Interviews

Now
that you finally have a North American publisher, what are your expectations
for sales?

We have very high expectations
for the title, as the game is a truly good one. It’s involving, intriguing
and technically very well done. Most importantly, people love the
gameplay, and that is what really counts. Alas, adventure games are
not the most popular genre in the market these days, thus we are not
expecting the game to sell million copies – but we remain confident
game players will appreciate The Watchmaker and will buy it.
It really is a beautiful game!

If
the sales figures meet your expectations, would you consider a sequel
or do you feel too much time has lapsed since the development of the
original Watchmaker?

We have ideas; we have
a large number of great ideas. It is too early to talk about a potential
sequel though. Of course, if the numbers are there we will seriously
consider developing a sequel.

Can
you talk about the problems you had finding a publisher in North America?
What were some of the responses you received?

Before Got Game, we received
the very same response from a number of publishers: “we love
The Watchmaker, but we are not ready to make any investment
for an adventure title, as the market is too limited for games belonging
in this genre”. Sad but true: there are many great games the
audience will never play because they are thought to be niche-titles…

What
was involved in translating the game into English? Do you think that
the voice-overs went smoothly?

The guys at Got Game Entertainment
have done a great job with the localization of the title. The voice-overs
went very well – we’re happy with the acting in the US version of
the game. Also, please consider that the game had originally been
developed in English, as it makes more sense to do so rather than
showing the game to publishers… with Italian text and voice-over!
We had English staff working on all the language aspects of the game
(storyline, text, speech etc.) since the very first day of development.

Darrel
and Victoria seem to have been modeled after Gabriel Knight and Gracie.
Was this a conscious decision on your part and do you hope that Watchmaker
appeals to fans of the Gabriel Knight series?

Every single thing we did
for The Watchmaker was not made with the market in mind, we
just wanted to make a beautiful and fascinating game, so the decision
to have these kinds of characters was made because they really worked
out for the story we had in mind.

The
Watchmaker‘s major plot element has to do with ley lines – invisible
lines on the earth’s surface linking prehistoric sites that can channel
a mystical force allowing the dead to walk again – is there any basis
in reality or history to ley lines or are they a plot element of your
own imagination?

Ley lines are part of the
mysteries of our planet and its ancient civilizations. They really
exist. We are big fans of “paranormal and mystery” type
of magazines, so we took the inspiration from these real-life articles.

A
lot of thought seems to have gone into the games puzzles. In fact,
some puzzles can only be solved by specific characters. Do you think
that the game was built around the puzzles or were the puzzles created
to fit into the game’s plot?

The puzzles were created
to let you be a part of the story as it unfolds, to be lured in more
and more as the game progresses. We wanted the player to become the
playing characters. In this way only – if you fully understand what’s
going on and what Darrel and Victoria would do – you can progress.
So the puzzles are just a way to tell our story.

Can
you tell us a little about The Watchmaker‘s 3D engine? Was
it created specifically for this game and can it be used for future
projects?

Yes, the 3D engine was
created to bring the castle and its gardens to life; we were only
focused on this. We did researches on rooms-based rendering, procedural
skies generation, and so on.

Watchmaker
is very unique in that it is totally non-linear, yet your progress
can be tracked when the game clock moves ahead by a 15-minute interval.
Do you think that adventure gamers will welcome this non-traditional
“scoring” system?

Yes, because it’s just
the simplest way to let them know they are on the right way, and they
are pushing the story forward. We considered making the time progress
independently but we rejected this idea because it was quite difficult
to implement, and I think a bit frustrating to play.

What
is your opinion on the current popularity or non-popularity of adventure
games both in Europe and in North America?

American gamers are demonstrating
a love of traditional adventure games more than European gamers, so
we are curious to see how they will react to the game. We really hope
for a positive reaction to show that the adventure market is still
alive, and people want more.

Watchmaker
is a long game with a huge cast of characters. How long did it take
you from start to finish to complete game and are there any amusing
stories you can share with us about the game’s development?

It took 3 years of hard
work to complete, and some other time for polishing. It was really
our biggest project to date.

What
words of encouragement can you offer for adventure gamers around the
world and for the many readers of Just Adventure?

In terms of playing The
Watchmaker, always use your two characters when trying to solve
puzzles, as some situations may suit better either Victoria or Darrel.
Try and ask as many questions as possible when talking to the people
in the castle. Look around carefully and make sure you search in every
possible space, room or location. There are many hidden surprises
in The Watchmaker and it will take even the most experienced adventurers
a long time to discover them all.

We also want to take this
opportunity to thank Just Adventure and the readers for the wonderful
support they’ve given The Watchmaker. Thanks to the loyalty
and community spirit of adventure gamers, these types of games will
continue to be made and enjoyed. Molte grazie!