Play Girlz Interview with Scratches Creator Agustin Cordes
It’s been quite the journey for Nucleosys, the team behind the PC mystery/adventure game, Scratches. This game is a top 10 seller at Amazon, and has been released in various countries around the world. If you haven’t gotten your hands on it yet, you should.
I’ve been a huge fan of the game since I sampled its demo back in the day, and now that the game is out and about, it was time to check in with the guys at Nucleosys.
Agustin Cordes is one of the masterminds behind the game, and he was kind enough to answer my myriad of questions about the game, the team, and life as a game designer.
1. How did the idea for Scratches arise?
Phew, this one would call for a whole single interview. Briefly, the Scratches idea had been brewing for a few years after a weird dream I had. Like I always say, I can’t say what the dream was, or else I would spoil the entire game. Eventually, I teamed up with Alejandro to work on of those silly “small enterprise” school projects, and the subject we chosen was (yes, you got it right), game making. The project was really well done and darned convincing to foolish investors, if I may say so. Eventually, though, we lost. In any case, I managed to convince Alejandro that making games was a piece of cake and quite possibly the best job ever. I was of course wrong, but at least we lived to tell the story. Back to Scratches, we decided it was our best shot because it was the most developed idea and involved less risks (like, who in its right mind would dismiss a charming haunted house story?). Anyway, little by little the story was developed until we felt confident enough with it and, like they say… you know what they say!
(in case you don’t, the rest is history!)
2. Who’s the team behind Scratches?
We’re essentially two guys, Alejandro Graziani and me, doing all the job, but you can count Cellar of Rats as well, the composer that did the soundtrack. While he’s not an official member of Nucleosys, you could say that he’s sort of like the fourth musketeer, or perhaps the fourth ghostbuster, or maybe the third stooge. Whichever you prefer. We also happen to be very hot guys, so please tell that to your readers, who I assume should be mostly very hot girls.
3. One of my favorite parts of the game, aside from the beautiful graphics and the humor, is the intro movie at the beginning. It looks and feels more like the start of a regular mystery film than the start of a computer game. Was this always how you envisioned the introduction to the game, or did it go through several recreations?
For some reason that escapes me, the making of the intro video went incredibly smooth. Its success (it can be considered successful, right??) was determined by a true participation of everyone involved and working as a team. The bare bone idea I was trying to approach was using photographs and sad music. But originally the photos would be just plain pictures fading in and out during the intro. Alejandro then thought about using a real location where they could be hanging and have a camera slowly filming them. As soon as he mentioned they could be in the process of being revealed, and especially the detail of the drop falling, I instantly fell in love with the idea and pictured the whole sequence in my head. It was very evocative and tied to the storyline because, as you have probably realized, photographs play an important role in it. The crowning glory was Cellar of Rats’ music. There was another tune originally used, which had been composed before the intro and was just as effective (felt even more dated and sad) but the new one blew our socks off.
I think the simplicity of the intro is what surprised most people. It’s just a camera moving for crying out loud! But it does have a movie-like feel to it, and that was also the approach to several other sequences in the game as well.
4. Another aspect of Scratches that I fell in love with was the music. How did Nucleosys and Cellar of Rats come together?
We were sailing through the darkest waters of the Styx River, while hunting some cyclopean creatures I dare not describe, when we met this other sailor. After a warmth greeting and nice chit-chat, he taught us how to dominate these creatures more effectively, such as not losing our entire crew each time we chased one. We became good friends after that, and this fellow agreed to lend us his musical enchantments in exchange of cheese for his rats.
Either that, or Cellar of Rats just contacted us one day, we liked his stuff, and we kind of agreed that for the benefit of humankind we better had to work together.
5. Are you guys planning to release the Scratches soundtrack?
Yes! There have always been plans to do so, but now this is a certainty. As a matter of fact, the timing couldn’t be more perfect as the soundtrack is going to be produced within the next few days!
6. Besides Scratches, do you have any other projects in the horizon?
Yes, we have two games in mind actually, as well as a little treat for fans of Scratches. The most immediate upcoming new game has been evolving quite a lot lately. It will be also horror but in many way unlike Scratches. It will be, let’s say, much more “mean” and definitely much, much scarier.
