Back in November 1991, the Commodore Amiga and the Atari ST received what many still consider one of the most important games ever made: Another World, also known as Out of This World in some regions. The adventure of Lester Knight Chaykin saw multiple ports and two anniversary editions, and it was unmistakably ahead of its time. Fortunately, its creator, Éric Chahi, documented a large part of the creative process, including the items used in rotoscoping and the manual tweaks to the animation. Would you like to see it?
Another World was one of the games I played on my first PC, and one of the first I managed to finish... although not without help. Its zero-tolerance approach to error made it particularly brutal, and it's common to hear that some players gave up halfway through. Once you know every detail, Another World lasts no more than 25 minutes, and that might be the only legitimate criticism at launch. But its overall record is undoubtedly positive, and it still deserves our attention today.
A One-Man Project
Perhaps the most surprising thing is that Another World was the work of a single person, Éric Chahi, with the soundtrack left to Jean-François Freitas. The animation, the character's movements, and the precise use of cinematic scenes and effects turned Another World into a source of inspiration for other fabulous projects, starting with its spiritual successor, Flashback. The good news is that Chahi took the time to document his development process, and today we can enjoy it in a short but excellent behind-the-scenes feature:
The Art of Rotoscoping
Chahi used rotoscoping — the same technique that made Prince of Persia possible — to reproduce the animations, including central ones like the Ferrari 288 GTO, Lester's entry into the laboratory, and the gesture when he opens a can of soda. Chahi still keeps all the items used in those sessions: the toy Ferrari, the empty can, and the replica of Lester's weapon. He also shares some juicy details about the animation, the advanced use of polygons, and his editor written in GFA BASIC for scene design and scripting. The game's engine (rendering and music) was written in assembly.
A Legacy Worth Playing
In other words, Another World is an absolute classic. Chahi was only 22 years old when he started working on it, after having poured his talent into another unforgettable adventure from Delphine Software, Future Wars. It was two years of a vision that more than once was close to not being completed, with solitary sessions of 16 hours a day in some cases. And it was worth every second. Would you like to play Another World today? Several online stores offer it at very low prices, or you can search for the original on the Internet Archive.
