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After the closure of Coded Illusions in October 2008, some ex-employees founded Vertigo Games, a small independent Game development company located in the Netherlands. Vertigo Games is currently working on various small titles, including the recently reviewed Adam's Venture: The Search for the Lost Garden, What Would Jesus Say, and a First Person Shooter called "Nomos". Their publisher, Iceberg Interactive (love the name, btw), was nice enough to forward a series of questions to the developers.
ICE As a company Vertigo Games’ portfolio ("What Would Jesus Say" for iPhone) indicates a goal of embedding moral themes and messages into gameplay. What are the primary motivations, or goals, of the company?
We want to create high-quality games first, and base them upon Christian themes second. We’ve chosen this approach because we feel subtlety works better in general than the in-your-face way of doing things. Our ambitions our relatively down-to-earth: we would love to continue on our current path, and improve ourselves with each game we make.
ICE I noticed that Adam's Venture is focused on providing non-violent gameplay. What do you consider a good "limit"...how much is going "too far"?
We’ve drawn the line at actual violence between characters. Adam can fall of a cliff, or even be held at gunpoint but that’s stretching it. The player will –never– have to exercise any form of violence himself, nor will acts of violence be shown in our games.
ICE "Christian games" are those designed to be targeted at a Christian-only demographic. Examples would be Guitar Praise, Bible Trivia, and other types of games. "Games informed by Christian thought and the Christian understanding of reality" encompasses everything else. Both approaches are different but valid in their own right in my opinion. Despite these differences, I see no reason why those following the second approach cannot identify themselves as "Christian game developers". Do you agree or disagree? Why?
Both, I guess. Although we are quite clearly following the second approach, we do not necessarily call ourselves a “Christian game developer”. Our company welcomes everyone with a passion for creating Christian themed games, and as it turns out: that’s not only Christians. Therefore we feel that such a description might be too much of a generalization.
On the other hand, considering our conscious choice for Christian themed games, we wouldn’t mind being labeled as such at all.
ICE Considering that your games have moral themes, what has the response been from the rest of the game industry? Any funny stories to tell?
So far the responses from our peers have been remarkably positive. Most are very curious to see how we will fair by following this approach, and I can’t blame them: I’m still wondering the very same thing. Funny stories can be found in an entirely different direction: since word of Adam’s Venture is being spread we have received requests for information, offers to help and encouragement from around the globe. Keeping in mind that most of us started our career in a small attic, this amount of response still amazes us!
ICE Do you have a person or a group that you go to for guidance on implementing moral themes?
Those with a Christian background in our company tend to closely guard that process, resulting in vivid discussions with the rest of our team about Wrong and Right in the Christian sense. These discussions alone, for me, make my work more than worth the while.
ICE Speaking of moral themes again, do you have any particular themes that you want future projects to discuss?
We already have decided upon the themes for the following two Adam’s Venture episodes, and although I’m not at liberty to disclose them at this time, what I can say is that the Bible will remain our main source of inspiration. The second episode will also have a lot of tie-ins with modern-day moral issues though.
ICE What themes will Nomos tackle? Is there any other information about Nomos that you can discuss?
The Nomos project will concentrate on the Book of Revelations, and will therefore be set somewhere in the future. It will definitely be an adventure game, since our studio just feels most comfortable with this genre because of its emphasis on story and atmosphere. Also, it would be kind of difficult to avoid violence in a First Person Shooter…
ICE What separates Adam's Venture from other adventure games?
Considering the nature of your previous questions, I think you already guessed it: the Christian themes we like to base ourselves upon make all the difference. Of course the fact that we were able to use the Unreal Engine to bring our ideas to life also had a huge impact on the way Adam’s Venture has turned out: an old-school adventure game in vivid 3D.
ICE Any plans on porting Adam's Venture to consoles? Perhaps once all the episodes are complete?
We are working on Xbox Live Arcade- and Playstation Network versions of Episode I. We want to continue the Adam’s Venture series for as long as our fans remain as enthusiastic as ourselves, so waiting until all the episodes are complete is not an option.
ICE I'd like to thank Vertigo Games for giving us the opportunity to interview them. Special thanks to Angelique of Iceberg Interactive for hooking us up. We wish them all the best and we're looking forward to their future work!
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