3/08/01 - Latest News
More about Under Bree Hill
DarthCaeser @ 3:35 pm EST
I asked the folks from Under Bree Hill to tell us more about themselves and the game. Here's what they had to say: Those of us in the Bree Hill Gang have for a long time wanted a real ---THE BREE HILL GANG---
interactive Middle-Earth experience on the net. Even though the video game
world and its technologies have advanced in extraordinary ways, Tolkien's
world has remained relatively untouched. There was the Hobbit game way back
(remember that?) for the IBM, and the LOTR games for the Super Nintendo, but
on the whole those who wished to traverse ME had nothing to go on.
The Internet gave us more opportunities for interactive expansion. We've seen
a small number of sites that have made adventures for us Tolkienites to go
on, Virtual movies, chat rooms, etc. We decided to create something that
hasn't been seen yet, a kind of graphic adventure that resembles early
role-playing games.
Under Bree Hill took about three months of solid work to complete. We scoured
our photo libraries, got permissions from various sources, to create Bree and
the Chetland, which is our favorite spot in Tolkien's world. We didn't know
all that much about web design, so we learned as we went. Little animations
became possible through animated GIFS and timelines. Conversations with the
villagers was created through a complex web of "trails," different responses.
We tried to make the conversations a little more intelligent than most RPGs,
so the player wouldn't get frustrated. And of course the dozens of little
secrets and hidden items made the world more fun to explore, never knowing
who you were going to run into. The time in which the game takes place is
very important. Emails that come in from various travelers make guesses as to
the exact moment in Middle-Earth's history. Many get it right: it takes place
right after Gandalf left Bree to consult with Saruman, leaving a note with
Barliman for Frodo.
We've now gotten many responses from the game, and are quite pleased that so
many are enjoying it. The most common questions we get are, "How to I get the
key to room 107?" and "when will more be added?" The answer to the second
question is that we are all very busy and would love to add on more when time
allows. It's a very long and laborious task to program different scenarios,
but on the whole fulfilling.
Many thanks to everyone who has visited, and enjoy a smoke on a hobbit pipe
on us.