Interview | Animation Arts Discusses Secret Files

Adam Riley: What would you say makes your game different from other point-and-click adventure games?
 
Marco Zeugner: In terms of game mechanics, we are trying to stay true to the classic virtues of the adventure game genre. With the game's presentation we generally choose a serious and grown-up style. Apart from that it's important to us that the game's flow is not reduced by unnecessarily complicated riddles or mini-games.
 
Adam Riley: Is the original team from the Tunguska project still involved with Secret Files 3? Has the team expanded much over the years?
 
Marco Zeugner: The number of team members has only slightly increased and the key personnel has stayed mostly constant.
 
Adam Riley: Will those that did not play Tunguska and Puritas Cordis be able to enjoy Secret Files 3 without knowing the history of the series? At the same time, will there be many links for those that *did* play the first two games and love cameos and 'Easter Eggs'?
 
Marco Zeugner: Secret Files 3 can be played as a stand-alone game for sure, but for those who know Secret Files 1 and Secret Files 2 we've put a load of elements to be discovered into the latest instalment of the series that players can reminisce over.
 
Adam Riley: There have been reports of Secret Files 3 being subtitled 'The Secrets of Archimedes.' Is this the finalised subtitle for this third game?
 
Marco Zeugner: That was just a working title used by NEOS Film when applying for financial support regarding the concept/story design from FFF, an institution here in Bavaria that supports movie and game makers. This time it is just Secret Files 3 without any subtitles.

Adam Riley: Have you used feedback from players and the media to help improve each new entry? What are the some of the biggest challenges faced when receiving negative comments?
 
Marco Zeugner: Of course, we are constantly analysing feedback from journalists as well as from customers to improve our games. The biggest challenge we are facing now with the release of Secret Files 3 is that it is designed for the mass market not for the hardcore gamer. That decision is based on an economic point of view. We have to earn money with a game otherwise there won't be any new Secret Files. The consequence: hardcore gamers are massively complaining about the lack of difficulty and shorter playtime (bear in mind, though, they already complained about that when Secret Files 1, Secret Files 2 and Lost Horizon were released). On the other hand, casual gamers love Secret Files 3 since the puzzles are challenging for them and playtime is around 15+ hours on average. With such a discrepancy between feedback it is hard to react so that everyone is satisfied with the result, but it is always was hard, if not impossible, to please everybody.
 
Adam Riley: What sort of processes are involved when creating scenarios where numerous, seemingly random, items are collected and potentially melded together before using with something in the nearby environment?
 
Marco Zeugner: At the beginning stands the complete story, and this story determines the plot for the respective scenes. Then obstacles are included in the scenes that the player has to overcome, and from these obstacles arise tasks and riddles the player has to solve in order to master a certain game section. Afterwards, according to the desired level of difficulty, chains of riddles are designed where the player has to combine items to find a solution. There it is important that possible combinations aren't too obvious (too easy) but at the same are always logical and subject to the laws of physics.

Adam Riley: Some people have said the conversations are too long in your games. What would be your response to this? (note: personally I prefer lengthy conversations that expand the story)
 
Marco Zeugner: We assume most customers these days are not patient enough to listen to long dialogues or follow a complex story. For Secret Files 1 we had about 45,000 words of dialogue, for Secret Files 2 about 60,000, and for Lost Horizon even 80,000! Here feedback from casual, as well as from hardcore, gamers was exactly the same: more game, less blah, please (or "A little less conversation, a little more action" ). Secret Files 3 has 30,000 words and it seems no one missed anything! *laughs*
 
Adam Riley: One main feature of the games is that 'interaction hotspots' can be revealed on the screen to show what can be viewed or interacted with. Have you ever considered incurring a penalty for players using the 'cheat' function too often? Perhaps leading them towards a final game ending sequence that is not as good?
 
Marco Zeugner: We don't want to patronise players, but why should we punish someone for using comfort functions that we offer? It is up to the player to use them or not. We implement that feature to avoid pixel hunting as it was common in the early days of point-and-click adventures. Funny that some hardcore gamers are complaining about the hotspot display on one side, and on the other side they are also complaining about the so-called hidden object games. Isn't an adventure game without hotspot display a hidden object game anyway? *winks*
 
Adam Riley: Are there multiple endings in Secret Files 3?
 
