An Interview with Valentine Dessertenne

Lou "herobyclicking" Adducci asked developer Valentine Dessertenne about being an independent game developer, designing a story-driven roguelike and the dystopian influences on iLLOGIKA's forthcoming title, Subaeria

Herobyclicking: Subaeria places the player in the roles of one of four characters with different motivations to oppose the robotic threat at hand in the game. How do the actions of each character influence the world, subsequent playthroughs and other character story lines?

Valentine: The four characters evolve within the same city, they can cross each other and go in the same environments, that means if while playing as one character the player kills someone, that person is gone forever and the other 3 characters won’t be able to interact with them. Similarly, because they inhabit the same world, characters can help each other to complete quests. Some quests require the assistance of multiple characters to be completed, so if the player loses one along the way, they might not be able to move forward with that particular mission. The world also changes and responds according to how the player directs his characters, and he must make strategic decisions in order to progress towards his goal. The only thing that’s saved between playthroughs are the comics unlocked by the player as he discovers the various endings to the game, other than that he starts anew at every playthrough.

Herobyclicking: What parts of your design convey the theme and mood of a dystopian society shackled by technology?

Valentine: Having evil cleaning robots be the game’s main antagonists sets the stage very well for a technological dystopia. These robots are ever-present and steadfast in their duties of cleaning up the filth of Subaeria, whatever that may be. Technology is everywhere. The characters, though they may be fighting against the ruling technology in Subaeria, walk around with their drone following them, showing how ingrained into Subaerian society technology is. Throughout the game players will discover exactly how deep the power of this technological dictatorship truly runs.

[B]Herobyclicking: Let's talk about gameplay. The player does not take direct action against their enemy but uses a drone. What led to this pivotal design concept?

Valentine: We chose to embrace indirect combat because it contrasts with the vast majority of games where the player is an all-powerful hero that can mow down enemies. But our characters are regular people, and even faced with extraordinary circumstances, they wouldn't become accomplished warriors instantaneously. They’d have to make do with what surrounds them and try to outsmart their enemies, possibly while making some questionable decisions. That’s what we want to bring out in the game: You are an ordinary person trying to survive in an insane world, and you have to make do with what’s available to you.

http://i.imgur.com/JrBhOin....

Herobyclicking: What are the challenges or advantages of designing a story driven roguelike game?

Valentine: The biggest challenge is of course, permadeath. When a character dies he’s gone forever, and when all the characters die, the player has to start from the beginning of the game. No saving, no do-overs. This lack of permanence between playthroughs creates the need to craft a story that is modulable and always offers something new to the player. Though the fact that the player restarts the game multiple times and gets a new experience every time he does also gave us the opportunity to take some risks with the story and offer plenty of decisions and possibilities. Since the player can go through dozens of playthroughs they can explore all the possible endings and decisions without it getting repetitive.

Herobyclicking: Is Subaeria an expansive universe you intend on supporting and growing?

Valentine: The universe of Subaeria is something that we really love and that has plenty of stories to tell, though, right now we’re really focused on delivering as much of this universe through the game.

Herobyclicking: What does it mean to be indie? How has being an independent developer allowed you to make this game?

Valentine: Being indie means making games that we want to make. Through independent development we were able to have the creative freedom and the possibility to make a game that is immensely ambitious and different from what’s out there.

Herobyclicking: What non-video game games, movies or books if any, have influenced your design/development processes?

Valentine: In building Subaeria we were heavily influenced by the dystopian classics, like 1984 and A Brave New World. These stories resonate very strongly with all of us, the idea that governments can essentially grow to become police states is very topical and felt on point with current concerns and was something we really wanted to explore within the game. We were also notably influenced by Eric Schmidt’s The New Digital Age: Reshaping the Future of People, Nations and Businesses. The book speculates on where technology will take us in terms of human interactions, politics and business. It presents the inevitability of a certain breakdown of human autonomy, having robots and machines doing everything that we find displeasing and really herding us through our life. That’s something we wanted to address in Subaeria, how delegating menial tasks to machines can be beneficial, but there’s also this risk that isn’t often taken into consideration.

http://i.imgur.com/ch1j7Ey....

Herobyclicking: The name Subaeria is a bit juxtaposed to the location of the game, being set in an installation deep underwater. Are you foreshadowing or just being cheeky?

Valentine: I’d call it cheeky foreshadowing. Players will have to go through the game to get a better idea of what that name really reflects.

Herobyclicking: Who is iLLOGIKA? How did you form and why?

Valentine: iLLOGIKA is a studio of passionate gamers: Programmers, artists, designers and business people. We formed after leaving a larger studio to create our own, we wanted to build games that were very different from what we’d worked on before and make something that’s truly our own.

Herobyclicking: What is your favorite thing about Subaeria? What makes it different from other roguelikes available?

Valentine: My favorite thing about Subaeria is the indirect combat. I love running around and trying to find the best way to get rid of the enemies, and seeing other people come up with entirely different strategies. It’s something we put a lot of thought into and I think it’s really essential to the narrative as well, in showing that the characters the player embodies are really regular joes that don’t have any combat abilities to speak of. I think this type of combat is what really differentiates Subaeria from other roguelikes, who tend to go for really traditional combat techniques. Our huge focus on story is also very different from what’s currently being done in roguelikes, where the stories are often relegated to the background.

Day 10 | iLLOGIKA