A passionate adventure gamer. Onur Şamlı from Zoetrope Interactive.
Der türkische Independent Entwickler Zoetrope Interactive hat sich mit der Darkness Within Serie eine große Fanbase aufgebaut. Die Entwickler aus Istanbul haben bewiesen, dass klassische 3D Horror-Adventure immer noch „schocken“. Während die Gamesbranche sich in den letzten Jahren actionlastig entwickelt hat, sind die Entwickler der Darkness Within Serie ihrer Linie treu geblieben und setzen auf eine düstere Atmosphäre sowie interessante Story. Sicherlich ist dies auch ein Grund warum die ersten beide Teile,“In Pursuit of Loath Nolder“ und „The Dark Lineage“ auch bei Let’s Playern sehr beliebt sind. Die letzten Jahre war es jedoch etwas ruhig um Zoetrope Interactive und die Fans hatten die Befürchtung, dass der Entwickler sich aufgelöst hat. Wir sind der Sache auf den Grund gegangen: Heute im Interview haben wir Onur Şamli, Mitgründer von Zoetrope Interactive und einer der Hauptentwickler der Horror-Serie. Er verrät uns unter anderem wie sein Einstieg in die Branche verlief und was wir zukünftig von Zoetrope Interactive erwarten dürfen.
Hi Onur, please provide a little bit about yourself, your role within Zoetrope Interactive and your history in the games industry.
Onur: First of all I want to thank you for this opportunity to convey some news to our German fans. I think now is the time for a brief introduction. My name is Onur Şamlı. Because of we are a small team, every one of us does lots of things. I am mainly responsible for graphics, SFX, story and gameplay. Before Zoetrope interactive, I had lots of unsuccessful attempts with different game development teams which I gained some valuable experience.
Can you tell us something about Zoetrope Interactive and how the launch of the company went in 2005?
Onur: We have always had an interest in game development and the storytelling aspect of computer games fascinates us profoundly. There are lots of freedom for creative people to realize what they have in mind in game development stage which includes lots of disciplines to be combined and shaped to create a single game. As a result, we got together to establish Zoetrope Interactive and our first title Darkness Within emerged.
What was the motivation to develop a first-person 3D adventure like Darkness Within? What were some of the problems you encountered?
Founded in 2005, the developer becomes famous for the Darkness Within Series.
Onur: We were originally adventure gamers because we love solid and profound stories. When the genre in its golden years, lots of good titles dominate the adventure market such as Atlantis series, Black Dahlia, Sanitarium, Morpheus, The Dig etc. We simply interested to develop a quality title with a certain depth and flavor for gamers like us. Our main driving point was H.P Lovecraft and his notion of modernist pessimism that dominates the western psychological thrillers. Traditional practices of the pre-modern era and the long lost knowledges of the old world help us to create the main atmosphere for Darkness Within series. As for the problems, we had a lot because we were inexperienced in developing games. There are lots of areas for independent developers to be improved and polished.
The Darkness-Within Series has a lot of fans, especially in Germany. What would you attribute your success to?
Onur: Actually I don’t know but we heard that Germany has been one of the largest market for the adventure games. Whatever the reason is, we want to thank all our German fans.
What can you tell the fans about your next project? Are there plans for a sequel or maybe ideas to change the direction of Darkness Within?
Onur: We are now working on the steam edition of both Darkness Within games which includes new puzzles, improved graphics and gameplay. It will be available on Steam soon. But for a complete new title, it is really too early to make an announcement. When the time comes, we will update our website with new information.
Can we hope for a console release like on PS4, Xbox One, Wii U or SteamOS?
Onur: As I said above, there will be a Steam version of Darkness Within but actually we have no plans for developing Darkness within on consoles like Playstation 4 or Xbox.
How would you describe the gaming startup scene in Turkey?
Onur: My point of view may sound like a bit pessimistic but unfortunately gaming scene in Turkey doesn’t seem to promise anything decent anytime soon. Turkey’s game scenery has came to a certain level with the individual efforts of independent developers and nearly all the efforts are put into mobile gaming now which is understandable but I haven’t seen an endeavour for developing original titles for consoles etc.
Does the Turkish government actively support the Turkish games industry?
Onur: Unfortunately not right now.
Getting into the games industry is tough. What is your advice to people who want to make it in the business?
Onur: Hard work and good planning are the fundamental elements in game development. Also researching the game market is a must for success. Without a proper planning and a good strategy, good ideas would turn into waste very quickly.
Last but not least, what’s your favorite game of all time?
Onur: I have a lot and picking one is a little bit challenging for me 🙂 Morpheus, Atlantis series and Sanitarium are my favorites.
Onur, thank you very much for the interview. We look forward to hear from Zoetrope Interactive in the future.
Falls ihr euch mit der Darkness-Within Serie noch nicht auseinander gesetzt habt, sollten die Adventure Fans unter euch ein Blick riskieren. Fröhliches gruseln!
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