Cubed³’s Adam Riley: First of all, why did you decide to bring Safecracker to Wii and not another home console?
Benoit Hozjan, Kheops Studios: I think the Nintendo console perfectly fits our audience, the Wiimote and the Nunchuck are also perfect for point-and-click games. This console is more content oriented than technology oriented, which is exactly the definition of the adventure games we have developed at Kheops Studio. We have been interested in trying our games on this console for months. Thank you to Jowood/Dreamcatcher for giving us this opportunity.
AR: How long has the game been in development now, and what are your thoughts on the Wii hardware after working with it for quite a while?
BH: We started the development in April and the team is still happily working on it! Of course after many years of PC development we now have to take care of memory management, but honestly we have enjoyed this development process and we want to develop more games for the Nintendo Wii. We have decided to use the middleware NEOVA from At-Once Technologies to minimize the low-level access to the hardware and to stay focused on the game itself.
AR: Have you been able to transfer everything across from the PC original? And have there been any particular development issues you have faced so far (if so, please explain how they have been overcome)?
BH: 95% of the game is identical to the PC version. Without saying more about the end of the game, it was possible to print a document on the PC version of Safecracker, but we will propose something different on Wii. The main challenge was to deal with the memory on Wii compared to the PC platform. Also, we have had to adapt some graphics to improve the visibility on a TV screen.
AR: The game is described as a ‘puzzle-solving adventure’. For those unaware, can you please explain how this differs from a traditional PC point-and-click adventure?
BH: A traditional adventure game is oriented around a story with some puzzles to challenge the player. For safecracker, the goal is clearly explained in the intro cinematic and it justifies the fact that you will have to open many safes in this mansion.
AR: Can you talk briefly about the game’s setting/story, as well as how long you feel it should take players to finish?
BH: As an expert safecracker, you are hired by the wealthy family of a recently deceased billionaire to search for the last will and testament of their late relative in one of the 35 safes scattered in his extravagant mansion. You will have to use your expertise, wits, and puzzle-solving skills as you progress from safe to safe and follow the trail to this valuable document!
The average time to finish the game is around 10 hours, more or less depending on how fast you solve the puzzles.
AR: How extensive will the game make use of the Wii motion controls?
BH: The Nunchuk will be used to turn the camera around and the Wiimote to interact with the environment. We intend to have movement in the game as natural as possible. We think having a dedicated movement for each action is a trap to avoid.
AR: And other than the control update, what else has changed from the original PC game?
BH: The Wii version is very close to the original PC game, we have improved the visibility for TV screen and replaced the ability to print a document at the end of the game.
AR: Has any consideration gone into using Wi-Fi features or WiiConnect24 for anything? Perhaps downloading new puzzles using the new Wii-Pay-And-Play service?
BH: We haven’t included Wi-Fi nor WiiConnect24 for this version. The game is not designed to easily include a new puzzle because each puzzle is dependent on the others. We would like to use these features of the Wii in an upcoming original game.
AR: Considering PC adventure games are having great success on DS, will you be considering making an edition for Nintendo’s portable as well?
BH: Yes, you will discover some of our games on DS in the coming months.
AR: Has the PC edition already been sufficiently popular enough to warrant a sequel to Safecracker?
BH: This is more a question for the publisher, I can only give you two pieces of information:
We receive many emails from players who are waiting for a sequel
Safecracker was Puzzle game of the year in PC Gamer, February 2007
AR: What other classic PC adventure/point-and-click games would you like to see make an appearance on Wii in the future?
BH: Some of our own games will be available on Wii very soon and we plan to develop original games too. We started to see Wii versions of some point-and-click games earlier this year and I hope that it will continue. Most publishers of adventure games will be interested in adapting their licenses on this platform, starting with PC game adaptation to test the market at low risks and then certainly propose sequels.
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