Voodoo Nights - Q&A Feature
Jon Wilcox
07/10/2005
TVG goes in search of the man with the Voodoo secrets, Mindware Studios CEO Karel Papik...
Eastern block development teams have a mixed reputation with many taking the classic route of creating the standard formula of RPG and RTS games whereas a few take a bold chance and come up trumps trying to be a little more inventive. One such developer ācouldā be Mindware, which has a very interesting and stylish title called Voodoo Nights complete with two central characters and a compelling storyline and ideas. Although still early days, this is one game to keep tabs on. TVG spoke with Karel Papik, CEO at Mindware Studios, about their game and the philosophies of being a Czech based developer.
What has inspired the design of the game and how far into development is the team with it?
Voodoo Nights is a āBuddy Gameā, and our inspiration was Buddy Movies like Lethal Weapon, Bad Boys or Starsky and Hutch. We would like to build the same feeling, affinity, which you garner from these movies. The evolving relationship between two characters, with cool dialogue like, "Run Jack! I'm covering you! No, no, no - YOU run and I'M covering you", etc. The Buddy concept has also really great gameplay potential with coordination of the two characters.
We have recently created a new playable demo which proved the gameplay concept and introduced the new version of our Meng engine and now we are looking for the right publisher for our game.
Have you created any new tools for Voodoo Nights, what 3D engine are you using and what kind of technology focus has the team?
We are using our own proprietary engine MENG, which we successfully used in our previous game. That means we are just improving our technology, we are not starting from scratch.
Can you tell our readers briefly about the set-up at Mindware? How many people work at the company?
Currently we have more that 20 developers plus some externalists. We have 7 programmers, two designers, the rest are artists.
What is the story behind the game, how important is it once the game begins? Are there always a number or eventualities to your actions and is the environment pretty open to move around in?
Story plays an important role in Voodoo Nights. Letās say your goal is to find and rescue an important witness and if you will make it. You will be told, that there are two important pieces of evidence - one is in the hospital and another in an abandoned warehouse, and itās up to you which way you will go. Iād like to keep a number of facets under wraps at present but shortly more information will be forthcoming.
As youāve told us the player controls two cops. Can you expand a little on how the interaction works between the two of them, how you actually control them and when you are controlling one, how the AI of the other takes over? (How also is the switching between the two cops done?)
Fast coordination of two characters makes the core of the gameplay. The player directly controls one character in the classic way you know from most third person games. You can switch between the two characters at any time and the picture in picture view greatly supports two-player gameplay, as a player you can always see what both characters are looking at.
You can give your buddy simple and intuitive commands just by one point and click with context results like "Go here" (right click on the ground), "Take cover" (right click on an obstacle), "Attack him" (right click on the enemy) or "Cover me" (Long right click on the area with an enemy).
What weapons are on hand, how skilled do you have to be, is it one hit to kill?
Each character has different weapons, Jack has for example a shotgun, which is useful in close quarters and Samuel has a rifle, which works better on longer distances. The weapons work in a similar way you know from actions movies, so you will really enjoy the gunfight. (A smile appears on Karelās face.)
What kind of progression does the game offer?
In the first mission you will play just with one character, then you will play with both. As you progress through the game, you will get more and more different weapons and also Voodoo spells, which will enable you to perform more interesting tactics.
How big is the game and what kind of diversity is offered with both the locations/environments and the kind of actions on offer? Perhaps you can expand on one event in the game that really shows off the āspirit/kudosā of Voodoo Nights?
The game takes place in one City, which looks, letās say, like New Orleans. You will encounter many different locations. For example now we are working on a slaughterhouse setting. Itās a really cheerful place (another smile from Karel). At the start it looks relatively normal, but then you will spot that probably not all the meat is animal... And when you discover the hidden underground Voodoo sanctuary, you will definitely understand that itās not a usual abattoir! (A smile becomes a grin.)
Do you see the game as innovative? What one aspect of the game are you most pleased with so far?
The gameplay with two characters is definitely innovative. The āBuddy conceptā will work great in this video game.
We are informed that the game will offer an online experience plus the opportunity for downloadable content. Please tell us more.
This game has a great potential for online gaming, especially the gameplay in two player teams will be real fun.
Finally, you are welcome to add any more comments you feel will enlighten our readers and what formats do you hope the game will be released on?
Our intention was to build this game for PC and Xbox 360, but it also depends on the needs of the potential publisher.
TVG would like to thank Karel Papik at Mindware Studios for answering our questions; weāll have more on Voodoo Nights in the futureā¦
