Vi snakker med eneudvikleren bag det Alan Wake-lignende The Pines

Det kan være uhyre vanskeligt at holde sig selv up-to-date hvad angår den barrage af spiltitler, der både afsløres og udgives på nærmest daglig basis. Moderne udviklingsværktøjer er tilgængelige, og lettere at bruge end nogensinde før, så derfor er der også flere der ønsker at fortælle unikke historier gennem unikke gameplay-systemer end nogensinde før.

Vi spotlighter i dag et spil, der gennem syndfloden af spilafsløringer alligevel formåede at fange vores opmærksomhed. The Pines kommer fra hollandske Studio Abattoir, men i mere direkte forstand udvikles det af bare én mand, Kevin Jochems, og selvom han har masser af erfaringer fra filmbranchen, så er dette hans første spil.

I The Pines bliver du, som Walker, sendt afsted på en afsides terapeutisk klinik for at hele, men det ender hurtigt med at blive et mareridt. Hvad der følger er hvad Jochems beskriver som et "gedigent RPG" med grej, skill trees og dialogvalg der former landskabet og beboerne i det her lille Twin Peaks-agtige landsbysamfund.

Vi har snakket med ene-udvikleren om spillet, og har som altid valgt at bibeholde hans svar på originalsprog, for at værne om autenciteten.

De fleste var meget overraskede over produktionsværdierne i den her trailer, og vi tænkte i hvert fald; "hvor kommer det her overhovedet fra?

Kevin Jochems: "So it's just that I want to be immersed in a world, and I feel that if I went with an easier style, the world wouldn't be as interesting - at least for the story I'm trying to tell."

Det er i hvert fald tårnhøje produktionsværdier, ingen tvivl om det. Men måske mere interessant er selve ambitionsniveauet her. Kan du fortælle lidt om hvilket slags spil vi har med at gøre her? Og hvordan nåede du frem til netop den her ramme?

Kevin Jochems: "Pines is an RPG. I really want the player to become the Edward Walker they want to become. But very early in development, when I was still trying to understand the story, I played with an idea of an open-world game that was seriously dark. You have a character, and he's in a town, and he has to keep it secret that he is... well, that he is a serial killer - but that was really hard to do. So it morphed into this, but the RPG freedom is still there. The player can be a good detective, they can be more of a bad detective, but they can also be a complete psychopath."

Så hvilke traditionelle RPG-strukturer kan man finde her? Du snakker en hel del om frihed, men hvordan kommer det til udtryk? Former du din egen fortælling?

Kevin Jochems: "Yeah, yeah, yeah, for sure. For instance, there's a rumor in the game where you can explore a pig farm. This is what I would call "side content", and for that encounter alone there are four different outcomes. And one of the outcomes is that it triggers the "Stalker System," so to speak."

Selve byen lader til at være åben.

Okay, check - så specifikke måder for spilleren at forme fortællingen på. Hvordan går det i spænd med den åbne verden? Hvor frie tøjler får spilleren rent strukturelt?

Kevin Jochems: "It's really open. The game begins with Edward Walker, that has a conversation with his therapist, which is also in the trailer. But it's also one of the early moments where players can make choices, like in Fallout 3 where you have the exam in the beginning. It's not entirely like that, but it's also a moment where you create your character. And you have a conversation with your therapist where they ask you things, and your answers will influence what kind of character you are in the game."

From there you go to Pines. And Pines is not a huge world, but it's quite big - especially for a solo developer - to fill it with content. And the game begins on the retreat, which serves as the "normal stuff". And at some point in the story, the gates in the town open, and then you have the area around the forest. And it's open to explore."

Det begynder for alvor at lyde som et åbent RPG, det her. Så lad os tage den helt ud til yderste ekstrem - er der loot? Har du et inventory?

Kevin Jochems: "Yeah, you have different weapons, clothes, and sets, all with different stats."

Så et RPG med en semi-åben verden, loot, dialogvalg - det her begynder at lyde stort. Så kan du måske uddybe lidt om den her setting? De fleste lader til at pege på spil som Alan Wake og historier som Twin Peaks.

Kevin Jochems:"Actually, it's not that it's derivative of Twin Peaks - it's just that it seems like a great framework: someone arrives in an unfamiliar, mysterious place and learns about all these intrigues alongside both the viewer and the player. It's such a good way to frame a narrative, right? It's just a classic "fish out a water" story.

I think in the world. And of course it's been done—maybe also BioShock—it's also a fish-out-of-water story. But the tone feels unique to me. For example, some of the small dialogue sequences in the trailer with the people in the house. Or a woman sitting in front of the door. It's a sinister mood that feels very new to me. I can't quite remember it being presented like this elsewhere. A big influence has been Alan Wake, and also the town. I remember in Alan Wake 1 I just walked around to find the little radio things and so on. So Alan Wake is a big influence. I think what's unique is the mix between genres: a real RPG with skills and... and horror."

