1022 – Dead Cells (2017 video game)

Dead Cells is a roguelike–metroidvania video game developed and published by Motion Twin. Following about a year in early access, Dead Cells was released for Microsoft Windows, macOS, Linux, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One on August 7, 2018.

In the game, the player takes the role of a slime-like creature that takes control of a corpse in a dungeon, through which they must fight their way out. The player gains various weapons, treasure and other tools through exploration of the procedurally-generated levels to fight undead creatures within it. At times, the player may gain “cells”, a type of in-game currency that can be used to purchase permanent upgrades or unlock new items for the player if they reach the vendor between each level. Dead Cells uses a permadeath system, causing the player to lose all cells and other currencies or items upon each instance of death.

The plot of Dead Cells is minimalistic, only giving bits of information to the player. Taking place on an unnamed island, the player character is referred to as the Prisoner, a humanoid with a pile of gelee or plantmatter in place of a head. The Prisoner is immortal, as every time he dies his “head” manages to lurch its way back to the starting prison. According to a guard, the Prisoner is said to have been executed for some crime, but the nature of the crime is never specified.

Every time the Prisoner dies, the island reconfigures itself, which serves as an explanation for the rogue-like mechanics. In the game, the reason for this is specified as the island being a living organism that evolves over time. In the end, he kills the Hand of the King and stabs the real king only to explode and wind up back at the start like nothing happened. (wiki)

SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS (MINIMUM): OS: Windows 7+ / Processor: Intel i5+ / Memory: 2 GB RAM / Graphics: Nvidia 450 GTS / Radeon HD 5750 or better / Storage: 500 MB available space / Additional Notes: DirectX 9.1+ or OpenGL 3.2+

---

Easter Eggs and References 

steam   /   dead-cells.com

1021 – Starchaser: The Legend of Orin (1985)

timespace coordinates: distant future – subterranean Mine-World / planet Trinia

Starchaser: The Legend of Orin is a 1985 animated science fantasy film directed and produced by Steven Hahn, and written by Jeffrey Scott. It was originally released in 3D by Atlantic Releasing. Starchaser: The Legend of Orin was one of the first animated movies to mix traditional and computer animation, as well as one of the first to be released in 3D.

imdb

1020

0992 – Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse (2018)

Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse is a 2018 American computer-animated superhero film based on the Marvel Comics character Miles Morales / Spider-Man,

It is the first animated feature film in the Spider-Man franchise, and is set in a shared multiverse called the “Spider-Verse”, which has alternate universes. The film was directed by Bob Persichetti, Peter Ramsey, and Rodney Rothman from a screenplay by Phil Lord and Rothman and a story by Lord. The film stars Shameik Moore, Jake Johnson, Hailee Steinfeld, Mahershala Ali, Brian Tyree Henry, Lily Tomlin, Luna Lauren Velez, John Mulaney, Kimiko Glenn, Nicolas Cage, and Liev Schreiber. In Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, Miles Morales becomes one of many Spider-Men as they team up to save New York City from Kingpin.

Lord and Miller wanted the film to feel like “you walked inside a comic book”, and were excited to tell the story in a way that the live-action films could not. Persichetti concurred, feeling that animation was the best medium with which to honor the style of the comics, allowing the production team to adapt 70-year-old techniques seen in comic artwork into the film’s visual language. Completing the animation for the film required up to 140 animators, the largest crew ever used by Sony Pictures Animation for a film to date.

The CGI animation for the film was combined with “line work and painting and dots and all sorts of comic book techniques” to make it look like it was created by hand, which was described as “a living painting”. This was achieved by artists taking rendered frames from the CGI animators and working on top of them in 2D, with the goal of making every frame of the film “look like a comic panel”. Lord described this style of animation as “totally revolutionary”, and explained that the design combines the in-house style of Sony Pictures Animation with the “flavor” of comic artists such as Sara Pichelli (who co-created Miles Morales) and Robbi Rodriguez. To make it feel more like a comic book, it was animated without motion blur, and rather than using animation principles like squash and stretch they came up with substitute versions of them; “so that in texture and feel it felt different, but it still achieved the same goal — to either feel weight or anticipation or impact or things like that”.

The film’s directors all felt that the film would be one of the few that audiences actually “need” to watch in 3D due to the immersive nature of the animated world created, and the way that the hand-drawn animation elements created specifically for the film create a unique experience; Persichetti described this experience as a combination of the effects of an old-fashioned hand-drawn multiplane camera and a modern virtual reality environment. (read more)

Sequel and spin-off

imdb

974

The Vintage Beauty Of Soviet Control Rooms – (designyoutrust)

973 – Prospect (2018)

Prospect is a 2018 American science fiction film starring  Sophie Thatcher,  Jay Duplass, and Pedro Pascal. The film is written and directed by Christopher Caldwell and Zeek Earl. Based on the 15 minute short film of the same name.

Zeek Earl and Chris Caldwell: “PROSPECT originated from a desire to make the kind of sci-fi we wanted to see. We wanted to create a rich and detailed original universe and explore it from the perspective of relative nobodies on the fringe of civilization. It’s not a projection of earth’s near future or a new technological paradigm, nor does the fate of the universe hang in the balance. Rather, the focus is on the people no one cares about who struggle just to forge a palatable existence. People who push into the treacherous frontiers of space, driven by economic desperation to put their lives on the line for a shot at changing the status quo. This kind of expansive, fantastic world becomes the platform to tell a more intimate story, tethered to the experiences of one girl as we follow her strange, survival-induced coming of age. And we hope we’ve created a universe that feels deep and alive; a backdrop that feels incidental to the story, rather than purpose-built for it. Though the perspective is focused, we want the world to feel like it extends well beyond the edges of the film.” (PROSPECT Wiki)

imdb   /  wiki   /   rottentomatoes

968 – Nocturne: The Piano Album (2019)

Nocturne: The Piano Album is a studio album by Greek musician and composer Vangelis, released on 25 January 2019 on Decca Records which includes both new and old compositions played on a grand piano, “inspired by night time, and by Vangelis’ long-held passion for space” (wiki) ♪ ♪