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On these pages, you will find journal entries and updates from the development team, discussing daily activities pertaining to their game creation activities. Check back often, as we will try to update them as regularily as possible.
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| 29th July, 2007 - Chris |
Al Emmo German Localization Released
A fully translated German version of Al Emmo is now available for purchase. The release contains fully translated speech, text, and dialogue. The German version of Al Emmo can be purchased here from Amazon.de
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| 4th November, 2006 - Chris |
Digital Download Version Released!
Himalaya Studios has partnered with TellTale Games to release a downloadable version of Al Emmo for the lower price of $19.99. Download the game, activate it, and you can be playing in minutes!
This version includes both subtitled and un-subtitled cutscenes which would not fit on the CD version, and also contains a few minor bug fixes.
The downloadable version of "Al Emmo and the Lost Dutchman's Mine" is available now at the TellTale Games website!
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| 27th September, 2006 - Chris |
Contest Winners Notified
Himalaya Studios has announced the official winners of the "Al Emmo" Wild Website Giveaway Contest! Winners were privately notified via email, so be sure to check your email and see if you submitted a winning entry! Contest winners will receive a collector's edition of the "Al Emmo" game, as well as a signed game poster and collector's soundtrack. Winners who choose to send us photos of themselves with their prize package will be featured on the official "Al Emmo" website in the future. Thanks to everyone who participated in the "Al Emmo" Wild Website Giveaway Contest!
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| 23rd September, 2006 - Chris |
European Sales Outlet
European customers can now order Al Emmo directly from Germany at Gamepad.de. This is a great option for European customers who want to avoid international shipping costs and waiting times. A German walkthrough for Al Emmo is also available at Gamepad.de.
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| 6th September, 2006 - Britney and Chris |
AL EMMO HAS SHIPPED!
The big day has finally arrived! Himalaya Studios is proud to announce that on
Wednesday, September 6th, 2006, after several years in development, "Al Emmo and
the Lost Dutchman's Mine" has gone gold and shipping has officially commenced.
For those who pre-ordered the game, you should be receiving your copies shortly.
For those who have yet to place an order, it's high time to mosey on over and
check out our new online store:
http://store.himalayaforums.com.
There, you will find an entire treasure trove of adventure gaming goodness,
including a limited-time offer Collector's Edition Game, Soundtracks, Signed
Fine Art Prints, and more!
For anybody who has yet to see the official Al Emmo website, or for those who
have completely forgotten what the game entails, be sure to take a peek at
www.AlEmmo.com.
We've recently updated the site with tons of new goodies, such as previously
unseen concept art, a "making of" movie, wallpapers, and other cool additions.
Once you receive your copy of "Al Emmo and the Lost Dutchman's Mine" and get the
opportunity to play the game, we'd LOVE to hear about your gaming experiences on
our forums at http://www.himalayaforums.com.
We also ask that you please spread the word of the game to all your family,
friends, and basically anyone else who you think would revel in the wonderful
world of classic adventure gaming!
To everyone who has supported our mission to assist in the revival of
classic-style adventure gaming over the years, we just wanted to thank you again
for believing in us. We are now happy to present you with the results of all of
our hard work. We're looking forward to hearing about your experiences in the
Land of Anozira!
Happy gaming!
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| 19th August, 2006 - Chris |
Master CD Finalized!
Hooray! The Al Emmo master CD image was successfully submitted to our publishing partner for duplication. "Al Emmo and the Lost Dutchman's Mine" is finally hurtling down the home stretch and pre-orders are slated to commence shipping in late August/early September.
Yet more good news. We've managed to slash our shipping & handling costs down to a fraction of what they previously were! Domestic shipping is now $4 and International shipping is $8 per item. Customers who already pre-ordered will have the difference refunded into their PayPal account.
So you desperately want a copy of this game? Well, why not try getting your hands on one for free! That's right, we're giving away 50 Collector's Edition packs (signed by the designers), complete with a lithographic game poster (signed by the artist), and a soundtrack CD (signed by the composers). All you have to do is tell us why YOU deserve to win a free copy - it's that simple! So what's the hold up, partner? Get cracking and check out the contest details at www.AlEmmo.com.
