Interviews
THE
BEST DAMN JANE JENSEN INTERVIEW EVER
Conducted by Randy Sluganski
Page
4
Randy-JA:
Did you know that CompUSA puts a lot of the adventure titles in the
childrens section? Ive already found Monkey Island, Schizm and a host of others
in the childrens section and every time I go there, I move the adventure
games back where they belong and then the staff kicks me out of the
store. Best Buy finally opened an adventure section and they have
true adventure games in the section, unlike other stores. The stores
are finally listening. I literally receive hundreds of emails a year
from Just Adventure readers who have followed my lead by complaining
about the placement of adventure games to store management.
Jane Jensen:
Im not surprised. I saw Syberia,
it was the only adventure game on the shelf, there
were three rows of the same and then Syberia!
Randy-JA:
I understand youre interested in magic. Do you perform magic yourself?
Jane Jensen:
One of the characters in the game, Samantha, is a magician. This
came about because I was looking for something interesting for her
to do on her own time besides the main mystery and also as a way to
do some different puzzles. So, as usual, when I decide something
like that I did a lot of research on it, performed a lot of bad tricks
for my family and friends, but I have not nor will I ever have any
illusions of being a professional magician myself.
Randy-JA:
Are the magic tricks in the new game used to solve puzzles? Do you
need to collect the inventory items needed for a magic trick to
solve a puzzle?
Jane Jensen:
Yes, its mostly inventory based. The is
still bible stage so any of this could change, but Sam, the main female
character, has a book of magic with different spells. The book is
really kind of juvenile, something like a 12-year old might have,
its something shes owned for a long time. Something like The Demonic
Mailman might be a trick first it tells you to steal an envelope
from a family member or friend, then it tells you how to steam the
envelope open so theres no marks, then it says take out the letter,
scan it and then do something really nasty, such as, if its a water
bill, change the amount owed to a million dollars. Then you put it
back in and reseal the envelope put it back with the unopened mail.
So its not only being able to do tricks
like that, but then you have to run across an instance in the game
where that would actually apply. For example, in the first chapter
of the game, youre trying to convince other students to join this
experiment by this mad scientist sort of character and the way you
get one of them to do this is by faking a letter from his mother.
Sam also does some sleight-of-hand stuff, so theres a special interface
through which she can do special things like sleight-of-hand to palm
an object. Once its palmed it can be planted on someone or put up
her sleeve.
Randy-JA:
Are you considering online play for the new series?
Jane Jensen:
It really hasnt been decided yet. The main focus of what The Adventure
Company wants and what theyre funding is a great adventure game in
a box. We may add some online elements to it, but its not going
to be like multiplayer shooting or anything like that.
Randy-JA:
Cryo Network tried some online games a few
years ago that failed mainly because they attempted to appeal more
towards what an action gamer would want rather than what an adventure
gamer would want. Could your new game eventually be something with
a two-player co-operative online play with chat rooms where you could
meet and talk to other players who could help you solve a difficult
puzzle and share their experiences; much like UbiSofts online Myst
game Uru.
Jane Jensen:
We actually initially considered having a two-player multiplayer where
one person plays one character and another person plays the other
character and you could each go your own way, but you could also have
some co-operative puzzles. I think there is potential in that long
term, but it was too much too undertake to do that in the first game
where were trying to build a franchise and get the game released
in a reasonable time frame. We are still considering doing something
like a piggy-back mode where you could play with someone else, basically
a remote friend just as if they were both sitting at the same computer,
and you would both see the same game environment and might have a
chat window where you could discuss what to try next. But it would
basically look like and play like a stand-alone
adventure game.
Randy-JA:
Your new book, Dantes Equation is to be released at the end of July.
Can you tell us a little about it?
Jane Jensen:
The book is in two segments. The first segment is set on the good
old planet earth and is about the discovery of a physical law of good
and evil known as the one-minus-one. In the second half of the book
the characters will actually visit other universes which have a different
balance of good and evil. Thats the idea of Dante, because Dante
visited heavens and hells, so basically you visit other plants which
have different levels of good and evil.
Unfortunately
we had to end the interview at this point, but we will have a review
of Dantes Equation in July on Just Adventure. And dont forget to enter our drawing
to win an autographed copy of Jane Jensens new book Dantes Equation
or one of five autographed dust jackets from the book.
