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interview: Still Life - Mathieu Larivière
We first saw Still Life at E3 2004, and knew right away that the game was loaded with potential. As it draws closer to release, anticipation is building for this dark, brooding serial murder mystery that promises to be one the hottest games of 2005. Although working hard to get the game finished, Microïds graciously accepted our invitation to discuss the game in more detail. Will the Virtools engine in Still Life be basically identical to that of Syberia 2, or should we expect some improvements? The pathfinding that was known to have certain issues with past productions has been improved. A new addition is the shadow casting which will bring more atmosphere to the 2D environments. We’ve added features such as a full screen interface, a window to closely examine objects, a new dialogue system and much more. Microids is, by now, a veteran of modern adventure games. What lessons do you feel you've learned from Syberia, Post Mortem, and Syberia 2? Still Life will definitely showcase the experience gained on those productions. The artists from Syberia as well as the integration and programming teams from both productions have played a crucial part in not repeating past mistakes. The design team took great care to create puzzles that are well balanced in difficulty, not too easy and not impossible. The dialogue was one of the most criticized areas of Post Mortem. How much of a priority are you putting on the dialogue of Still Life? Will there be a relatively large amount of dialogue? We’ve entirely changed the dialogue system. We’ve come up with a design that we believe can make a lot different players happy. The conversations are divided into two categories: business and off-topic. We’ve separated these two categories in the left mouse button (business) and right mouse button (off-topic). So for players who want to get to the point quickly and move on, they may do so by left clicking. The right click is for more personal or offbeat subject matter that adds depth to the characters and the story line. These conversations do not hide special information; thus skipping them does not interfere with the flow of your progress. They are simply there to add more flavor. How essential will character interaction be in Still Life? All I can say is, pay close attention to what people tell you. Please comment on the recent reported layoffs at Microids, and how they have affected or will affect the development of Still Life. First, I want to emphasize the fact that these layoffs are only temporary, and our team members will be called back to work within the coming months. While not an easy decision, it was one that management had to take to ensure the future of the company. It will give Microids time to readjust a new long-term vision for future productions. The good news is that Still Life’s production was unaffected by the recent cuts. The puzzles in Syberia were certainly on the easy side; do you anticipate that you will produce more difficult, and more varied puzzles in Still Life? The design team focused on bringing players innovative and story-driven puzzles. Focus groups have helped us adjust things along the way. I think we came up with a good balance of not too hard and not too easy.
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