I think I've found something rather...intriguing, to say the least...
We've all heard about Dimitri, and we've all heard that Lionhead is currently working on two games right now. And yes, we've all crossed our fingers that this second title might be Dimitri-related. Well, by way of a hint in a video diary (check them all out here), I think I've found a rather substantial piece of the puzzle. It's looking more and more like Lionhead is indeed working on at least something similar or inspired by Dimitri (Please keep in mind, however, this is mere speculation from a fan. As always, don't believe it until Lionhead confirms it.)
But first, to get those who aren't familiar with the project up to speed. Dimitri was first heard of in May, 2001 when Peter mentioned it at that year's E3. But nothing too official has been mentioned since then. Then, in 2004, in an interview with Kikozo.com, Peter said the following:
Peter Molyneux:I think [Dimitri] is probably Lionhead's flagship technology game. Where Black and White
was our flagship technology game, and had most of our technology in there and most of the unique ideas in there, [now] I think Dimitri is. But it's also our simplest.
When you're working on something as ambitious as Dimitri - and it's so easy to describe what Dimitri is, and I'm just gonna be tantalizing here, is that, if I were to describe it to you, you would have so many questions about it, and unless I could actually show you the game physically working, and show you how you do these amazing things, then you just wouldn't believe me. You'd think I was mad.
Dimitri is at a stage where if I told you about it I would be talking more about the ambitions of what the game is, rather than the reality of what's in the game. But we're close to getting Dimitri to a stage where you can see it, touch it and feel it.
This was back in September, 2004. So what is Dimitri supposed to be about? As Molyneux describes it (taken from an interview with PC News):
Peter Molyneux: It's a game about you. It allows anyone who plays the game to relive their life, their entire individual life. That's a pretty ambitious concept.
So what did Dimitri look like in its early days? Well, here's a few early concept drawings from artist Kareem Ettouney (please keep in mind these are concept drawings of an old Lionhead project and do not necessarily reflect any content that may or may not be seen in any current Lionhead projects):
Dimitri - Bedroom Concept
Dimitri - Town Concept
Dimitri - Streets Concept
Dimitri - More Streets Concept
Dimitri - Town Center Concept
I know a few people, at least, had held suspicions that Lionhead was working on a sequel to either Black & White 2 or The Movies. But it looks like "Project X" as it has been called, and Fable 2 are it (the following is from a different Kikizo.com interview from October, 2005):
Peter Molyneux: I want Lionhead to be about innovation across the board... we're not doing anything with expansions for The Movies, or sequels or conversions, let's just concentrate on these two key projects.
So why the name Dimitri? Where did it come from? And what is it? Apparently, the actual name itself may change. But for more information on the origins of the current title:
Peter Molyneux: With Dimitri, we still need to decide on a final name, because as you know, this is just a project name that is the name of my godson... I don't think you'll hear anything further in terms of announcements for about another year on this project.
And, in case you were wondering, you can actually catch a quick glimpse of Dimitri in the 3rd video diary. To see the screenshot click the following link:
Screenshot of Dimitri.
So the question remains, what happened to Dimitri? Is it still being worked on? Has it been pushed aside for bigger and newer ideas? Only time will tell, but it looks as though at least a part of Dimitri will live on in some sense, as seen in the following remark in regards to the tech used for Dimitri (taken from a Eurogamer interview in December, 2007):
Peter Molyneux: We are working on a title now which is kind of a hybrid of Dimitri. I am really, really pushing the powers-that-be to allow me to tell/show the world this new project. I know I am prone to say things like ‘great’, ‘revolutionary’ and ‘ambitious’, but this new project its absolutely great, revolutionary and ambitious!
Now, on to the more interesting clues. Thus far we've not seen any real proof of Dimitri's existence. But something caught my eye in the 3rd video diary and frankly I'm surprised I never noticed it before. In fact, it was so blatant that I had assumed that I've simply missed it all this time and that others surely had noticed it before me. After searching the forums it looks like this, much to my shock, actually hasn't been mentioned anywhere.
But a piece of information that will make all of this clear to you is that Lionhead Studios is three stories tall, as you can see here:
Lionhead Studios
As it happens, each floor is dedicated to a separate task. The first floor, for example, is dedicated to more administrative duties. Sam and Woody, as it happens, work out of the ground floor:
The Ground Floor
The first floor is where Fable 2 is being developed.
The First Floor
Notice any interesting differences between the ground floor and the first floor? Something that has been mentioned only briefly in the forums is that the columns on each floor have a different colour. If you'll notice, the ground floor has green columns. The first floor has orange columns. The fact that each floor has different coloured columns is the key point in this small clue I uncovered. But just to allay any doubts, here's the official word on the matter. Ground floor is administration, first floor is Fable 2, so Project X is on the second floor. The second floor, we can assume, is a different colour as well. So one might reason that if you were to find a column in a video diary that is not green or orange, you'd be looking at the second floor. Turns out, that's exactly what I saw:
The Second Floor
While the shot is intentionally nondescript (which is to say the wall of the cubicle intentionally cuts most of the floor out) we can see some profile shots of a young child on the column itself. Dimitri, being the kind of game it's going to be, really seems to make this clue speak volumes.
I went ahead and took the screenshot of the second floor and brought it into Photo Shop and altered the perspective on the picture of the child. Since it was on the column and was at an angle it distorted the image slightly. So I fixed the perspective distortion and also increased the size slightly so we could see it better. And we get the following:
While other elements have been claimed to be from Dimitri (most recently the trampoline mystery from the 4th video diary) many are questionable. It would seem as though this is the first direct reference to the Second Floor Title. This, obviously, was intentionally put into the video. This is noticeably different than "mistakes" (be them intentional or not) found that give hints about Fable 2 features, or what have you. This is a shot where Sam set the camera up, recorded a scene, and edited it in during post production. Sam, while sneaking it in there, intended for this to be found. Seems to me like evidence keeps more and more turning towards the fact that the Second Floor Title is indeed Dimitri related. While I certainly wouldn't call this "proof" per say, I would definitely call this interesting. Very interesting. Your thoughts?
Moderator's Note:
All information presented here is mere speculation from a fan and is not representative of anything that may or may not be in any current or future titles that Lionhead is working on. As with all speculation, please regard it with a measurable amount of discretion and don't believe anything until you hear it directly from Lionhead.
Cheers to maggot for assisting in finding the concept art. Also, cheers to all the other "treasure hunters" out there who are also trying to find any little clue we can in the video diaries! It's all a bit sad, isn't it? Ha ha.