If anyone remembers, back in May I asked you to submit questions for an interview with the creators of Kursk. They only gave one piece of advice, but it was a good one. So here it is. I talked with Polish developers back in June, but only now can I probably publish somewhere else, because there are about a hundred views on our website, where there are about a hundred active users.
The idea to communicate with them was born after the news was published here about the start of development of a provocative game.
OK. It’s all empty. Better let’s learn more about the game from this interview:
Nord:Let’s start simple. Tell us about yourself. On your website it is written that the studio was founded by three people: Arkadiusz Duch, Michal Stepien and Igor Zielinski – who come from famous studios. But there are a lot more people in the photos on your blogs. Tell us about the team, about working on the studio’s past projects, about work before Jujubee, about life before you started developing games and how you came to this in the first place. In general, anything that you find interesting.
Jujubee Games Studio: As you have already noticed, we are a company consisting of talented people. Jujubee was founded by former members of CD Projekt RED, Infinite Dreams and Traveller’s Tales, but in our studio you will find people from many other famous companies. We had the opportunity to work on various interesting projects – including The Witcher and The Witcher 2, LEGO Indiana Jones, LEGO Batman and, for example, Sky Force. Jujubee is a small studio, but we are constantly growing and hope that by the end of the year the team will consist of 20 people. And if you ask us what was in our life before game design, then I would say “demoscene”. This is an informal subculture that brings together talented people interested in creativity on computers. In reality, members of the demoscene perform the same tasks as game developers – writing code, composing music, creating graphics, etc. – but it is a non-profit community focused (mostly) on artistic expression and the pure pleasure of creating something new.
N: Now that readers have had the pleasure of learning more about you, please tell us specifically about KURSK: the genre (“First Person Perspective Adventure & Survival Game” sounds very complex), what the gameplay will roughly look like, where the idea came from, why it was decided to take a specific submarine, and not something abstract?… and so on.
J: As I mentioned above, we are a small studio, but our team is very talented and has a lot of experience in this industry. That’s why we thought about a project in which we could do something at the AAA level. But, of course, our resources are a little limited – so we decided to focus mainly on one large but closed location, and make it really stunning. This is how we came up with the idea of a submarine. But just "another game" wasn’t an option, we wanted to make something that had meaning and could tell an important story. And this goal can be achieved just if we take the real plot as a basis – the game will become deeper and will be able to make the gamer think (this also explains why there are many films based on real events). When you know a story is true, you connect with it more and want to know the whole story. There were already films about other real submarines (like the K-19, for example), but we wanted to tell our story first. So the KURSK idea was born.
N: From the very beginning, some of the Russian players noted that, in their opinion, you were stepping on a slippery surface. In fact, people still remember the events of the year 2000 (or they remembered it on purpose). Aren’t you afraid of possible (and most likely very biased) criticism from various politically active people?? Such a turn of events is practically guaranteed: with such a topic, every word will raise a conflict.
J: We knew that KURSK was an https://meccagamescasino.uk/withdrawal/ interesting topic, but we did not expect such a reaction from Russian society and, especially, from the Russian media. It’s really sad for us that our game became a political topic because we’re not interested in politics, we’re just trying to make something mature and serious. On the other hand, such sentiments are quite understandable: this tragic event was very painful for Russians, and we understand that. I think that when the game comes out, people will see that we wanted to make KURSK a serious and respectful product that does not offend anyone.
N: Why did you decide to make a First Person Perspective Adventure & Survival Game, although you have never worked in this genre before?? Mobile racing and turn-based strategy are very different from what you said in the first trailer.
J: First of all, KURSK will not have a specific genre. Yes, we call it an adventure and survival game, but we do so only because players expect to be able to discover the genre of the future game. But if you look at games like Heavy Rain, you’ll understand why it’s so hard for us to define the KURSK genre. Our main goal is to tell an interesting story and create a unique and exciting gameplay, something more than just an adventure or survival. We want to achieve a cinematic experience and create something special and unique. And you’re right, at Jujubee we create mainly mobile games, including racing and turn-based strategy games. But as I said, we’ve also had the opportunity to work on much bigger games in the past (The Witcher, for example), so we have the necessary experience and knowledge.
N: When to expect new information about your project?