We'd like to extend a huge thank you to everybody who has supported us by pre-ordering the game so far! In a few short weeks, you'll have Al Emmo in your hot little hands (the game, not the guy!), and can experience classic adventure gaming once more.
To keep up with the latest news about "Al Emmo and the Lost Dutchman's Mine", please sign up to our newsletter from the main page of this site. Five lucky subscribers will also be picked to win a copy of the game upon its release.
Finally, Adventure Classic Gaming has released an article on Independent Game Development which Himalaya Studios participated in. You can read all about it Here!
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| 28th June, 2006 - Britney |
Demo Release and Website Launch!
Adventure Gamers has exclusively released the Al Emmo and the Lost Dutchman's Mine demo! Be sure to download it at Adventure Gamers At midnight tonight, the official Al Emmo and the Lost Dutchman's Mine website, beautifully designed by the talented Eriq Chang, will be launched! The Himalaya Store is also open for pre-orders!
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| 27th April, 2006 - Britney |
German Ezine Releases Al Emmo Preview
Adventuretreff.de, a German site dedicated to adventure gaming, recently released an Al Emmo and the Lost Dutchman's Mine preview. Britney and Stijn met up with the journalist Jan Schneider in Germany to give him a personal demonstration of the game. He wrote an overview of what he saw, listing many of the strong points of the game. The article is a must read for anyone who speaks German, and can be found at the following link:
AdventureTreff Article in German
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| 6th March, 2005 - Britney |
Beta Testing Team Announced
After receiving literally hundreds of applications from top notch candidates, we have finally selected our final team of beta testers for "Al Emmo and the Lost Dutchman's Mine". Testers, chosen based on their work history, positive skill sets, demographics, and enthusiasm include:
Michael Anderson, Alex Asp, Rick Beiswanger, Merlijn van den Bos, Robert Bray, Derek Chiu, Derrick Collins, Amitai Elster, Stephanie Femrite, Patrick Flanagan, Len Green, Diane Hidy, J. Bryce Hidysmith, J. Evie Hidysmith, Chris Martin, Joshua McMillin, Don McPherson, Daniel Nicholas Milano, Yael Mintz, Werner Mollentze, Margie Novak, Claudius Orsmond, J. Tony Smith, Deborah Stone, Markus Strauss, Sean Swartzwelder, Chuck Tinsley, Edward Wyatt, and Michelle Yeung
Beta testing, the final stage of game development, commenced last week. Thank you again to everyone who applied, and congratulations to the chosen testers!
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| 2nd February, 2005 - Chris |
Beta testing submissions closed
Thanks to everyone who applied for a beta testing position for "Al Emmo and the Lost Dutchman's Mine". We are no longer taking applications, and we will inform the successful beta testers of their selection within the coming weeks.
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| 22nd January, 2006 - Chris |
WANTED: Beta testers
After several years of production, the end of the tracks are in sight! Al Emmo, the hero of Himalaya Studios’ adventure game "Al Emmo and the Lost Dutchman's Mine", is ready to tackle anything the Wild West can hurl at him -- anything except for bugs. It’s our duty to track down and eliminate these pesky showstoppers. We’d ask the local exterminator to aid us in our search, but his insistence on using "force" in the form of explosives has prompted us to look elsewhere. Therefore, we’ve decided to invite a small group of qualified, daring, and responsible individuals to join us in the arid region of Anozira to embark on a bug hunt!
Himalaya Studios is currently on the search for qualified beta testers to help us track down these bugs. You may be exactly who we are looking for!
Desired Qualifications:
- Do you have a tendency to interact with everyone and everything in an environment?
- Do you tend to play a game in a way it’s NOT meant to be played?
- Do you like to break things?
- Do you feel a need to correct other peoples spelling and grammer? Did you find the spelling and grammar mistake in the previous sentence?
