Review Fix chats with Mage’s Initiation Writer Daniel Stacey, who discusses the inspiration behind the upcoming Adventure/RPG, modeled after classics of yesteryear, as well as the development process and hopes for it once it’s released.
Review Fix: What was the inspiration for Mage’s Initiation?
Daniel Stacey: A two-hour, interstate phone conversation with Chris Warren (CEO and company co-founder) regarding our “next big thing” resulted in the decision to base our game on… the number “four”. Seriously. Once we’d decided to return to the fantasy genre, we looked to games like the Quest for Glory series. I’ve always loved playing (almost exclusively) the magic user character, so imagine an RPG where the four class choices were all mages!
There are many other influences that fed into it: things I’ve played, watched and read over the years… even unpublished manuscripts now gathering digital dust on my hard drives.
Review Fix: For those unfamiliar, how do you believe Sierra has influenced adventure/RPG gaming?
Stacey: I believe Sierra On-Line has had (and in a post-mortem sort of way, still has) a massive influence in both genres. They were the pioneers, really, of adventure games, and the successes that followed stemmed from their innovative way of bringing storytelling to our computer screens. To be able to write with the aim of honoring those games is a privilege.
Review Fix: What was the development process like?
Stacey: It’s a strange one, that. As the writer, you start off by yourself; the development team numbers exactly one. Later, others get involved and have their input. Your story changes to suit the practical realities of representing the action on-screen. Things get expanded. Others things get culled. You learn not to be too precious about certain aspects of your story while holding onto what you feel is the most important. It’s a full collaboration, and seeing the writing, art, music, programming and animation all come together still gives me a real buzz.
Review Fix: You guys have been making games for well over a decade, what did you learn during that process and how do you believe it influenced this game?
Stacey: Discovering what works and what doesn’t can really only be learnt by jumping in and making every mistake you can… then trying your best to fix them and avoid making the same ones again! We have a good sense now of the sorts of things players want to see in our games: the kinds of puzzles and appropriate level of challenges. We’re still learning, of course, and we mean to go on doing just that.
Review Fix: What feature/element of Mage’s Initiation are you most proud of?
Stacey: For me, it’s the way the RPG and adventure aspects have fused in a unique and organic way. They feel like they belong together. And the fact that you can play the game four times with as many mage classes. You can never have enough mages. Ever.
Review Fix: If you could improve one element/feature of the game, what would it be and why?
Stacey: What I’m always striving to improve and am working on right now: the writing. I am my harshest critic and editor, and will continue to tweak, add, delete, reorder and do whatever it takes to be satisfied with the finished product. Or until someone rips the design docs away from me.
Review Fix: How do you think this game will stack up against modern-day Adventure/RPGs?
Stacey: Impressively, I hope. As we have always strived to reflect the best of classic gaming, we don’t feel the need to match, cent for cent, the multi-million dollar titles out there. Having said that, Mage’s Initiation is a new take on Adventure / RPG games, so we think it will hold up well against the “biggies”.
Review Fix: How do you want this title to be remembered?
Stacey: As an enjoyable, unique take on this hybrid genre, that helped generate a continued interest in fantasy (with a sci-fi backstory / premise to boot). Also, as a game that enabled players to experience some good ol’ storytelling, while adventuring their virtual boots off. If it were remembered as the game that began a memorable new series, then I wouldn’t object to that, either.
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