Interviews

Rebecca
Clements of Cirque De Zale

By:
Dimitris Manos

---

Cirque De
Zale Review

This review and interview
originally appeared in The Inventory 14 & 15.
The Inventory is the Internet’s only online, downloadable adventure
magazine
and is translated into seven different languages. You can download
past issues of The Inventory from Just
Adventure.

Yourself

– Tell us a bit
about yourself.

I’m a hot, little communist
cowgirl currently studying
Japanese at a university in Brisbane, Australia. I care for
sick kittens in my spare time, as well as drawing semi-
(non)profitable Japanese style comics. I discovered
AGS while making castles out of my millions of dollars
one day, and have made one incredibly successful game
since then. I now spend my time travelling the world
and teaching others how to make games and find love
on the stock market. Sometimes I lie, sometimes I
don’t. I’m one of the few chosen ones on this earth that
know Queen are the greatest band ever. My two great
loves are rugby league and karaoke (though sometimes I
think karaoke is just playing with my feelings).

– What are
your all-time favourite adventure games?

I’m glad you didn’t
ask me to pick one. Obviously, the first two ‘Monkey
Island’ games are hard to go past, and ‘Grim Fandango’ is
amazing. I love almost all of the old Sierra titles
too, particularly ‘Quest for Glory’ and ‘King’s
Quest’. I have a special little place in my heart
for ‘Simon the Sorcerer’ though.

– Have you played any
recent adventures that you enjoyed?

Well, due to almost
no decent adventure games being released commercially these days,
lately
it’s been
all AGS games. ‘Odysseus Kent’ is one of the more
atmospheric AGS games and it’ll always be one of my
favourites, though I recently played both ‘5 Days a
Stranger’ (by the creator of ‘Odysseus Kent’) and

‘Pleurghburg’ and I’d be hard pressed to find many
commercial games that could beat those for
entertainment value.

 

Cirque De Zale

– When did you first think
of creating an adventure game?

I think everyone who played
all the early adventure games had a secret little dream to create
their
own.
I know that while I was growing up, Roberta Williams
was one of my first idols and as a result I got it
into my head to learn programming (a dream that was thankfully
crushed as soon as I started learning and I realised
how utterly boring it was). In December of last year I
really started thinking seriously about making a
game, though I had no idea how I would handle
the programming side. Thankfully, I had a
couple of friends that knew about AGS and it
was probably no more than an hour after I
discovered the software that I started scribbling
notes for Cirque.

– How long did it take
you to create Cirque De Zale in total?

Total? It’s hard to say
since if another bug pops up, I’ll still technically be working
on it.
Though, aside
from
little touch-ups, the whole thing from conception
to first release probably took a little over 4 months.
The
bulk of the game was created in 3 months, though
I was
spending an unholy amount of hours each day working
on it as I was on my summer holidays.

– How did you come up
with the … poop boy
profession?

I had to give Alexander
a humiliating and degrading job (it’s always fun to be evil
to your main
character) as well
as putting him in the circus environment so
it made sense that he might want to aspire to be the
ringleader. I think working with excrement is pretty degrading,
though. I mean no offence to all those
hard working

sanitation worker types out there … you guys rule!

– Did
you have any inspirations when you created Cirque De
Zale?

I guess anyone would
be able to see that Monkey Island and Guybrush Threepwood were
my
main inspirations
so I won’t go on about that. Simon the
Sorcerer was

also a huge inspiration, I loved his anti-hero sentiment
when I first played ‘Simon the Sorcerer
2’.
I think everything else came from various game
and movie stories that I’ve encountered over the years
and have
wanted to completely screw around with.

–
Alexander Zale is quite obnoxious and meanspirited. Was this
a way to escape the stereotype
hero framework that most writers work with
or
did
you think it would just be more fun?

Hmm,
both! I’ve always loved stories where they make
fun of the usual narrative conventions
and stereotypes so I wanted to do a bit of that but of
course I wanted to
make the game funny as well. I guess
that’s just my kind

of humour. I’m sure anyone who knows me will agree
with that. I think Alexander’s the
kind of guy I’d like to be if I were an 80 year old man (and
I really can’t
wait for that day!).

– During the development
of a game it
is quite often that the story of the game has to change
due
to quite a few reasons (i.e. time restrictions,
developer realizes some parts of
the story
don’t
make sense etc). Did it happen during production
of Cirque De Zale as well? Did you have to
change the script somehow compared to the original
plan or did you stick to the initial idea?

For the most
part, I managed to stick to the original idea. There were times
during those long,
lonely
nights

in front of the monitor that I was tempted to knock out
a couple of rooms and shorten the
story, but in the end
I’m glad I stuck with it, because I’d
be getting even more complaints about
the
length of the
game
otherwise! There were quite a few instances
of minor script changes here and there
but I don’t
think the
game suffered for it. As precious as
I am about these things, I
managed to let them go.

