Cyan Inc. has become more and more active. They’ve had a successful Kickstarter for their current game in development, Firmament, as well as released a Cyan Ventures game called Zed. But wait, that’s not all they’re working on…
Cyan has become well known for their magical world building and storytelling capabilities. Now that they have had another round of successes, they want to “pay it forward.” Cyan Ventures is a new branch with the aim of helping independent game developers. Zed was Cyan’s first “venture”; now they are working with Numinous Games to bring you Area Man Lives.
Area Man Lives
Area Man Lives is an immersive Virtual Reality journey through a completely interactive world. Not only do you wear the VR goggles and headphones, with the use of what are called “monkey gloves” you will be able to interact with objects within the game, and through a voice recognition set up be able to speak directly to the characters of the story.
In the story, the player becomes a small town radio station DJ. Interact with the various characters while you unravel the mystery that entangles the comic book-like world.
New technology combines with good old fashioned storytelling to create a unique Virtual Reality experience.
To learn more:
- Numinous Games: numinousgames.com
- Cyan Ventures: cyan.com/ventures
War Stories
Rand Miller, owner and CEO of Cyan Inc., appeared on the YouTube series War Stories. Ars Technica (Latin derived name for Art of Technology) is a channel dedicated to the world of technology and gaming. War Stories features interviews with pioneering game developers about the struggles they faced and hurdles they overcame in order to bring their visions to life, and deliver their now famous games to the masses.
During the interview, Miller discusses how Myst, Cyan’s first major adventure game, almost didn’t work at all. If you are interested in the behind the scenes of computer game making and/or just love the worlds that Cyan builds, this interview is fascinating and worth a watch. Additionally, there is now an extended video of the full interview.
Rand on War Stories – DPGazette.com/randwarstories
Extended interview with Rand – DPGazette.com/randextended
Cyan R&D
As a further bonus, Cyan’s YouTube channel recently uploaded a small behind the scenes video of one of their developers’ research and building engines that will aid Firmament’s production.
Check out the short video here: DPGazette.com/cyanrd
