A couple of years ago, 11 bit studios, known for the dark game This War of Mine, announced a new project called The Alters. This is a single-player story game with survival elements, the distinctive feature of which is the presence of so-called Alters – alternative versions of the main character who made different decisions. A journalist from the wccftech.com portal spoke with lead designer Raf Vlosek to find out more about the game. We have prepared for you a translation of the interview into Russian.
I think what struck me most about the game was the concept of creating alternate versions of yourself that allow you to freely get out of difficult situations. What inspired you to develop The Alters?
Game development is always a complex process. We need to not only create a prototype, but also decide what kind of game we want to make. At 11 bit studios, we always start by discussing the topic we want to cover, not the mechanics of the game. It was the same this time.
We discussed a lot of things, but we always had the idea of creating a game about how our lives could have turned out if we acted differently. Gradually, this idea became more and more concrete, and eventually we decided to make a game in which the player can meet an alternative version of himself who made a different decision.
We thought a sci-fi setting would be perfect for this purpose. It can use various technologies to achieve effects that are difficult to achieve in real life. And, of course, there was also the idea of creating copies of oneself and interacting with them.
It’s hard to say that it was just one idea. Rather, it was a gradual process that led us to the final concept.
I noticed that there are many references to real-life cloning in the game. The first copy you create is Molly, a reference to the first sheep cloned. There are probably other funny Easter eggs in the game?
Yes it is. The sheep definitely appeared there for a reason. We wanted to add more humorous elements to the game, since our previous projects were quite serious. I was the lead designer on This War of Mine and we didn’t want to repeat ourselves.
However, this is not a game about cloning.
Agree. I created a vehicle in the demo and the game immediately reminded me of This War of Mine because of the emotion. It seems that every interaction with him greatly affects his mood. So far the technician doesn’t seem to be too fond of me.
At the beginning of the game, you create a new person to get out of the situation. He is disoriented and probably feels used. But there is another, more symbolic layer. You are trying to cope with your own alternative version, to understand which decision was right. Do I like this decision or not? Which version of myself would I prefer? We don’t want to give answers to these questions, we just ask them.
You want players to explore these questions themselves.
Exactly. It would not be a very good solution if we tried to give any answer.
It is clear that you create technology because the plot requires it at this stage. Will you be able to make more choices as you progress that affect what Alters you create? Will it be a linear progression, or will we have the flexibility to create what we want?
We definitely wanted to create something that could be carefully crafted, because the story in this game is the most important part. To make it really good, we chose to create multiple branching points where we have more control. Each of them will have their own story. They are closely related to each other, not to mention that they are closely related to the player’s various problems. Therefore, yes, the plot is rather prepared in advance.
Survival games, by the very nature of their gameplay, tend to have high replay value. As you said, there are key branching points in The Alters. Will characters have different reactions to what you say to them? Will there also be replayability elements, such as places you travel to? Is it predetermined where you will go? In other words, how long can you survive?
This is quite a difficult question because the game works on many levels. This is not just a survival simulator with high replay value, but also a story-driven game. To answer your question well, I need to talk a little about the structure of the game.
We created the game in layers. The top layer is the main storyline. This is the story of Ian, who is trying to survive on the planet. He also explores his past life and tries to cope with his past decisions, problems and insecurities.
Then there is another layer with all the Alters. The first layer is, roughly speaking, one story. It has many endings, but it is one story. Then you have the Alters, and you can’t get them all in one playthrough. Each Alter has his own story, he shows you different parts, different versions of Ian. So you can’t fully get to know Ian by playing through the game just once. Finally, we have the third part, which includes mechanics based on the Alters’ emotions, interactions with each other, interactions between you and them, and your attitude towards them.
You can push them in different directions. You may try to use them more or try to be the best for them, but then you will not be able to complete the mission. Depending on your choice, the gameplay will of course be different.
So there will be quite a few ramifications here? For example, is it possible to make one of your Alters so angry that he doesn’t want to help you at all, and you have to find other ways to get through?
Yes, as an option. In general, this is due to various game mechanics. Of course, there is a strategic component as well, as this is also a game of strategy and survival, depending on what technologies you master and research.
Overall, I think you can play through the game multiple times, which will lead you to different stories, allow you to explore different aspects of Ian, and possibly get different endings, since they can be very different. But the replay value isn’t as high as a typical open world survival simulator.
Which is good, because you can’t build a really good storyline in a game like this.
Yes exactly.
As you mentioned, you chose a sci-fi setting because it allows for the use of technology. The first thing I noticed was that you crash-landed on a planet in a triple star system. I couldn’t help but wonder if you were inspired by any specific works.
No. Well, you’re talking about planets, right?
Most likely what came to mind is because I recently watched the new Netflix series “The Three Body Problem.”
Yeah.
Because you have three stars and the sun is about to break out.
As always, there are several levels to this. First of all, this is art design, and I am not very involved in this process, since I am a designer. So I didn’t want to interfere with their work.
But I do know that the main idea behind the planet’s design was to create a desolate but beautiful alien world that would be a special environment for Ian to reflect on his life. He is outside the ordinary world. This is perhaps the most important part. I don’t think it was inspired by any particular book or movie. Regarding the triple star system, I developed its design myself, and I am a big lover of space and astronomy. I have a telescope, I watch the stars and everything. I was just trying to come up with the best star system that would allow for the weird situation where you have to escape to one side of the planet. It was only much later that I watched the series and read the book.
From what I’ve played so far, the game looks really nice. About Rapidium crystals, I seriously asked someone if this was a bug? But no, this is not a bug. At first I thought maybe it was the gravity of the stars, but that’s not it either.
Yes. I know that our art director wanted Rapidium to look like some kind of bug, like something outside of our universe, our reality, so unreal that it doesn’t quite fit. But at the same time it fits in very well.
Oh, they did a great job because, like I said, when I first saw it, I thought, “Is this a bug?” Either way, The Alters looks really cool. It seems like in your previous games, emotions play a key role. Besides Yiannis looking inside himself, trying to make sense of everything that happened to him in the past, and creating the Alters, it’s about “what would have been if” and how he deals with it.
Yes. Each Alter arises from a different decision in your life. The reason for the differences is very obvious, so you always have some starting point. This particular thing that made me this or that person. Of course, in real life everything is not so simple. But, on the other hand, there are many situations where we try to understand what would have happened if I had changed one single decision that made me a different person, gave me different friends, different goals in life and values, and so on. This is exactly what is happening in Ian’s head.
The only remaining question is how many Alters are there?
This must be the question that has never been answered. *laughs* We’re trying to set the numbers so that there isn’t too much chaos, so that the story is complete and all the questions are answered. I think everything is well balanced, I would say.
Is there anything you’d like to tell me about The Alters that I haven’t asked?
There is one particular thing I love about this game, but it’s not so easy to notice right away while playing. I’m really proud of how our team was able to combine the story, the Alter narrative, with the gameplay and survival mechanics. All this is interconnected and created from scratch.