Gaming Today Q&A: Cédric Lagarrigue on Runaway: The Dream of the Turtle

Generally speaking, you could say that in the US, the adventure genre is pretty lifeless. Good games in the genre are few and far between, and more and more developers are focusing on RPGs, FPSs, and other genres. On the other hand, Europe is home to many solid adventure games, where series like Runaway thrive.

It’s refreshing to see that, for a change, a developer is making an effort to revive the adventure market in the US. Runaway: The Dream of the Turtle for the Nintendo DS is an attempt to do just that – with an established following in Europe, I was interested in seeing what this PC game could do to reinvigorate adventure games.

Speaking with Cédric Lagarrigue, CEO of Focus Home Interactive – publisher of the game – I learned that Europe went through a similar phase of a dead adventure genre, why the DS was the chosen platform for the game, and discover that a Wii version of the game is in development.

Read the interview after the break.

Gaming Today: Why bring Runaway: The Dream of the Turtle to the DS? If an install base was what you were looking for, PS2 could have been a suitable platform, or if it was a unique way to play that you wanted, the Wii seems like a possibility.

Cédric Lagarrigue: Nintendo’s handheld console fits perfectly to a point & click game thanks to the use of the stylus which is very close to the mouse on PC, whereas controls are much less accurate with a console gamepad. The Nintendo DS is having great success with women, who are an important part of the overall adventure games’ audience. This is why it seemed quite relevant to adapt Runaway on this console rather than on another one. Regarding Wii, we share your point of view and it is indeed very fun to play to a point & click with the Wiimote. While the Wii version of the game hasn’t been officially announced yet, you should know that it is close to the end of development and it will be released simultaneously with the DS version in 2008.

GT: Was it difficult bringing a game designed for PC to the DS in terms of how the game is played? Certainly technology-wise, it must have been difficult.

CL: It wasn’t too difficult considering the fact that, as I previously said, the stylus ideally replaces the mouse. The hardest thing was mostly figuring out how to best optimize the game.

From the start, Runaway wasn’t planned to work on a console with 10 times less memory and a much slower processor. It was a true challenge to have all the original game’s data fitting on a cartridge and make it run at the same speed on DS.

GT: Was there anything in the game that needed to be “dumbed-down” in order to work on the DS hardware?

CL: Unfortunately yes, due to technical constraints we couldn’t integrate any sound when the player is in the inventory window, the music stops and starts again as soon as you close the window. First, you notice it, but in the end you just get used to it. It was the price to pay to have the capacity to integrate over 40 different songs in the game.

We also had to reduce Brian’s animations a little. For example, on DS you will never see him scratching his head, but I think it is a minor sacrifice considering the fact that we could integrate the rest of the game’s animations, sounds and music.

GT: Why port Runaway 2 to the DS as opposed to the original Runaway?

CL: It is quite simple: Runaway, The Dream of the Turtle is not the direct sequel to the first Runaway. It is a brand new adventure and the only thing they have in common is the couple of heroes - Brian and Gina, and a few other secondary characters. You don’t need to know the first title to play and enjoy this game. As Runaway, A Road Adventure was released five years ago in Europe; we thought it would be better to bring to DS the latest adventure of Brian and Gina, which was released earlier this year. The overall quality of this version is much better than the previous one.

GT: Many consider the adventure genre as essentially dead, at least in North America. Conversely, adventures games – including Runaway – are huge in Europe. Why do you think this is?

CL: We have faced the same situation in Europe a few years ago. Adventure games fell victim of the advent of 3D in videogames. Publishers were only talking about 3D, and adventure games were quickly regarded as outdated despite the huge successes they were still having. There were a few 3D adventure game attempts but the audience wasn’t really convinced, which brought publishers to mistakenly think that players were not interested in adventure games anymore. Fortunately, a few studios have survived and are still offering quality productions; titles such as Runaway have relaunched the genre in 2003 in Europe by becoming very successful. The United States is still missing that one key adventure game which would be critically as well as commercially acclaimed to relaunch the genre, and as consoles Nintendo DS and Wii are a perfect fit for adventure games, it is highly probable that, according to their current success, they tend to favour the renewal of adventure games in the United States. However, it’s worth noting that while the adventure game genre is not as prominent as other genres in the United States today, it still has a large audience and some titles recently launched have had very good sales and reviews, though they don’t get talked about much.

GT: Runaway is known for its gorgeous cartoon-like visuals. Can you tell us a little about how this is accomplished?

CL: It is a style that Pendulo Studios creators particularly like and it is surely one of the main keys to their success. The key lies in knowing how to mix 2D with 3D. A large number of tools are used to achieve the final finish. The characters are animated in 3D, as are many of the backdrops, but then it is all put in place in a 2D format to give a cohesive appearance in the end.

GT: Thank you so much for your time.