Publisher

[papapichu]

Finally my favourite publisher!

As a publisher how much are you involved in the making of the adventures you chose to publish. Once in a while I read that you made suggestions concerning minor changes (such as the "waiting"-problem with Black Mirror). But do you guys get to see what progress the developers of Tony Tough 2 or Runaway 2 are making?

[MichaelS]

How much are you basically involved in the development process and from which time ?

[dtp Chris]

@pappichu: That strongly depends on how deep we are involved financially in a new project. Runaway 2 is only partly financed by us, so our influence is limited. Tony Tough 2 is totally financed by us, therefore we have greater influence and keep a close eye on what is going on.

Now some might say, uhhh this is a serious intervention of the publisher in the art of the developers, driven by capitalistic motivation. Well, in some ways this is true, but on the other side our suggestions to the developers focus on gameplay fun, making the game more enjoyable and playable, and eliminating the standard "adventure-mistakes" we know from our experience with the press get bashed every time.

@Michael: that depends on the kind of relation we have to the developers. Sometimes we join a project very late, then our influence is limited, sometimes we join early and have more influence. We always try to give the developers advice about what should be done in order to give the game the best quality possible, and we know of all the problems when it comes to editors' ratings. Sometimes, we are not able to shift the project in the right direction, especially when our influence is limited.

[papapichu]

I agree on that.
Actually I think we would have better adventures if some intelligent publishers (like dtp) had more influence. After all there are lots of fresh development teams around who are making the same (often simple) mistakes over and over again. A publisher can try to stop these things.

Another question: As you are so influential concerning TT2: Did you like the idea to change the graphics approach so radically? The screenshots look (apart from tony himself) very realistic. Isn't that some gamble?

[dtp Chris]

We try not to hammer down strictly at developers, saying "do this", "don't do that", but to give advice and convince them of the right measures to avoid certain mistakes many of them do again and again.

Tony Tough 2 is our first totally financed game, but we gave the developers the freedom to approach the topic freshly and without looking back. Of course, the realistic backgrounds in combination with the cartoon style characters are some kind of risk, but we like the overall style and think this will be a beautiful game. And of course, realistic games sell better than cartoon games today - so this might even be an advantage of Tony Tough 2.

[papapichu]

We try not to hammer down strictly at developers, saying "do this", "don't do that", but to give advice and convince them of the right measures to avoid certain mistakes many of them do again and again.

Sounds just like: "I'm gonna make him an offer he can't refuse."
Sadly, the "godfather" might be too violent for an adventure.

What has always impressed me a lot with your titles was the excellent choice of voice actors. Are you as a publisher much involved in this process or is this done by a different company?

[dtp Chris]

The choice of the voice actors is totally in our hands, with our Product Managers working in the studio in the time of the recording, acting as directors. PR/Marketing and the Product Management are both involved in the choice, making sure actors that make sense are being chosen.

"The Godfather": I would be delighted in an adventure with this license, and why not implementing violence into the classic gameplay? Like, for example, you have a gun in your inventory, and in some cases you need it to solve a situation... drag and drop the gun from the inventory onto a person... or the baseball bat... who says that violence means action gameplay? Many violence in our world has nothing to do with action... ;D

[tom23]

. And of course, realistic games sell better than cartoon games today - so this might even be an advantage of Tony Tough 2.

That's a pity - I simply LOVE Cartoon-Adventure - and I think Ankh sold very well, didn't it?

[dtp Chris]

That depends on what you think of "well". In fact, it doesn't sell too well compared to other adventures like Nibiru, Sherlock, Fahrenheit etc. But I don't know if bhv is satisfied with the sales or not. We wouldn't be. I think that is a pity, because Ankh is a really nice game, and it looks great, but the comic look is just not good if you want to make money.

[papapichu]

"The Godfather": I would be delighted in an adventure with this license, and why not implementing violence into the classic gameplay? Like, for example, you have a gun in your inventory, and in some cases you need it to solve a situation... drag and drop the gun from the inventory onto a person... or the baseball bat... who says that violence means action gameplay? Many violence in our world has nothing to do with action... ;D

Yeah, but wouldn't it be stupid to publish the first adventure game ever to be banned in Germany? ;D
On the other hand I don't think adventure games are subject to such strict controls. As long as there are no Nazis in it...

