How many locations are there in the game, and could you describe a few of them?

There are more than 20 different locations and many of them are split up into various sub-locations. One of the most important locations is the bazaar, a place where Assil meets many people and receives lots of quests. Another big location is the Pharaoh's palace, with a huge garden and the temple of Osiris. Assil will also visit some more uncommon locations like the bottom of the Nile...

The bottom of the Nile! Really?

Yes, but he can get out again alive if he manages to get past the crocodile!

It sounds like Assil gets himself in some pretty crazy predicaments. What is one of the most fun you had creating?

My personal favorite is when Thara tries to convince friends of hers to accept Assil as a companion while he is threatened by his death curse in the background of the scene. A typical slapstick situation that is actually rare in games. However, we had so much fun creating it!

From what we saw briefly at E3, the puzzling for the game seems whimsical, with Monkey Island type of inventory applications. Is this true, and are there other types of challenges in the game as well?

Yes, we tried to omit any boring "box shifting" or sound puzzles. All the game's puzzles are mainly there to support the story and not to play for time. Plus, the solutions are sometimes a bit weird, but always fair to the player.

There are inventory related puzzles and as said earlier, dealing with characters is also an important part of solving puzzles. Speaking of challenges, there are no extra mini-games in Ankh. Although there are some action-like sequences, they do not require the gamer to be quick fingered. They are used merely to increase the tension. Other than that, we tried to keep the puzzles extremely varied and balanced between item puzzles and dialogues.

By action sequences, what do you mean? Can you describe one in a general way to show what you mean by "action" without giving away too much?

There's a sequence where you have to escape from the palace. You see guards running on another level of the palace so it seems as if they would appear at your place any minute. Assil's companion shouts that Assil must do something quickly, and runs off. The music is dramatic, and Assil looks very nervous. Now it's up to the player to go and fetch a cup of tea... or plunge into the atmosphere and help Assil escape as quickly as possible. But there's no real timing, as there is no way to "lose" the game. It's a difficult tightrope walk with adventure games, but I'm sure that we found a very interesting way to solve it!

How is the music handled? Is it originally designed for the game, and what is it like?

The music is very orchestral and cinematic. It has been originally designed for Ankh and sounds very Egyptian and adventurous at the same time. It's inspired by the recent motion picture The Mummy. The music is based on the different locations that Assil visits and tries to generate a unique atmosphere that fits to the current surrounding and feeling of the scene.

Who arranged and composed the music for you?

The music for Ankh was produced by a famous German music producer called Dynamedion. They have composed the music for almost all the major German games of 2005, like The Moment of Silence and Spellforce.

I was thinking back on the dialogues and the complexity with all the possible choices. Will the player need to take notes or is there some sort of in-game notebook?

The player has a "to-do" list that he/she can always access, but it doesn't reveal much more than the current quests. So it helps you keep track of the quests, without revealing too much of the riddle's solutions.

Is the game non-linear at all?

Basically, the game has a linear storyline, but you can decide about the order of solving the quests and picking up items. So you can have many "open" quests for a long time if you wish, or you can solve them one by one.

What do you mean by open quests? Are they optional or just according to a flexible timeline on when you have to have tasks completed in the game?

To take a very easy example, there's a tailor with some blunt scissors. Although you need to sharpen the scissors later in the game, you can do it immediately, or wait until you really need it for the next quest. So it's up to you to decide to just ignore that tailor in the beginning or help him directly. Some games do that differently and thus limit the player's freedom of choice.

But they are not optional. In Ankh, all missions have to be solved, but to do this, it is not necessary to look at each and every item or to go through all possible answers in a conversation. There are some side events, but the quests themselves all need to be solved. So I'd say, yes, it's more like a flexible timeline.

Any easter eggs or in-house jokes in the game you can share?

I don't want to spoil too much, but you should have a good look at the banana plantation once you discover it. Also, there are plenty of in-house jokes hidden in Ankh. But interestingly, it's more the other way round: "famous" phrases from Ankh are repeated over and over at the office. One favorite is, "Hello? Death Curse? Ring a bell?" But I think you really need the context for that one to make sense!

I'll be looking for that line when I play the game! For years now, many developers have gone to hybrid or even shooting games. So why are you guys so committed to an adventure game?

That's an easy one. Our basic approach was to fill a gap in current computer gaming. While the cinema is extremely successful with comedy content, games producers have somewhat retreated from that area in the recent years. Now, if I love humorous movies or TV sitcoms, and if I want to get just that feeling when playing a PC game (i.e. if I really don't like sci-fi, guns, and heroes with blood-stained swords), then there's simply no good game for me to play.

However, these games have been very popular in the past. And we just couldn't believe that people aren't interested in these games any more. We suppose the games were just going down together with the 2D technology, and finally 3D is catching up in terms of rich environments as they are needed for such games. Conclusion: the time for great new adventure games is just now!

bhv Software is publishing the game in Germany, Micro Application in France. What is the schedule for the rest of the game territories, and any plans yet for a North American release?

The game will be released all over Europe, including Eastern Europe. France and the UK are going to see the game very early next year. The English and French versions are very close to release. We're also negotiating with a soon-to-be disclosed group about online distribution of the English version, and a regular boxed product is also planned for the U.S. It's all coming very soon!



What are you most proud of with this game project?

We wanted to take the classic games to a new and state-of-the-art level, and I'm sure that this is what we achieved! I think that we have found our own modern style while keeping the spirit of the classics alive.

What is in the future for you guys? Do you have any other new projects waiting in the wings or just looking forward to a nice break?

We've already got a signed agreement for our next title, which is also going to be an adventure game, but at the moment I can't reveal much more details about this... Let's say that fans of adventure heroes like Indiana Jones might love the next title.

So there's definitely no break in sight! Although some holiday time wouldn't hurt too much!

Thanks very much for taking the time to talk with Adventure Gamers. Any last thoughts you’d like to share?

If you like comedy then you should definitely give Ankh a try. I'm pretty sure that you won't be disappointed at all. And thanks for talking with me!