Xing: The Land Beyond
 | This article may rely excessively on sources too closely associated with the subject, potentially preventing the article from being verifiable and neutral. (April 2022) |
| Xing: The Land Beyond | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Developer(s) | John Torkington
Koriel Kruer James Steininger[2] |
| Publisher(s) | White Lotus Interactive, LLC |
| Composer(s) | John Torkington[3] |
| Engine | Unreal Engine 4[4] |
| Platform(s) | |
| Release | Sep 21, 2017[1] |
| Genre(s) | |
| Mode(s) | single-player |
Xing: The Land Beyond is an adventure game by White Lotus Interactive, which was released on September 21, 2017 for Microsoft Windows. The game has full VR support for HTC Vive and Oculus Rift.[5] A PlayStation VR version was released on February 12, 2019.[6]
Production
[edit]Conception of the game began back in 2012, when John Torkington and Koriel Kruer designed a level for a Level Design class with the theme "atmosphere"; their professor said anyone who had their work in the top ten in the IEEE competition would receive an A. After learning Unreal 3 editor using UDK (Unreal Development Kit), they designed a prototype, which was the first state of what would eventually become Xing.[7] Development for the Oculus Rift began in June 2013.[8] In 2014 the development team migrated their content to the recently released Unreal Engine 4. Their favorite puzzles involved the manipulation of the landscape and weather in order to progress, and they wanted to allow the player to solve puzzles in their own way.[9]
The developers admitted in January 2018 that the sales were poor, which they put down to the overly saturated Steam market, most of the buzz happening two years before during the Kickstarter campaign, and the lack of dedicated marketing team.[10]
Plot and gameplay
[edit]While the player is dead, in death they encounter a journey through a series of mysterious lands.[11]
Gameplay is in the form of a Myst-clone exploration game.[11]
Reception
[edit]Adventure Gamers praised the 3D graphics and the intriguing ending.[12]
The game won the Intel Developer Showcase award for best overall game.[10]
References
[edit]- ^ "XING: The Land Beyond on Steam". store.steampowered.com. Retrieved 2019-02-14.
- ^ "THE TEAM". xingthegame.com. Retrieved 2019-02-14.
- ^ "XING: The Land Beyond OST, by John Torkington". John Torkington. Retrieved 2019-02-14.
- ^ PCGamesN (February 2015). "Making it in Unreal: visiting the afterlife with the Oculus Rift and Xing: The Land Beyond" (Press release). PCGamesN. Archived from the original on May 9, 2015. Retrieved April 26, 2015.
- ^ "Beautiful Adventure Game XING: The Land Beyond Releases Today!".
- ^ Feltham, Jamie. "Xing: The Land Beyond Hits PSVR Next Week With Exclusive Level". Retrieved 2021-03-26.
- ^ Kruer, Koriel (18 September 2017). "Xing Development: My Unconventional Path to Becoming an Indie Game Developer [PART 1]".
- ^ Steininger, James (2013-06-30). "Xing Development: Diving Into The Rift". Xing Development. Retrieved 2019-02-14.
- ^ Gamereactor (23 April 2013). "GDC: Xing: The Land Beyond - Interview" – via YouTube.
- ^ a b Kruer, Koriel (24 January 2018). "Xing Development: The Last Few Months: A Short Post-Mortem and New Announcement".
- ^ a b "XING: The Land Beyond is Headed to PS4 - Hardcore Gamer". www.hardcoregamer.com.
- ^ "XING: The Land Beyond Review". Adventure Gamers.