Et stort fokus lader til at være de her efterforskninger, som du selv kan følge til dørs.

Når du beskriver det, så lyder det her som et gigantisk projekt. Gør du det helt alene?

Kevin Jochems: "Yeah - and what you said in the beginning, "where does this come from," that has really been me for three years in my basement just thinking about the game. And tonight before I made the trailer, I said to my girlfriend: "hopefully someone will even notice it", because I've put a lot of time into it. And I thought if only two people thought it could be fun, then maybe it wasn't worth it. But that ended up not being the case."

Hvis vi går tilbage til Twin Peaks som et andet eksempel: Hvis der er én ting, som jeg tror mange forbinder Twin Peaks med, så er det denne meget ærlige blanding af elementer - elementer, der er dramatiske, så scenarier, der er sjove, og så øjeblikke, der er rørende. Det føles, som om der er en skønhed i gyset og mysteriet. Er det det, du går efter?

Kevin Jochems: "Yeah, absolutely. I've always made short films, and they were quite dark and humorous. I have to hold myself back so I don't go too far with humor, because it's also horror- so I don't want to undermine the horror. I really want to keep them separated.

There's content in the game, which I won't spoilt. At first I thought I should maybe cut this. It doesn't fit. But now I think it fits perfectly, because it tonally sticks out. Then it starts becoming more horror.

Der er rigeligt at udforske, og efterforske.

Går du efter et "hårdt gys", eller er det mere en ulmende stemning?

Kevin Jochems: "There are definitely moments where you'll scared, for sure, but in terms of the nature of atmosphere, there won't be many cheap jump scares.

So let's say you did a quest and you did it wrong or right, whatever - but then that man from the meeting becomes a stalker, and he's gone from the meeting point, and you know he's after you through the forest. And then it gets dark. You hear footsteps behind you. So, yeah - that's where the horror really lives, I think."

Så du har nørklet med det i flere år helt alene, og har nu vist det frem for verden. Kan du fortælle os lidt om hvordan du har i sinde at lancere det? Hvad er din strategi?

Kevin Jochems: "As of now, I won't do any early access. It will definitely have closed playtests but I would like to launch it as finished as possible. You pay once and you get the complete package. I also really like the things CDPR or Hello Games do for example with free content updates."

Så hvad hvis en platformejer rakte ud til dig? Ville du være interesseret i støtten, selv hvis du skulle overgive noget kontrol?

Kevin Jochems: "I am in talks with publishers but that's all very early. I don't think I would like to give up creative control on the game. Although I am certainly open to new ideas if they make the game better. But i'm not rushing any decisions at this point. But yes, support is certainly welcome if it helps me make the game better.

I think I spent two years building the systems: a good inventory system, a combat system, all those kinds of things - dialogue, quest system - and now I can produce content pretty quickly. Yeah, so I make something, I test it, I ask a friend to come test it, and they say this sucks, and then I take it out. Pretty simple."

Du har også mulighed for at infiltrere lokationer, der ikke ellers ville byde dig velkommen.

Når du nu sidder og arbejder med det over de her lange tidsperioder, hvad er så dit syn på AI-værktøjer i spiludvikling?

Interviewer: Hvad tænker du om at bruge AI-værktøjer? Er det noget, du har testet? Er der styrker og svagheder? Hvor er du med det i din proces?

Kevin Jochems: "The only things I use AI for is learning and some testing. So if I - let's say I need to figure out how to model clothes? How can I rig it to a character? And then I ask AI to do a bit of research on that, and then AI finds all the links, and then I can watch the tutorials and see how everything works. So it's like a knowledge bank. It's mostly that I don't have to search for four hours to find what I'm looking for."

In terms of generative AI, I don't think I really think about it. I think people always can tell. Personally, if I get an email from someone, I can immediately see whether it's AI or not. So I think: "okay, why didn't you take the time to write me an email?"

But then there's testing. In terms of dialogue, having AI read my script out loud for me provides me with critical feedback. If something is read, the base is totally different. That's really the extent of it."

Så hvor længe kan vi forvente at spillet varer, når det så endelig er færdigt?

Kevin Jochems: "It really depends on the player, of course. Because I still come up with fun ideas, and I think it could be a fun side story the player can do. I hope the main story is around eight hours, maybe? And, yeah, plus 20 hours of side stuff? Yeah, sure. I think maybe 25-30 hours if you do most of everything."

The Pines fremstår så et unikt, spændende og uendeligt ambitiøst spilprojekt, og vi kan ikke vente med at følge det hele vejen til lanceringen.