As of two months ago, the company put all development and maintenance of Liquid Engine, the game engine used on all previous projects, on hold and started to test the latest version of Unreal Engine. The team has shared a brief snippet of the in-engine, early-stage footage from their unannounced projects developed using Unreal Engine 4.
Between the “A Tease of Things to Come” teaser and the “Unreal Engine for Future Projects” video, all three unannounced in-house projects are highlighted.
As for the anthology, 11 bit studios is pleased to announce that they are working with famous Polish writer Jacek Dukaj to bring it to life. The author of bestsellers like “Ice” and “Other Songs”, who touches on the topics of futurology, sociology and philosophy, is the originator and artistic supervisor of the project which will be written by authors chosen by Dukaj. Frostpunk’s Lead Game Director, Jakub Stokalski, has shared that “Ice” was one of the original inspirations for Frostpunk and is looking forward to seeing the game he worked on inspire the writers, in turn.
Writer Jacek Dukaj shares his thoughts about the anthology project:
“This collection is, I hope, the beginning of the expansion of two kinds. For Frostpunk as the universe and vehicle of ideas heading into other media and conventions, and for the Polish literature, with all its richness and specificity, that boosted the success of the local gaming industry to some extent. It's time for another spin of inspiration.
In Frostpunk, I have noticed a continuity of imagination and reflection about the society, about the relationship of the individual to power, and about the mechanisms of history that characterized Polish sociological science-fiction literature. Directly or indirectly, Frostpunk draws from Janusz Zajdel, Edmund Wnuk-Lipinski, and Maciej Parowski. Although it is set in the British realities, its uniqueness and global success stem from the Polish literary tradition.
And this is how we approach the anthology. It is not about creating an illustration for the game but about a purely literary approach to the key topics in Frostpunk: as a game experience as well as a world that we inhabit in our imagination. As a result, it also acquires richness and depth; it has a life of its own.
The novellas are being created by a group of talented Polish and foreign writers. As the work progresses and details are set, we will reveal the names of the authors and further information. The book will accompany Frostpunk all over the world. At the same time, Polish and English versions are being written."