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7 Sins Q&A Feature
Derek dela Fuente
14/04/2005
Monte Cristo answers everything on its risque sim...
Originating from Monte Cristo in France is a game offering a lot of spice with its adult theme, and they do say the French have are the masters of ārisqué scenariosā, so 7 Sins could well hit the mark when it comes to a game to tease, titillate and dare we say it ā“ excite. The game is set in the pleasure seeking haven of Apple City and allows players to immerse themselves in the world of sex, celebrity and greed as they compete in a series of risqué and adult challenges in order to climb their way up the social and economical ranks of the neon-drenched metropolis. Moving through seven distinctive chapters, players will need to carefully create the right relationships and events and so interactions may be a lot more to the point than you would imagine. To find out some of the pleasurable ideas on offer Derek dela Funete spoke with the Game / Level designer, Samuel Jacques.
TVG: We have seen a number of risqué games of late aimed at the older end of the market but none has really hit the mark. Do you feel it is down to the fact that computer games canāt really convey the kind of thoughts and emotions to excite or could it be down to the content being a little tame ā“ safe?
I think itās related more to the content and gameplay itself, and what the games offer to differentiate from the competition. Most of these games rely purely on sex as the main feature to set them apart from each other. With 7 Sins, we felt that simply including adult content was not enough to make it appealing. Itās obviously part of the āspiceā of the game, but itās a bit like a beautiful girl without a brain ā“ short term fun but quickly boring if thereās nothing else there!
Weāve chosen the 7 sins theme because it has a wider scope than just sex and itās afforded us a great deal of potential to make a really fun game.
TVG: The game is being released on PC and PS2 ā“ do you not feel that these are totally different markets? How do you see 7 Sins appealing to both?
I donāt think that this kind of game is specific to either market to be honest. Weāre not making an FPS or an RTS where the controls or the pace of the game would be better suited to different audiences. It really depends on the game itself, because if the content is right, it shouldnāt matter what you play it on. We just think that ā7 sinsā will give you your daily slice of fun after a hard working day no matter what. Weāve fine tuned the two versions as far as controls, etc. to make sure that youāll have just as much fun with the game whether youāre playing on a PC or PS2.
TV:G Tell the readers the basic objective/s for the player, what innovative qualities you believe the game will offer and the kind of diverse and interesting gameplay line the game presents?
7 Sins is much like a quirky survival guide, showing you how to reach the top in 7 lessons. The plot is simple: you discover Apple City and decide you want a piece of the action, aiming to climb the social ladder and reach the top by any means possible. Each chapter and its missions will teach you a new lesson in life: earning honest money, creating celebrity status, playing sexy and dangerous games with the VIP, learning to defend yourself and so onā¦
Itās a bit like āSims for adultsā in that everyone whoās played The Sims will have tried at one stage or another to do something āforbiddenā, but the game is not geared up to allow it. We all know that if something is forbidden it becomes instantly more appealing, which is partly why we chose the ā7 Sinsā theme. But itās not just adult Sims; itās something much wider than that.
Our main aim was to make this game fun and then throw in a little sauciness. Itās not a serious game and we put in a lot of effort to make the player laugh. Iāve been working on this game for a long time, but even now, after many hours of repeated play, it still has the ability to make me laugh out loud. Youāll see stupid situations, truly stupid situations, which can be very funny.
We also took care to make sure the humour translated well in different locations, working closely with foreign localisation teams to make sure that the dialogue retained the humour in each new territory that it started out with here in France.
TVG: There are 20 min sub games... Do these sub game come as an extra embellishment or ones essential for the player to progress and how diverse are they?
All the mini games are integrated into the gameplay, so they play an important part in your success or failure throughout the game. Success or failure in a mini game will have a direct influence in the main game. For example, one of the mini games is about having sex, so depending on the result, your partner will either be pleased or disappointed with you, and this will change your relationship level with him/her. You also need to keep an eye on your emotions and the mini games help to relieve tension, anger, etc. In that sense, the outcome of each of these mini games is important as it positively or negatively modifies your interaction in the main game.
TVG: Please expand on how the themed challenges work.
