Initially edited for the first time in November 1991 on Amiga, the game was declined on many media, going through changes, enhancements or deteriorations… The AMIGA version :

The first version, the one with best sound. On the other hand, it has been tested little, which results in a playability that lacks fluidity. That's the drawback of working alone in a garage... Moreover, Delphine Software didn't have testers. As a result, this version is for real hardcore gamers.

This version was also shorter than the others.

The Atari version was identical to the Amiga's, but with less sharp colours and a rougher sound. The PC DOS version :

The articles released at the time criticized the short lifespan of the Amiga version. So Delphine Software suggested I extend it. I had a few ideas left which were enough to make an entire level. However, I didn't want to break the global rhythm of the game, so it was impossible to add anything after the end of the game. The ideal location was just before the arena when the friend rescues Lester at the end of a long dead-end corridor. I decided to reinforce the close relationship between the hero and the alien, by developing their mutual aid. The only problem is that I only had two months to achieve everything. I was back on working 16 hours a day, 7/7. Eventually, that level brought a lot to the game. This version was ported by Daniel Morais. The console versions SNES and Megadrive :

Going through submissions to Nintendo and Sega wasn't an easy task...without speaking about the pressure with Interplay, who was responsible for porting the game engines on those platforms...



The game was more difficult on consoles than on microcomputer because Interplay really wanted the players to have value for money (a console game is expensive), which implied that the game must have a long lifespan as well. That's why a guard has been added in the prison at the bottom of the lift, and lethal steam jets appeared in the maze-like ventilation system, all of this with a very limited time.



Interplay had imposed on me new songs for all the game levels. They also wanted to replace all the music made by Jean-François. I had yielded for the extra songs, but I wanted to keep the music of the introduction, as it perfecly matched the atmosphere and the animation timing. This became a real struggle, and at the time, we would only communicate by fax, and my letters became firmer each day. Interplay was in a strong position with the development of the game and did not want to back down. So I took drastic measures. I thought of creating an endless fax. A huge fax of a meter long in which I wrote in big letters "keep the original intro music". I would insert it in the fax, enter the number, and when the transmission started, I would tape both ends of the letter together, which would create a circle that went on and on until there was no paper left in the offices of Interplay, at the other end. Even so, all this paper coming out of their machine had little impact. It was Anne-Marie Joassim, Delphine Software's lawyer, who sorted out the situation by applying pressure. She spoke in my favour and demanded once and for all that the original music was kept. The situation became delicate again when Nintendo of America decided that morally they couldn't release the game due to nudity and presence of blood. Here, there was no other choice but accepting these editorial demands.

I was then forced to withdraw everything that was red and that could eventually look like blood. The smallest reddish bitmap was suppressed or replaced by another colour. Not only the hero's blood, but also any secretion from the bestiary of Another World. The pinkish slobber of the creatures became green during the process.











This scene was too erotic, apparantly. The crack of the naked aliens' bottoms was reduced by 3 pixels...





Mac version

Identical to the PC version, apart from the fact that it supports a higher resolution. 3D0 version

Still developed by Interplay, it benefits from very detailed bitmap backgrounds.

It's not an aesthetic achievement because, as mentioned above, backgrounds are overworked compared to the animations that are made of polygons and thus appear to be flat.

Music had been remade completely, out goes Jean-François and I didn't have my say or the energy to fight, as I was precisely in the "heart of darkness": I still ignored then that this development was to last six years... megaCD version

It combined two games, on one hand, Another World with CD quality brand new music, made this time by Jean-François, and on the other hand, the sequel named Heart of the Alien.

Interplay insisted in making the sequel in order to make the most of the CD-ROM medium's capabilities. After discussion, I agreed. Rather than making a chronological development related to the first story, I decided that redesigning the game from the alien point of view was excellent, and would make the player discover Another World with other eyes. I could already picture scenes where Lester would be in the background fighting guards, while the player would control the alien in the foreground and then join our first hero, help him, etc... The concept was good but, alas, neither the animations nor the game, entirely developed by Interplay, were up to the job. It was a flop. GBA version

Unofficially adapted in 2004 by Cyril Corgordan alias Foxy by creating a reverse engineering of the Atari ST version. I decided in the first place to ban its release in order to make a potential business, but specially authorised its distribution later, in 2005. It required a GBA emulator or a GBA with a Flash cartridge. It was a version for hobbyists. Cyril currently works in the Magic Production company and his C code was the stepping stone for the port of the Symbian mobile version.

At the same time, another GBA port, still unofficial but made this time from the 3D0 version by Gil Megidish, required the original 3D0 CD. GP32 version

A port from Philippe Simons, made with more unofficial reverse engineering by another enthusiast, Grégory Montoir. It won a prize during the GBAX 2005 competition. Mobile and Windows XP versions

Nowadays, I have the privilege to have acquired recently the publishing rights from Delphine. The young company Magic Productions proposed to port the game on mobile phones. I decided to give a little boost to this group of enthusiasts. In collaboration with the crazy programmer who did the reverse engineering of the ST version, Cyril Corgordan, the game engine was coded for mobiles. With hindsight, I found some scenes of the game irritating, so I decided to smooth out the playability by altering the scripts. I even used my Amiga for the purpose. A kind of retro-programming. What a time travel !



To offset the low mobile resolution, I improved the level of shading from the original backgrounds. I really liked the obtained result, so the next natural move was to port the game to Windows. Emmanuel Rivoire was able to increase the resolution to 1280x800 pixels for more detailed images. The definiton was incredible compared to its original format 320x200, which is still available, as the idea was to make a game that was fully customisable, as well as respectful of the past. In one word, it's a collector's edition. >> Re-release page

















