For some time now, quite a few of us here at Marooners’ Rock have been following along with Nick Pearce the founder of Modern Storyteller, and his work on The Forgotten City. The last time I got to have a little hands-on time was at PAX East, a few years ago. That was where I met Nick and got to learn a bit about the game, and the story behind it all. Previously, Marooner’s Rock writer Alex McCumbers got to check out The Forgotten City, when it was simply a mod of Skyrim. You can read some of his thoughts during his time checking out the mod, before he was part of the Marooners’ Rock team, over here.
Fast forward to today, and we got the chance to interview Nick. We discussed his upcoming game, The Forgotten City, which releases this July. As we all wait for the full release of the game, we’d love to have you, our readers know more about the game itself if you haven’t been following along over the years.
The Forgotten City Interview:
Marooners’ Rock: “For those that haven’t looked into The Forgotten City, what can you tell those just learning about the game on how it all came together?”
Nick: “The Forgotten City is a mystery adventure game where you discover the ruins of an ancient underground city, travel back in time 2,000 years, and try to stop it from being destroyed by exploring, questioning residents, solving puzzles, and cleverly exploiting a Groundhog Day-style time loop. It’s also a stand-alone re-imagining of an acclaimed mod for a popular fantasy game, which was the first mod in history to win a Writers’ Guild award, and racked up 3 million downloads. Making that mod was the reason I fell in love with game development, and why I walked away from my legal career to set up an indie studio and make this game!”
Marooners’ Rock: “With the time spent on creating the game so far, what has been the most memorable thing you’ve seen that was created just for the game?”
Nick: “Definitely one of the new gameplay mechanics we’ve added to the game: A mythical golden bow that turns organic matter into gold. You do all sorts of things with it, like solve platforming puzzles, but my favorite use is to shoot enemies and turn them into golden statues, then boot them into oncoming enemies, toppling them over like bowling pins. It’s a lot of fun!”
Marooners’ Rock: “What moments from its development stand out to the team most?”
Nick: “We were really delighted to have been able to work with a couple of extraordinary historical consultants to help us ensure all the details of our ancient Roman city are historically authentic, in terms of art, architecture, costumes, and customs. They’re really impressive people; one has a Ph.D. from Oxford and teaches at Cambridge, and the other spent 20 years excavating the ruins of Pompeii. To be able to fly around the game world with them and collaborate, and hear their reactions to the detail we’ve put in was immensely gratifying.”
Marooners’ Rock: “If you could go back into time to stop something bad from happening, what would it be in history?”
Nick: “Assuming Time Travel works the same way as it does in The Forgotten City, I could change the past and in doing so create a time paradox, which would fling me back to my original time, having altered history. That being the case, I’d probably try to prevent the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand, thereby preventing both World War I and II. It might sound like a cliché, but I’d be saving the lives of up to 180,000,000 people, so I can live with being a little unoriginal in this case!”
Marooners’ Rock: “While all of us here know that The Forgotten City was your creation Nick, what gave you the idea to move the mod you created into a full game of its own world and ideas? And during that process, what’s been the best thing you’ve done that was a “THIS IS AMAZING” moment for you?”
Nick: “You know what they say: Necessity is the mother of invention. While making the mod I’d discovered a burning passion for game dev, which made my previous career as a lawyer pale in comparison. I was determined to make games, but there weren’t any opportunities here in Australia, so another established dev suggested I consider turning my mod into a stand-alone game. At the time it seemed like a wild, impossible idea. But I kept thinking about it, and got advice from Dan Pinchbeck, the creator of the famous Dear Esther mod/game, and I became convinced I could make my mod immeasurably better in every way if I had the time and resources. And I’ve spent the last four and a half years working 80-hour weeks to achieve that. To me, the difference between the mod and the game is like 1950s Batman vs the Nolan trilogy. Our “this is amazing” moment was looking back at how far The Forgotten City has come. It’s leagues above.”
Marooners’ Rock: “In the past, you’ve shown off the game at conventions such as PAX East. What has been the most exciting thing you’ve seen happen during a show after someone played the game?”
Nick: “I’d say getting a visit from some of my favorite YouTubers, Jane Douglas, and her team from Outside Xbox. I was a little starstruck! 😊”
Marooners’ Rock: “Does the team plan to continue support for The Forgotten City after launch?”
Nick: “We’ll support it for as long as that makes sense. Personally, after this massive project and working long hours for four and a half years, I’m just looking forward to sleeping for a while.”
Marooners’ Rock: “Will there be plans for future content for the game? Maybe something else has happened and another timeline to save?”
Nick: “Hey, that’s not a bad idea… *discreetly takes notes*”
Marooners’ Rock: “Now that The Forgotten City is nearing the finish line, what’s next for Modern Storyteller?“
Nick: “We have a bunch of game ideas on the back burner, and after I take my first proper holiday in four and a half years, and wade through all the feedback we get about The Forgotten City, I hope we’ll be getting started on one of them!”
Marooners’ Rock: “Where can our readers and those just learning about the game find out more information on The Forgotten City and find you on social media?”
Nick: “If you’re on PC, head over to the Steam page, and if you’d like to be notified when it’s released, add it to your wishlist! Otherwise, you can find us on Twitter and Facebook, or at forgottencitygame.com“
