Just Adventure in Paris: Part 2
Just Adventure in Paris: Part 2
If, before I had left for Paris, my wife had seen a photograph of Tiphaine (pronounced Tiff-en) Locqueneux, the Communication Manager of Cryonetworks, then I am sure that some sort of “family emergency” would have materialized that would have prohibited my trip to France. On the other hand, if I had seen a photograph of Tiphaine before I left for Paris, then I probably would have filed for a divorce before the flight departed.
If one has ever had a more charming and delightful hostess, then they are truly blessed. For Tiphaine was my confidant, my tour guide, my schedule planner, my translator, and my “crazy woman driver” through the twinkling night streets of Paris. And Patrice, whatever you are paying her, it is not enough.
Cryonetworks is not, as many mistakenly believe, Cryo. Rather, Cryonetworks is a spin-off from the famed French adventure gaming company that concentrates solely on online games. These games–The Fog, Treasure Hunt 2001, Venice, and soon Dune–are all adventure-based and are very popular in Europe. They are all in 3D, but a 3D card is not needed as Cryonetworks has ingeniously developed an innovative engine named Scol that, once downloaded, doubles as a 3D card on your computer and allows you to participate in any of the online entertainment. Though many of Cryonetworks’ employees previously worked for Cryo, great care has been taken ensure that the public perceives these companies as two separate entities: Cryo is located in Paris, and Cryonetworks operates from Cedex, a small town outside of Paris. Now let’s start back at the beginning, which is where we ended last time … Patrice Rullier has just met me at my hotel …
Patrice Rullier is the CEO of Cryonetworks and has an impressive pedigree in the gaming industry. Luckily, Patrice had forgotten something at his apartment, so I received an impromptu tour of the back streets of Paris where the real people live, away from the tourist trappings. Every picture you have ever seen of narrow Paris streets with barely enough room for one car, with pigeons fluttering madly out of the way of cars, of automobile horns blaring at everything and nothing, of centuries-old buildings with wrought iron balconies and wooden shutters in need of paint–were all now in front of me like a scene from an art movie. All too soon we arrived at the Cryonetworks offices, and it was time to get to work.
Tiphaine has scheduled a rigorous itinerary for the next two days (probably as punishment for my constant emails insisting on a schedule), so without any fanfare off we go to meet Baptiste Marmey, the Project Manager of The Fog. In Just Adventure Goes to Paris Part 3, we will speak at length about Cryonetworks’ game line, but for now let’s enjoy the many different personalities and creative artists that are needed to create a game.
Minutes later I find myself seated at a long meeting table. Across from me sits Baptiste. Between us is a computer with a screen enlarger attached to permit us to watch The Fog being played on a large screen. As the lights go out, a feeling of dread passes through me as I find myself seated across from a chain-smoking Frenchman with extremely bright red hair and a devious satanic grin. Let me admit that my fear was more from my ignorance at being trapped in an unfamiliar position–Baptiste is one of the funniest and friendliest people I could have the honor of meeting. At first I have problems understanding Baptiste’s English, as I do with everyone, but as the day progressed, I find myself better understanding what everyone is saying. In France, many children are required to be schooled in English as a second language, and many French companies that must deal with English-speaking clients will not hire someone unless they can communicate in English. Baptiste led me through the ins and outs of The Fog, explaining how the game is to be released in twelve chapters, one a month for a year, explaining the icons and the character selection, detailing the intricacies of the game.
Soon it was time to move on and meet the most intriguing character at Cryonetworks–Cedric Samson, one of the authors of The Fog. Conjure up a preconceived notion of what you think a Frenchman should be … speaking softly as though everything is a mystery, slightly hunched over, cigarette perched between his fingers with the smoke drifting upwards. This is Cedric Samson. If my meeting with Cedric proved nothing else, it was that there is often a kinship between people that transcends nationalities and countries. As we talked at length, we soon discovered that we shared many of the same interests and ideas. To further seal the friendship, Cedric was the only person who, when he found out I was from Pittsburgh, did not automatically say, “Ah, Pittsburgh Steelers,” no, Cedric said, “Ah, George Romero.” You gotta love that. We shall soon be conducting an interview with Cedric, and I hope you find him to be as interesting as I did.
Two meetings, and already I was behind schedule. Time for a late lunch with Tiphaine and Jean-Marie Guitera, Cryonetwork’s Marketing Director. It was drizzling as we walked the two blocks to the restaurant, and Tiphaine held an umbrella over me so I wouldn’t get wet. Is she great or what! I wanted to bring her home with me, but I didn’t have room in my suitcase. For those who have clamored for a description of my meals in France, I had a lunch of duck delicacies that consisted of foie gras (pate), magret (smoked duck), and liver (served hot), and, yes, my mouth still waters when I remember the meal. Jean-Marie spent lunch grilling me about American buying habits, where best to advertise adventure games in the US, what type of reader Just Adventure attracts, and so on. As anyone who knows me will tell you, I can sit and talk about adventure gamers all day, so of course we also returned late from lunch.
