Anachronox feature-length movie released

Anachronox was one of two major releases from Ion Storm Dallas, the studio created by two of id Software's creative forces, Tom Hall and John Romero. Now the 2001 role-playing game's story lives on in a recently released movie that adapts the game's in-engine cinematics in a feature movie that runs two and a half hours. The movie was produced by the game's cinematic director Jake Hughes (now at Crystal Dynamics) and was presented at the Machinima Film Festival 2002 before now being released on Machinima.com. Machinima is the term used to describe stand-alone movies produced by scripting scenes in 3D game engines.

The feature smoothly transitions past the moments that would have been dedicated to Anachronox's gameplay to tell the story of Sylvester "Sly" Boots, a down-on-his-luck private detective living in a futuristic city built on a mysterious, giant alien artifact. While a DVD version is planned, the current version of the movie has been cut in 13 segments that are available for download on Machinima.com and by clicking on the links below. Each movie segment is 65MB to 95MB.

In related news, the Academy of Machinima Arts & Sciences has announced that the second annual Machinima Film Festival will be held October 25 at the American Museum of the Moving Image in New York. Films created with 3D game engines will be judged in 10 categories. The open call for film submissions will start in August and run until September 15. More information is available at the event's Web site.