Articles

Lead Team Post Mortem

Kate Walker’s adventures throughout the magical universe of Syberia have been well documented over the last two years. Hundreds of thousands gamers have been accompanying her over her journey to find Hans Voralberg, exploring the original environments of Valadilene, Barrockstadt, Komkolzgrad and Aralbad.

Now that these same gamers are getting ready to once again jump on Hans’ train to its final destination, we thought it would be interesting to explore the universe of those working behind this magical adventure that has been the development cycle of Syberia.

It all started five years ago when Benoît Sokal began his research and documentation work to build a mystical universe that would follow the first steps he took in the gaming industry with Amerzone. While watching a TV show dedicated to Mammoths on the French equivalent of The Learning Channel, Sokal knew he had a strong grip on an original setting to build a story around.

Then the creating/conception machine was on! Ideas for characters, environments, buildings and vehicles were laid on paper. Books were flying on Benoît’s desk. Books on mammoths, books on automatons, books on Russia and old tribes from Siberia… The whole concept was shaping up, but Benoît needed help to inject some interactivity into this.

Enter: Marie-Sol Beaudry, Project Manager, Rémi Veilleux, Lead Programmer, Frédéric Gagné, Lead Animator, Stéphane Blais, Lead Designer, François Tétreault, Lead Integrator and Jean-François Carrier, Lead Artist.

For these six individuals, the call to work on Benoît’s project was a shock. They had been chosen to demonstrate their skills on Microïds’ most ambitious project ever with a guy that had a huge reputation in the comic industry and the author of a great adventure game, Amerzone.

Well they didn’t have a whole lot of time to be shocked. Benoît hopped on a plane for Montreal to meet the team he was going to work with for the next four years and let them know he wanted this game to become a classic in the genre, nothing less. Talk about pressure!

Now that Syberia II is completed, they took the time to look back on their journey and shared some of their thoughts with us.

Looking back to where they were standing when they learned they would jump on the Syberia train, this very unique crew is now trying to evaluate the impact this four-year challenge had on their life, both professionally and personally:

Rémi Veilleux (Lead Programmer): 

I’ve been doing games for quite a while now but I can assure you that today, the way I see my job is very different than what it was before. Syberia is the biggest challenge I’ve ever faced, even though technically it doesn’t look that way… With Syberia I’ve learned that there is much more than good game engines behind games.

Details are the much important thing to keep in mind while creating and developing a game. Every step is important, every task is vital.

Video Game is illusion…

Fred Gagné, (Lead Animator):

The Syberia experience has been my Video Game Diploma from one of the best university of the genre!

•  What is it like working with Benoit Sokal? Anything crispy to share on the character?

Stéphane Blais, (Lead Designer):

Boy, I was so nervous! You know like, how am I going to prove myself to that guy with over 25 years of experience at creating stories and universes?!?!

But you know what?  Benoît has been so opened and supportive. Our exchanges with him were dynamic and productive. He knew we could bring some good elements to this story and he trusted us. On the other side, we fed so much of his experience and learned more just exchanging with him about life experiences, influences…

It is so gratifying for a designer to see your gameplay concepts well understood and transformed into concrete images. With Benoît, in the middle of a brainstorm session, he would just draw exactly the concept you were trying to explain, understanding exactly the details of the idea. And this artwork stuff would become the reference of the in-game gameplay or puzzle…

Fred Gagné, (Lead Animator) :

Benoît taught  me to understand that what the players were seeing on their screen was very different than what I was seeing on my screen. With him near me, I’ve learned to get into the players’ seat to fully focus on the important things.

I’ve learned that second look that is so important to make great games.

• Now that the adventure has come to an end, any great moments you would care to share with us?

François Tetreault, (Lead Integrator):

I will forever keep the memory of a great team that wanted to make the best game possible. A team that was ready to make tons of sacrifices just to make it happen.

Also, sleepless nights are great for crispy bloopers but this is internal stuff!

Jeff Carrier, (Lead Artist):

I’ve been fortunate to be part of this team! This was not work, it was fun. Every day was a ton of laughs. I’m sure the pleasure we had making these games together is reflected in the final product…

• Talking about the final product, what was your reaction to the success the first chapter enjoyed?

Rémi Veilleux (Lead Programmer):

Wow! It was so gratifying. All the awards we received… All the efforts we invested in this project were rewarded. People were enjoying the game, the critics were mostly positive. We couldn’t have asked for more.

Seriously, as a game developer, it is so difficult to anticipate the reaction of the gamers. It could go any ways… In the case of Syberia I, the reception of the game was obviously good and it just made us so more motivated to continue and make a better game with the second chapter. There’s a pressure but it is a positive one!

Jeff Carrier, (Lead Artist):

Honestly, I have been surprised by the success Syberia enjoyed in North America. We knew Benoît was big in Europe but we weren’t sure about how the North American audience would react to the game. But it turned out very good!

And we are so happy about it. Early on, we felt some pressure to create another quality game but we learned so much with the first one that our confidence was high enough. Today, I can assure you Syberia II is a better game than the first one!

• And to conclude, your thoughts on the future of the adventure genre?

Stéphane Blais, (Lead Designer):

The most important thing with the genre, in my opinion, is that we have to continue to push it further ahead. The adventure game developers have so much to work on. We have to work on the level of interactivity in the games, we have to work on the AI of the characters, we have to do a better job with dialogues… There is so much we have to do but at the same time, I’m convinced we are on the going in the right direction: ahead of us!

Fred Gagné, (Lead Animator):

Personally I want to work on overall dynamism and facial expressions. These two elements should play a huge role in the future of adventure gaming.

I also think that most games will be in 3D from now on, even though it is so tough to get the quality of pre-rendered environments in 3D… This a challenge for the programmers… Are you listening Rémi? Hehehe

Rémi Veilleux (Lead Programmer):

Count me in Fred! We’ll work on that…

• Thank you everyone for your time, it was a great honor on my part.  We know Syberia II will be an unbridled success and look forward to news of your next project. ~ Randy Sluganski