Eric Chahi

Éric Chahi is a French computer game designer best known as the creator of "Another World" (known as "Out of This World" in the United States).

Career

Éric Chahi started programming on Oric Atmos and Amstrad during 1983 for the company Loriciels. He then confirmed his talents on platforms such as Atari ST and Amiga with games such as "Jeanne d'Arc" and "Voyage au centre de la Terre" published by Chip. In 1989 Éric Chahi quit Chip to join Delphine Software to work on the graphics for "Future Wars", a game designed by Paul Cuisset. Chahi then developed "Another World" (released in 1991) almost entirely on his own, from the story to the box cover; later it received much critical acclaim for its atmosphere and minimalism.

"", another game made at Delphine Software, is often mistaken to be a sequel to "Another World". Although there are some similarities, Chahi had no involvement in its production and there is no relation between the games.

After leaving Delphine, Chahi founded Amazing Studio and became one of several designers that were working there on "Heart of Darkness", which is an initially ambitious side-scrolling game. It suffered numerous delays, being in development for anywhere from five to seven years. When Infogrames finally published it in 1998, it was moderately received by critics due to short length by-then dated graphical resolution, though the graphics of the Playstation port were praised.

Chahi disappeared from the game industry for some years, but has recently regained interest in making games. In April 2005 he released a [http://www.foxysofts.com/index.php?l=content/gba/anworld.inc free GameBoy Advance version] of "Another World". It was created in collaboration with a programmer named Cyril Cogordan, who originally started it as a fan project. It can be played by using a GBA flash cartridge.

A version of "Another World" for mobile phones was made with the help of developer Magic Productions and commercially released in 2005. On April 14th 2006, Chahi and Magic Productions released an updated PC version of "Another World". It features higher resolution graphics and runs on modern versions of Windows.

Chahi attended the Game Developer's Conference in 2005, and has shown interest in working on an entirely new game, though has harshly criticized the industry for not sufficiently supporting creativity. This new game will apparently be a type of strategy game. [http://www.eurogamer.net/article.php?article_id=72386]

Games worked on

*1983 "Frog" (Oric 1; ASN diffusion)
*1983 "Carnaval" (Oric 1; ASN diffusion)
*1984 "Le Sceptre d’Anubis" (Oric 1; Micro Programmes 5)
*1984 "Doggy" (Oric 1] ; Loriciels)
*1985 "Infernal Runner" (Amstrad CPC, C64; Loriciels) - Chahi wasn't credited in the C64 version.
*1986 "Le Pacte" (Loriciels)
*"Jeanne d'Arc"
*"Voyage au centre de la Terre"
*1990 "Future Wars" (original French title: "Les voyageurs du temps", Interplay)
*1991 "Another World" (title in the United States: "Out of this World", Interplay), rereleased on April 14, 2006
*1998 "Heart of Darkness" (Interplay)
*2004 "Amiga Classix 4" (Magnussoft)

External links

* [http://www.anotherworld.fr Éric Chahi's personal site] , where he released the updated PC version of "Another World"
* [http://www.mobygames.com/developer/sheet/view/developerId,751/ Rap sheet] for Éric Chahi on MobyGames
* [http://www.idlethumbs.net/display.php?id=44 Idle Thumbs interviews Chahi about "Another World"] , 27.8.2004
* [http://web.archive.org/web/20041120101153/http://www.eboredom.20m.com/features/interviews/chahi.html Éric Chahi Interview about "Out of This World - Webarchive mirror"]
* [http://www.grospixels.com/site/chahi.php Éric Chahi Interview] (in French) on [http://www.grospixels.com/ Grospixels.com] 25.7.2003, 17.11.2003
* [http://www.edge-online.co.uk/archives/2005/12/faq_eric_chahi_1.php Edge Magazine online interviews Chahi]
* [http://www.factornews.com/news-16759-Reedition_d_Another_World_l_Eric_Chahi_n.html Éric Chahi Interview about "Time travellers", "Another world" and "Heart of darkness"] (in French) on [http://www.factornews.com factornews] , 13.04.2006