If you answered yes to most of the previous questions and would like a coveted position on our beta testing team, please complete the following application:
Application:
- First and Last Name
- Date of Birth
- Your System Specs
- Education and/or Job History
- Favorite Game
- Why you’d like to beta test our upcoming release
- Any additional information about yourself that you feel we should know
Please email your completed application to beta@himalayastudios.com with "Beta Testing Application" as the subject by February 1st, 2006.
Chosen beta testers will be contacted, and the final team will be announced on the official Himalaya Studios website. Beta testers will be granted access to our official beta testing forums, and will be responsible for reporting spelling/grammar errors, glitches, crashes, and design oversights. This process of reporting and bug fixing will continue until the game is deemed suitable for public release. All beta testers will receive a free copy of "Al Emmo and the Lost Dutchman’s Mine" after its release as well as a spot in the game credits.
Best of luck, and see you on the frontier!
The Himalaya Team
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| 21st November, 2005 - Britney |
ADOC2005 Adventure Conference
The developers of Himalaya Studios, LLC will be participating in an online conference on Monday, November 21st, 2005. Fans will have the opportunity to ask questions about both the company, and its upcoming release, "Al Emmo and the Lost Dutchman’s Mine". Be certain to join in the discussion at Adventure Europe Forums and download a very special and exciting gift from the dev team, hosted for only a limited time at Adventure-Europe!
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| 30th September, 2005 - Britney |
AdventureDot Article Released
We had the pleasure of meeting with Josh, a journalist from AdventureDot, a few times over the past several months. Joining us in the recording studio, and then meeting up again at a swank Phoenix coffee shop, Josh recorded several hours of conversation which he condensed into a writeup about our game and team.
Be sure to check out that article over at AdventureDot.
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| 15th September, 2005 - Britney |
Game Submitted to IGF Competition and Nearing Completion
It’s been an exhausting but very productive few months behind the scenes at Himalaya Studios! Development team members from around the world all congregated in America for the final crunch to game completion. After getting all voice overs recorded for our upcoming game, it took several months of nonstop work, 18 hours a day 7 days a week, to split the recordings into individual lines and lip synch the game in its entirety. Basically, every line of recorded dialogue had to be broken down phoneme for phoneme and synched with an appropriate mouth frame that represents the sound.
After voice recordings and lip synching were taken care of, we worked overtime bringing the game to an alpha version to enter into the Independent Games Festival. Having presented trophies at the previous Game Developers Choice Awards, it would be a real treat to be on stage again, but as the recipient of an award this time. Please keep your fingers crossed in hopes that this year’s judges will have a soft spot for the adventure genre!
As of right now, only a handful of bug fixes, music, and minor artwork tasks remain. The 3D cutscenes are nearing completion, and should be prepared within the next two weeks. The 2D comic book cutscenes are completed and scripted into the game. Our talented artist, Eriq Chang, is working on a box cover and manual. Before that, he worked on a piece of room art for the end game, and the results of his efforts were absolutely stunning. The amount of detail going into this game, from writing, sound effects, music, background artwork, character animations, dialogue portraits, scripting, movies, and more, is absolutely unreal.
We are hoping to have a beta version of the game available in house within the next couple weeks, meaning, shortly, we should have a completed product ready for eager players. In the meantime, here is a screenshot to whet your appetite!
Screenshot of the Eerie, Underground Mine
We are also excited to have John Bell, our top notch voice actor, and one of the "Four Fat Chicks" visit headquarters at the end of the month! Stay tuned for more updates.
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| 22nd May, 2005 - Britney and Chris |
Operation VO a success
What an exciting week! Recording the 24 character voices for Al Emmo and the Lost Dutchman's Mine was a daunting yet rewarding task. Starting the 2nd week of May at the Salt Mine Studios in Mesa, Arizona, we worked around the clock, organizing various tasks such as preparing scripts for the voice actors, recording, and mixing.
