15-year animated film designer behind Despicable Me, The Lorax, and Spirit making medieval fantasy game Ghost of a Tale for PC.

Animated film veteran Lionel Gallat, who spent 15 years making movies for DreamWorks and Universal Studios like Despicable Me, Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron, and The Lorax is turning to games.

The designer has launched crowd-funding campaign through Indiegogo for a medieval fantasy game called Ghost of a Tale, which stars an adventurous mouse. The game's funding target is €45,000 ($57,000).

"You play as a mouse on an adventure set in a medieval world," Gallat explained. "At the beginning of the game, you get to the Island of Periclave. Now what is the mouse looking for? What happened on the island? Why are there undead rats roaming around? That will be up to you to discover."

Gallat has spent the past year building the game, which he is making alone. A two-minute gameplay video is embedded below.

Ghost of a Tale is currently slated to launch during the first half of 2014 for PC with no DRM, though he said his "lack of experience" in game development may push the title back to the end of 2014. A closed beta is planned for December 2013 at the latest. Linux and Mac versions are possible.

Inspirations for Ghost of a Tale include Disney's Robin Hood, Winnie the Pooh, and The Secret of Nimh, as well as the paintings of Lord of the Rings artists Alan Lee and John Howe, among others. Game-specific inspirations include early Zelda titles, Ico, the Gothic series, and Dark Souls.

"My goal is to craft a small yet beautiful game with environments that look a bit like movie sets and characters that have a sense of stylization in their design, while retaining a certain simplicity and immediacy as far as gameplay is involved," Gallat said.

Gallat is not the only animated film veteran getting into games. A group of Pixar artists recently formed Steel Wool Games and have partnered with publisher Ripstone for a multiplatform title called Flyhunter.

[ Watch Video ]

Read and Post Comments | Get the full article at GameSpot