Al Emmo and the Lost Dutchman's Mine
Encyclopedia
Al Emmo and the Lost Dutchman's Mine is an adventure game
created by Himalaya Studios
for the PC
. It utilizes hand-painted backgrounds and pre-rendered
3D character animation frames. The game is designed to be a homage to the classic Sierra
and Lucasarts
style point and click classic adventure games of the 1980s and 1990s.
This game is the first original and commercial game created by Himalaya Studios, although the same team is also responsible for designing the King's Quest
1 and 2 remakes at AGD Interactive
, and drew upon this experience to create Al Emmo. The game runs on the popular Adventure Game Studio
engine, and shows off some of the engine's more versatile features such as fully lipsynched dialogue portraits and its ability to handle complex animations. The plot is based loosely around a well-known legend in Arizona
, the Lost Dutchman's Gold Mine
.
The story finds our protagonist, Al Emmo (a feeble 40-something year old) stranded in the barren desert land of Anozira after being stood up by a mail-order bride whom he intended to bring home to impress his parents. After things fail to run smoothly, Al misses his train back to New York and is stuck in the wild west for a whole week -- without money, lodging, nor any clue about what to do next.
As the plot progresses, another woman, Rita Peralto, catches Al's attention. She is the local singer at the saloon and also the most beautiful woman in town. Al believes he may just stand a chance, until a dashing Spaniard by the name of Antonio Bandanna breezes into town and begins upstaging him at every turn. Al soon discovers the legend of a lost gold mine somewhere out in the desert and sets out to find it, believing that if he can obtain the money that Rita needs to cure her financial troubles, then he can prove himself and his sincerity to her once and for all. The only thing Al didn't count on, was the mine being haunted!
Adventure game
An adventure game is a video game in which the player assumes the role of protagonist in an interactive story driven by exploration and puzzle-solving instead of physical challenge. The genre's focus on story allows it to draw heavily from other narrative-based media such as literature and film,...
created by Himalaya Studios
Himalaya Studios
Himalaya Studios is a computer game developer that focuses on adventure games. The limited liability company was established in 2004 in Chandler, Arizona by Britney K. Brimhall and Christopher T. Warren....
for the PC
Personal computer
A personal computer is any general-purpose computer whose size, capabilities, and original sales price make it useful for individuals, and which is intended to be operated directly by an end-user with no intervening computer operator...
. It utilizes hand-painted backgrounds and pre-rendered
Pre-rendered
Pre-rendering is the process in which video footage is not rendered in real-time by the hardware that is outputing or playing back the video. Instead, the video is a recording of a footage that was previously rendered on a different equipment...
3D character animation frames. The game is designed to be a homage to the classic Sierra
Sierra Entertainment
Sierra Entertainment Inc. was an American video-game developer and publisher founded in 1979 as On-Line Systems by Ken and Roberta Williams...
and Lucasarts
LucasArts
LucasArts Entertainment Company, LLC is an American video game developer and publisher. The company was once famous for its innovative line of graphic adventure games, the critical and commercial success of which peaked in the mid 1990s...
style point and click classic adventure games of the 1980s and 1990s.
This game is the first original and commercial game created by Himalaya Studios, although the same team is also responsible for designing the King's Quest
King's Quest
King's Quest is an adventure game series created by the American software company Sierra Entertainment. It is widely considered a classic series from the golden era of adventure games. Following the success of its first installment, the series was primarily responsible for building the reputation...
1 and 2 remakes at AGD Interactive
AGD Interactive
AGD Interactive , LLC. is a non-profit company given a fan license to remake Sierra Entertainment's popular classic adventure games from the 1980s and early 1990s.-History:...
, and drew upon this experience to create Al Emmo. The game runs on the popular Adventure Game Studio
Adventure Game Studio
Adventure Game Studio is a free software development tool that is primarily used to create graphical adventure games. It is aimed at intermediate-level game designers, and combines an Integrated development environment for setting up most aspects of the game with a scripting language to process...
engine, and shows off some of the engine's more versatile features such as fully lipsynched dialogue portraits and its ability to handle complex animations. The plot is based loosely around a well-known legend in Arizona
Arizona
Arizona ; is a state located in the southwestern region of the United States. It is also part of the western United States and the mountain west. The capital and largest city is Phoenix...
, the Lost Dutchman's Gold Mine
Lost Dutchman's Gold Mine
The Lost Dutchman Gold Mine is reportedly a very rich gold mine hidden in the Superstition Mountains, near Apache Junction, east of Phoenix, Arizona in the United States...
.
The story finds our protagonist, Al Emmo (a feeble 40-something year old) stranded in the barren desert land of Anozira after being stood up by a mail-order bride whom he intended to bring home to impress his parents. After things fail to run smoothly, Al misses his train back to New York and is stuck in the wild west for a whole week -- without money, lodging, nor any clue about what to do next.
As the plot progresses, another woman, Rita Peralto, catches Al's attention. She is the local singer at the saloon and also the most beautiful woman in town. Al believes he may just stand a chance, until a dashing Spaniard by the name of Antonio Bandanna breezes into town and begins upstaging him at every turn. Al soon discovers the legend of a lost gold mine somewhere out in the desert and sets out to find it, believing that if he can obtain the money that Rita needs to cure her financial troubles, then he can prove himself and his sincerity to her once and for all. The only thing Al didn't count on, was the mine being haunted!
External links
- The official Al Emmo website
- Al Emmo's Postcards from Anozira
- "GAME THEORY; Rejecting the Usual to Ignite the Imagination" from The New York TimesThe New York TimesThe New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...