Steve Ince is a freelance writer based in England, Yorkshire. He has mingled with the greats of the gaming industry, including Charles Cecil of Revolution, a company he worked for a year ago. Now Steve has begun his very own company (Juniper Games) and begun work on his very own game, Juniper Crescent. We caught up with the Englander to find out a bit more about the game.
 

Inside Gamer Online: Tell us what the Juniper Crescent is in a nutshell.

 

Steve Ince: Juniper Crescent is actually my comic strip that I started a few years ago. The game I'm developing is called Juniper Crescent - The Sapphire Claw

 

IGO:   Have you been inspired to make a game out of your comic strip by Telltale's work on Bone, or had you had the idea before that company was working on Bone?

 

SI:   I originally had the idea for the game about three or four years ago, but then couldn't do anything with it at the time.  I started doing a spin-off comic strip based on the story idea.  When I started down the route of developing my own game I decided to bring back The Sapphire Claw.

 

IGO:   Where in England is the company positioned? Is it true that it's release is set for sometime in 2006?

 

SI:   I'm based in the north of England, about 15 miles from York.  Other members of the team are spread about all over the world.  It's not a regular studio setup. I'm hoping for a release in 2006

 

IGO:   How does the setup work?

SI:   I bring in people as required. Animators, background artists, musicians, etc.  We e-mail, talk on Skype, use MSN to discuss what's required and then send files by e-mail or via FTP.

 

IGO:   So Juniper Crescent will be 2D in its entirety?

 

SI:   Yes. I want to remain completely faithful to the comic strip.

 

IGO:   Do you think that games like Fahrenheit have a place then? Put it this way: do revolutionary games have their place? I take it you used to work for Revolution and on Broken Sword 3, which took big steps. Or, do you believe that point and click games are the way to go?

 

SI:   Both.  I do worry sometimes that people have a tendency to see things in an "either... or..." kind of way.  I love that there is experimentation and development of ideas, but I also think that if something works well you should not be afraid to use it.  Everyone who uses a computer can operate a mouse, so we shouldn't be afraid of creating point-and-click games.

 

IGO:   What do you think will distinguish Juniper Crescent? The humour, visuals? Also, will it be a one-off game, or have you plans of creating a series of episodic Juniper Crescent titles?

SI:   Because so many games are made in 3D these days, The Sapphire Claw will have a look and feel that will seem quite unique to many gamers who haven't been brought up on the likes of Monkey Island.  The humour and character interaction will be a big part of the experience. The game won't be episodic, but that doesn't rule out further adventures as sequels, say.

 

IGO:   Have games like MI fuelled Juniper Crescent?

 

SI:   Not fuelled directly, but every game I've played, every book and comic I've read, and every film I've seen has had an influence on my approach to creativity.  I love the wackiness of Day of the Tentacle, but also the dryness that we put into Broken Sword.  The JC game will be a mixture of these and many other things.

 

IGO:   That reminds me. What was your role on the Broken Sword games (did you work on all three) and what happened that lead to your departure from Revolution?

SI:   I was producer on the first two Broken Sword games.  On the third I was writer and lead designer. The reason I left was because a publisher cancelled a project we were all working on and Revolution had to make all of the staff redundant.

 

IGO:   How will JC be available? Via download? Or are you in search of a publisher?

 

SI:   We've been looking for a publisher, but at the moment we've been unable to secure funding from that direction.  I'm currently exploring other possibilities.

 

IGO:   How long is JC being aimed at? What stage of development have you reached, and are there any possibilities of a demo in the not too distant future?

 

SI:   I'm hoping for around fifteen hours of gameplay, possibly a little more.  The development is still in the very early stages.  Without funding it's impossible to take it any further.  There will be no public demo until the game is close to being finished.  We did create a prototype demo that we used to show publishers and to do some focus group testing on, but it's a little too rough to release.

 

IGO:   Is there anything about the engine you'd like to tell us?

 

SI:   The engine used for this game is the Wintermute Engine, which was developed by Jan Nedoma.  Although it's something he created in his spare time, it really is an excellent, professional engine and set of tools.  Without such a strong toolset I wouldn't have been able to consider the game in the way that I did.