【The Captain】 Developer Interview #1!

"The Captain", a sci-fi adventure game now available on Steam. We were able to interview Peter and Benny from the developer Sysiac Games. Please enjoy the behind-the-scenes story of The Captain!

Interview (Part 1)

FHW What made you decide to set the scene in space?

Sysiac Games We have always been big fans of sci fi in general and perhaps Star Trek in particular. Space is an empty canvas, anything can happen there.

Captain traveling through the vastness of space

FHW The various "point and click ADV" and sundry puzzles set throughout the work are fun. Who came up with them?

Sysiac Games It's a collaborative effort. We usually begin by writing the story and then you design the puzzles around that. We wanted to stay away from illogical / humorous problem solving. The goal is to get the player thinking about how a certain situation should be handled instead of trying to figure out what we as developers came up with.

There are many kinds of puzzles.

FHW The conversations between the crew in "The Captain" are quite humorous. How did you work on character development? Please tell us about any difficulties you had with the script.

Sysiac Games I think a light tone through a game with this pacing is prefered and the humor makes the conversation flow in a natural way. I believe the biggest problem we had with this was that we worked on the game for so long (6 years) that the Captain went through a personality transformation during the development. And it's hard to keep the main character true to a set type since the players can choose how to play him and what to say.

Conversations can be had with many of the characters.

FHW Making meditation and the spiritual world into a game stage was a unique idea. Did you have a particular reason to add this element? Please let us know.

Sysiac Games We wanted to try something different. The concept of not giving any instructions and just letting the player observe for long periods of time gave a sense of focus that was fun to explore. We have noticed that either you love it or you hate it.

Meditation in a mysterious place.

FHW Were there any easter eggs from other sci-fi stories such as Star Wars and Star Trek? Please do share!

Sysiac Games We have many references from many different sci-fi stories. The number 42 from Hitchhiker's guide to the galaxy, the exo-skeletons from Aliens, the uniform has its origin from Star Trek and many many more. I can’t remember them all. If you miss them doesn't matter. I guess it's a declaration of love for the genre.

Can be enjoyed by science fiction fans and non-fans alike.

Afterword

That's it for now! What do you think about the interview questions that we asked Sysiac Games?

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