Adventure Gamers - Forums

I think it’s time that I give a few more details about the game creation process.

As you know, ASA is not only compared to Riven, but also to 2001: A Space Odyssey. Of course it is an honor for me, and it is true that there are many references to this incredible work in my game. The “monolith”, the black cube, space travel, etc… I feel really touched when someone tells me that ASA is a nice tribute to Kubrick’s movie, and I hope that most of you liked the references to 2001. Usually I don’t deny the reference to Kubrick’s movie, but there’s something you need to know about it.

The truth is that, despite often agreeing (and sometimes saying myself) that ASA is a tribute to Kubrick’s movie, it’s more of a shortcut to say simply that 2001 inspired me. ‘2001’... but not the movie: I have only seen the movie once, looong ago, and I didn’t like it. Wait, wait! I didn’t say that it’s not a good movie, don’t misunderstand me (how could I say that?!): the reason is just that I was a teen at the time I watched it, and I had other centers of interest. You know the movie is quite slow, dark, with philosophical concepts… When you’re less than 15 years old, you don’t fully understand all these things. I can remember getting bored while watching the monkey tribe at the beginning, and wondering several times if this movie was really about space, and why these monkeys looked so human (and not like real monkeys). I expected something more spectacular such as Stargate or Star Wars probably, and I didn’t understand the movie as something about human evolution, and more.

What I want to say is that I didn’t have Kubrick’s movie in mind when I created ASA. Of course I remembered pictures from the film, such as the monolith, the space suit and peculiar designs, and found some inspiration on internet related to the 2001 movie (among so many other scifi works). But ASA is not a direct tribute to this film, it’s a tribute to… the book! Yes THE book, 2001: A Space Odyssey.
Indeed, I never hid the 2001 influence, but it had always been the work of Arthur C. Clarke that really inspired me. I read the book several times in fact (after watching the film), and I also read some of the sequels (I like 2010 too). One of the sentences that I like the most is about the monolith: “it’s full of stars!”. This is incredible to imagine. You have this black block of matter (you don’t even know what it is composed of), and inside, you can see stars. This is very artistic, and allows a lot of different readings/interpretations, which is exactly what I loved. If you have not seen the movie (or don’t remember it well), you don’t know how this sentence is put to pictures, and it allows to create anything, and everything. It was one of the starting points of the creation process of my short film 2011: A Space Adventure (this film contains spoilers!). I wanted to create my own illustration of “it’s full of stars”.

Anyway, talking of the book or the movie doesn’t really matter. The two works are so famous and inspired so many people that there is no doubt that they are linked forever. That is why comparing ASA to Kubrick’s movie is not really different of comparing with the book, according to me. There is the same feeling inside both, the same story with the same unknown monolith. I would like now to watch again the movie, and I can’t wait to do it, so many years later. I am sure that I will love it now, and it is at the top of my list of SciFi movies still to watch. But I have to wait a little more.

The reason why I still haven’t watched it again, is that I don’t want to be even more influenced in my work. As long as I have not finished working on Catyph (and maybe other Black Cube projects?), I know that I will force myself not to watch 2001. In the same way, I have never played Riven again during that past few years, despite having the 5-CD version, the Steam and the GOG versions. I prefer to work with my own memories of these works, and my own interpretation of them, instead of just copying (unconsciously) some of their pictures, which would result in nothing more than stealing the ideas at the source. I know that the limit between tribute and copy is slim and can become a trap for an author, and I always try to bring my own ideas and always work from feelings and memories when it is possible. Oh of course I gathered a few screenshots from Riven, but it’s not the same than playing the game and feel the immersion. I hope you felt that ASA is very personal despite my influences, and is not just a mix of Riven and 2001, and I hope that you enjoyed this part of the Black Cube series, which is a long novel including many other stories such as the one of Catyph, a prequel about the Anterrans, and the future of the Ark…

I hope that you are not too disapointed to learn that I am not the fan of Kubrick that you might have imagined, and also that you understand better how I came to create the whole ASA project. Thanks for reading, and let me know if you have questions!

As you know, ASA is not only compared to Riven, but also to 2001: A Space Odyssey.

Thank you for clearing that up. I love the movie 2001 and this game is pure delight for 2001 fan’s.

Well, at least for me.

Finally, consider an android release of the game.

Sefir - 13 November 2015 05:41 AM

I personally feel like there is nothing better than getting influenced by the best, as long as it is not a direct copy. That’s how inspiration works. These parts of our brain need something to get triggered by.

I totally agree with this Sefir. But in the case of 2001 I am afraid to go too far.
My point is that we are already very influenced by all sorts of pictures (we “eat” a lot of pictures everyday), and it is not very difficult to find good SciFi art and get inspiration from it. I probably consider (but I might be wrong) that knowing the story of 2001 from the book is enough for now, and my imagination does the rest.
Anyway, even if I watched 2001 today, it wouldn’t change anything for ASA and Catyph, since the graphic part of these games is now finished. I wonder if it would benefit to a future game in the Black Cube series? The series has already taken a virage that makes it much more personal and I think it wouldn’t be a bad idea to revise my classics, indeed.

Mikekelly - 13 November 2015 05:41 AM

Finally, consider an android release of the game.

Ah   yes, we have already considered it with Andy when creating the Remastered Edition (which explains the existence of a “tactile/virtual” keyboard for the DOS puzzle) but I’m afraid it won’t happen. We are not very familiar with the world of tactile games and lack of experience. I have never been using myself android or iOS, I am quite old-school, and I think that ASA won’t ever release on these platforms - at least if noone is interested to help us with the portage.
I don’t know if it would be a good idea anyway, since the texts of the diary are quite small. What do you think?
Technically, an export is possible and easy (Visionaire Studio has a module for iOS and Android).

Noddy - 13 November 2015 05:41 AM

Love the book but really not so keen on the movie. (...) Guess it’s probably common when done in that order (book first).

I think too! This is the power of imagination When you read a book, you create your own world and characters, so when you see the movie it has to be different and disapoint you somehow. Same things happened to me with several books, such as The Lord of the Rings. Even if the movie is impressive and very interesting, it is far from the content of the books. I read the books again recently, and there are so many interesting details inside. The movie focuses on war, while the books are more a long and perillous journey. I can understand that many people don’t like reading and find the beginning of the Lord of the Ring to be boring with too many descriptions, but the two works are different.

I also read 2001: A Space Odyssey first and then saw the movie. I remember enjoying the music in the movie and wondering why we spent soooo much time in close-ups of Dave’s face. I heard a rumor long ago that Kubrick went way over-budget with the film, and had to squeeze the last part of the story into just a few minutes in order to finish it, and that’s why the ending is so odd and surreal.

Very true, but did open the door to another movie to explain things - 2010.

I’m sorry I haven’t been very active here the last few days… I see that there were no specific questions so I didn’t know what to say anyway. I hope you have not all deserted the CPT because of my explanation on 2001 :p
I’m glad to see the progresses of Becky and Mikekelly and I hope that the others could make it safely to Cobalt-5 (or are on their way).
Please let me know if you need help with the game, if there is something you particularly liked or disliked, and if you need details about the story/puzzles. ASA is almost finished now. Enjoy your last steps!

I found the password for the Anterran language computer. It only took ten attempts.

Ha! That’s better than me, it took me 14 attempts before I finally got it.