Adventure Gamers: What games or designers would you say have been instrumental in your own approach to adventures in general and Perry Rhodan in particular?

Igor Posavec: Definitely all well-known and user friendly adventure games concepts flew into Perry Rhodan. The main initiation was given in 2004-6 by the adventure games Syberia and Secret Files, which have redefined the genre of adventures. Adventures became good selling products with large numbers of users who started to play them, again.

On the other hand, we wanted to move away from the “dusty” look and feel of those adventures, and present designs that are modern and compatible to the current games and movies. Technology in adventures didn't change a lot in the last several years but people’s playing behavior and expectations have changed tremendously! We wanted to create a game which fits the new expectations and uses the technological possibilities of today. We redesigned user interface, plugged-in 3D characters with normal mapping, perfect lip synch and realtime particle and shader effects, 3D sound and superb CG cinematics. The positive reactions and reviews (in most of them we got more than 80%) show us that we chose the right way.

AG: The game is out in some countries already, but the English markets didn't get a lot of pre-release information about Perry Rhodan. Can you give us a little more detail about the game's premise and storyline?

Axel Ruske: In the year 4934 B.C. a mysterious space cruiser was found on a distant planet of our galaxy. It contains not only clues about the presumably extinct race of Illochim but also the means to achieve immortality. Very few knew the coordinates of this legendary location: members of a secret arkonidian organization and Mondra Diamond, girlfriend of Perry Rhodan, our hero. In order to be the only one in possession of the key to immortality, arkonidian agents take Mondra hostage during an attack on Terrania and vanish without a trace. This is the starting point of the game, in which Perry must confront many conspiracies, lies, legends and obstacles in order to rescue her. On his way, he slowly starts to recognize what mysteries truly are behind the abduction.

AG: The existing Perryverse is so well established after all these years. How hard was it to find a balance between satisfying longtime Perry Rhodan fans and yet not alienating newcomers to the series? Is there a happy medium between the devoted hardcore and those who don't know the Arkonides from the Naats?

AR: To develop a game which both fascinates longtime Perry Rhodan fans as well as total newcomers was one of the biggest challenges. The good reviews from both sides indicate that we achieved that goal. The game contains a lot of hints and gimmicks which are related to the “Perryverse” and some of them can only be understood by real Perry fans. But that does not reduce the fun of playing for classic adventure fans. For them we created a high class science fiction adventure with fascinating graphics and complicated puzzles — which can even be solved without ever having heard of Perry Rhodan before.

AG: The chance to play as Perry certainly brings opportunities that simply reading about him does not. Have you stayed true to the established Perry Rhodan series, or have you tried to bring your own unique vision to the game?

IP: We definitely brought a big part of our own vision to the game. Perry Rhodan is a bit like OpenSource — you may bring in your own ideas as long as the main rules are respected. There was no way to plug-in the game into the current book serial, so we got the permission to create a kind of “parallel universe”. This way we could use all characters we wanted to and differ a bit from the story in the current novels.

AG: Do you think there's a risk that the game will be overlooked by those who aren't familiar with the books? What is it about the game that will appeal even to those unfamiliar with the series?

AR: That was really a kind of risk when starting investing money and time in the development of the game. Therefore we put a lot of effort in creating a game which will also be attractive for those who aren't familiar with Perry Rhodan. Due to the fact that we didn't put too much insider info about the “Perryverse” into the game, no one needs to have a Bachelor Diploma in Perry Rhodan to be able to play it. For those who don't know Perry Rhodan, it's a normal high quality adventure game. We have great graphics/sounds, an exciting storyline, more than 50 animated 3D-characters and and and…… and we had some good reviews confirming that Perry Rhodan is even interesting for those who are not Perry Rhodan addicted; and maybe the Perry Rhodan novels got some new readers thanks to the Perry Rhodan game. [grin]

AG: You've mentioned the generally positive reception so far in the areas where it's been released already. Anything unexpected so far, for better or worse?

AR: The game was released in Germany at the end of February and we are very content so far. We got really good reviews for both storyline and graphics/sound and even those who were not fans of Perry Rhodan before were fascinated by the “Perryverse”. We are now very excited about how the game will be reviewed and sell in other countries where Perry Rhodan is an unknown character.

AG: If the game does well, will there be more Perry Rhodan adventures in future? For that matter, is there one in the works already?

AR: It's too early to make a decision about a second Perry Rhodan game. We first want to have a look at how the game will be accepted in the other territories. Right now there are no concrete plans but if the game becomes a success in the other territories as well… why not…

AG: Thanks so much for taking time to answer our questions. Any final thoughts to leave with readers as we prepare for the launch of Perry Rhodan's first interactive adventure?

Axel and Igor: We would like to thank to all the people who were working on this project. We are writing here in the name of over 20 artists and programmers, not counting the army of speakers, musicians, beta-testers and authors. Each of them has been a part of the machinery, and without all of them the game couldn't have been completed with such a quality.