It was a blast working with such a diverse group of talented individuals. The recording sessions could not have gone any smoother and everyone recorded their lines in a very efficient and professional manner. Most talent was scouted from the Valley of the Sun (Arizona), but we could not pass up the services of one very talented John Bell from Alabama. John will record the immense amount of Narrator dialogue in the game. With over 4500 descriptive narrator lines, John is flying through them at lightning speed, maintaining a consistent level of high quality. His deep, witty and cynical tone strongly compliments Daniel Stacey's screenplay and provides perfect comic timing against the dweeby voice of Al. Daniel Stacey has ensured that this game doesn't skimp on textual descriptions; there are many hidden lines to be discovered and descriptions are included for EVERYTHING that can be clicked on. John Bell's recordings are very reminiscent of Gary Owens, exceeding even our own high expectations and will surely be a treat for all Himalaya fans.
Click the following link to hear a sound sample of the Narrator:
Narrator Voice Sample
Below, you will find some photographs of our week in the recording studio:
Say 'Allo to Al Emmo
Every Dog has its Day
Frankie goes to Anozira
Hm, I Wonder What this Button Does?
Keith Brews up some top notch voices
Alicia Brewer as the Icy Ivanna
Rick "Johnny Kane" Dyer
The Passion of the Chris
Earth Unearthed
The One and Only-Our Talented Audio Director!
Heyyy, Baby!
The Antagonistic Antonio
This Guy Got FedUp
Me, Myself, and Renee
Hard at Work
Chris Chilling with the Self-Proclaimed Studio Wife
Also, be sure to check out the cool photographs from our
meeting with AdventureGamers.com at E3 and Brit and Chris at the grand entrance.
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| 30th April, 2005 - Britney and Chris |
Voice Actors Selected
Congratulations to the actors who have been chosen for character roles in Al Emmo and the Lost Dutchman's Mine. After an arduous selection process, we'd like to congratulate the following successful applicants: John Bell, Alicia Brewer, Keith Brewer, Jim Coates, Rick Dyer, Dan Garza, Christian Hutcheson, Kelly Hutchison, Michael Longyear, Frankie Mae Richards, Rene Sclimm, Jonathan Standiford, Tony Walker, Earth Warren, and Seth Rubin.
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| 16th April, 2005 - Britney |
Voice Over Auditions at the Yuma Ballroom, ASU main
Thank you to all the talented voice actors who came out to audition for Al Emmo and the Lost Dutchman’s Mine! Opening Arizona State University’s Yuma Ballroom doors at noon, we were amazed by the sheer number of actors who flooded the audition hall and the high quality of their performances. Working nonstop until closing time at 8pm, we had over 2.2GB of sound files by night’s end—that equates to nearly 300 voice samples!
A special thanks goes to audio director Shane Wegner of Flashbang Studios, LLC for his tireless effort in recording every applicant. Additionally, a huge thanks goes out to my good friend, Jonathan Manley. Not only did he drive down from Payson to support the event, he also did an excellent job keeping the auditions running smoothly, answering questions, and offering awesome service.
By the time the day was over, it is safe to say we had at least three perfect applicants for each role, and dozens of additional takes which were wonderful and could potentially work for each character. Overall, everybody did a fantastic job, and we were impressed with the amount of talent that showed up.
We are now faced with the overwhelming task of sifting through the auditions and making final voice actor decisions which will be announced by the 30th of April. Successful applicants will be notified at that time via email or phone, and our choices will be announced on the main page of this site shortly thereafter.
Once we have signed the chosen actors onto the team, we will be spending a week at the Salt Mine Studios in Mesa, Arizona recording the lines for the game. Company cofounder Chris Warren from Australia, and dev team member Stijn van Empel from the Netherlands, will be flying in to spend a week co-directing the voice over sessions.
Once again, thank you to everyone who participated in auditions—overall, it was an overwhelming success! We are proud to be able to provide awesome and highly professional voice overs for our upcoming release. We have set a new standard in development and have confidence you are going to enjoy the results!
Photos from the auditions:
Photo 1
Photo 2
Photo 3
Photo 4
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| 8th April 2005 - Britney and Chris |
Lend us your ears (and your voices too!)
Have you ever wanted to BE a character in a computer game? Well, here's your chance! During the month of April, we are scouting out talented voice actors to participate in an adventure game project. Once we have found the right people for the job, we will be spending a week in the studio, recording game dialogue.