A meeting with Production Director Louis Van Proosdij had to be cancelled, though I did have the pleasure of dining with Louis later that night. Louis oversees all of Cryonetwork’s projects and runs a tight ship. Instead, it was time to meet with the lovely Sylvie Gilles as she presented a demonstration of Venise. Venise is another online game that we will be discussing in part 3. It is a recreation of 17th-century Venice, Italy, and the player will be fully immersed in that world as he/she carries out a day-to-day existence; working, trading, and bartering. You can even run for public office. Sylvie described the minutiae of the Venise game world, and we even chatted with some fellow players from Italy.
Next up was Vincent Navizet, the Product Manager for Treasure Hunt 2001. TH 2001 is an online puzzle game that is currently being played worldwide. It was recently formally introduced to the media at the Milia 2001, and the grand prize is simply astounding, so make sure to click on the TH 2001 link on our front page to see the official unveiling. Vincent was probably ready to strangle me by the end of our meeting as my inquisitive nature had me asking question after question that he was not permitted to answer, such as how many riddles total are in the game, how can you guarantee that the game will have a winner by year’s end, and so on.
The final meeting this day was with Jonathan Belgourari. Jonathan is the supervisor of the Games Exploitation staff. The French definition of “exploitation” is very different from the English definition. “Exploit” has a negative connotation in America; in France, it means to market in a positive manner. The Games Exploitation staff–which numbered slightly under twenty people, but may be upwards of two hundred by year’s end–are actually online helping the Cryonetworks gamers as they are playing the games. For instance, as you are playing The Fog, if you are having technical problems or not quite sure what to do next, all you need do is type a question to the game moderator and you will receive an instant response. The amount of interaction between the game moderators and the online subscribers was very impressive, as some of you will find out first-hand in the future.
Day 2 began with a long meeting with Sylvain Huet, the creator of the Scol technology. We will meet Sylvian again in part 3, but for now let me say that speaking with Sylvain is like sitting with Einstein. He is responsible for the Scol engine and the E-Maginer, both widely respected development tools. Most shocking of all, though, was when he told me had worked for Cryo for thirteen years (not only are most employees of Cryonetworks former Cryo employees, but they have also been with the company for most of their careers). Sylvain doesn’t look a day over 25 and has, in fact, been working with Cryo since he was all of fourteen years old.
We did make lunch early today, and I was treated to an authentic sushi meal by Baptiste and the staff of Treasure Hunter 2001. As I am a sushi wuss, I instead ordered a kabob from the menu and spent most of lunch chatting with my hosts. One of the really neat things that happened: I was speaking with Wilfrid Vinmer and describing a game I had once named Scotland Yard and how I would love to be able to find it again for my collection, and he exclaimed that he had been the product manager for the game and had an extra copy in his office. I wish it were always that easy!
For the remainder of the afternoon, I meet with Florent Claudy and was shown demonstrations of the E-Maginer and a virtual worlds presentation of 3D web sites that had been created with this wonderful development tool. By this time I was so spaced out from a lack of sleep and the time difference that I think I was hallucinating, but it was time to get my head together because I had a meeting with Patrice Rullier, the CEO of Cryonetworks.
Anyone interested in the slightest in adventure games would be thrilled to speak with Patrice. I can’t even begin to describe the thrill of hearing a CEO of a game company speak about the importance of adventure games and their future in the gaming industry. What a delightful change from the negative crap I usually hear from North American marketing people. Patrice has been largely responsible for the success of Cryo and hopes to do the same with Cryonetworks, and I don’t doubt him for a minute. Just Adventure has agreed to help promote the Cryonetwork line of games for the next year. In return we have been provided with a license for the SCOL engine and will also receive a percentage of any monies made through readers who subscribe to the online games through banners on the Just Adventure site.
I did promise that I would tell you of something that Patrice told me that I found shocking. Well, in France, there are many adventure games that besides being released for the computer are also released on DVD and for Sony Playstation. As I started my usual spiel about North American companies bypassing the opportunity to increase their sales by not releasing their adventure games on the console systems, Patrice informed me that not only was this not true, but that he had personally negotiated with Sony about releasing the Cryo line of adventure games in America on the Playstation and Sony claimed that there was no market in America for adventure games and refused to allow Cryo to purchase a license to distribute Playstation games in North America. One guess as to what company I have been writing to since I returned home?
Be here for Just Adventure in Paris Part 3 as we take an in-depth look at the Scol engine and the E-Maginer web development tool, and then we’ll do our best to pique your interest for The Fog, Treasure Hunt 2001, and Venise.
