Dreampainters has released a ton of new information on their newest game, White Heaven, which has a loose tie-in to their previous release, Anna. While currently slated to be coming to PC they have expressed their desire to bring White Heaven to as many platforms as possible so the likelihood of seeing it on the PS4 and Xbox One is high.
For now we get some new screenshots, a new teaser trailer (very reminiscent of The Vanishing of Ethan Carter) and a smattering of new information on the game and its development. Set to hit before the end of the year, White Heaven is certainly a game to keep your eye on.
What is White Heaven?
White Heaven is a horror first person game set in a colossal mountain hotel, from which it takes its title. The White Heaven is not an actual place, but it is set in Val D’Ayas and designed following the architectural canons of the region. The White Heaven has been empty for years; it’s a maze of hallways and rooms hiding unspeakable mysteries that are indelibly tied to two local cults, which history is certainly known to anyone who played Dreampainters’ first adventure: Anna. The player will have to explore this hotel, solving puzzle and uncovering the truth behind the kidnapping of Eric Blanc. While there is an inventory, the environmental puzzles are not as tied to the tradition of point-and-click adventures as the ones in Anna were.
What is the tie between Anna and White Heaven?
While not directly following its narrative, White Heaven is set in the same narrative universe as Anna. The game will be perfectly enjoyable by those who are not familiar with what happened in Anna, but the people who have played through our previous adventure will be delighted to find many callbacks to it.
Who is Eric Blanc?
Eric is White Heaven’s protagonist. At the start of the game he is kidnapped by mysterious figures and brought to one of the gloomy rooms of the hotel. As the player, your task is to guide him, piecing together what are the motivations of his kidnappers and why they choose his father’s ruined hotel as his prison.
What technologies did you use to develop White Heaven?
White Heaven is based on Epic Games’ Unreal Engine 4 and has been developed by using some third party middlewares like Geometric’s Enlighten, the best choice currently on the market for dynamic lighting. We also used Truesky for a realistic simulation of the sky and Coherent UI to develop the user interface.
White Heaven was revealed for the first time in 2013, what happened to the game since then?
White Heaven has kept growing and being developed through various focus tests. The graphics and the game system have been completely updated in order to make the game more dynamic and engaging. We also added two additional playable characters, aside from Eric, of who we will talk about in future updates.
Who composed the soundtrack?
Alessandro Monopoli, White Heaven’s Game Director and already composer for Anna’s soundtrack, has composed the soundtrack, which has then been produced by Marc Canham. Jonathan Williams directed the orchestra.
When, and for which platforms, will the game be released?
Our goal is to release the game before the end of 2016. The exact date currently depends on multiple factors that we cannot reveal. Currently White Heaven is in development only for Windows PC, but we would love to see it also running on consoles, as it has already been for Anna.
What system will be needed to run the game?
We don’t yet have the final system requirements for the game, but we are trying to optimize it to make it playable by the largest number of systems possible.