There are 7 chapters in the game and each one is related to a specific sin. The first chapter, for example, is about envy. The main character is hired as a lowly salesman in a prestigious luxury goods store and has his first encounter with the rich socialites of Apple City. Youāll soon find that there are many ways to earn money in this chapter, and how you choose to go about it is between you and your conscience! Thereās a points system for most actions, and itās not necessary to discover everything in a particular chapter in order to get enough mission points to move onto the next. What that means is that even if youāve completed a chapter, thereās bound to be new things which you can still go back and uncover.
TVG: How does the game start and what is the first challenge presented?
After the tutorial which explains all the basic mechanics of the game, the first chapter will take place in SUKS, the luxury goods store and the theme is envy. Much of the initial chapter is focused on money ā“ how to get it and keep hold of it for yourself. But youāll also find many other things to do, like spying on women while theyāre trying on new clothes, or urinating in the bossā drinking water!
TVG: Please can you give the readers a short synopsis of the onscreen meters and icons and how important it is to keep tabs on them?
The green bar in the upper right shows you the relationship level youāve attained with the character youāre currently talking to. This bar has six levels ranging from first contact to passion. All the actions the player can do with a character depend on this bar. Try to kiss a woman youāve just met and sheāll more than likely give you a hard slap in the face, but try it once youāre on the couch after a romantic dinner, and the reaction may be completely different.
In the upper left, youāll see seven forks. Each time you sin, you earn one fork. Once you reach 7 forks, youāre unable to commit any sins until you do an angelic action to repent and clear some of the forks.
Beneath the forks you can see your emotional meters for lust, stress and anger. During your interactions with the characters in the game, these meters will rise depending on conversation choices and their responses. You need to keep a careful check on these and make sure they donāt fill completely - or something very bad will happen. The easiest way to lower your gauge is usually to commit a sin, so thereās always a way to lower the levels if theyāre getting too high.
TVG: What is success and progress down to ā“ luck, skill or multi challenges or just common sense and risk?
The main challenge is to raise your relationship with the other characters. You have to understand their individual preferences and weaknesses, helping you to pick the right action at the right moment. Talking about your friends in show business will impress someone who cares about fame, but annoy someone whoās into the simpler things in life, for example.
All the characters have a distinct personality, and part of the fun is discovering what suits them best in your interactions. For some characters weāve used old clichés like the dumb blonde girl with a generous chest, but weāve also tried to mix things up a little, so some characters have a personality that you really wouldnāt expect from their appearance. It means that youāve got to be careful not to pre-judge characters and take time to find out what theyāre really like and what their sensitivities are. If you watch and listen to the characters, there are plenty of hints to be found for better interaction, so both common sense and risk taking is all part of your success.
TVG: Please give us an insight into the dev team creating the game and who came up with the idea and what other game is closest 7 Sins? Would you say it has elements of both The Sims and also Singles?
If I were to compare 7 Sins with another game, Iād say āSinglesā or āPlayboy: The Mansionā but I still think that 7 sins is something unique. Obviously there are common factors between this and āThe Simsā because our game is centered around relationships between people, but we emphasize fun things or weird situations. āSinglesā or āPlayboyā are not really āhumorousā games, they are much more simulation-oriented and thatās fine, but our game adds something other than purely adult oriented content. Some may compare 7 Sins to Leisure Suit Larry, but that too would be largely incorrect, as we have a more non linear structure. In ā7 Sinsā the player is always free to choose what to do next. Larry is an adventure game whereas 7 Sins isnāt.
TVG: Tell us about one of the teamās fav sub games?
It changes according to our mood each day. The mini boxing game is currently one of the sub games we keep trying to beat the score on. We have also a competition with the ābug killerā mini game where you have to kill cute animals with blunt weapons. If you kill several animals in succession, you get an extra weapon - the flamethrower! Itās fast paced and incredibly funny. Weāve designed all these mini games with both simplicity and fun in mind.
TVG: What kind of rewards are offered for success and how is progress conveyed and are there different ways to achieve success?
Each chapter offers specific goals, but there are several ways to complete them in order to move on to the next chapter. As there is no mandatory path to completing a goal, youāre free to interact with whichever characters you want, and ignore any you donāt want to deal with. You can complete the game without interacting with all the characters. Because each character has their own personality and bonus actions, you can go back and try new things with different characters to get a new response - testing new interactions, earning new features. More specifically, when you reach the maximum relationship level with a character, youāll unlock some exclusive pictures in a bonus gallery that offer some amusing and interesting situations caught on camera. Youāre going to have to work hard and replay the game to find them all, as there are over 80 pictures to be found!