J: We will be present at Gamescom 2015 in Cologne. So we could tell you more about the game, but if you want to see gameplay, screenshots and so on, then I’m afraid you’ll have to wait until next year. We don’t want to show an unfinished product ahead of time. Yes, I think the first quarter of 2016 will be the right time to demonstrate something new.
N: Have you heard about IMGN’s recently released Kholat?.PRO. Considering the fairly close topic (well, not particularly close, but on a global scale the games will be placed next to each other simply because of “geographical” similarity), what can you say about it??
J: Actually we heard it, but to be 100% honest, we heard it after the announcement of KURSK. Kholat is clearly a very interesting project, but for me it is very similar to Dear Esther. There is no special gameplay in Kholat, you just walk around, look for clues, collect data about the expedition, but the game is more about the atmosphere, yes? KURSK will be completely different, mainly due to a more “usual” approach: its own mechanics, difficulties, and so on. I think it will turn out much closer to Heavy Rain than to Kholat (although this does not mean that KURSK will be exactly like Heavy Rain – it’s roughly clear what I mean, I hope). While the game will be story-focused, it’s not an interactive novel or similar.
N: What difficulties have you encountered/are you afraid of encountering while developing your game?? Maybe you have many options for the plot and you still haven’t decided on the ending, or maybe the collection of information was limited by someone at the government level?
J: I don’t think there will be any legal issues because we are not doing anything illegal. You don’t need permission to write a book or make a film about an event, and in the case of a game you don’t need it either. Of course, we understand that we need to be respectful of what we do and we don’t want to offend anyone. We will not use the real names of the sailors, and we absolutely do not want to show them in an unsightly light. We just think it’s time for games to tell real stories. Times are changing, and many young people don’t read books or watch films much. They prefer to play games. And I don’t blame them, because games give you more freedom and allow you to get into the plot, history, characters, etc. much better. I think some people are against such projects simply because they don’t understand the industry and think that games are pure entertainment and are made just to have fun. But this is far from true. Games can be serious and made for an adult audience. I believe that, although KURSK is only one of the first “real life” games, in 10 years there will be many more of them, and they will not shock anyone.
N: Should we expect horror elements?? Supernatural or more realistic? In general, how will “survival” work and who will interfere with the protagonist’s survival??
J: No, no, we don’t want to add anything supernatural to the game. We want to make KURSK realistic, respectful and deep. This will be an adult game with a serious plot – paranormal things are not compatible with this concept and not a good choice for our game (at least in my opinion). The elements of survival here are simply trying to save your life after an explosion, searching for air and oxygen, the need to swim underwater in closed compartments of the submarine, running away from water and fire, walking with a torch – in general, you will try to survive.
N: Will you use not only the name of the submarine, but also the names of real people?? So, of course, there will still be a need to obtain their consent?
J: As I said above, we do not plan to use real names. The game is, of course, inspired by real events, but we do not want to offend anyone and believe that this would be inappropriate. So don’t expect real names.
N: Will there be a version for portable platforms??
J: We have no such plans at the moment. Additionally, the game will have a heavy emphasis on high-quality graphics and sound, which mobile devices are technically unable to deliver. That’s why we only work with PC and home consoles.
N: One last general question: what do you think about indie development?? Will it be able to take over the entire industry, or do you think that indies will inevitably someday return to their original hobby-like state??
J: I think the industry today is completely different from what it was a few years ago. Now there will always be small games made by indie studios, and there will always be a place for such products. But it’s not like it’s something radically new. For example, I don’t see any real difference between Flash/casual shareware and indie games. A revolution is happening somewhere else—in distribution. Previously, there were only such small games and blockbusters. No money for a new Call of Duty? It’s unlikely to find a publisher. Simply because previously it was necessary to make boxes, covers, discs and all that stuff, and it cost a pretty penny. And in the era of digital distribution, you no longer need to have millions of customers to make a profit. This way you can make small games with smaller budgets, but very close to AAA quality. And you don’t need a publisher. You are literally just a few clicks away from clients. You don’t have to churn out discs and spend a ton of money just to get your game onto store shelves. This is a new, amazing reality that allows you to do ambitious and niche things with pleasure. There is no turning back now, and I think mid-budget games will gain a lot of popularity in the next few years.