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People are going to tell you all sorts of reasons why you shouldn't bother. Ignore them. If you want to make a game just go do it.
It will be really painful, hard work and you'll wonder why you're doing it sometimes. But if you really want to do it, none of that matters.
In the end if you stick to it, you will have made a game.
Steve Stamatiadis
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Steve Stamatiadis
An interview with the artist behind Flight of the Amazon Queen. [2002]
I remember that after I had played Indiana Jones & The Fate Of Atlantis I wanted to play another point and click adventure, and the nearest demo I found that was point and click was "Flight Of The Amazon Queen" by Interactive Binary Illusions. The demo intruiged me, it was literally only the first few scenes of the game, where the main character, young Joe King - pilot for hire, had to get out of a hotel room and after his rival, Andersson. And that was that. I then went on to play Teen Agent but after I realised I couldn't get Teen Agent anywhere, (I didn't have the internet in those days) I realised it was time to make my first mail order. And the game I wanted through the mail, was of course, Flight Of The Amazon Queen.
Anyways, after playing the game and completing it after a couple of months of strenuous puzzles, humour and cool animation, I felt very satisfied. And just recently I thought it would be pretty cool if I could arange an interview with one of the games creators, and after some internet searches and alike, I managed to find our man Steve, and here, exclusive to the AGDzine, is the interview...
"This was a promotional shot. I can't remember if it was for anything in particular."
When did you become interested in the adventure genre?
I used to play as many of the old Scott Adams text adventures as I could get my hands on for the Atari 800. Planetfall and the Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy from Infocom were also favorites.
When did you meet John Passfield, and how close were you as friends?
I met John in the early 90's through a mutual interest in Comics. We still share an office and design games together.
"A scan of the pencil drawing I did to use as the basis of the Azura head shot in game."
Was there any inspiration behind Flight Of The Amazon Queen?
We wanted to do a point and click and we needed something that would give us some scope to have a little fun. We did some cynical research and the whole B-grade jungle movie seemed like a good idea... at the time.
What made you decide to create the game as a point and click adventure?
Monkey Island made us want to do a Point and Click. Amazon Queen was just one of the ideas we came up with. I remember talking with John about other ideas like a super hero or sci fi but we decided to go jungle.
When did the project start?
I think it was some time mid '91.
What was your role in the project?
Well I co designed the puzzles and plot. But my main job was being the entire art dept. I did the characters, backgrounds, icons, animations, fonts, cut scenes. If you saw it I did it. On top of that I had to do the graphics twice. Once in 32 colors and also in 256 colors for the PC version.
"A shot of all the character sprites used in the game. I used to lay them out like this to see how they all looked."
Was it yours and John's intention to distribute the game for money?
Yes. We were really hoping that we could make a living making games. At the time it was insane because there wasn't the industry in Australia to publish the game. So we spent a lot of our own money making the game in the hope that we could find an interested publisher overseas. Eventually we did.
What were the big problem stricken tasks with the game, if any?
The biggest problem was that 85% of the game was put together by two people, John and me. When we did find a publisher we started adding features to the game, increasing the number of rooms and puzzles, adding lots of animations for special events. Unfortunately we were stuck in the two guys making the game mentality because it always seemed like we only had a little more to do so we didn't need any help. So we ended up listening through samples, play testing the game etc.
"One of three different animations for Joe going down the sheet rope."
What position do you think the adventure game industry is in now? There has been some suggestion that it is slowly making a come back, there are other indications that it never really died - what do you think or believe?
Personally, I think the genre has been pretty much dead since Full Throttle, there was the occasional game that looked interesting but nothing that really captured the imagination of gamers the way the stuff did in the early 90's. I think the best adventure elements like puzzle solving, story telling and exploration have moved to other genres.
After FotAQ had been released, did you just sit back and let the profits role in, or did you worry that you might have created a pants game?
We pretty much started on our next game straight away. It was going to be another adventure but we were going to make it the most amazing game we could. We spent over 3 months just on the design. There are a couple of encyclopedia sized volumes with everything you needed to know about the game. But the publisher decided they didn't want to spend any money on another point and click. So we were screwed. Luckily Queen did actually produce royalties and we lived off them for a while.
We thought Queen was a good solid game but it really didn't get the distribution it needed. Warner Interactive Entertainment only bothered to ship out 4000 copies in the US with NO advertising.
"This is a Commander Rocket page before it got scaled to game size. Working larger was pretty painful to do at the time. Now it's quite common."
There are loads of people out there making adventure games as hobbies, could there be a future for them?
Sure. But probably not making adventure games. That doesn't mean the shouldn't make games for a hobby.
Where are you now in the world? What projects are you working on, and who with?
Still in Brisbane, Australia. We got a few offers to set up studios elsewhere but it's just too nice a place to leave. John and I hooked up with a like minded business guy called Robert Walsh and the three of us formed Krome Studios (www.kromestudios.com). John and I are putting together the design for a console platform game (another one of our favorite genres) for the PS2 at the moment. This time around well have a team of around 30 people working on the project. Its a little step up:)
Would you ever consider making another adventure game, if so, why? If not, why not?
Not a point and click. I really want to have more interaction with the world. I don't want to hear a lot of "I can't do that.". I'm all up for doing an action game with puzzles and a story. An adventure game that is actually an adventure not a stage play.
What can we expect to see from you in the near future?
Well if you're in the PS2 isle next xmas you'll see our new game - actually if things go well you'll see it everywhere ;)
In your mind, do you think there is any way to revive the adventure community to it's thriving potential it had back in the early 90's, and if so, how?
No it's probably time to move on. The same way that we've moved on from text adventures. If only console RPG's could move on from random battles :(
FotAQ - if someone wanted to make a fan sequel, would you let them, if so, why, if not, why not?
No, Legally we have to keep control of the copyright or lose it. Besides I'm sure most readers have better ideas of their own.
Did Flight Of The Amazon Queen feature any in jokes that perhaps you and John might chuckle at, but no-one else in the world would? And what the heck was that gorilla that talked and disappeared all the time about?
There's the Elephant gag. It's well hidden in the game. John put it in the dialog as a joke. He was going to take it out but I told him to leave it in unless the publisher found it. They didn't and it made it into the game. (hint: Go talk to Jimmy before you head into the valley.
The gorilla. Yes. One of my favorite characters. All would have been revealed in Return of the Amazon Queen, I guess it will just have to remain a secret. OR does it have something to do with the temple's guardian?? (Actually, I just thought up that last bit now :) )
Do you have a favorite adventure game, not including any of your own ;) - what is it?
Yes. Easy. The Secret of Monkey Island.
Finally, have you got any tips for adventure game creators out there?
Yeah, people are going to tell you all sorts of reasons why you shouldn't bother. Ignore them. If you want to make a game just go do it. It will be really painful, hard work and you'll wonder why your doing it sometimes. But if you really want to do it, none of that matters. In the end if you stick to it you will have made a game. Leonardo Da Vinchi never did that!
Oh, and if you've read the AGDzine, what do you think of it?
Pretty damn cool. I wish we had access to that kind of resource when we were trying to work out how to make Queen.
Thanks Steve!
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