POStudios
POStudios joined
Established in 2004 and previously known as 'Phoenix Freeware Online', Phoenix Online Studios began as a fan group of King's Quest fans coming together to create an unofficial sequel to the series named 'The Silver Lining' having been granted an IP license by Activision to publish all 5 episodes free to play and receiving attention from publications such as PC Gamer, Computer Gaming World, GameInformer, Edge Magazine, GamesTM, Kotaku, Mtv News and Joystiq. Currently, Phoenix Online Studios is working on their first commercial endeavor - Cognition: An Erica Reed Thriller, having recently released Episode 1 last October. The game follows a Boston FBI agent, who lost her brother years ago to a serial killer who was never caught. With post-cognition abilities, Erica Reed is able to see the past the past of the objects just by touching it, adding a twist in this paranormal adventure game.
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We at Phoenix like to keep ourselves active on as many social media outlets as possible. It's for that very reason that we'd like to invite you all to like or follow us on Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr and of course our own website. Here you'll find all the latest new on our games, information on future releases and even community oriented extras like official walkthroughs.
We hope to see you all there!
Facebook: www.facebook.com
Twitter: twitter.com/POStudios
Tumblr: postudios.tumblr.com
Website: www.postudios.com
To everyone hailing from the U.S. both Erica Reed and Phoenix Online want to wish you an awesome 4th of July! We hope you’re all having fun!
Gonçalo Gonçalves
Social Media Intern
Phoenix Online Studios
Face Noir Is Now Available For Pre-Order!
There’s blood on your hands.
Phoenix Online Studios and Mad Orange are excited to announce the July 18th release of Face Noir! With this comes the ability to pre-order the game for just $15.99 (reg. $19.99), which comes with the beautiful Face Noir soundtrack exclusive to pre-orders! Reserve your copy today!
Developed by Mad Orange and localized by Phoenix Online, Face Noir is a point-and-click adventure inspired by the writing of Raymond Chandler. Set in New York City, 1934, a disillusioned private detective named Jack del Nero is charged with the murder of a man who, just before his death, left a little girl in Jack’s protection. As Jack tries to find out who the child is, he discovers more about human nature than he ever wanted to know along the way.
CHECK OUT OUR DEVELOPER’S BLOG FOR MORE INFO!
Gonçalo Gonçalves
Social Media Intern
Phoenix Online Studios
Designer Katie Hallahan tells us what's it like working with industry legend Jane Jensen (Creator of the Gabriel Knight series)
A question we often get is how we ended up teaming up with Jane Jensen on Cognition. Cesar has told the story how some of the directors first met Jane and Bob when they generously invited us to visit them at their beautiful farm, but what happened between then and the announcement of the Cognition Kickstarter?
Vitek, Rich, Jane, Cesar, and Katie
When we first met with Jane in March 2011, we talked a lot about our plans for Phoenix Online’s future, and naturally the possibility of working together was part of those discussions. At the time, there wasn’t anything that fit what we were looking for, but when Cognition came up that summer, asking Jane if she was interested in working with us was one of the first thoughts we had! The timing and position of Story Consultant worked out perfectly for both her and us, and we got to work.
As Story Consultant, Jane reviews all of our design work, from feedback on the outlines to a full editing pass on the script, and her input has been helpful from day one in helping us to keep the game focused. When Cesar and I were originally outlining the game, we were considering two main plot arcs: the first was Erica’s powers, and the second was a series of killings with a Shakespearean theme. (We’ve got a habit of trying to do too much. We were once naively proud of the original full script for TSL being about 1500 pages long!) Jane’s suggestion that we stick to just one lead us to focus on Erica’s powers, the theme that we could potentially build a series on; maybe someday she’ll face that Shakespearean killer yet!
Things Erica can't do with her bare hands has become a favorite reference and joke of ours--turns out it started with Jane!
For me personally, one of the best pieces of writing advice I’ve learned from Jane is that every scene, character, and puzzle needs to support your story. Don’t waste any time — yours or the players — with things that don’t support that development.
