Kyle Choi
Kyle Choi is the creator of Comer, an immersive
adventure game dealing with creation mythology, aliens, and trees. Read my review
and then order the game from Shine
Studio.
What
inspired you to create Comer (other than your admiration for Myst)?
Myst is the direct inspiration to be sure. There
is another animation cartoon from Japan called Laputa, describing a city
floating in the air, which I regard as the best of animation cartoon of all times,
just as Myst is the best of its kind.
You seem to
be a regular Renaissance man, what with being good at music, art, and game design.
What is your educational background?
Thanks for the big
hat of Renaissance, which makes me feel that I should have lived at that time.
As for the background, may regard it as multi-cultural and multi-fielded. I drew
and painted a lot as a boy, then played piano for a couple of years, then somehow
entered college with an Architecture major and graduated alternatively from computer
engineering (did spend my college years in the States, which enabled such diversity).
The reason I entered the computer field was simply because I happened to see a
stunning 3D computer graphics demo.
One thing that really
struck me about Comer was the blend of Eastern and Western design elements.
Were you attempting to attract two different types of audiences, or is that an
aspect of your own personality?
It is both. I was trying
to make something universal instead of culture-dependent, while that something
universal has to be cultural at the same time. So I worked in an attempt to mingle
the best of all cultures into something everyone can enjoy.
Why
did you decide to sell Comer online only? Was it due to lack of interest
from publishers, as so often seems to be the case these days, or was it merely
so you could keep a bigger slice of the pie?
Comer is
sold online because there seems to be no other way out. I did contact many publishers
and got an impression just like you said.
If a publisher
were to approach with an offer to distribute Comer, would you accept the
offer, or do you like the challenge of being responsible for your own destiny?
I would rather like a publisher to handle the business aspects and Shine Studio
to be kept as a development entity in order to focus on quality titles. Unfortunately
the real world is not like this.
Do you have a “real”
job, or do you work full-time on game design?
I worked
full time for the Comer development and believe that a quality title does
require the effort.
How has daily life for the average citizen
in Hong Kong changed, if at all, since China took it back from the British?
Nothing changed at all, from my point of view.
Do you
have any plans to create another game(s)?
If Comer turns
out to be selling well (still early to tell at this time), more will be planned.
If it is not, more will be planned as well (I hope, at least I think this way
right now).
Comer seems to have been indirectly inspired
by Philip Jose Farmer’s series of Riverworld novels. Are you familiar with
these cult classics and, if so, were they an inspiration?
Not connected, and this is the first time I have heard about the Riverworld
novels.
Are there any of the so-called Myst-clones
that you personally feel are as good as Myst, or is there just Myst
and then everything else below it?
In my opinion Myst
is still the best of its kind (maybe due to it was the first adventure game
I played). I may be wrong since I did see other people’s opinions. Myst is
a perfect blend of all elements contributing to an graphical adventure, such as
story, plots, puzzles, graphics, music, etc. Other games may exceed in some elements
but not in all. The most important thing is the quality. Myst-clone is
somewhat a negative term these days because of the flood coming out after Myst.
I just could not imagine a game like Myst could be made in a year.
Besides the efforts in the making, the quality also includes, for lack of better
words, culture, taste, etc.
How do you react to critics
who claim that the success of Myst indirectly destroyed the adventure genre?
People can express opinions as long as they have a point. I do believe Myst
pioneered something new, and that something new was grouped into the adventure
genre, which I think is a correct grouping that makes the adventure genre stronger.
What exactly was is about Myst that so deeply affected
you?
I saw a future for adventure games. Can you imagine
how closely it resembles a movie? I always compared Myst with a good movie.
It has a story and good plots like a movie, it has realistic graphics and astounding
music and sound effects like a movie. It exceeds a movie with its computer-generated
beautiful environment only with human imagination as the limit, it exceeds movie
in that you, the player, are the main character instead of just watching others.
With improving computer technology, this type of game will eventually get rid
of the slide-show type of limit, although there is still a long way to go. After
the marriage of computer and TV in the future (I think they are engaged now),
interactive entertainment of this kind would probably thrive: A movie in which
you make things happen.
If you could say one thing to the
Miller brothers, what would it be?
Hi, I just wish there
are more people like you with great ideas and making brilliant games like yours,
which would keep me busy playing them instead of making them myself with a hard
time.
Can you tell us approximately how many copies of Comer
you have thus far sold on-line and how many you need to sell in order to break
even?
I think I should regard that as a commercial secret
(if not embarrassed when telling the figure). Comparing to other on-line business
I know of, it is a success. If Internet business is getting doubled or tripled
each year as people expected, we can merely survive. I am still optimistic in
that people will quickly and eventually feel safe and get used to Internet shopping.
People will realise that in the lack of a publisher, this is the only way out
for a small developer like us. If they do need quality titles, I call out with
this desperate voice: Please buy online and support us.
What
steps have you taken to publicize Comer and to garner sales?
Currently we are depending on adventure sites like yours and adventure lovers
spreading words. Any recommendation is welcome to let every one know about it.
Einstein,
Leonardo da Vinci, and Sinbad all make an appearance in Comer, but no Pamela
Anderson Lee! Could she possibly be in the sequel?
This
is a good question concerning the design aspect of Comer. In selecting
the ‘Comers’ in the game, I had to judge who in history are suitable for the characters.
The persons must be universally, trans-culturally known to everyone in order to
get the thriving feel when finding out who they are.
What’s
your stance on the timber industry?
Timber industry is
not something in my mind when making Comer actually. I am not in the position,
or with good knowledge, to judge whether there is a balance between the use of
wood and preservation of nature. I like the feeling of forest very much, as well
as the feeling of wooden chairs and desks. The point is, Myst is probably
the only game (before Comer) that gives people a feeling of being immersed
in many trees. However, trees, especially beautiful ones, are a very difficult
thing to be made with computer. Roughly 2/3 of the rendering time of Comer
was devoted to trees. Without them Comer would have been released years
ago, and without them Comer could not be of the same value as it is. I
wish people appreciate this feeling of nature and the effort behind it. The immersion
of many trees is certainly the distinctive element of Comer.
