Review Fix chats with Insert Disk 22 developer “Falko,†who discusses the point and click adventure “Born Punk and why it’s a special one, as well as their Kickstarter effort.
Review Fix: How was this game born?
Falko: I grew up with point and click adventures, they were amongst the first games I ever played. Kings Quest, Space Quest, Indiana Jones 3, Leisure Suit Larry, Zak McKracken… thanks to my father who worked in IT in the 80s, I could play them all. Whilst I was not born in the purple, I was definitely born in the adventure game genre. The last couple of years I have been working as a streamer and video maker, but eventually I came to the realisation that critiquing games is so much easier than making one. I started to feel like Antón Ego from the film Ratatouille. So I did what I always do when I feel something is amiss; I changed things! Remembering my love for point and click adventures, I founded Insert Disk 22, wrote a story, searched for a talented graphics artist (because I am the WORST when it comes to graphics, I’m better at coding and storytelling), and began working with him on Born Punk.
Review Fix: What was development like?
Falko: We’re only a couple of months into development, but it’s a blast. I learn new things every day, I get to see the characters that I have imagined in my head for so long come to life, and thankfully, I get to work with a couple of industry veterans, which is very very helpful. There is one thing I still need to learn though: patience. Often, I find myself unable to carry on a task I really really want to finish, because I have to wait for assets to be sent over. I’m not stressing out anyone – at least I think I don’t – but on the inside, I’m all ‘Whenwhenwhenwhenwhenwhen’.
Review Fix: What makes this game special?
Falko: The gaming market is completely over-saturated. What makes any game special? The mechanics? Graphics? Sound? Music? Story? Characters? I think we will be able to be proud of all of those, but these things don’t make a game special, because there’s loads of good people out there, and there’s loads of companies out there who can afford technical quality that small indie studios can only dream of. I think what makes OUR game special – and I want to extend that compliment to many other games like it – is its soul. There is this feeling one gets when playing the better indie titles, that the makers of these games have been putting their financial and social life on the line to make something that gamers love to play. That’s us. Big companies are so obsessed with streamlining their games to appease the masses; we on the other hand have the luxury of being able to cater to lovers of our genre.
Review Fix: What games influenced this one the most?
Falko: Oh, that’s easy. The pen-and-paper roleplaying game Shadowrun heavily influenced the setting, Monkey Island influeced the general feel, and Beneath a Steel Sky influenced the tone. Of course there’s many more inspirations one passively absorbs all the time, but these are the big ones that come to mind. We do want to make something unique, but it’s hard to ignore the things that have been so important in one’s… uhm… ludonarrative life.
Review Fix: Any fun stories or wild moments during development?
Falko: The funniest thing so far was working with my voice actor Thomas, who is voicing the tutorial cat in our kickstarter demo, as well as the AI that has infected our main character’s brain. We had a really hard time communicating at the beginning. I would ask him for something, there would be a misunderstanding, he would send over some files, I would not know what they were for because we both assumed that the other would follow similar file naming conventions. This happened a couple of times, and it got worse! At one point, we were sending back and forth parts of zip files, trying to complete the voice over library for his character, he would re-record a few lines, I would ask him to re-record others, and in the end we had no idea what was even happening anymore. So we started over, and came up with a system that was not completely… stupid.
Review Fix: Do you think preserving older gameplay mechanics in new games is important?
Falko: Generally, yes. Modern games often suffer from over-simplification. Preserving complex mechanics is vital for many of us who grew up with games in the 80s and 90s. That’s one of the reasons games like Star Citizen garnered so much support. There is a whole army of veterans, age 30 and upwards, who have a lot of disposable income but little to play, because the gaming market doesn’t cater much to their wants. On the other hand, being stubborn and keeping mechanics in just because they’re old is no good either. Sometimes it is indeed necessary to let something go. Like the text parsers of old Sierra games, for example. As the meme goes: ‘Ain’t nobody got time for dat!’
Review Fix: What’s your favorite memory as a gamer?
Falko: I’m really bad at answering questions about favourites, because there’s always so many things that have a spot in my heart, for so many different reasons. I very fondly remember Monkey Island 2 though, and how I was actually scared in that last segment with LeChuck in the tunnel. Or loving to hate Bodhi in Baldur’s Gate 2. Of course I also have to smile when I remember how it all started; guiding a frog over a street, or being chased by ghosts in Pac-Man.
Review Fix: Who will enjoy this game the most?
Falko: I hope everyone, naturally! But If I have to be honest, I think there’s two groups of people who are most likely to enjoy the game: veterans of point and click adventures, because they get to play a game that will feel familiar, following established ‘rules’ of the genre, and people who have never played a point and click adventure game before but want to have a go at the genre. Why? Because we’re trying to keep the game fast-paced and thrilling enough to captivate those who may find games like the Blackwell Series (my deepest respect to Dave Gilbert from Wadjeteye by the way, he has done so much to keep adventure games alive) a bit too slow.
Review Fix: Bottom Line, why must someone play this game?
Falko: Because we have talking cats and basement-dwelling nerd androids who think they’re gangsta rappers. Kidding! I hope people will love the game because Eevi’s story is captivating and emotion-inducing. I love when a game evokes strong emotions, and that’s what we’re trying to do with Born Punk too.
Review Fix: How do you want this game to be remembered?
Falko: As the game that didn’t get the steam rating ‘overwhelmingly negative’, mostly. Heh, enough bad jokes already. Rather, as the game that allowed us to establish Insert Disk 22 as a developer for the years to come. I would love to have the chance to make ID22 a proper established company that is able to support a small core team of like-minded developers and myself. Does that sound egotistical? Because that’s not how I mean it. What I really mean is that it would be great if we are able to make this game REALLY GOOD, so that we can then make even more REALLY GOOD games.
Review Fix: What’s next?
Falko: After Kickstarter, I will hopefully be able to employ Indrek, our graphics artist, full-time. Which means, what’s next is the crunch! I really need to stop making these horrible jokes. No, what’s next is trying to dedicate as much time as possible to make Born Punk the best it can be. Both for adventure game enthusiasts, and for us.
Review Fix: Anything else you’d like to add?
Falko: Look, behind you! A three-headed monkey!
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