Real Time + Action Learning #4

Welcome to a micropage dedicated to two unreleased Animation Magic titles that have only been mentioned once in an obscure corner of the Internet!
We're really deep in the catalog of this company now!

Info Tables

What We Know About Each Game

Real Time

We'll start with Real Time, as it arguably has more information about it than the fourth Action Learning title. There is only one source online that mentions the game at all, and it's an article in Russian containing an overview of post-Soviet game companies, mostly Animation Magic and Boston Animation.

In the article is a section detailing what the Russian branch of Animation Magic (known as "АМИ" or "AMI") did during and after the development of Warcraft Adventures: Lord of the Clans. They were involved in the development of several NASCAR titles and, more interestingly, a first-person shooter called Real Time. This game was to run on the still-developing Unreal Engine 1 and had a "western" scenario; whether this referred to the game's scenario having a Wild West setting or it being written by a "western" company (Capitol Multimedia?) is unknown. Development started around 1997, though AMI was unable to finish the project for unspecified reasons.

The information given does line up with Capitol Multimedia's output and timeline. Furthermore, Epic Games licensed Unreal Engine 1 to a few developers before its public release, so it is entirely possible that AMI got ahold of the engine. This is likely all we'll know about Real Time for some time.

Action Learning #4

The rediscovery and popularization of Animation Magic's Action Learning series was (and continues to be) a step-by-step process. Initially, it was only I. M. Meen which became popular around 2009 or so. Chill Manor slowly followed suit a couple of years later, in 2011. It wouldn't take until 2019 or so for the third game in the Action Learning series, Math Invaders, to be rediscovered. This was partially due to its obscurity and lack of cutscenes.

That was believed to be the the last game that Animation Magic worked on for the series, released or otherwise. However, in October of 2024, the website of Capitol Multimedia was rediscovered, and in it was a November 1995 press release detailing the announcement and creation of the Action Learning series. I. M. Meen was out at that point, and it was a big enough hit to have Capitol Multimedia sign up for three more "3D Adventure" titles, meant for Windows 95.

One of the titles is mentioned as being a sequel to I. M. Meen, and is almost certainly Chill Manor. We can also safely guess that Math Invaders was one of the planned titles... which leaves one title unaccounted for. This fourth Action Learning title was never alluded to again, and it's unknown what its plot entailed or what subject it would've taught. Science? Geography? Who knows.

It appears that, by the time the shareware demos of Chill Manor and Math Invaders were made, the fourth title was scrapped. There's no mention of it in the demo's sell screens as well as the titles section of Capitol Multimedia's website.