Interviews

Yes! (since this interview,
Funcom has also confirmed the development of The Longest Journey
2 in their official
press release  –
Randy)

I’ve become cocky and arrogant,
prone to tantrum fits, and addicted to Cristal champagne and
painkillers.  But mostly I’m completely and totally unaffected
by it all, since the acclaim’s for the game and the team, not
for me personally…and also because I’m still the impoverished
schmuck that I was before it all began, except a lot older.

A braver man than me would find
something offensive to say, but…not going there.  I understand
that the language, particularly in Burns Flipper’s case, is offensive
to some, and there’s perhaps a bit too much of it.  C’est la
vie.  It’s important to push the boundaries.  We’ll push the
boundaries in the next one too, but differently.  Fewer
cusswords, more sex.

And while we’re talking about
sex:  I have no understanding whatsoever for those people who’ve
complained about the gay characters in TLJ.  We’ve actually received
a lot of complaints about it, and, honestly, if someone’s that
bigoted, they shouldn’t be playing the damn game.  Go be bigoted
somewhere else.

The thing about online journals – blogs – is
that they may appear personal and intimate, but oftentimes they’re
really not.  My most private thoughts are still very much private.  I’m
careful about what I write, and when.  The purpose of my blog
isn’t to lay my inner self bare to the world, but to give readers
an insight into the creative process from my point of view, to
entertain them, and to keep them updated on TLJ and whatever
else I’m working on.  (And also to boost my already bloated ego,
of course.)

‘Very satisfied’, and ‘sure’.

There was such strong word of
mouth, and so many great reviews, that we managed to get TLJ into most big stores and out to the players regardless of marketing.  Good
marketing doesn’t necessarily help sales, but it does help awareness.  With
TLJ, we already had a great deal of awareness – amongst gamers,
and particularly amongst adventure gamers.  With more marketing
in the right places, we would probably have increased awareness
amongst casual and non-gamers, but that would have been very
expensive, and it wouldn’t have guaranteed more sales.

It will probably – and this is
not by any means definite – be developed simultaneously for PC
and consoles.  The PC version will have a PC-friendly, mouse-driven
interface, as well as higher resolution textures, models, and
screen size.  The console versions will have their own advantages,
and be tailored to the TV screen and the individual controllers.  Everybody
wins.

It’s not completely out of the
question, and the two-dimensional backgrounds – the landscapes – would
work fine, but we’d need to update the three-dimensional character
models, animations, and special effects.  I’d love to be able
to play TLJ on my TV, but I think it’s a slim chance, simply
because of time and cost.  Maybe if the next game does well…?

Anarchy Online was already well
underway when we released TLJ, and since
there were no resources to start a new game right away, I lent
my “talents” as a writer
to the AO team.  After about a year, we started development on
Midgard – another online world – but that one was unfortunately
put on hold in September 2001.  I returned
to AO, and continued working on the story
until last summer.

For me, personally, it’s both
important and fun to work on a variety of games, as long as there’s
some aspect of storytelling to it.  I’ve learned a lot from my
time on AO and Midgard, and that will help me on future projects.  I
love adventures, and I love role-playing games – I have no problem
working in either genre.

The profits from TLJ were – still
are – used to pay the salaries of people who work at Funcom,
including those who didn’t work on TLJ.  We’re all part of the
same team, and whatever money we make goes into the same pool,
keeping the company alive and kicking.  Work on Anarchy
Online actually started before TLJ, but since it was a much bigger and
much more ambitious project, it took a lot longer to complete.  And
without AO, Funcom probably wouldn’t be here today.  It’s our
primary source of income.

Absolutely not!  As far as I’m
concerned, there’s been no big “controversy” regarding language – only
a few people, relatively speaking, have reacted negatively.  Sales
figures continue to amaze us, and they have been pretty spectacular
worldwide, especially for a non-sequel, pure adventure game with
absolutely no marketing.  And I’m really happy that people have
demanded a sequel, so no worries there.  Of course I don’t regret
working on TLJ!

First off:  George Clooney is
a celebrity.  I’m a non-celebrity.

Lots of people have said this
much better than I ever will:  The Internet gives the illusion
of anonymity and impersonality.  It’s easy to attack someone
when that person is just a name and a few paragraphs of text.  If
people met me, they’d find that I’m a friendly, easy-going, approachable
guy.  Of course, I also like heated discussions, sarcasm, and
smart-arsed comments, and I never shy away from controversy,
so that might have something to do with it.

I always entertain such hopes!  The
games are more important than any spin-offs or merchandising,
however.  Before we attempt to move TLJ into another medium – and
we will – we need to focus on the games.  Personally, I think
our plans for the saga will make TLJ an exciting prospect for
all kinds of merchandising and spin-offs, so Keep Watching This
Space (or the official site, actually…but you know what I mean).

Yes and no.

As time passes and I grow older
and, one hopes, wiser,
I learn more about writing and storytelling.  This,
inevitably, has altered my vision for the TLJ saga.  There are
also lots of different stories that we can choose to focus on.  What
happens to April right after the end of the first game, for example – or
ten, twenty, fifty years later?  What happened elsewhere while
April was on her long journey?  What happened before the first
game even began?  Ten years, a hundred years, a thousand years
ago?  I have preferences
regarding which stories
I want us to explore, which
characters I want to focus
on, but those preferences
change with time.

That said, I think I’m relatively
confident about where the next few games will begin and end,
who the protagonists are, what the themes are, and the general
outline of the plot.

I didn’t get that memo!  I thought
this industry actually encouraged individualism.  (At least,
that’s the way it is where I work.)  I’m still fortunate enough
to be able to contribute to great games and tell (hopefully)
intriguing stories, so I guess my outspokenness hasn’t hurt me
any…yet.

Plenty of booze, warm beaches
and frivolous women, a wagonload of doubloons, and possibly a
run for public office.

Before any of that, however,
I plan to complete two or three games, and then call it quits
for
a while.  I love games, but life’s
short, and I want
to try my hand
at different things
before I get old
and curmudgeonly.

I’ll always be telling stories,
however.  That’s the only thing I know how to do.