[dtp Chris]

I don't think it would be banned. Maybe the blood would be green or something like that... no, I'm kidding. Maybe it would get a 16 or even get a 18+, but I don't think it would be banned totally.
Well, and the Nazi discussion... well, it's exhausting. We have this law. It doesn't make sense in many cases. But we can't change it.

[tom23]

I think the coolest Licence to do a "violent" but very funny adventure would be "Lobo"!!!! 8) 8) I think this one would attract a lot of interest.... 8)

[papapichu]

Speaking of Nibiru: What made you publish the game???
Not that it was that bad but I had the impression that the development was rushed. Almost no character animation, no cutscenes (just a black screen and Matt Damon's German voice talking), etc.

But: I really hope you made a lot of money with it. I can stand one below-dtp-average adventure game if the following ones are great.

(I forgot one of Nibirus flaws: bad pacing!)

[Metagames]

Hi Chris,

can you say something about your upcoming adventures. How many adventures will dtp publish in 2006 and 2007? This year there were only Nibiru and In 80 Days and "Verliebt in Berlin". Not so much titles for an spezialized adventure publisher.

[dtp Chris]

@papapichu: Nibiru is on the whole not a bad game - you can have fun with it, and it features really great graphics, a good atmosphere, puzzle design and sounds. So there was no reason to decline it, and the sales proved us right.

@metagames: Originally, this year was not planned to be a "3 adventures only"-year. But after Runaway 2 and the magnificent Tony Tough 2 slipped into 2006, it turned out to be this kind of "sobering" adventure year for us.
However, dtp/ANACONDA will go full speed ahead in 2006/2007. There are not only Tony and Runaway 2 cming up, but at least four big adventure projects in 2006 (a fifth maybe to come) and already two for 2007. Besides that, there will be new special editions, eben of games that we haven't published in the last two years. So dtp is all but dead and buried, but will really rock'n'roll next year.

[papapichu]

@papapichu: Nibiru is on the whole not a bad game - you can have fun with it, and it features really great graphics, a good atmosphere, puzzle design and sounds. So there was no reason to decline it, and the sales proved us right.

Of course, it was a nice game and i _did_ have fun playing. But it wouldn't hurt if you admitted that it had some serious flaws, too. The sales might have been good, sure. There was the big "From the makers of Black Mirror"-button on it. Especially the pacing lacked quality. The end came as quite a surprise to me. Not that the game was to short but the end was rushed.

By the way I'm really looking forward to see these mysterious "big projects" for 2006.

[Kate Walker]

However, dtp/ANACONDA will go full speed ahead in 2006/2007. There are not only Tony and Runaway 2 cming up, but at least four big adventure projects in 2006 (a fifth maybe to come) and already two for 2007

Do you mean 4 adventure projects in 2006 including TT 2 and Runaway 2
or 4 plus these 2 ?

[dtp Chris]

I won't admit that the game had "serious" flaws, but I admit that the game had flaws. But: Which adventure didn't? Some might have been more perfect or better in the view of some players, but on the whole, Nibiru had its flaws like any other game has. Surely Future Games knows about this and will do better next year with Reprobates

[axelkothe]

but at least four big adventure projects in 2006 (a fifth maybe to come) and already two for 2007.

How many of these deals are signed yet? When will we hear more about them?

Are any of these games from developers you haven't published yet? All your latest releases and the announced ones have been / are from devellopers you've worked with in the past...

Besides that, there will be new special editions, eben of games that we haven't published in the last two years.

So this means Special Editions of games that were published by another publisher? Or games older than 2 years, published by dtp (I'm thinking of The Longest Journey here)

[dtp Chris]

@Kate, in fact, I got some of the numbers wrong. There are five adventures planned for 2006 BESIDES Tony Tough 2 and Runaway 2, Special Editions not included. That makes a total of at least seven new adventures. And there are three already planned for 2007.

Not all of them are developed by teams we have already worked with. Some of them are already known to the public, others are totally fresh. Some of the contracts are already signed, some are 99% signed.

However, as you know the business: Some of these projects might slip into 2007, and there might be more projects, while in bad cases one or more of them slips out of our hands (although that is not likely).

@ axel: We will start announcing the titles one by one soon, most probably starting with the first in early December. As for the SE_ I say no more...