Katie was kind enough to grant me an interview after I finally remembered that I'd put forward the idea months ago, and Episode Three of The Silver Lining coming out jolted my memory.
1/ How long ago was ?The Silver Lining? first envisaged? I understand it had a different name back then...
The very beginning of the team was in 2000, actually. Luke Jensen and Jonathan Haling started the team with the idea of making their own King?s Quest 9 at that time, but not a lot of progress was made. The first full title was ?The Unofficial King?s Quest 9: Every Cloak Has a Silver Lining?; that was shortened to just ?The Silver Lining? after the Vivendi C&D (Cease and Desist) in 2005. By 2002, they had both left the team, and Luke put Cesar Bittar in charge of the project when he left. Richard Flores became his co-Director soon after that, and that was when things started to happen and they started figuring how to actually put a game together.
2/ The Torque Engine is not exactly the most common game creation tool for adventure game designers ? what led to the decision to use it?
When we decided to go do TSL in full 3D, we needed an engine that would support it. We went through a few different ones before settling on Torque; actually, and there was some challenge in adapting an engine designed for FPS for a third-person adventure game. However, the Torque engine was cost effective, it was commercial - which meant it had support - and from a technical standpoint it suited our needs, all reasons why we decided to use it.
3/ Did ADGI?s remakes of King?s Quest I, II and II, and Quest for Glory 2, play any part in inspiring Phoenix Online Studios to make TSL?
They showed that there was an audience for fangames, certainly, and that there were still King?s Quest fans out there. But a lot of the inspiration behind TSL came from wanting to give some closure to the series, to tie together the loose ends that had been left by the official games. As we wrote the script, we also wanted to make a story that tied together all of the previous games in a way that hadn?t been done before.
4/ What was the most difficult part of making the game?
5/ Which aspect of the game has been most rewarding, in terms of creating and the end result?
The reaction and support of the fans. This game was always made by fans, for fans, and we?ve been surprised more than once by just how much people believed in us. They brought us back from getting a C&D not just once but twice! That second time it was especially surprising and touching how hard they fought for us. And overall, the reaction to the game itself has been great. People have been enjoying it, they want to see what happens next, and it?s just great to see and hear that our hard work was worth it. Not only is there a product we?re proud of, but the fans like it, too. The dream we all had for eight long years is finally coming true!
6/ At what stage was it decided to make TSL an episodic game?
Surprisingly late in the game, actually. We were inspired by Telltale?s episodic model, and in the fall of 2009, we took a look at the game to see if it was possible to divide it into episodes. We were pleasantly surprised to see that it actually wasn?t too difficult to do. A few puzzles and events were moved around, but overall it was pretty easy to divide the game into 5 episodes, and it was a huge help to our development process to have the game divided into these distinct pieces with distinct events, puzzles, locations and so forth.
7/ The Silver Lining is to have five episodes in all ? what?s the basic story arc for the whole thing? (Without giving too much away, obviously!)
Yes, and we?re now just over halfway through, with the Episode 3 release! Our original script actually had nine long chapters, but as we started realizing just how much work that would take, and none of us wanted to be doing this for the next twenty years, we started cutting out huge sections. The script really got better for it, too--the story now is much tighter and much better off for it.
As for the story arc, it starts off when tragedy strikes at a joyous occasion for the Royal Family, and Alexander and Rosella fall under a spell that has them in a comatose state. King Graham sets out to save his family, as usual, but the further into his quest he gets, the more he learns this is like nothing he?s faced before. There are secrets that stretch back years, things he?s learning about his loved ones that he would never have guessed to be true, and the machinations of Fate are being set in motion to fulfill a prophecy that has everything to do with the Royal Family.
8/ Was it in the back of your minds that you?d like to update King?s Quest in a similar way TellTale Games have updated Sam & Max and Monkey Island?
I would say so. When we began, which was before Telltale was around, we wanted to bring King?s Quest into this decade. Which is now last decade, but even so! We decided to make it 3D, to expand on the stories that were already there and go deeper into the lives, personalities and even psyches of the main characters, which I think is a more modern style in general. This isn?t just about the Royal Family and what they?re fighting and what they?re doing, but who they are, how they became those people, and how they?re going to change. We?re trying to take the depth that we saw in King?s Quest 6 and take it even further.
9/ What next for Phoenix Online Studios? A commercial release?
That?s the plan! We are working in the pre-production stages on some other projects that will be original properties and commercial releases. One of them that we?ve mentioned on our website is ?Corridor 9?, a sci-fi themed game in the ever-ominous not-too-distant future concerning one woman?s scientific pursuits, how far is too far, and the philosophy surrounding her decisions.
Thanks Katie for the interview, and the whole Phoenix team for giving us three enjoyable Silver Lining episodes so far - and much more to come!
Check out the Phoenix Online Studios Website and The Silver Lining Website for the latest news and releases.
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