Keepsake Interview - Part 2

Lydia is outgoing and friendly, the type of person who almost invariably makes a positive first impression. Born to a relatively poor family, she has become street-wise, quick of mind and resourceful enough to make some money by crafting various trinkets to sell at the town market. Ever since a childhood incident where she was saved from a fire by magic, her goal has been to become a mage. To this end, she has gained acceptance to the Dragonvale Academy. Arriving there for the first time is a special occasion made even better by the opportunity to be reunited with her best friend after not seeing each other for several years. However, Celeste isn't there to greet her. Indeed, the institution is deserted. Lydia finds only one sign of her, a doll she had once given her as a memento.

Keepsake is a medieval fantasy-themed adventure title in development at Montreal-based Wicked Studios. It is described as a story-driven offering with suspense and mystery at every turn. Naturally, our heroine sets out to find out what has happened to her friend and the school. In this quest, she is accompanied by Zak, a wolf who says he was once a mighty dragon, the familiar of a great sorcerer. Some other features of note are an interface that reportedly evolves as new features become available, a distinctive hint system and puzzles that will apparently challenge players' wits without requiring exceptional dexterity or quickness. Having learned of the project some time ago, we noted it as one about which we'd like to know more, so we were pleased when President Yves Bordeleau and Game Designer Bruno Parenteau agreed to answer our questions.

Yves Bordeleau: Like I mentioned in the earlier portion of the interview, the Dragonvale Academy is a mix of Dragon-inspired architecture with some classical gothic foundations. We decided to go with that kind of look because it fit really well with our story, and also because that kind of visual has been absent from adventure titles for a very long time.

When you encounter an NPC, you will have from one to three conversation topics at a time that the player can choose to trigger as he wishes, some optional and others very important.

Yves Bordeleau: Being a musician, music and sound were two very important elements in the making of Keepsake. I have the pleasure to work with Marc Derell (Warlords Battlecry 3, Seven Kingdoms: Conquest, Joan of Arc) to create a nice soundtrack for the game. Regarding the soundtrack, you can expect a good 60 minutes of original music, mixing many influences like classical, medieval, Celtic and others.

Regarding voice acting, we have over 30,000 words of recorded dialogues in the game, which is quite a lot. So far, the game will feature voice actors for the English, French and German versions.

Jonric: With respect to playing the game, what are the key design goals that went into the creation of the interface?

Yves Bordeleau: The interface in Keepsake is very simple to use. We designed it so even people who are not familiar with adventure games can use it right away. Items and inventory manipulation are kept to a minimum, and most actions done with what the player will find in the adventure will be done automatically.

For instance, let's say you find a bronze key, and later on, there's a door lock that requires this special key; well, the action of using the key will be performed automatically. We wanted to keep things as simple as we could so the player would enjoy the story and the exploration without the need to do heavy item and interface manipulation.

Jonric: What is the control system like? Is it configurable? How do systems like inventory and conversation work? And will there be a mini-map or other navigational aids?

Bruno Parenteau: The controls aren't configurable at all, but there is a good side to this; you only need your left and right mouse buttons to play. No keyboard required! And the right one is only to make an indicator appear above your character in case you can't find her anymore on the screen - which should rarely happen. Everything else can be performed with the left button. This way, you can eat a pizza and drink your favorite gaming beverage while playing. ;-)

Also, as Yves said, you can open and see which items you have in your inventory with a description, but you don't have to actually "use" them anywhere. We don't believe this is enjoyable gameplay, so we cut it out. Also, there is no maximum number of items the player can carry at a time.

The conversation system is semi-linear and semi-"free for all". When you encounter an NPC, you will have from one to three conversation topics at a time that the player can choose to trigger as he wishes, some optional and others very important. This leaves the option for the player to either go to the topics that interest him or investigate further to gather optional information. There is no auto-journal of Lydia's journey though. Once conversations have been triggered, the player will not be able to see them again.

There won't be a mini-map and players will have to memorize the layout of the school, or run around a bit.