– Why did
you decide to use a Lucasarts-style
interface?

I don’t know if a Sierra
style game was really my style. As much
as I love
playing
those games,
what I
wanted

for Cirque was for it to be a tribute to ‘Monkey Island’.
I wanted people to get
a real sense of nostalgia as they
played it, which is exactly
the kind of game I’d love to play. It just follows that I
give it
the same
basic
GUI as
MI and try to make the
sprites, dialogue and backgrounds look similar. I really
have
to
thank

Proskrito for the template, because there’s no way
I’d be able to program my
own GUI like that.

– What programs did you
use to create the
characters and backgrounds for
Cirque De Zale?

Paint Shop Pro all the
way, man! I’ve
never
managed
to use another paint
program. Photoshop in particular
I
find too… messy.
PSP is a great, simple and it’s just
perfect for the kind of
art I typically do.

– Is there any chance
we might see a speech add-on for the game?

It’s always a possibility
that I may lose my mind one day. Really, I don’t think
so. I’ve
had
a few offers
from
people to do voices
for it. I’d like
to do
other games
in
the future that use speech
and I’ve got some great people in mind to do the voices
when I do,
but like
I said before, Cirque
was supposed to follow
in the
footsteps
of Monkey Island
and other
Lucasarts games,
and so it just wouldn’t
seem right. Personally,
I love being able to
imagine the voice you
think suits
the
character yourself. It’s been incredibly interesting
to hear some of my
friends do quotes from the game in
voices I never would
have imagined. I think that’s a
nice advantage of
text-only games.

– What do you think of
the feedback you have received so far for your adventure?

I was
-extremely- flattered at the sheer number of compliments
I got! I
didn’t expect that many people to
play the game
(especially outside of
the AGS
community) and
I thought most of the
feedback would
be criticism
but most people are fine with accepting that it’s an amateur
game and my first attempt so they
forgive a lot of
mistakes and
shortcomings. The
criticism has
been great too because now I know exactly the kinds
of things
I
need to
work
on next time.
I don’t think,
to this date, anyone has said, ‘It’s
crap’… which

makes me happy.

– If you could
develop Cirque De Zale all over again from the
very beginning,
what would
you do

differently?

Go through all
that horror again? My god.
I guess the only thing
I’d do is more beta testing before
I released
it, and spend
a bit more time on Alexander’s walk cycle.
You people just won’t
let that go!

– How many times has Cirque
De Zale been downloaded so far?

I have absolutely
no idea. It’s available for download
in a few places
now, so it’s impossible to say. The only link with
a counter is on
the main AGS page,

and that’s
currently sitting on 1432. I suspect it’s a much higher

number than that from some of the other links though,
especially
considering that’s it’s
available at
Underdogs (though
when I last checked, it was listed as ‘Cirque DU
Zale’).

–
Is there ever going to be a Cirque De Zale
2?

Most
definitely! I’ve already written parts of
it
and
I’m
going to work towards making it a more professional
looking
game (and longer, too). I might have done so with the first
game if
I’d known it
was going
to
get this
much
attention. Who knows what WACKY things Alexander will get up
to next time?

 

AGS games

–
What are
in your opinion the top
five adventures created
with AGS? Which one
of them is the best
and why?

Oh, gee.
OK… in no particular order, ‘Odysseus Kent’,
‘Pleurghburg’, ‘5
Days
a
Stranger’,
‘King’s Quest
II+’

and ‘Garfield’. Picking the ‘best’ is
impossible because they
all fit into different categories. ‘Odysseus Kent’

has the coolest and most
nostalgic feel to it. ‘Pleurghburg’
is
HUGE and has the best replay value. ‘5 Days’ is the

best made amateur game I’ve ever played (and spooky to boot).
‘Kings Quest
II+’ is the
best
‘spoof’
of a commercial
game, and ‘Garfield’ is without a doubt the

best ‘Garfield’ game ever made and great if you’re a fan

of the original
comics. Sorry, I just couldn’t pick one,
I piked on your well thought
out question.

– In what ways do
you think AGS adventures could
improve
in general?

I believe Chris
said
it in
his interview
last month,
but I
have to agree – script editing! One of
the most
offputting things when
you’re playing a game is seeing a lot of spelling mistakes,
bad punctuation and
grammar,
or just not being able to
read the
text easily. I don’t mind if a game
has a
few mistakes
here and
there (I’m

sure Cirque has a few!) but it’s such a small thing that
makes

such a different to the atmosphere of a game.

Storywise, I think a lot of
AGS users are doing -fine- and
when you’re
playing
a fun game, the graphics

don’t matter that much.

– We have seen one
or two attempts
to release independently developed
games as
commercial
products. Do you think it is possible
that we will
see companies in the near future
turning into

profitable businesses by selling independently developed
adventures?