It’s been wonderful having her help on Cognition, and we’re highly enjoying working with her in a different capacity on Moebius — but the details of that will be for a future blog from Cesar!
If you'd like to know more about Cognition, feel free to visit the Phoenix Online Studios blog.
Gonçalo Gonçalves
Social Media Intern, Phoenix Online Studios
From Designer Cesar Bittar, a little insight into the creation and development of Erica Reed:
I get the question a lot of who inspired me for Erica Reed. Erica ended up being a little bit more foul-mouthed than my original source of inspiration for her, but to this day, every time I see Olivia Dunham in Fringe, I tend to smile. She’s gorgeous and Anna Torv is a really gifted actress, and she makes Fringe one of my favorite shows in our current TV spectrum.
TOTAL coincidence!
Jane once told me that Erica didn’t seem much like an FBI Agent. The Erica she was seeing is the Erica that opens up the game in the cemetery. The thought stuck in my mind, and I wanted to have Erica seem more like an FBI Agent. Dana Scully from the X-Files came to mind, but she was too “formal” for our likings. Debra Morgan, from Dexter, also didn’t do it for me and she really wasn’t FBI — although Erica’s bad language certainly comes from Deb!
And then there was Olivia Dunham. I started googling for pictures of her and I came across a few. There was a particular one that really set it for me. If you spot any similarities, it’s a complete coincidence. Really. Walter Bishop is my alibi!
If you'd like to know more about Cognition, feel free to visit the Phoenix Online Studios Blog :)
Gonçalo Gonçalves
Social Media Intern
One of our most popular requests has always been for an iPad version, well, we're pleased to announce that the iPad version is now on the itunes store! On sale for just $3.99 for a limited time.
What's Cognition?
In Cognition, you take on the role of Erica Reed, a Boston-based FBI Agent who uses her ability of post-cognition, which allows her to touch objects and see visions of the past, to hunt down serial killers, always hoping she'll find the one who killed her younger brother Scott three years ago but was never caught.
Episode 1: The Hangman: When Erica and her partner John, the only one who knows her secret, investigate the crime scene of a brutal hanging of an unidentified man, Erica begins finding clues specifically for someone with her ability, Who's leaving these clues? How do they know about what she can do, and what do they want from her?
One of IndieGames.com's Top 10 Adventures of 2012, Episodes 1 and 2 are already out for PC & Mac, and we're very excited that Cognition Episode 1 is now available on the iPad.
Not sure whether you'll like the game? You can always try our free demo. :)
The Silver Lining Team needs your help! King Graham is having trouble
decorating and we need your creative input. There are 8 tapestries that
need to be placed inside Episode 5: A Thousand Times Goodnight and this
could be your chance to help Daventry with your colorful creations!
decorating and we need your creative input. There are 8 tapestries that
need to be placed inside Episode 5: A Thousand Times Goodnight and this
could be your chance to help Daventry with your colorful creations!
Can't draw? Don't worry, everyone can participate! If you've got the right idea that's all that matters. Here are some guidelines to speed you on your noble quest:
EVERYONE CAN PARTICIPATE! – Whether you can doodle or not. If you've got the right idea that’s all that matters. This is how it works if you accept his noble quest:
1. First, download this tapestry information:
Postudios.com
Read carefully and think of an idea that could transform it into a tapestry design.
2. You may submit your MSPaint doodle or DaVinci Photoshop. Or you can simply submit a Word Document with your design notes so our talented crew can sketch it for the game.
3. A magical band of elves and pixies will use their mystic powers to send the tapestries to the world of Daventry! (Translated: The TSL team will put them in the game.)
Once you've got your finely crafted word document description or your breathtaking art, please submit your entry to contests@postudios.com
The contest will start from today, Feb 18th 2013, and end on March 31st (Sunday).
The winner will have their design included in TSL: Episode 5 and will feature in the game's credits. Not only that, they'll also receive an exclusive beta testing pass to the episode before release!
Participate and make yourself part of The Silver Lining world!
Recently Cognition was nominated for best Music, Voice Acting and Indepedent Adventure game on Adventure Gamers.
