Untold horrors lurk in wait in Penumbra: Overture, Frictional Games' first-person adventure game set in a dark and gritty world that's being developed for PC and places heavy emphasis on storyline and puzzle solving. Inspired, amongst other things, by the works of author HP Lovecraft - the horror writer and creator of the Cthulhu Mythos - the title is to be released in three episodes, the first of which is due early next year.
Penumbra: Overture is actually the commercial version of Frictional's technology demonstration Penumbra, which showcases the developer's physics engine that is integral to Overture gameplay and that allows users to employ mouse movements to interact with the game world. Thomas Grip, programmer and project leader at Frictional, tells us more, while also offering opinions on the episodic gaming scene...
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In what ways does releasing a game episodically benefit you the developer and the gamer?
Grip: The largest benefit for us is that we can split the work burden into parts (three in this case) and be able to get paid in-between. This allows us to put more work and effort into the parts than we would have managed if we made a full game from the start. This is something that the gamer will benefit from as well. Each episode will be able to have higher production values, which in turn should make the whole game much better. Also, we will be able to get feedback between episodes and can make sure that any problems with the first episode will be gone and rectified in the following. It will also be possible for the players to come with suggestions on what they would like to see in the next episode.
To sum it up, the episodic releases will allow for a richer game and make the gamer part of the process.
What's your opinion on games being released in episodic form on console - do you think it's viable?
Grip: It is not impossible and should work well on Xbox Live, for example. The upcoming consoles are going to be just about as internet connected as the average computer, which will give new opportunities for upcoming videogames. The internet connection is already used to release updates for games, something that used to be available only for computer games. This is most likely just the start and is probably going to be followed by things like episodic game releases.
Valve Software, of course, has chosen to release Half-Life 2 instalments in episodic form - what did/do you make of that?
Grip: Well, the problem I have with almost all current episodic games is that they do not seem to have a limited scope. By that I mean that it is not entirely apparent how many episodes there will be or how long you have to wait for the next to be released. Right now it just seems like an excuse to release shorter games and reuse content.
I think that the episodes will become a lot more fun when you can release the games on a more regular basis and also make it clear to the player how long the series will last. This is something that we are trying to do with Penumbra: Overture although our model is closer compared to the Matrix trilogy or Lord of the Rings. We are only going to release three episodes and will release all these in the same year. I am not saying that our way is perfect but we think it is better than previous episodic releases.
What set you on the road to Penumbra development and what are the game's key influences?
Grip: The first and main goal with Penumbra was to make a horror game without any violent action as the main gameplay feature. Games like Silent Hill and Resident Evil all rely on the player shooting/bashing enemies to take up most of the gameplay time. We believe that going away from this design will create a scarier game since monster encounters will be a lot more lethal. It also forces us to think in new directions when coming up with the gameplay ideas. It was with this goal in mind that the physical interaction mechanics was born. This is a feature that can make mundane tasks like opening doors and pulling levers a lot more fun and satisfying.
One of our main influences has been 'sneaker' games like the Thief series. Since monsters should not be passed by simply killing them we had to add some sneaking and these games were a great inspiration.
Another major inspiration is point-and-click adventures and interactive fiction. We have learnt a lot from these when it comes to designing puzzles and story narrative. We really want all the gameplay to be part of the story and world. For example, puzzles should not be totally out of place as they can be in many survival horror games.
Last but not least the game's story is very much inspired by the writings of HP Lovecraft. We are really trying to add a great sense of isolation and fear of the unknown throughout the game and this was something Lovecraft did very well.
Can you give us a brief overview of the game?
Grip: The game starts of with Philip, the protagonist, travelling to Greenland to find out information on his late father. He is caught in a snowstorm and just as he is about to die he finds a strange metal hatch in the snow. With nowhere else to go Philip opens it up and finds it leads to some mysterious underground facility. The remainder of game story is about what has happened and how all is connected to your father.
Gameplay-wise, Penumbra: Overture plays like a first-person shooter but without any notable weapon arsenal. Most of the time is spent exploring, solving puzzles and trying to avoid being seen by the creatures that lurk in the darkness. There will be some combat but the player is advised to avoid it since it can easily lead to death.
One of the major features that differs Penumbra: Overture from other games is the interaction system. Instead of just clicking on a door to open it, the player has to grab it and open it using mouse movements. The same system is used for pulling levers, opening drawers, spinning valves, etc. All this is controlled by an advanced physics engine and apart from making interaction more interesting it also lets us design puzzles and gameplay in other ways. The system is hard to explain and it is better to try out our technology demo to see how it works.
Who are you aiming the game at?
Grip: We are aiming Penumbra: Overture at people that want to have a new experience when it comes to adventure games. Players that like scary games should also be interested since a lot of focus will be on frightening the player.
Finally, what methods are you using to frighten people, and how difficult is it to get 'scare factor' into a game?
Grip: We are trying to incorporate the scariness into the gameplay rather than using cut-scenes and things like that. For example, one of the main tools for avoiding enemies is to listen carefully and then be able to determine where it is safe to go. This will force players to constantly be on alert and react to any strange sounds in the environment since you never know when an enemy is nearby.
Another method is trying to immerse the player into the game world as much as possible. Things like the physical interaction system, ambient sounds and detailed environments should all help the player feel part of the world. To enhance the experience even more we are trying to give every room its own history and feel. This so that the player does not feel as if it is just another generic cellar he is walking in but can actually connect it to events he has heard or will hear about.
As for the difficulties of making a game scary, I think the hardest part is making the player let himself/herself be immersed in the game. We all know that a horror movie is less scary when seeing it in a well lit room and without any sound. The same applies to horror games. Our solution to this is to slowly adapt the player to the game world and at the same time set up the backstory.
