Now, Londoners regimentally hate tourists, but perhaps the Pearly Kings and Queens of this world should swallow some of this bile - since sometimes tourists are actually game developers in disguise. "The most concentrated research we did consisted of Dave and I spending a week walking all over London taking thousands of photographs. We both have architectural backgrounds and we were like kids in a candy store walking the streets and alleys of London. One problem we hit was that our game is dark, brooding, and spooky, and we figured that London's grey skies and wet weather would give us the atmosphere we needed in our source photographs. But from the moment we landed, the sun came out and we had the most beautiful, sunny, pleasant weather one could have wished for - in Hawaii! It sure wasn't the cold damp London we'd anticipated and even wished for, as it's harder to get usable source photos in bright sunlight."

Devastating summer weather aside, and with one or two more research trips planned, the game is really tripping along nicely - and is without a shadow of a doubt the role-playing game (that isn't Oblivion) to look out for next year.