We're honored that we've been nominated for these amazing awards, but now we need your help!
In addition, Adventure Gaming is also holding a series of "Reader's Choice" Awards to which Cognition has also been nominated!
We could not be more excited for this we'd certainly like to thank Adventure Gamers and all our fans!
Gonçalo Gonçalves
Social Media Intern, Phoenix Online
Phoenix Online Studios is currently looking for a new and talented friends to join our growing family!
Who is Phoenix Online?
We're an Indie Game Studio responsible for the free to play King's Quest inspired fan game The Silver Lining, which has received praise by Roberta Williams herself!
We are also responsible for the supernatural themed adventure Cognition: An Erica Reed Thriller, as well as the upcoming title Moebius, with industry legend Jane Jensen having worked on both games.
Who will I be working with?
Currently hiring for The Silver Lining development team, which is comprised of extremely talented volunteer King's Quest nostalgic fans. The Silver Lining team is well known for being one of the nicest development crew there is in the community, it's the best way to get started into the video gaming world, or at least build a first experience for your professional portfolio.
What are looking for?
We are looking for anyone with a love of games (experience is not required, we are more than open to teach), who wants to join a fun but hardworking team and who can take on one of the following roles:
VOLUNTEER: Character Artist
What you'll be doing:
- Assist in finishing characters that feel akin to the fantasy setting.
- Polish modeling and texturing of character as needed.
- Optimize character for animation and performance.
What you'll need:
- Interest in video games.
- Portfolio/website demonstrating your skills.
- Understanding of human and creature anatomy.
- Good communication skills (it's a team work, after all!)
- Must be set up for conversations over Skype and MSN Messenger
- Ability to put in at least 10 hours weekly.
NOT Necessary, but it is a plust if:
- Knowledge of the King's Quest saga (Or any Sierra games, for that matter!).
- Character rigging knowledge.
- Knowledge of Maya, ZBrush and Photoshop.
- Modeling, texturing and UV mapping ability.
VOLUNTEER: Environment Artist
What you'll be doing:
- Finishing amazing environments that feel akin to the fantasy setting.
- Polish modeling and texturing of environments.
- Lighting and baking of the environments.
- Optimize environments for performance.
What you'll need:
- Interest in video games.
- Portfolio/website demonstrating your skills.
- Understanding of form and composition, color and lighting.
- Good communication skills (it's a team work, after all!).
- Must be set up for conversations over skype and MSN Messenger.
- Ability to put in at least 10 hours weekly.
NOT Necessary, but it is a plus if:
- Comprehensive knowledge of Maya and Photoshop.
- Experience with modeling, texturing and UV mapping ability.
- Understanding of lighting and baking techniques, including Ambient Occlusion
Volunteer: Technical Artist
What you'll be doing:
- Integrate art and animation content into the game engine.
- Work closely with both art and programming teams, offering feedback, guidance and insight to improve the look and functionality.
- Problem solving attitude.
- Assist with Special Effects, Lighting, Animation and Rigging and their implementation into the engine.
What you'll need:
- Familiarity with Adobe Photoshop and Maya.
- Knowledge of animation, rendering and lighting techniques.
- Familiarity and experience with programming engines and scripting languages; familiarity with the Unity engine is preferred.
- Previous experience with the production process is preferred.
- Ability to learn quickly.
- Both a good team player and able to work individually.
- Excellent communication skills with the ability to take critiques.
- Must be set up for conversations over Skype and MSN Messenger.
- Ability to put in at least 10 hours weekly.
Don't meet all of the criteria?
Worry not! We will train you in your missing areas and if those areas happen to be experience with King's Quest games... then your learning experience will be all the more fun!
So would you like to join us in creating more fun and quirky games? If so please email us at say@postudios.com
Episode 1 is currently on Indie Game Stand's 'Pay What you Want' deal, that means you can but it for as low as one Dollar!
Plus, if the game is greenlit, you can redeem your Indie Game Stand purchase towards a Steam key, it's the gift that keeps on giving!
Gonçalo Gonçalves
Social Media Intern, Phoenix Online
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