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Benoît Sokal's Sinking Island Interview

Benoît Sokal's Sinking Island Interview

First of all, thanks for taking the time to answer to our questions! Can you provide us with something a little bit more elaborated about the storyline?

Benoît Sokal: What I can say is that Sinking Island is a detective story. I am going back to my roots with this story as my graphics novels have always been "noir" and detective driven. My comic book main character is a private investigator, a duck called Canardo.

In a few words, I can also say that the action takes place on an small topical island, on which a billionaire has built an incredible hotel: a gigantic Art Deco tower. He is found dead on the beach, and there are 10 persons that are all potential murderers. It is up to you (playing the main character) to discover why, how and by whom he was assassinated.

Who is Jack Norm? What can you tell about him?

Benoît Sokal: He is a private investigator. A man in is mid 40s who doesn't talk that much. He will always choose to use his brain rather than his fists, but he can be physical if needed. He has success with women. ^_^

This story seems to be a little bit different from the "usual" Benoit Sokal adventures. I loved all your works, since Amerzone to Paradise, and their incredibly fascinating atmospheres. To be honest, this one reminds me of "And Then There Were None", a classic mystery tale. I'm not asking who's the killer, but why such a shift?

Benoît Sokal: You're right with Agatha Christie's reference. These stories have fascinated me when I was a child. Later, I read more of the classic American writers such as Chandler or Hammett. As I told you, this is a kind of "back to my roots". People who liked my previous games will still find elements that I like, such as strange architecture, strong storyline...

The whole idea of the island that slowly sinks into the ocean is quite appealing, and so is having only three (simulated - we'll catch up later on this aspect) days to solve the case. Usually in an adventure you have all the time in the world to do something. Which is one of the greatest (and until now inescapable) flaw of the adventure games: I mean, you can always do something later on, return somewhere and find the world exactly as you left it, return to someone and talk about everything you've discovered thus far. So long, willing suspension of disbelief. How will this new entire structure influence the game? How will the world evolve during the days?

Benoît Sokal: I cannot say so much about that...but your guess is correct: the fact that the island sinks not only reduces the playing field, but has also an influence on the clues. For example, at the beginning of the game you’ll be able to see footprints in the sand, but on the second day they will be covered with water...

What happens if you choose a wrong path, leading to a dead end (no solution of the mystery)? Do you sink with the island? Do the character die? How did you take care of this?

Benoît Sokal: We wanted to introduce a clear notion of "game over". So if you do wrong, either you go back to the current mission (the game is sub divided in missions), or to your last saved point – in this case with the risk that you could already be wrong.

What do you mean by "simulated time"?

Benoît Sokal: Whatever you do, time goes on! And the characters have scripted behaviours. If a characters tells you that he’ll be at the bar at 2 pm, he will stay there until 2.15 or 2.30, then leave...

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