Telltale Games - Developer Profile Feature

Fans of adventure games have not had much to get excited about over the last few years. With the release of Leisure Suit Larry: Magna Cum Laude it may only appear a mere grain but news of a new development team in the US called Telltale Games, you only have to look at the CV of the personal and read their missions statement to believe that good times could be heading back to much maligned genre. Derek dela Fuente spoke with the Dan Connors C.E.O about his newly formed company and adventure gaming in general

TVG: Would you give a little more detail to the people working at Telltale Games, what they have worked on before and precisely how many there are and the kind of makeup positions they hold?

Right now we are nine people. We have two designers, four programmers, a producer, and two artists. Our titles include Grim Fandango, Roque Squadron, Obi Wan, Gladius, Xwing Alliance, Sam and Max, Dott and many more

TVG: The mission statement from you is to re-energise the Adventure genre. Can you place your finger on the reason why adventure games have been in such demise over the last 10 years? Could it also be that we no longer have the kind of quality, high production, and focus of the likes of people like Al Lowe, Williams, etc or are there many more reasons?

In the heyday of adventure gaming PC gamers were a different breed; it was a group of early adopters who were really into exploring and figuring things out - the perfect audience for adventure games. As the audience expanded out the demographics changed and action and shooters took over .Demographics are shifting yet again as consoles become the realm of action while the games that are successful on the PC have become more mass market like The Sims or The Tycoon games. This audience is prime for a good story game, but it has to be accessible. It canâ??t be old school, 'use the lightning rod with the prune juice' kind of stuff.

In general, the industry is a shifting its focus to character and story in all genres. Its clear those aspects appeal to a much larger audience. Hopefully this shift will present new opportunities for talented and witty story tellers, like Al Lowe and Dave Grossman.

TVG: The current climate it appears is for action and instantly challenging games whereas the adventure genre is more about cerebral and slow methodical thinking; how do you change the mindset of gamers to be enticed by adventure games?

The average person reaches their frustration level pretty quickly, and, historically, adventure games donâ??t account for that well. At Telltale our goal is to maintain tension and drama throughout the experience by creating a world that feels alive. The balancing act is to allow users who like exploration to have the opportunity to explore, without allowing the experience to stall on an obscure puzzle.

TVG: Having cancelled the return of Full Throttle: Hell on Wheels and then Sam & Max: Freelance Police, why do you believe Lucas Arts lost confidence in two of its most fondly remembered franchises?

Boy, I could spend hours on that topic, but it probably isnâ??t kosher. Someday maybe I will write a book.

TVG: Do you already have a subject matter, ideas planned, and what formats do you foresee your first project on? Are you also intending to work along the same lines, design concepts, as recent Lucas Arts titles you worked on?

We are working on a few designs, an adventure design using a popular license that we feel people will be really excited about and a couple of designs that focus more on character interaction and virtual personality. This is something we are fascinated by and see as a key to dynamic storytelling.

TVG: Because there have been a real lack of adventure games over the past few years, do you see a lot of scope in the current technology and console machines to really kick-start the adventure game and where would this be?

Itâ??s really interesting right now, people have been be-moaning the downfall of the PC as a viable gaming platform, but they ignore that the Internet is a primary source of entertainment and information for most people. People are starting to spend as much time on the Internet as they do watching TV. this opens up huge opportunities to reach people with interactive content.

TVG: A lot of the industry sees the impending release of Leisure Suite Larry as a sort of test case for the adventure market. Would you agree and what are your current thoughts on recent adventure titles?

Definitely a test case for, are the old licenses still viable? Does excitement among old school gamers translate to larger audiences?

In general Iâ??m excited about recent developments in the adventure genre, the merger of cool licenses with the point and click mechanic makes total sense. The mechanic is so elegantly simple and accessible; itâ??s a great way to introduce the mass audience to the genre and gaming in general. There is also this feeling of, lets stop complaining about the state of adventure games and instead letâ??s solve the freakin problem.

I also see more games trying new things to meld story and interactivity - this is a real challenge. The point and click adventure mechanic is a real easy way to tell a story but it limits the impact the player feels they are having on the world. Making the world responsive to the playerâ??s decisions is a huge challenge and one Telltale really wants to focus on.

TVG: Instead of major a major revolution, do you believe the adventure genre instead needs convergence with more popular genres; do you believe the days of point n click are well and truly dead, but that the essence of a good adventure can prevail in some form?

As stated above, I definitely donâ??t think point and click is dead, Itâ??s the easiest way to interact youâ??re your computer. If you think about web surfing itâ??s a point and click experience with links replacing hotspots.

Is it the best way to play GTA3 ? Probably not.

TVG: As the videogames industry has grown its surprising that actual choice and variety amongst videogames has declined; do you believe that well witness more diversity as the industry continues to mature, much like the indie scene in film and music industries?

In general, the focus of the industry is on a very specific market segment. This leaves a whole bunch of the market without product. Developers and publishers are definitely aware of this and are focused on solving it, but its going to require some innovation.

TVG: What are the initial formats you will be working on and how important is it to get initial funding to ensure things move quickly?

We are going to focus on the P.C. Funding would give us a great push forward in bringing titles to market, but in the mean time we are just soaking it all in.

TVG: Anything else you would like to add?

Thanks for your interest in Telltale Games, and check out our website at www.Telltalegames.com.