Gamersinfo.net: How did you come up with the game's overarching theme of Nature vs Technology? Is there any hint of a political statement in there?

Jehanne Rousseau: When we set out to create Silverfall, we decided on the central theme of Nature vs. Technology because it would not only help to guide the aesthetic of the game, as well as the storyline, but because we could make it a central theme for gameplay. We had initially considered the good vs. evil struggle, but we couldn’t really come up with fun and fresh ways to showcase both sides of the conflict. So we looked at it like this: what sort of skills might gamers want to have in a hack-and-slash game? The team consists of a lot of long-time RPG fans, so we drew inspiration from the Shadowrun pen-and-paper games, as well as from Arcanum, and implemented the nature vs. technology conflict. It allowed for all sorts of cool abilities, like turning into a werewolf on the nature side, or using mechanical implants on the technology side.

We developed this idea to the extent that these opposing forces were at the core of the game universe. The player comes from the neutral city of Silverfall, and during the game he will need to make a choice which will influence his skills, the items he will be able to use, the allies he can recruit as well as which side of the conflict his hometown will take. The entire crux of the game, therefore, rests on this duality, and the player must decide if he wants to acquire certain powers or better items by following the paths of nature or science.

We have, at least at the base, not tried to communicate any particular political ideas, even if it is true that we are all concerned by actual ecological problems. In the context of the game, though, we also wanted to step away from the stereotype which points to technology as being bad and nature as being good. In Silverfall we have not just used the values and recoded them, but you will have to make a choice which is comparable with those you encounter in reality. That means that it is more complicated than just saying, “I choose to be nice” or “it’s so cool to be a villain.” Here, each of the paths has an impact on your environment, so don’t make that choice too carelessly!

Gamersinfo.net: The game's graphics are extremely detailed, especially the water reflections. The game certainly put my high end machine to work. Is there any concern that the "average" gaming machine might not be up to snuff?

Jehanne Rousseau: Actually, I don’t think there are too many modern games that don’t attempt to take full advantage of modern hardware. With a lower-end PC, you might have to turn off the water reflections or to reduce the detail level of textures and so on… but the game will stay very beautiful and immersive in medium quality, and in low quality setting the game will be visually a bit less impressive, but still playable, which is after all the most important thing! Silverfall runs rather well on low quality but I recommend checking the minimum specifications to see if your PC will be able to handle the game.

Gamersinfo.net: Silverfall seemed particularly difficult in the early levels.I found it very easy to get killed. Was the intent to provide a more challenging experience compared to other similar games?

Jehanne Rousseau: Generally, we wanted to present a certain number of small challenges to the player, renewing the hack-and-slash experience a bit, so that the game is not just a cakewalk in which you have to collect items and which only gets serious in hardcore mode. However, I’ve still met players who find even the basic mode, and even at the beginning, easy… but I think that most people will find it just challenging enough to continue, while actually being challenged throughout.

Gamersinfo.net: The preview I played had a number of control issues. Have the controls been tightened up for release?

Jehanne Rousseau: We will likely deliver a small tool which allows you to customize your controls, but it will be separate from the game (you will have to launch it before). We really want to keep the Diablo-style functionality for the interaction with the world, which means using mouse clicks for most interactions.

Gamersinfo.net: What are some of your favorite hack & slash games? Did any of them influence the design of Silverfall?

Jehanne Rousseau: Developers who set out to create a hack-and-slash game and who say that they weren’t influenced by previous games in the genre is probably lying… or their game will be really bad. Diablo 2 is of course a necessary base, and almost everyone on our concept team was a fan of that game. Moreover, we have of course played Sacred and Dungeon Siege, but they didn’t affect the game’s design as much. Eventually we played Titan Quest when it came out, but it was already a little too late (the development was already quite advanced) to really influence us. Other RPGs however, did influence us, particularly the excellent KOTOR series, Arcanum for those who remember, the Baldur’s Gate series to a smaller extent, and even Oblivion and Fable. We have tried to pick up what we liked more in those worlds and stories, all while combining it with the very action-oriented gameplay.

Gamersinfo.net: Silverfall supports cooperative multiplayer, but the feature is a bit restrictive. You can only continue a game with the same people who were present when you started it. Is that intentional design or is it a technical limitation that may be overcome in a patch?

Jehanne Rousseau: In fact it’s a bit more complicated than that: in free mode, which is the most open, you can join any group at any moment. You can also play in co-op, create your teams and complete quests together, but the main quest won’t be accessible. The campaign mode is more restrictive, as you have to stay with the same group in order to go through with the campaign. This won’t be modified as it is an obvious design question: as your choices influence the world and, more specifically, the city of Silverfall, and as this is at the core of the game, if you would suddenly join a group that has sided with technology in the campaign and if you have a nature character on your side, what would happen?

It’s in order to circumvent this problem that we have chosen this solution. However if you just wish to put in a few hours of monster-bashing and item farming with friends, you can absolutely do that; you’ll just have to play in free mode.

Gamersinfo.net: The game will reportedly ship with an editor the fan community can use to expand the game. How extensive is that? Can they create whole new worlds? Can they completely change game mechanics? Provide new models, textures, etc?

Jehanne Rousseau: The editor is really powerful, and it’s with this editor that we have created the whole game. Of course some scripts can’t be edited by the players, but they can create their own maps, link them together in order to create a persistent world, add monsters of their own creation with the exporter (which allows you to export 3DSMax models of monsters, buildings and objects), add new items, create their own quests and dialogues, etc. and play online with friends.

Gamersinfo.net: Will the devs be releasing any additional content created with the editor? Or support the fan community by promoting well-designed mods?

Jehanne Rousseau: We haven’t decided yet how we will interact with the community of fans regarding the mods, but we are definitely looking forward to see how the fans will react!  We don’t know yet if we will create official mods, but we are thinking about an add-on.

Gamersinfo.net: What's your favorite race to play? I personally love the Goblins.

Jehanne Rousseau: I love the goblins; I pushed a lot to get them into the game (it’s not a race you usually play and which I find very funny), but whilst playing I’ve also learnt to appreciate the trolls — they are nice huge beasts, and it’s always very exciting to play such an impressive character!