Interview with Diego Canepa of Big Bang Studios
Diego Canepa of Big Bang
The Nawamba Contact is a humorous game with a serious side being developed by a company called Big Bang in Argentina, and it will be released in Europe when completed. The designers are using an engine that is similar to the SCUMM engine used by LucasArts, called the AdventureR. Diego Canepa of Big Bang has kindly consented to our request for this interview, and his answers will give you an overview of the game and a greater understanding of what it is like for a small, independent company to develop its first adventure.
Please tell us about Big Bang Studios and adventure game development in Argentina. Where did the name Big Bang come from?
We founded Big Bang four years ago. Game development in Argentina is really poor. But we are dreamers and we are able to do adventure games. (Thanks, God.) I used my first computer when I was eleven years old. I’m 28 right now. And I’ve played a lot of adventure games. From this moment I’ve started to make small games and I’ve discovered that I was born to build adventure games. We decided to call it Big Bang because we felt that it was a beginning for us and for our country.
Give us some insight into the storyline and character development for The Nawamba Contact. Was the concept for the game developed by Big Bang, or did it come from elsewhere?
The story is about a young philosopher called Stan Newman. He is investigating his father’s death. A very strange death. We have created everything, the story, the locations (our artist make it possible), dialogs, and the puzzles. Everything was made by us.
Describe the design of the music and graphics for this game. Is there anything that makes them unique to this effort?
We love cartoons. So when we started the game we want to the art similar to Maniac Mansion. The music is not defined right now. We are testing some musicians.
I understand that your designers are using a game engine similar to SCUMM that is used by LucasArts in their adventure games. Can you tell us more about the game engine and how it interacts to make the game more enjoyable? Are there any other similarities to LucasArts creations?
We’ve developed an Adventure Game Engine called “AdventureR.” It’s divided in two parts: the editor and the interpreter. The editor is called “AdventureR Lab.” With this application we build all the adventures. It has a script language, and you control absolutely everything (animations, image libraries, characters, locations, and the like) from inside it. Any people with a minimum knowledge in programming can use the editor. Its creation demanded three years of development.
The second part is the interpreter. This tool uses all the resources generated by the “AdventureR Lab” to run the game, but is transparent for the developer because the “AdventureR Lab” editor calls the interpreter automatically when you press the play button.
Our game will be very similar to CMI. The main difference is the interface. We have a “point and click” style.
This game has been in development for some time now. Will you discuss what problems you have had to overcome and where the game is currently located on the Big Bang timeline?
Well, we suffered typical problems with programming and art. It’s our first adventure and game, and we learned a lot at this time, in all aspects. Right now we have some trouble with the screen resolution. We are not sure about the 640×480 because some time has passed and we think it is a poor resolution at this time.
What will people enjoy the most about this game?
Well, the game is very funny. The art is really crazy, and the puzzles too. And it has a lot of humor.
You are planning for a European release. What, if any, are your distribution plans for the United States? What has influenced your US marketing decisions the most?
We think that the best market is Europe. We don’t have distribution plans for the United States right now, because publishers in the USA are buying only 3D games.
Is there anything else that you would like us to know about Big Bang, The Nawamba Contact, or plans for adventure games development in your future?
Well, we are about to start a new parallel adventure game. Again cartoon style. The game will run on Windows platform at 800×600 or 1024×768 and a million colors. We are planning to put in a lot of animation. We are writing the story right now. We’ve decided to start this new project due to the fear we have about The Nawamba Contact. We think that maybe it’s a little old right now.