I
doubt it, sadly. I just don’t see
much hope for adventure games in the commercial
world
these
days,
be they friend or foe… sorry, I mean
amateur
or professionally
produced. I’d love nothing more than
to see a resurgence
of
adventure
games in today’s
market,
but I just don’t think it has a chance. Prove me
wrong,
kids! Prove me wrong.

– In the AGS forums
developers
show their early work on the
adventures they
are developing.
Do you keep an eye
on upcoming
AGS adventures? If so,
which ones are you looking most forward to in
the near
future?

I
keep one eye open, for sure.
I never play demos though, because
I’d rather just see the finished

product. I am looking
forward to FantomeLeChiekh’s Monkey
Island game (the

art is marvellous), Blackthorne’s ‘Quest

for Infamy’
(mainly because he
stole my idea –

the jerk!) and Mar’s ‘Sam & Max: The Case Gilbert’

(because I need my S&M

fix badly!).

 

General

– Will we ever
see a website

exclusively for your own productions in
the future?

I’m
sure
you will,

I keep

telling myself

I’ll make

one. Mind

you, don’t

expect is

to get

updated more

than

once a

year… I

have a
terrible record

with the

webpages I

currently own.

–

Do you

see yourself

co-operating with

other AGS

developers to

create bigger

productions in

the

future

or do

you prefer
to work

alone?

I
prefer to

be in

charge! Not

necessarily alone,

though. At

the very

least, I

plan on

getting

together with

a couple

of rather

talented friends

of mine

to produce
a game

or two

one day.

– Do

you plan

to create

new adventure

games in

the future?

Er,

yes. I’ve

already mentioned

the sequel

to Cirque

and a

game with

friends. I

have at

least 3
other ideas

for

games

I plan

on making

at some

point

so

let’s hope

I get

time to

do them.

Maybe my

fans could

start

supporting

me financially…?

– Former

Lucasarts vs

former Sierra.

What’s

your

opinion?

Noooo!
My god,

they’re in

totally separate

categories, man!

That’s like

asking

me which

of my

children I like

best, except
that Lucasarts

and Sierra

aren’t mine

and I’m infertile

thanks to

an accident

involving a

sharp fence

and a

horse.

I’ll say

Lucasarts. are

typically

the

funnier

games, and

Sierra’s are

the more…

adventurous.

–
Point and

click vs

direct control.

Which one

is in

your opinion

the most

suitable interface

for

adventure
games?

You

know, I’ll

always say

point and

click except

in the

case of

Grim Fandango.

That

game is

just

perfect

the

way

it is.

– After

your experience

with the

development of

Cirque De

Zale,

what would

be the

best

advice you

would give

to a

developer-wannabe?

Plan
EVERYTHING on

paper before-hand

but

leave

room for

improvisation. Also,

don’t get

hung up

on

making it

perfect, just

try to

make it

fun by

imagining what

kind of

game you’d

like to

play

yourself.

– Commercial

adventures nowadays

seem to

disappoint the

fans and

there is

a

certain ‘magic’
missing,

a

special
kind

of

magic

that

adventures

of

the

80s

and

early

90s

used

to

have.

A

lot

of

adventure

fans

seem

to

agree

that

nowadays

companies

seem

to

focus

too

much

on

‘spectacle.

and

too

little

on

gameplay

and

story.

What

is

your

opinion

on

that?

What

do

you

think

is

it
that

is

missing

from

recent adventure

games?

I’m

one

of

those

people

for

sure.

I’d

rather

play

‘Kings

Quest

1’

100

times

than

fork

out

money

for

some

of

the

games

that

get

released

as

‘adventure

games’

today.

I

think

the

problem

is

partly

that

game

developers

look

at the tools available to them, and from that decide

what

kind

of

game

they

can

make

that

uses

all

of

them.

You

have

to

imagine

how

a

game

should

be,

and

then

work

out

what

you

can

use

to

make

it

like

that.

Mind

you,

you

have

to

look

at

the

market

for

games

these

days

and

wonder

whether

a

game

like

the

original

adventures

would

be

profitable.

I

doubt

it,

but

I

don’t

think

it

would

have

hurt

Lucasarts

to

give

it

a

go

with

the

new

Sam & Max

game.

If

anything

would

have

made it, that game would’ve.

– Do you think that
the adventures

created by
the AGS community

can bring back the classic

entertainment that

fans
used to get some years
ago?

I

think

it

already

is,

in

all

honesty.

I’ve

had

a

great time
in
the past 6 months
playing
some fantastic

adventure

games, some of
which (in my

opinion)

are

close

to

indistinguishable

from an

oldstyle commercial adventure game.
Keep it

up, everyone!

– Is there anything

else you

would like to add?

43

+ 106

= 149

… no,

wait! Look

out for

‘Cirque de

Zale II’ and other future
games

coming

from
the Mushroom Republic. Keep
breathing,
people!