7. What do you guys like to do after a long day of work?
We don’t do anything else right now. Seriously! But during more calmed times, I love to watch horror movies or play games. You know, people usually ask me how on earth I can still sit in front of my computer after I’m done working, but I tell them they’re just different circumstances. Anyway, Alejandro usually loves to lay down on the bed and watch TV in a sort of Homer-like way. And I believe Cellar of Rats likes to summon dark gods or something.
Does that sound boring? I understand if it does, we game developers are boring people.
8. What are your favorite video games?
If you would have asked me about my favorite adventures, I wouldn’t have a clue as they’re always shifting positions. But I’ll give it a shot anyway: basically, they would be the Space Quest series (2nd. 3rd. and 4th. rank among the very best), Monkey Island 2 (yes, I loved the ending!), Sanitarium, Maupiti Island (I know, who the hell knows it!) and more.
As for non-adventures, and without hesitation: Wasteland, Fallout, System Shock and Planescape: Torment.
9. How much outside research was involved in the making of Scratches? (i.e. Did you ever stay at creepy Victorian houses? )
Well, I hope I’m not disappointing anybody, but we have never actually been inside a Victorian house. Our research was entirely based on Google. Which doesn’t mean it wasn’t effective, mind you. We had to learn about various periods and styles, study blueprints, gather as many pictures as possible and so. The most curious thing was that we had already sort of laid out most of the rooms of the house – and we actually stumbled upon some vintage blueprints that looked almost the same as the floor level! It was rather scary but at least it confirmed us that we were heading in the right direction.
10. One of the things I’ve noticed about you guys, both from the hidden humor in the game, and then from visiting your website, is that you’re really fun and funny. The game is quite serious, though. In designing it, did you ever have to stop yourself from adding really goofy things to the game? And are there any goofy things in the game we might find hidden away?
Yes, in fact it has always been a concern of us our cheerful tone. And to prove it, you only have to go through some of the website updates in which we actually explain that the game is serious. That said, you’ll find there are plenty of light moments and (gasp) even humorous. It’s more evident in the dialogues and some descriptions by Michael, in a similar to that one you noticed about the toilet. Of course, you’ll find plenty of easter eggs and references to other adventures. Some of those will be pretty deranged and others downright funny (I hope). So yes, we sort of had to ease ourselves at one point in the goofy department, but it was only in some very specific stuff. The overall tone of the game is, and has always been, dark and bleak, and if things seem to be really lighthearted sometimes, don’t worry – it’s just a trick we’re pulling so that when things get serious, they get real serious.
11. Since Nucleosys is set in Argentina, why is Scratches set in England? Who provided the voice talents for the game?
That’s a difficult question! Basically, it’s the kind of game we wanted to make. You aren’t the first one that asks why we didn’t chose a different setting, considering all the possibilities that we have in Argentina. Well, that’s the honest answer – we wanted to make a classic horror game loosely based on those old British movies from Hammer Horror Films, so an English setting was truly the best way to go. Of course, we are not ruling out the possibility that in the future we might do an Argentinian game, but that isn’t in our plans right now.
As for the voice talents, we have John Bell as Michael, who did a lot of work for adventures, hailing from USA, then Jonathan Boakes, of Dark Fall series fame, Sue Anderson, who used to sing for an underground UK-based band called Bark Psychosis, Dominic Brewer, a professional dramatic actor, all of them hailing from England, and Daniel Chase, who is also a professional actor and lives in USA.
12. What is the most memorable experience of developing Scratches?
That would have to be H.P. Lovecraft himself visiting my room at night and telling me that everything is going to be fine. I knew that already, but it was more comforting to hear it from such a source. A close second one would be awaking in the middle of the night, totally naked in a cemetery, after passing away during one hell of a hard day.
Of course, we can’t forget about actually playing the very first 3D room of Scratches: the crypt. That brings a lot of memories!
13. So, what is that noise in the basement?
Have you seen the movie House By The Cemetery where there was this demented marauding zombie living down in a basement and occasionally chopped up people so that he could live forever? Well, that’s not it.
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1 opinion for Play Girlz Interview with Scratches Creator Agustin Cordes
amber
Oct 19, 2006 at 12:54 pm
You got to interview someone cool?! I’m so jealous. I loved the interview. Thanks for sharing. :)
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