Welcome back, Ulukai

Belgium suddenly ceased to be the land of chocolates and fries, when Namurian Appeal released Outcast, in the summer of 1999. And what a great summer that was. Final Fantasy 7 PC completely glued me to the pc during the summer of 1998, but 1999 was the year I discovered lush forests, enchanting marshes, dangerous creatures, foul and cunning villains, bristiling towns and…the Talan. It was an experience I shall never forget. Every single aspect of the game was perfect. Period. Be sure to browse our Satellite dedicated to Outcast justto see what I mean. Well, it's almost 3 years later and Appeal is now working on Outcast's successor: Outcast 2: The Lost Paradise.

While Outcast was critically acclaimed, most publicity was invoked due to the implementation of voxels in Outcast. Voxels, a technology first introduced in the Comanche games from Novalogic, were quite a complex technology that was able to depict large, expansive and organic surroundings. In 1999, the calculative power of pc's was just not powerful enough to render such large spaces with voxels, let alone polygons. For this reason, Outcast ran a under a maximum resolution of 512x384. While this resolution was incredibly demanding back then, the graphics were, since they also didn't support hardware rendering, a bit blurry and choppy, certainly to todays standards. The technology that was behind Outcast was advanced though, since Outcast could run in higher resolutions, but this had been removed in the final debug. In all other fields, Outcast excelled. The AI was one of the most AI ever, using the unique GAIA system. In short, this is an agent system where these agents have great adaptive capabilites. This made AI unpredictible, yet logical and never dumb. Enemies for example would hardly fire in each others' line of fire.

Outcast 2 boasts an entire new core technology, called "Himalaya". Concerning AI, the new system will feature an improved GAIA system, but graphically, things will change dramatically. With the advent of next-gen consoles like the PS2 and X-Box, and monstrous graphics cards like the GeForce 4 series, Outcast 2 pulls out all the stops and will boast full polygonal 3D graphics. Speaking in numbers, Outcast 2 can render 150000 to 200000 polygons per frame, and will have standard models with a polygon count of 8000 (UT2 will have models with 3000 polygons). More complex models like animal models (the twon-ha are back!) will have up to 5 times more polygons. This incredible complexity allows improved finger animation, facial animation and lip-syncing. It is still unknown whether or not Outcast 2 will use Direct X 8 effects. Appeal keeps the option open. Screenshots show that there might be truth to the impresive numbers. What's also amazing is that Appeal has kept the principle of open spaces, and the polygonal engine will not restrict the largeness of the scenery.
In the design fase, many sketches and drawings were made. While Outcast 1 already was a pinnacle of design and atmosphere, Outcast 2 goes one step beyond and is based on even more artistic impressions. The world is nearing Morrowind proportions. Details on which places the player is going to visit remain shrouded in mystery, but is it said that entirely new places will be featured in Outcast 2. Unfortunately, the female island will probably not be in Outcast 2 ^-^.
The story is also largely unknown, but one thing thing is for sure, Cutter Slade will be back, as the Ulukai, but in Outcast 2 he will be less explicitly worshipped as in Outcast 1. The return of Wolfe is also suggested, but official information is still lacking. The few details that have been released or have leaked are that Outcast 2 will take place some time after Outcast 1, and that you will help the Talan fight an alien agressor.
Concerning gameplay, Outcast 1 was a brilliant piece of software. While Outcast was a third-person game, the player could szitch to a first-person camera, with a pan restriction. Nevertheless, this was a huge plus. The system of contextual action was also great, and weapon and gadget use simply made Outcast one of the most fun shooters to date. So many combinations were possible, and this combined with the outstanding AI, created some darn Kodak-moments. The strength of Outcast lay in the impressive general gameplay, but also the storytelling and the many subplots. This is where Outcast 2 will slightly differ from its predecessor. Outcast 2 will have a further evolved action system, with heavier accent on stealth. You are much less the mighty Ulukai fighting primitive beings with rods that emit fireballs, but more an efficient undercover wanderer. Your weaponry will also be less exotic. Appeal has bought dummy versions of current rifles (MP5, M4,…) to model Outcast 2's weaponry. While the guns are more futuristic, you should expect a Boomer Gun, well, at least not in that form.
Franck Sauer himself has confirmed that the amount of subplots will be reduced. I just hope that the story won't be too accessible, because it was the complexity and great plottwists of the story and the subplots that drove Outcast, but Appeal is determined to make Outcast 2 not only a worthy successor to its predecessor, but also a game that anyone can play and enjoy. And that's a good thing, I guess.
The music will once again be performed by the Moscow Symphony Orchestra, and Lennie Moore has been rehired as composer. This is truly great, since Outcast featured one of the best pc game soundtracks ever. The classical and african theme was incredibly suitable, and maximized the atmospherical potential of the game. Concerning voice acting, nothing is certain yet. Some questions have raised on the German dubber of Bruce Willis resigning a contract for the German version, but this is pure speculation. Whether or not Doug Freese, responsible for the outstanding dialog in Outcast, will be contacted again, is also not certain. Bottom lin is that the levels and technology aren't fully operational yet, and that the story hasn't molded completely.

EP sez:

Since Outcast 2 is still relatively far away from release, there are few ingame facts known. The last ingame screenshots were PS2 screenshots dating from Fall 2001. Brushing the technology, theoretical performance and released screenshots, Outcast 2 is well on it's way to become a graphical phenomenon. Gameplay and storywise very little is known, but Outcast 2 will probably have a less subplot pool, but a sronger central storyline with improved interface and contextual action.
Note: Appeal has not answered an inquiry from us for more details concerning Outcast 2, which is of course understandable, but still quite a shame. Be sure to check the Appeal site frequently though: artwork is being released at relatively accurate intervals.

Outcast 2 will be released for both Playstation 2 and PC. Both versions are developed continueously. Appeal has, sorrowfully, reported to suspend production. Release date is unknown.

(c) 2002 Erwin's Pages
Erwin "Reaper" Husin

Links

> EPS: Outcast
> Outcast 1 Review

> Appeal