Marco Zeugner: Sure! There are four different endings depending on the player's decision in special situations.

Adam Riley: What other aspects have been included to keep players coming back time and time again?
 
Marco Zeugner: We have an achievement system as well as the certificate introduced with Secret Files 2 that offers different statistics after ending the game (meters walked in the game, time needed for playthrough, and so on).
 
Adam Riley: Have you ever considered including download content for new puzzles or sections of the story?
 
Marco Zeugner: No, definitely not for story or puzzles. That would be like delivering an incomplete game or in instalments. However, there will be an update later this year before Christmas that adds outtakes to the bonus section. That was a feature players loved in Secret Files 1 and sadly missed in Secret Files 2. 
 
Adam Riley: Were you pleased with the sales performance of Secret Files: Tunguska and Secret Files: Puritas Cordis on Nintendo DS and Wii?
 
Marco Zeugner: We were completely pleased with the positive feedback from press and customers, but it seems the sales performance wasn't good enough to also make ports of Lost Horizon and Secret Files 3.
 
Adam Riley: Are you planning on working with Keen Games again to release Nintendo versions of Secret Files 3; perhaps on 3DS and Wii U this time?
 
Marco Zeugner: There are no plans for 3DS or Wii U versions right now, although I think our producer Steffen would do anything for the 'green light' to do ports of Lost Horizon and Secret Files 3 for the 3DS and Wii/Wii U *winks*

Adam Riley: What do you think about the Wii U GamePad and how it can be used for adventure games? Do you think it would be good for the inventory and solving puzzles?
 
Marco Zeugner: Up to now there has been no opportunity to check the Wii U and the controller on our own, but it is quite unlikely we would change the game design or interface to adapt it especially to the Wii U and its controller as the financial risk is unpredictable at the moment.
 
Adam Riley: Digital distribution is becoming more and more important each year. Do you think this will eventually replace traditional retail box releases?
 
Marco Zeugner: Maybe, but not today, not tomorrow and not the day after tomorrow. It also depends on the market. In Germany sales of boxed adventures exceed the ones on download platforms like Steam many times over, so time will tell.
 
Adam Riley: Companies like Telltale Games have had great success with episodic gaming. Would you ever consider releasing various separate chapters to maximise a game's sales potential?
 
Marco Zeugner: Always depends on the concept. Just splitting one plot into episodes so you have to play one after another -- in the worst case with unacceptable waiting times for the next episode -- is this really what players want? However, why not make something more like a TV series based on a "pilot movie" like Secret Files or Lost Horizon with self-contained episodes that can be played in a player-defined order? There are many options for upcoming projects but no concrete decisions yet, sorry.
 
Adam Riley: Kickstarter and Gambitious have become increasingly popular for developers to raise extra funds for projects. Is this something you would consider doing for future games?
 
Marco Zeugner: We are watching the development with interest and this alternative way of financing could also work for our projects. However, we prefer the old-school method of financing and production. We've had very good experiences with our publisher Deep Silver and value their strengths in producing, PR and distributing.

 
Adam Riley: Currently Capcom and Level-5 are working together for an Ace Attorney and Professor Layton crossover project. Would you ever consider working with another point-and-click developer? For example, would you like Nina and Max to meet George and Nico in Broken Sword: Mystery of the Secret Files or something similar?
 
Marco Zeugner: Why not? That sounds exciting and would, especially in the Adventure genre, be a chance to combine resources and qualities of smaller development teams in order to maybe produce a point-and-click adventure that can match technically advanced productions.
 
Adam Riley: Secret Files 3 has only just been released, but are you already planning a fourth game or is your focus on another adventure series at the moment?
 
Marco Zeugner: See above: many ideas but no decisions yet. Only a "smaller" but very interesting title will be announced soon *smiles*
 
Adam Riley: Finally, what adventure games have impressed you recently, and are there any particular ones you are looking forward to?
 
Marco Zeugner: I really enjoyed Memento Mori 2 especially because of the technical and graphic aspects. For the same reasons I'm excited about The Testament of Sherlock Holmes, which I want to play soon. Apart from that I'm putting a lot of hope in Broken Sword 5 because it's said to connect to the first two games in terms of content and style.