Go on a compelling, story-driven journey in “Aura: Fate of the Ages”

by Louis Bedigian

“We believe that it is more important to create the atmosphere of the game, create an interesting plot and using that, draw the attention of the player.”

After you’ve watched Frodo complete his journey in The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King, Dreamcatcher has another journey for you to take – Aura: Fate of the Ages.  Aura tells the story of a legend that claims that four sacred rings allow access to hidden worlds and new realities.  The legend also says that whoever unites the rings will acquire great strength, great power, and immortality.

Whether the legend is true doesn’t matter; with this kind of potential power locked inside, many evil beings will go after the rings.

Aura: Fate of the Ages promises to take players to unique worlds of dreams and reality.  There are four different game worlds: The Ademika Valley, The Mechanical World, The Isoteric World, and The Island of Unity, all of which are said to be parallel to each other.

Not much else is known.  We’ve seen some screens of the game, but contrary to what they say, a picture is not always worth a thousand words.  And even when they are, rarely do those words include details about how the game will actually play.

To get the word on Aura, its gameplay, and all that it has to offer, GameZone Online sat down with Streko-Graphic, Inc.’s President (Nartovich Sergey), and Team Leader (Nartovich Andrei).

With a point-and-click interface, it can be hard to immerse the player in the experience.  What's being done to sidestep this issue and create a game that's simple yet compelling?

Streko-Graphics, Inc.: In our opinion, the use of brand new technologies will not necessarily guarantee the success of the game. We believe that it is more important to create the atmosphere of the game, create an interesting plot and using that, draw the attention of the player.

Aura: Fate of the Ages is big on puzzles.  Could you describe a couple of them for us?  What are they like in comparison to other games?  What do they involve?

Streko-Graphics, Inc.: We tried to create the puzzles in such a way, that each puzzle corresponds to the world that it is found in.  For example, in the world of "Dragast", the puzzles are more mechanic and logic oriented, while in "Na-Teixu" the focus is towards magic.  In any case, the puzzles were made in such a way that they can call be solved with some intuition.  The player must understand the specific purpose of the puzzle.  We have also tried to make the solution of the puzzle visually entertaining. 

Gorgeous CG backgrounds.

How puzzling of a task is it to come up with unique puzzles for the game?  Where do you go for inspiration?

Streko-Graphics, Inc.: At this point in time it is difficult to remember exactly where every puzzle came from.  But of course, without some creativity and a little bit of inspiration we would not be able to come up with anything.  As for inspiration, well, everything around us can prove to be inspirational.

Has the development team had any outside help in creating the puzzles?  Anyone who gave pointers or had ideas that were implemented into the game?

Streko-Graphics, Inc.: Our team is devoted to making games in the adventure genre.  All of the development on Aura has been in-house.

What other kinds of challenges are going to be in the game?

Streko-Graphics, Inc.: Unfortunately we did not use any clever mice as beta-testers for our game.  It is clear, that to play "Aura" all that is required is some intelligence and a little bit of imagination. 

Each background is finely detailed.

Can you give us some information on the rings and the significance they have to the game?

Streko-Graphics, Inc.: Don't be surprised when you see what the rings look like!  They are not the kinds of rings that you would wear on your fingers.

The origin of the rings is left a mystery.  There is no reference as to when and where the rings appeared. Perhaps this information once existed, but over the years "The Keepers" themselves have either lost or forgotten this information. Trying to determine where the rings came from would be a whole different story.  

The only thing that is known is that when the rings are united with the artifacts of hidden worlds, great power and immortality will be granted to the individual who unites them.  Up until now, no one has had the courage to attempt this.

Will players – or another character in the game – actually create a new world with the rings?

Streko-Graphics, Inc.: As you are the main character of the game, you will of course have to use the sacred rings, but not to create new worlds.  This isn't part of your quest.

Does the game have a specific main character, or is the person playing the main character?

Streko-Graphics, Inc.: The main character of the game is the Clans' best student - Umang.  In Aura, players will take on the role of Umang.

Darkness falls.

Are there any characters that you'll meet and interact with along the way?

Streko-Graphics, Inc.: You will definitely meet many characters throughout your journey to different worlds. Some of these characters will try to help you while others will attempt to throw you off course. Not to mention that some of the characters will try to kill you…

Aura: Fate of the Ages features four different game worlds.  What are they like?  What do they involve?  What are their major differences? 

Streko-Graphics, Inc.: As stated above, the game consists of four different worlds.  The first world that you will see is Ademika valley. This is the place where the best students of the clan complete their training, and learn to travel to new worlds.  The second world is "Dragast" aka Mechanical World.  This world is built on top of mountain peaks, and bridges interconnect all of the structures.  Here everything obeys the laws of physics and mechanics.  The world of "Na-Teixu" is completely the opposite of Dragast.  This is a world of mystics, magic, astrology and spirits, so you can guess how the riddles in this world will be solved.  The last world is the "Island of Unity."   In contrast to the other worlds, the "Island of Unity" was not created, but rather discovered.  So the purpose is this world remains unknown.  (Maybe you can figure it out?!)

Could this be part of a puzzle?

The game's proprietary engine is supposed to blend the pre-rendered graphics and environmental interaction with immersive special effects.  How was this done, and what does this ultimately mean for the player?

Streko-Graphics, Inc.: At this time, the capability of a game "engine" or, to be more precise, the speed and pressing power of an "average" computer imposes great constraints and limitations for the 3D artists, animators and designers.  So to realize our vision, we decided to take the path of "high polygon count modeling."  From here the choice of pre-rendered graphics was obvious.  In the future as computer power increases, the pre-rendered graphics solution will become obsolete.  But we are confident that when people play our game, and see the graphics, they will realize that pre-rendered graphics were the right choice for this project. 

Besides pre-rendered backgrounds, what sort of eye candy can players expect to feast on?  What are some of the "immersive special effects" that are being planned?

Streko-Graphics, Inc.: There is a lot of interesting eye-candy throughout the game.  Perhaps the most important ones are the many cut-scenes that are placed throughout the game.  After a puzzle is solved there will be a real-time animation of the puzzle's solution and its corresponding effect.  In our opinion, these animations are very smooth and provide an excellent visual and audio experience for the game.

Thank you for your time.