe Frictional decided to finally bring The Dark Swarm to life?So, Frictional Games are releasing a new horror game! Drinks all around - this might be a really good one.
Judging by the teaser website they've released so far (nextfrictionalgame.com), we're dealing with a sci-fi horror game. So far so good
This is all the official information we've seen so far, and with the progress bar on the teaser site nearing completion, I assume we can expect some sort of announcement within the day. However, until then I'd like to share a few more tidbits I've discovered.
(This first one is pretty well-known already)
The teaser website contains garbled, cut up text that when reasssembled form the words "COGITO ERGO SUM". A well-known quote from René Descartes, this piece of philiosophy is often used when dealing with questions regarding artificial life and intelligence. AI - I think, therefore I am.
After seeing this, I attempted to use this phrase as a password for a few frictional sites without success. However, after on a whim pinging port ranges of the teaser website, this interesting little snippet was revealed:
An smtp address, pointing to horror.thedarkswarm.com? That sounds suspiciously like a game name to me. Couldn't hurt to check it out, so I hit the address up in my browser. Sure enough, the website is live and kicking, although not very interesting.
Right then. Nothing directly visible, but what about the page source?
<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.01//EN"
"http://www.w3.org/TR/html4/strict.dtd">
The Dark Swarm - Frictional Games
body{
background: #505050;
text-align: center;
margin: 0px;
padding: 0px;
}
#title{
width: 600px;
margin-left: auto;
margin-right: auto;
position: relative;
top: 25px;
padding: 5px;
color: #909090;
}
#field{
background: #909090;
width: 600px;
height: 600px;
border: 1px dotted #000000;
margin-left: auto;
margin-right: auto;
position: relative;
top: 50px;
padding: 5px;
}
#swarm{
color: #000000;
font-wheight: bold;
width: 50px;
height: 50px;
border: 1px solid #606060;
position: absolute;
top: 20px;
left: 20px;
line-height:50%;
}
#player{
color: #000090;
font-wheight: bold;
width: 10px;
height: 10px;
border: 1px solid #606060;
bottom: 20px;
right: 20px;
position: absolute;
line-height:90%;
}
#score{
width: 600px;
margin-left: auto;
margin-right: auto;
position: relative;
top: 50px;
padding: 5px;
color: #909090;
}
<!--
var bActive = true;
var sswarm = " ...... \n ........ \n..........\n ........ \n ...... ";
var splayer = "*";
var ipoints = 0;
var iticker = 0;
function Swarm(){
/*2 7
1 8
0 9
1 8
2 7*/
document.getElementById("swarm").innerHTML = sswarm;
}
function Player(){
document.getElementById("player").innerHTML = splayer;
}
function Score(){
if(iticker % 10 == 0) ipoints++;
document.getElementById("score").innerHTML = ipoints;
}
function Update(){
iticker++;
Swarm();
Player();
Score();
if(bActive) setTimeout('Update()', 100);
}
window.onload = function(){
Update();
};
//-->
I'm a work in progress, currently not playable.
"http://www.w3.org/TR/html4/strict.dtd">
The Dark Swarm - Frictional Games
body{
background: #505050;
text-align: center;
margin: 0px;
padding: 0px;
}
#title{
width: 600px;
margin-left: auto;
margin-right: auto;
position: relative;
top: 25px;
padding: 5px;
color: #909090;
}
#field{
background: #909090;
width: 600px;
height: 600px;
border: 1px dotted #000000;
margin-left: auto;
margin-right: auto;
position: relative;
top: 50px;
padding: 5px;
}
#swarm{
color: #000000;
font-wheight: bold;
width: 50px;
height: 50px;
border: 1px solid #606060;
position: absolute;
top: 20px;
left: 20px;
line-height:50%;
}
#player{
color: #000090;
font-wheight: bold;
width: 10px;
height: 10px;
border: 1px solid #606060;
bottom: 20px;
right: 20px;
position: absolute;
line-height:90%;
}
#score{
width: 600px;
margin-left: auto;
margin-right: auto;
position: relative;
top: 50px;
padding: 5px;
color: #909090;
}
<!--
var bActive = true;
var sswarm = " ...... \n ........ \n..........\n ........ \n ...... ";
var splayer = "*";
var ipoints = 0;
var iticker = 0;
function Swarm(){
/*2 7
1 8
0 9
1 8
2 7*/
document.getElementById("swarm").innerHTML = sswarm;
}
function Player(){
document.getElementById("player").innerHTML = splayer;
}
function Score(){
if(iticker % 10 == 0) ipoints++;
document.getElementById("score").innerHTML = ipoints;
}
function Update(){
iticker++;
Swarm();
Player();
Score();
if(bActive) setTimeout('Update()', 100);
}
window.onload = function(){
Update();
};
//-->
I'm a work in progress, currently not playable.
Ah-ha. The website tells us it's a "The Dark Swarm, Frictional Games media hub". It also tells us to enjoy the scary game (will do, Frictional. Will do.) There's also some tags there that, while not very surprising, reveal a few things about the game. If the tags are to be trusted, we're dealing with a game containing:
- A first person view
- Newtonian physics
- PC Game
- 3D graphics
- Adventure horror
Thinking back, this is essentially what Amnesia: The Dark Descent was. Newtonian physics puzzles, first person view, horror to the end of time and a fair bit of 3D graphics, if I recall. Don't change a winning concept, I suppose.
There's also some actual game code on the page (function.Swarm(), player(), swarm(), score()) that might be a red herring, but it could also mean a couple of things. Either the game is browser-based (yeah, fat chance), or there's a little teaser game being prepared. It could also be something else, but I'll leave that speculation to others.
The name itself could refer to a bunch of things, such as evil networked AI, hivemind aliens, bug swarms, Collectors and/or Reapers (although I think we've dismissed that claim). I hope Frictional moves away from the standard "evil AI" trope to be perfectly honest - it's getting a little old. Of course, if it serves the story and works I can't really complain - it is, of course, not even certain if this is the way the game is going yet.
So, The Dark Swarm, anyone? A new game from the creators of Amnesia: The Dark Descent which is still damn scary, even though its sequel developed by The Chinese Room didn't quite live up to the family name, is on its way, and we're beginning to scrape the surface of what the game is.
You've read my thoughts on this - now let's see yours ^.=.^
