Interviews

Aura – Post Mortem Interview
With Sergey Nartovich of Streko Graphics
conducted by Jennifer Miller

JA - What were your inspirations for Aura's story?

We just wanted to create a game that would be interesting and challenging (but not too challenging!) at the same time. As for inspiration… it is hard to say; we just sat down and brainstormed ideas, and then picked the best one.

JA - Aura's graphics have a very familiar feel to them. Were you at all trying to pay homage to any other games when developing Aura?

Not at all. We tried to create more or less a unique story and graphics. As for making a COMPLETELY unique game, well, that’s next to impossible because if you look really hard you will always be able to find some obscure similarities to other games.

JA - Why did you choose to have the gamer play as a character and not as himself?

Whether you are playing as a character or as yourself, that’s a matter of opinion. I believe that you are playing as yourself and not as some character. It is you who performs all the actions, and solves all the puzzles. You can even see yourself during the clips and cut scenes.

JA - I loved the fact that all of Aura's puzzles are fully integrated into the progress of the game. Was this something that you strove to achieve when developing Aura?

Absolutely. We wanted to have a game with a story that made sense to the player so we tried to integrate puzzles into the environments that fit in with the storyline.

JA - How much support did you get from fans and members of the adventure community?

The release of this game was announced quite late in the development possess, so the product was almost finished. But never the less, reading the different forums about Aura gave us the impression that people were really looking forward to the release of this game. That was certainly helpful.

JA - According to your website you have another game in the works. Can you tell us anything about it?

Well, right now we have the second part of Aura in the works. But so far it’s still on the drawing boards. For this game we are going to be working with the latest technologies to make a truly superior product.

JA - From the initial conception to the gold master, how long was Aura in development?

Almost 2 years.

JA - If Aura is successful, are there plans for any sequels?

We certainly hope so. We definitely would love to make a sequel. Aura, Fate of the Ages was originally planned as a trilogy, but whether or not that will happen all depends on Aura’s success. We hope to have more adventures in the worlds of Aura…

JA - What are some of your favorite adventure games?

There are many. Two of them are Zork Nemesis and Kings Quest 6. First about Kings Quest 6; in this game the graphics were still relatively primitive, but the plot was just amazing. I also loved the fact that you can eventually get a “magic map” and travel “between different worlds” ;). As for Zork Nemesis, here I thought the setting and the atmosphere were very unique. The plot was also intriguing. I was not able to stop playing this game until I beat it.

JA - Can you describe some of the different Ages in Aura?

Aura is made up of many worlds that exist in parallel dimensions. Each setting has its own unique qualities of time and space in its own age, such as the frozen world Dragast, or the celestial home of the astrologist, Na-Tiexu.

JA - What type of engine did you use for Aura?

Without going into technical details, the game engine was developed completely by our team. Most of the graphics and animations that you see in the game were created on Maya. As for the interface, we used very simple point-and-click technology with 360 degree panning.

JA - Does Aura use a mouse for inventory management and manipulating things in the environment or is it all keyboard controlled?

The inventory is managed by the mouse. Keyboard control is basically non-existent. The keyboard is basically only used for exiting the game (Esc) and going back to Windows (Alt-Tab).

JA - What is your favorite part of the development/creative process?

I really enjoy watching the artists and animators bring to life the ideas that we have thought up. Seeing the finished product and then receiving feedback from players makes all the hard work worthwhile in the end.