Split Realities [PSX SAT – Cancelled]

Split Realities [PSX SAT – Cancelled]

Split Realities is a cancelled 2D side scrolling action game that was in development by Funcom for the Playstation and Saturn. The game looked a lot like Flashback and it’s possible that the gameplay would have been similar to Delphine Software’s title. Split Realities was canned for some development issues, but its core concept, setting and characters were reused to build “The Longest Journey”, a Point and Click adventure released by Funcom in 1999 for PC.

As we can read in an interview with Funcom’s Ragnar Tornquist on Adventure Gamers:

How did you come up with the concept for TLJ? Were you guys just writing down ideas when someone suddenly cried out “Eureka!” ?

If I remember correctly, I think it was “Geronimo!”. Okay, that’s not really how it happened. The core idea of TLJ—two worlds, one of magic, one of science, and a Guardian to keep watch of the Balance between them—was actually the setting for a platform game (of all things) that Funcom was developing at that time, called Split Realities. I wasn’t involved with that project at all, but when for various reasons the game was canned, the lead artist, Didrik Tollefsen, wanted to take the core concept and build a new game around it. Which is where I entered into the picture. We sat down for quite a while, played around with the setting and the characters and the story, and the end result of that process was the beginning of The Longest Journey. There are only little bits and pieces left of the original idea, but that’s the nature of any good game design; it grows and changes with the people working on it. At this point, it’s difficult to say who came up with what, but it’s really been a cooperative process between me and the lead artist, with constant input from the whole team. So, no, it was never “Eureka!” It was more of an organic process.

Celine and Rod_Wod were able to find few Split Realities screens in CD Consoles magazine issue #11 and other old magazines.

Images:


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monokoma




10 thoughts on “Split Realities [PSX SAT – Cancelled]

    1. monokoma Post author

      I think i have to organize better all the scans that Rod_Wod gave to me, as i saved them at random and now i have a big chaos in that directory :(

  1. LastNinja2

    The Longest Journey is a superb game, never knew it was based on a cancelled game for PSX-Saturn though

  2. ToAks

    Calling this one a game ala OnEscapee and Flashback is a huge mistake, this game got canned because it really wasn’t anygood at all and it felt like a really cheap’oversion of the ones mentioned above.

    as a small hint, anyone recall the dreadfull Dragonheart Fire & steel, yeah i thought so…. its the same studio at around the same time, i should know as i was there :p

    I am very happy that this game got canned and TLJ was created instead.

    1. monokoma Post author

      Thanks a lot for the info ToAks :) If you have any video from this lost project, we’ll be happy to preserve them in the U64 archive!

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