Labyrinth: Origin (Game)

Labyrinth is the the first full length game currently being developed by Affinity Games and is the first installment in the Labyrinth (Series). The game was officially announced August 2013.

The game is currently being developed however the first segment of the game known as the Prelude is currently in alpha.

Versions for the Xbox 360, Xbox One, PlayStation 3 and Playstation 4 are not currently planned, however if the first game is well received, they will be explored and ported if applicable.

The game does not inherently contain DRM, any rights management will be supplied by the chosen distribution network such as Steam. The game does not support mods.

Development
Labyrinth has currently spent 10 months in development. See the Labyrinth Origin Development Tracker for more detailed information.

The game is a one man project, where the emphasis is on high quality 3D visuals and an interesting story. Several versions of the game have been scrapped before the final design was put into action October 2013.

As soon as the game direction was chosen, the art style was initially a realistic design, but with a cell shaded Sobel edge detection filter added later to give the game a stylised look.

The game was met with positive reaction when the initial pre-alpha demo was released with reviews and feedback citing the highly polished nature of the early game. However many disliked the new borderlands-style visual theme and so it was removed. The game now has a realistic style once more.

A new demo was released August 14th 2014 that features the same content as the previous but in an alpha state. Again, met with positive reaction.

The game uses the powerful UE3 Unreal Engine, with plans to transition to UE4 in the future.

System Requirements
Processor: Intel Pentium® D 2.8 GHz or AMD AthlonTM 64 X2 4400+ Video: NVIDIA® GeForce® 7800 GT or ATI Radeon™ X1950 Pro or better Memory: 1.5 GB RAM (2 GB required for Windows Vista®/Windows® 7 users Internet: Broadband Internet connection Display: 1024×768 absolute minimum display resolution
 * PC
 * OS: Windows® Vista®/Windows® 7 (Latest Service Packs) with DirectX® 9.0c
 * HD Space: 1 GB available HD space

Reccomended System Specifications

Processor: Intel® Core 2 Duo 2.4 GHz or AMD AthlonTM 64 X2 5600+ 2.8 GHz Memory: 2 GB RAM Video: NVIDIA® GeForce® 260 or ATI Radeon™ HD 4870 or better
 * PC
 * OS: Windows® 7/Windows® 8 (Latest Service Packs)

Plot
''The scene is dark, dirty. It is pitch black and you are scratching away at dirt... climbing clumsily... tired and weary. You cannot see a thing, but you know you are moving up through the earth, reaching for a surface...''

''You are too tired and confused, frightened to think straight... you just want to get out and leave your past behind you... but suddenly the dirt gives way, light bursts through into the vertical tunnel and a heavy mass of rubble and debris falls, carrying the you down with it.''

''You slam to the ground, smashing their skull on the cold floor... you feel peace... ''

You've lost all memory...

The game takes place within Aracto, an ancient Labyrinth built by a race known as the  Kalün. Lost, the player will fight to escape, but will discover their mysterious past and where exactly they are, all building up to a shocking conclusion.

Locations
Labyrinth takes place in a Labyrinth named Aracto and is comprised of a large, open cavern with several zones making up a wide variety of environments and opportunities for the player to advance to the surface - and thus - to safety.

The zones are:
 * The Halls of the Forgotten - The narrow, stone halls that surround the labyrinth itself
 * The Cavern of Immolation - A lava filled cavern just off of the main cavern itself, even further below the caverns lowest point.
 * The Cavern of Purification - A series of cave networks filled with water and algae.
 * The Cavern of Resonance - A beautiful series of caves filled with lush green plantlife, given light by the long shafts of sunlight being cast by unreachable fissures.
 * The Core The core, the labyrinth itself, is a twisted maze of confusing and contains secrets many people will never find. A desolate, deathly place that comprise the veins of the labyrinth itself.

Gameplay & User Interface
Gameplay is much like any other first person adventure with similar control schemes. However the game itself revolves around solving puzzles without the aid of heads up displays.

The game has been designed to make the player feel they are fully immersed. Heads up displays, arrows, quest markers have been ruled out firmly, though it is possible that Prelude Areas may feature subtle aids as this would be permissible due to the context of said areas.

The game is also not going to be a straight race to the finish. Players will have to look for items, some of which will be interesting to find.

Expansions and DLC
All content will be released free of charge.
 * Seasonal Content - The game will take on the visual theme of specific holidays, on those holidays.
 * Expanded Areas - Many areas will have several inaccessible passages and openings that will lead to new areas. This new content was not cut, but will simply expand the world.
 * 8 Bit Week
 * Manga Week
 * Earth Day 2015 (TBC)