1997 Dreamworlds Development
Platform: Commodore Amiga
Back in 1997, Amiga users with a PowerPC processor card (and 32MB RAM) were looking forward to an ambitious new game called Between The Lines, a real-time first person action RPG, created by Thomas Schulze.
At the time, there was no solid story set for the game, though the only thing the developer was certain of was that there was no brave chosen warrior, no big bad guy and no happy ending. The aims of the game were dependant on your actions in the game overall and you could choose the type of person you wanted to be to play throughout a series of tasks and stories.
The game was set in the past, where the behaviour of the characters in the game that you would encounter would depend on your actions. In most cases you would need other characters in the game to help you fight and defeat certain creatures and complete tasks.
Your main character would be able to walk, run, crawl and climb around the environment, fighting monsters along the way who get in your way. Everything would be controlled using the mouse and just a few keys on the keyboard. Opening a door would be as simple as grabbing the door handle and dragging it, a lever would be grabbed and dragged downwards for example.
Physics were also a key element, where sharpness, weight or range of your weapons would affect the speed and effect that the weapon in question would have.
Another dream of the developer was to have multiplayer features, where you could play online with other players, solve quests together or be a member of a guild for example. However, the game never got far enough for multiplayer to be ever started or considered.
Thomas created a provisional 3D engine using Warp3D and RtgMaster which looked good, as well as an editor to help create the world itself. But it seems this is as far as it ever got. The game was mostly a set of ideas, and was likely cancelled when realising just how long it would take to complete and where the Amiga market was heading.
As late as 1999, creator Thomas Schulze told Amiga News that the game was still in early development. By October 2000, the game is still around with the following posted:
Dreamworlds Development is Looking for One More Musician
Because Audun Evensen (our musician up to now) does not have enough time anymore we have decided to engage another musician. She/He should get along with each possible kind of music, work on time, be well up in editing samples and of course should be interested in games. Having a sampler, good hardware (PPC) and knowledge in English are advantageous but not necessary. Of course you are participated in proceeds from the sales.
First (and urgent) music for Crossfire II is needed. Here is Techno or something like that sufficient. It`s all right if different kinds of music are used provided that it fits to hard action. :) I prefer stirring classical music but it is hard to handle with the computer. Furthermore some intermediate progression have to set to music (own format).
After finishing CF2 (if a further co-operation is desired) we need right music (medieval, atmospheric, classical, sometimes rock music) instead of Techno for our next game called “Between The Lines”, a role-playing in real time. Those ones who are interested in (or have any questions) please mail to stefan@dreamworlds.de with a demo work or state an internetaddress where I can find such a sample. A few information about yourself and your hardware configuration would be useful.
Unfortunately disaster struck by March 2001, when it was reported a harddisk crash meant that all source code for Crossfire II and Between the Lines was lost. Only Crossfire II could be partially recovered. This could well have signified the end of the project, and it isn’t known if it was restarted or if anything else survived. If you know anything more – please do get in touch.
With thanks to Grzegorz Antosiewicz for highlighting this title and Anonymous Contributor for the additional images and information.
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