Dave Schulman

By Randy
Sluganski
June 1999

Dave Schulman is the irrepressible
designer of the upcoming Curly’s Adventure by Sylum.
Randy and he discussed everything from the decline of the point-and-click adventure
to Pamela Anderson Lee’s chest. And don’t even ask what those big pixels are covering
up in Dave’s picture.

Could
you give us an in-depth description of the plot and theme of Curly’s Adventure?

Well, I don’t want to give to much away. We have released a good amount of
information on what Curly’s about, but you are a sanitation worker and
you need to find a dumpsite for your planet “Mudball” and you come across
Earth as a perfect site. You unexpectedly find yourself running away from “the
Clowns,” who are your planet enemies for years. After the chase, you end
up in New York City and get space-jacked by some punk kids. Lucky for you, the
police are paid off with some coffee and donuts, and when you tell them your story
they send you to the nuthouse “Planters Asylum.”

You are stuck
in the Asylum with no way out, and the “the Warden” and “EMG”
(evil-maniacal genius) are trying to kill you during your pleasant stay at the
Asylum. You see, the Warden and EMG were abducted when they were little kids while
attending the “Dictators summer camp.” The clowns are the ones that
did this, and now, 30 years later, the Warden and EMG are using the clown technology
given to them to test it out on the patients in the Asylum so they can eventually
use it to take over the world and universe.

So what it comes down to is
you are this Asylum with every room being its own world and you have to somehow
get in touch with your planet so they can dump their garbage on earth. At the
same time you also have to save the world and make the universe safe from the
clowns in destroying “the Brain Crisper,” which is the machine that
controls all of the patients’ fantasy. You can explore medieval times, roam inside
a submarine, go back to the prehistoric era, and even walk around a Super Hero
City, all without leaving the Asylum.

How long has Curly’s
Adventure been in production? What is your estimated completion date?

Curly has been going on for around three years. At one point we started
over. The thing that sucks in being an independent developer without a big publisher
on your back is we have to slow down working on Curly sometimes to do contract
work to bring in money for the company.

That’s one of the reasons it’s taking
so long.

Have you found a publisher for Curly’s Adventure?

No, we are still looking. We haven’t found one yet but hope to soon. We really
want to get this game out to the public. We really think we have a cool game even
though it’s not real-time etc.

What problems have you encountered
in finding a publisher?

For one, publishers these days
don’t have big faith in graphic adventures; they think that they are dead, with
which I disagree. I do think the sales in the US have lowered a lot for these
games, but these games are for a certain market out there, like most games. It’s
just not as big anymore. The opposite is true for Europe, though; these games
are still very popular. If game players don’t speak up and tell the publishers
that they still love these games and want to buy them, eventually the developers
won’t make them anymore due to a lack of publishers that want them. I am sad to
say it, but if you can’t find a publisher for your title, getting it out yourself
is really hard.

You are headquartered in New York City,
and 90% of the publishers and game companies are located in the Silicon Valley.
Do you think this has hindered your chances of finding a publisher for Curly’s
Adventure?

Well, we are an hour away from the city,
but still it’s very hard. It would be great to go down the block and hit the all
the publishers at once to pitch your game. If I had to do it I’m looking at 800
bucks minimum to go down to California.

What specific parts
of the game can you point to and say, “This was influenced by the New York
atmosphere?”

Well, we went to school there for a little,
and I would say the characters and how they are and act. In New York, we feel
that most people are real and tell you what’s on your mind. It’s none of this
behind-your-back BS that happens other places. Don’t get me wrong–we have a good
amount of that, too, just not as much as other places.

Is
Curly’s Adventure the type of game that someone like, for instance, Pamela
Anderson Lee, could begin playing immediately, or is there a high learning curve
intended for experienced gamers?

Well, that question all
depends on if this was before or after the implants were taken out. If she had
her coconuts in, she would have a little bit of a problem getting into the game.
But if it’s after she got her friends removed, then she wouldn’t have any
problems at all.

Curly does get harder as you play; it starts off real easy
and gets pretty hard, so it’s for all types of players. The hardcore gamers will
still have a lot of fun in the beginning because of the humor. But, believe me,
they will get a brain freeze later on in the game–it does get hard.

You
created a game engine named SCREW for Curly’s Adventure. Can you tell us
some details about this game engine?

We made it. It’s our
engine. It’s pretty cool. A regular Joe of the street can make a graphic adventure
with the engine. It’s easy to use when you learn the basics, but you do need to
have a good noggin on your head to understand it.

The animation
and storyboard look to be heavily influenced by the classic Lucas Art games. Was
this a conscious decision on your part?

The LucasArts games
were our favorites, and we made the same type of game that they make, but we feel
our style is different and it really wasn’t a conscious one.

The
game’s graphics seem to disguise a lot of repressed sexual frustration. Can you
comment on this?

No! 🙁

You
have said in another interview that Curly’s Adventure will not have any
“big-boobed bimbo(s) in hot pants.” Why not? Don’t you think that the
adventure genre needs an infusion of “big-boobed bimbos?”

We wanted to make a game that wasn’t Leisure Suit Larry humor that got
boring to us, plus you never say anything anyway. Our humor is similar to The
Simpsons, which kids and adults both get.

The game player
in Curly’s Adventure can enter mental patients’ fantasy worlds. You have
kept the mood light and frivolous, but aren’t you afraid that in these politically
correct times your game may meet some opposition?

Are you
serious? No way! Who cares, let them come after us, we can get some exposure.
If there were a list of games to go after, we would be the very last on that list.

If
Curly is a hit, would you plan a sequel or go off into an entirely new
direction?

We would do a sequel for sure, but it would
be real-time 3D.

You are bucking the odds. No 3D. No T&A.
No action. Just a good old-fashioned point-and-click humorous adventure. Do you
have that much faith in your product, or are you just a hardheaded New Yorker?

Not sure, but the hard head doesn’t help. We really think it’s a cool game
even though there’s nothing revolutionary about it. We started this game because
we love these games and wanted to make one.

Why do you think
adventure games are much more popular in Europe than they are in America?

Europeans still like Jerry Lewis; I have no idea–their humor is whacked out.
I think that’s a good trait. In America we get too caught up in technology and
what’s breakthrough or how pretty it is. How many games have you played that have
been really nice looking but had no gameplay at all? There are lists of
them.

You are 23 years of age. You have had commercial works
published in the gaming industry, yet you still don’t own a pub. Is this a source
of embarrassment for your family?

Yes! I have to
wear a paper bag around my head when we go out 🙁 Isn’t a rule that, if you aren’t
a billionaire by 24 you have to leave America?

I might have to pack my things
soon!