Auditions will take place at Arizona State University in Tempe, Arizona. For more detailed information on auditions and a character list, please email brit@himalayastudios.com or call 602-262-1740 and leave your name, number, email (if applicable) and expressed interest. We will get back to you with information as soon as possible.
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| 1st April 2005 - Chris |
Preview at AdventureGamers.com
Al Emmo and the Lost Dutchman's Mine has been previewed at AdventureGamers.
Well, what are you waiting for, stranger? Mosey on over and read the latest on how the game's shaping up!
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| 7th March 2005 - Chris |
Game Developers Conference
This week, Britney will be attending the Game Developers Conference in San Francisco, CA. She will be presenting the 2005 Game Developers Choice Awards, and will also promote Al Emmo and the Lost Dutchman's Mine, demonstrating the latest build of the game.
The GDC attracts over 10,000 attendees and provides educational, networking, and business opportunities for game development professionals driving the $9 billion video game industry. It is the main global forum where programmers, artists, producers, game designers, audio professionals and others involved in the development of interactive games gather to exchange ideas, network, and shape the future of the industry.
Photos from the event:
Photo 1
Photo 2
Photo 3
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| 13th January 2005 - Britney and Chris |
Happy New Year!
The Annual Australia Summit meeting has finally come to a close.
Company cofounders Chris Warren and Britney Brimhall, as well as the brilliant game designer, Daniel Stacey (of King’s Quest II VGA fame), all met for two highly productive weeks in Melbourne, Victoria.
Working around the clock, (save for the random meal, walk, or sleep), numerous game related tasks were completed. The design of the game has been set in stone, meaning scripting can resume to completion.
Dialogue was edited extensively, animations were made, and schedules were created. Brainstorming sessions also ensued, and detailed storyboards were created as a team effort so that cutscenes can be initiated.
Polygonswild, an efficient and ambitious group of talented modelers and animators, solidified an alliance with the team which will lead to the creation of a number of highly anticipated cutscenes!
Chris Jones, the creator of the AGS game engine, has been working hard at tweaking his engine to ensure top notch performance. Chris has been testing some performance issues to greatly improve loading speed.
Eriq Chang, our skilled background concept artist, has created some amazingly fun and highly detailed interior room sketches. Each room takes approximately 48 hours to color digitally - the process is
painstaking and perfectionistic in nature, but the results are worth it and enhance the overall gaming experience.
Britney continues to work on the few remaining background edits, while Daniel will have all design related tasks completed by the 24th of January.
After two weeks of productivity, Britney headed out for her 20 hour flight home (to run in a full length marathon on no sleep with a spider bite and blister on her foot), and Daniel returned to South Australia
(to resume rigorous work on a book edit).
This is the year that Al Emmo and the Lost Dutchman’s Mine will be released, and what an exciting year it is! Within the next two months, Stijn, our scripter from the Netherlands,
and Chris, the company cofounder from Australia, will visit America for another summit meeting and up to three weeks of working as a team in one spot. Until then, back to work!
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| 14th November 2004 - Chris |
Exclusive Interview
The Himalaya Studios team have been interviewed in the latest version, Issue 19, of The Inventory ezine.
This interview is not to be missed! It includes behind the scenes information, further detail about the plot, and there's even a bunch of new screenshots to whet your appetite.
So make your way over to www.TheInventory.org and download your free copy today!
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| 16th October 2004 - Britney and Chris |
Welcome to our new home on the Net!
Lots of exciting things have been happening at Himalaya Studios as of late. Recently (August), we traveled on a real life adventure to Africa and have documented our entire journey in the Africa Adventure Journal - you definitely won't want to miss this fun-filled and exciting quest, crammed with life and death situations as well as the summiting of the largest free standing mountain in the World!
Additionally, incredible progress has been made on the game. With a completed design, thousands of frames of prerendered 3D animation, dozens of character portraits, and an unbelievable sound track, you'll definitely want to stick around and see the final outcome; the development team continues to work hard behind the scenes to make this game reality.
Once again, welcome to Himalaya Studios. We're excited to bring you a top-notch adventure game, rivaling your favorite classics, in the very near future!
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