September 18, 2007

Escape from Paradise City with lead designer Adam Gregersen
By Michael Lafferty

“We have to be different in any way that makes sense”

Dark, supernatural forces have turned a once-peaceful town into a cesspool of crime and corruption. The federal government is at its wit’s end when it comes to solving the conundrum of how to deal with the town, but then stumbles upon a plan. Why not send in some agents, those with nothing to lose, to clean up the town in any way they deem reasonable.

And if they end up as the bosses of the town, well, the government still has them on a leash.

That, in a roundabout way, is the backdrop to the CDV title, Escape from Paradise City, a PC title set for release in mid October. The press release for the title states:

“Escape from Paradise City drops players into a dystopian world that combines a dark underworld and elements of the supernatural. In the game, the player is required to infiltrate the gangs of Paradise City on behalf of a powerful government agency that, despite its influence, has been unable to introduce even a glimmer of law and order to this horribly corrupt city. In an intertwining chapter-driven story, the player takes turns controlling one of three gritty characters that, for their own reasons, have ‘volunteered’ to get to the bottom of the mystery behind the controlling crime syndicate’s power.”

Having had a look at the game within the past month, GameZone wanted to know more about the title and what went in to bringing Paradise City to life. As fortune would have it, Adam Gregersen, the game’s lead designer and managing director of Sirius Games, was available to chat with GZ about that.

There seems to be an interesting blend of progressive strategic gaming and role-playing in this title. How did you arrive at melding the two together for a gameplay mechanic that challenges players on several levels

Adam: Thank you! Well, I’ve always liked the idea of developing characters, while at the same time, having to make strategic decisions. I think it started when I played Diablo. I was running around in the village and dreamed of owning some of the businesses there. So in our first game, Gangland, we tried to combine these two genres for the first time by offering the players the chance to both raise a family and to conquer businesses. In Escape from Paradise City (EFPC) we are making a second attempt at this type of gameplay.

This time we’ve made a very concrete connection between the RTS and RPG elements. In EFPC all the areas you play in are divided into neighborhoods. Each neighborhood has its own attributes. Some have money, some have Skill Trainers to train your characters, others have bars where you can buy drinks and hire Henchmen, some have Scum that you can kill and loot and some have markets where you can buy items and weapons. However, they all have two attributes in common – Power and Trait Points. Power is used to execute Power Skills and Trait Points are used to develop your character. So when you conquer neighborhoods you get to develop your characters with the Trait Points.
 
What lessons did you learn from Gangland that you applied to Escape from Paradise City?

Adam: Oh man! Never forget to have a Save Function! Don’t push the action towards players – let them seek it out when they want it! And if you want to drive vehicles in a game - make it easy! I remember calling my sweet mom after I saw that Gangland became “Game of the week” on Gamespot and on USA Today! I really thought we had it made. The amount of attention Gangland received was incredible. But when it came out some reviewers hammered it because of the obvious flaws it had – like the lack of save game. It did fairly well nonetheless and I still get a lot of mails from fans playing it which really warms my heart. But those were lessons I learned the hard way. So as a result I believe a man is not defined by his mistakes but by his will to carry on and try again and again and again.

The game uses a somewhat unique visual style. What made you choose that look for the game?

Adam: Thanks – I hope! Well, small companies like ours can’t compete on budgets and team-size so we need to stand out in other ways. This meant that we had to figure out a way to make the game look good enough to compete while still staying within our rather limited budgets. I had the pleasure of being Art Director on the game and from day one I knew I wanted a gritty looking city. Both in movies and games sometimes I think that the environment can become too harmless if it’s too pretty. I like it when things get dirty!

What graphics engine are you using and what did it enable you to do to give the game a unique look?

Adam: It’s our own engine and I tell you some of the guys who programmed the game must be coming from another planet (a greater and better planet). They did the impossible and created an engine within the timeframe that both looks good and supports the game play. Those guys have my deepest respect. You know who you are!

While you have diverse main characters, they seem to fit into several of the more standard categories (as in ranged, melee, and pet classes), though you have challenged thinking with the look that almost is in direct contract to the skill set (like the woman as the melee fighter). Were you going for something that defied stereotypes or did the characters just shake out that way?

Adam: Yes! We have to be different in any way that makes sense. Some things you should be very cautious about changing – like UI conventions. But other stuff you should experiment with. It’s almost always some 25 year old guy with dark hair and progressed jaw that’s kicks. But in EFPC it’s a Latino chick, a George Clooney-like bank robber and a fat smelly Russian guy. Because something is different doesn’t mean it’s automatically good, but I do believe that we have an obligation towards the players to try to introduce new ideas in games when we create them.

Sound is one of the most underrated game resources when players talk about games. What have you done to have the sound support the game and make for a more immersive experience?

Adam: The 3D sound combined with the 2D sound should create an authentic sound experience while playing the game. The music style is more rock-like than most other games that usually use more generic Hans Zimmer-like scores. In Gangland we followed the same idea of making music that was different from what people expected. I remember I was surprised to read from reviewers that they thought the music style was off because it didn’t fit into a classic mafia game. The thing was that Gangland was never meant as a game taking place in a classic mafia setting like “The Godfather.” So it’s clear that music means a lot to players and that they expect certain styles in certain games and genres. In EFPC you can expect to hear a lot of guitar.
 
What do you think sets Paradise City apart from other crime-oriented games?

Adam: The combination of character development and strategic decisions is unique. And that’s where a lot of the fun is because you constantly have to decide whether to expand your empire or develop your hero and his/her henchmen. These decisions also depend on what hero you are playing with as Angel should get a lot of personal XP fast whereas Boris needs to control a lot of neighborhoods to get enough Power to use the Power Skills. Porter is somewhere in between. So the game is about conquering the best neighborhoods to get rewards like money, Power, access to weapons, Skill Trainers, Henchmen and loot while fighting to get personal XP and Trait Points to get new Traits and Skills and develop the character in the direction you want. Phew… I could talk about the game for hours and one of my deepest fears is that players never get to the bottom of the game. And I believe that’s the hardest task as a game developer. To guide players into your mine of ideas well enough for them not to turn around at the entrance. Kind of a lousy metaphor but it’s the first that jumps to mind.

Thank you for your time.

Adam: Anytime. And thank you for the opportunity to talk about our game.

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