AG: The demo showed an area in the inventory called “Magic”. Can you tell us how that factors into the gameplay, and how it’s used by players? That seems like a pretty significant feature of the game.

Ivan: Magic is a very important element of the game. There are situations when nothing else seems to be working but magic. Of course, players must recognize when and where to use magic. The main character, Eve, will learn spells from other characters or from books. Each magic spell has a nice visual effect . I believe this feature is another highlight of our game which makes it rather unique with respect to other adventure games on the market.

AG: Are you longtime fans of the genre? What are some of the games that have inspired you over the years, either personally or professionally, and how have those games affected your approach to LOCV?

Nenad: I used to love adventure games when I was a kid but I don’t play them anymore… I don’t seem to have time or patience for that style of gameplay. Two of my favorite adventure games from that time are Day of the Tentacle and Full Throttle, which had an awesome opening song, by the way. Hehe, it has just occurred to me that I haven't played (finished) an adventure game for 14 years… you people shouldn’t take me seriously. [smile]

In retrospect, some of the games that I played the most are Red Alert, Diablo, Quake: Enemy Territory, Soldat and World of WarCraft. Other than inspiration for drawing tanks on my notebook, what I got from all those games is a sense of what I think makes a game fun and how to achieve it.

Generally some of the things I wanted to avoid in LOCV were pixel hunting, illogical and hard puzzles, and player restriction. I don’t think players should bang their heads on their desk just because I was evil enough to make some object microscopic. We also didn’t want to restrict player exploration i.e. not letting a player out of a room just because he needs to pick up some object he isn’t even aware of. So in that sense, the player is pretty much free to explore the world around him.

AG: What motivated you to make an adventure game, particularly when you had to largely self-finance it?

Ivan: We finished one of our games back then and needed to decide which project we wanted to do next. Ante already had a pretty nice storyline for LOCV and so we decided that we wanted to develop it. An adventure game seemed like a pretty big challenge (later on, during the development, we realized the actual amount of work that needs to be done for an adventure game!!!), but you know, “crazy” as we are, we said “All right! This is a piece of cake! Let’s do it!”

Kresimir Spes (Project Leader, Lead Programmer): We self-financed most of the development because we had no other choice. It's hard climbing to the top, but the hard work and dedication we put into this game was well worth it. As a result, we now have a stable and mature engine and development pipeline which cuts down development time significantly.

AG: Usually games are launched in their native language and local territories, and English gamers wait for a localized release many months later (if at all). You’re a Croatian developer releasing an English version of LOCV right away. Why the decision to go that route?

Kresimir: That's true, but Croatia and local countries are so small it's not worth it. Not to mention that the high rate of piracy here makes it almost a futile effort. Therefore our primary market is English-based.

AG: You’ve chosen to release the game as a download only at launch time. Was that a deliberate choice, or a necessity due to a lack of publisher investment?

Ivan: Not only as a download, but the English version will only be available through download distribution at launch time. We have several retail versions (Russian, Italian and Croatian) in production, but online (download) distribution is much better than retail. I think it’s easier for a developer to release the game online. Digital distribution is the best way to sell video-games at the moment. The retail market is going down for most developers, but the online market is just growing and growing. We are negotiating many retail publishing options, but it’s just too early to say anything about that right now. We are also releasing a casual version of LOCV on most gaming portals like Big Fish Games, Yahoo Games, Oberon, etc. So actually, we have a huge online distribution already arranged, and any additional retail release would be welcomed, of course.

AG: A casual version of the same game? That’s unusual. Can you tell us about the differences between the casual version and the full version?

Ivan: Yes, we are preparing a casual version and “hardcore” (original) version. Basically, this is the same game: same characters, same plot, same locations… but the casual version is additionally “equipped” with some features that will help the casual audience to get into a point and click adventure. We believe that some of these features are not important for true point and click adventure fans as they are all well familiar with the genre. Casual players could, though, appreciate a Tutorial at the beginning, hints and similar help. The casual version is therefore a bit easier than the original version. I think that your readers and everybody who’s interested in LOCV will find both versions satisfying.

AG: Any final thoughts to share about LOCV before the game comes out?

Ivan: I hope that adventure game players will recognize LOCV as a really unique adventure game, with a great story that develops most unexpectedly throughout the game. We made a huge effort while creating this game and we just hope that people will appreciate it.