Pig-Min : Post Indie Gaming :: Interview : Santiago, maker of [Sofia's Debt].

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This is the interview with Santiago, maker of freeware horror adventure [Sofia's Debt].

Official page of [Sofia's Debt]

Korean version of this Interview.

1. [Sofia's Debt] was made with Spanish language only, and later English version was made. Can you please let me know some episodes about that?

I did Sofia’s Debt for an Spanish contest in the year 2000 with “Adventure Maker”, a very easy software to create first person adventure games. I am from Argentina ( we speak Spanish here ) and I didn’t speak English very well at that time.

The game was relatively successful ( for the mini game it is ) it appear in a lot of websites and printed magazines. I started my studies in Medicine after that, but always loved and remembered the experience of creating this game. So, years after that, I decided to remake it with better graphics and with a more powerful engine: Wintermute.

I study 2 years 3D Studio Max, some of C programming and try to make some things with Wintermute. I wanted to make it in English this time, so I pay a translator to be perfect (I am not sure if she did a very well job, but some people understand the game) and finally I made this new version in Spanish too, but it was not planned when I started.

2. As I know, it's made by Wintermute Engine. In Korea, there are some people who wish to make games with that. Could you please let me know good things about Wintermute Engine?

Wintermute is the best and more powerful free engine to create adventure games in an easy way that I know. It gives the developer the opportunity to create a quality game if you have some other skills. If you master some softwares like photoshop, 3D Studio, etc and try to learn the basis of C programming, creating things with Wintermite can be something very fun, because the tool make the hard work and you just create.

But it is not good to start it without the other knowledge because it can be something frustrating. The best features of wintermute is that allows hi resolutions, 3d characters ( to create games like Syberia ) it is based on DirectX, so it can be hardware accelerates and allows Alfa blending, between many other cool things. It has some editors to accelerate the development, and you can create all king of adventure games with it. Here is the link http://www.dead-code.org/index2.php/en

3. How come to make Horror Adventure game? And did you get some influence from some other Movie - Game - ... etc?

I found that mystery/horror was the best way to create emotions and interest on the player and gives me a lot of stuff to create an intense atmosphere. I am a horror fan, but not things like “saw” movie, I think it is disgusting. I love mystery and horror literature like Edgar Alan Poe, Lovecraft, Stephen King, etc.

I try to make Sofia’s Debt like an episode of a horror TV series (like "Twilight Zone" or "Tales from the crypt") that has a claustrophobic feeling in a very short time.

I think we all have influences from all we see, use and consume. I had played a lot of adventure games, movies and books that in the end helps me to create something.

4. If there are some volunteers, can you make Korean version of [Sofia's Debt]? As I know, Wintermute Engine can use Korean.

I will love to do that, but there are some years I didn’t use Wintermute any more and the last time I try to edit one scene the game crashes, maybe because the new wintermute version is a little bit different now.

One person put the Korean diary ( of the game ) translation on his blog; here is the link: http://lunarsix.egloos.com/2344190

5. Can you send Pig-Min review copy & contest prize, if you make next game?

Now I have an small company in Argentina www.artisticsoft.com , it is a game studio and we are developing a new game; unfortunately it is not an adventure game; it is something like a remake of an old game called “Jones in the fast lane”.

The game is being made with our own engine called A.S.E (Artisticsoft Engine), It is in 3D and can be played in LAN mode. Here you can see some screenshots: http://gamershell.com/pc/get_a_life_show/screenshots.html Of course I can send you copies! I will be glad to do that ( if we finally find a publisher J )

Our next game that we will start development next year will be a classic third person adventure game, in 3D with an new version of our engine. The story will be strong and with a big mystery to resolve. A yang genius scientist will be immerse in a journey to know who he is and try to solve the biological meaning of the feelings, personality and the human mind.

6. Have you ever experienced, or even heard about, Korean games?

Unfortunately no, maybe I play one Korean game, but I didn’t know the origin. I play every adventure game that came, but I never heard that one was from Korea.

This year I saw some Korean movies that I love, I don´t know the original names so is hard to tell what they are, but they where really nice and different compared to the Hollywood ones.

7. Can you pick other games from both of Major & Indie, and explain briefly why you chose them.

Major:

1) Gabriel Knight 2, 1, 3: GK2 is my all time favourite game, and the complete saga is fantastic; is sad Sierra will not continue it. Jane Jensen, the game designer have all my admiration. My dream is to create one game in the level she do. I am looking forward to Gray Matter, her new game. What I love of those games is the strong story and the way it is told, the characters, the dialogs and the level of perfection all the elements of the game are assembled in one masterpiece. Maybe they don’t have the best puzzles, but it is not the most important part of an adventure game for me.

2) DREAMWEB: One old adventure game, unique in his type, with a fantastic and strong story that mark me as what I will like to play and create in the future.

3) Little Big Adventue 1, 2 Twinsen’s Oddysey, Relentless: This game was a little childish but one of the most fun games I ever played. It combine some adventure elements with an interesting story and fun characters with fantastic graphics and gameplay; I hope the 3rd (that was announced) finally came!

4) Space Quest 5, 4, 1, 6: This saga from Sierra was hilarious, Roger Wilco, the protagonist was tremendously fun and give me many hours entertainment. I will put The Larry games here too J

5) Grim Fandango: One Lucasarts Masterpiece, I was surprised of the quality of this game, the storytelling, the graphics, the incredible characters and the cinematographic feeling. A MUST play for every adventure gamer. I want to mention here Indiana Jones and the faith of Atlantis and Monkey Island games that where masterpieces too for me.
Indie:

1) Scratches: I love this game for many reasons, It is from Argentina ( my country ) I know the authors and I work with them in the very beginning and finally I was one of the beta testers. But the game is a pride, a fantastic atmosphere adventure in a mystery/terror style that is being available in many countries around the world.

2) Dark Fall: This game is fantastic because it was the start and inspiration of many things. A one man effort that reach the game design quality of what many others big studios can’t.

8. Please leave some message for Korean Pig-Min readers.

Thanks for the interview!, I was surprised when I heard that someone in Korea play Sofia’s Debt and I am really glad for it. I hope you continue supporting new developers that try to create something new and to try yourselves to make your own game if you like.

Korean version of this Interview.

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Interview : Santiago, maker of [Sofia's Debt].

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