Boris Chuprin on A Stroke of Fate
Feature
A Stroke of Fate: Operation Valkyrie is a point-and-click adventure game that takes place in Nazi controlled Germany in the 1940s. We got in contact with Boris Chuprin, the lead designer at Akella, and asked him a couple of questions.
HookedGamers: Hi, and thanks for participating in our interview. Can you introduce yourself to our readers and tell us what your job is on the team?
Boris Chuprin: Hello readers! My name is Boris Chuprin and I'm the lead designer of A Stroke of Fate: Operation Valkyrie and A Stroke of Fate: Operation Bunker. My mission here is to guarantee that players will get an interesting and fascinating game with outstanding visuals when compared to the adventure genre as a whole.
HookedGamers: It is often said that the adventure genre is in decline. Those who don't close their eyes, can see that it is alive and well but that few games show up on the average gamer's radar. Despite that, we do feel that the genre has become a niche market. Do you agree? How do you intend to stay on the radar?
We clearly understand who the adventure game fans are, what their field of interest is and what experience they are looking for. The target audience of adventure games is quite wide and we've spent some time choosing the players we want to work for. Before we began creation of A Stroke of Fate we had already defined our potential gamers (everyone from history buffs and puzzle solving enthusiasts to hardcore gamers and experienced fans of the genre) and then we've just given them a product which, we hope, will serve everyone looking for interesting and thrilling gameplay well. :)
To achieve this we've chosen the perfect theme and created a beautiful entourage of characters bringing the atmosphere of the epoch to life.
HookedGamers: The videogame market today is heavily populated with First-Person-Shooters and Epic RPGs. Why did you decide to go with a Point-and-Click adventure theme for A Stroke of Fate: Operation Valkyrie? Why not go where the money is?
HookedGamers: Originally the game was to be called A stroke of fate. Only recently the subtitle Operation Valkyrie was added. Trying to ride the wave of Tom Cruise's film? :) Did the game originally follow the story of the plot to overthrow Hitler or was this decided at a later stage? Did it affect the gameplay in any way?
Boris Chuprin: Oh no, we are not trying to ride the wave of the movie. At the later stages of development we realized that we had created content that was suitable for two products. That's why we decided to make it a series.
The storyline of the game begins after the attempt on the Fuhrer's life and in spite of the fact that the attempt happens off screen, the main character is watching the events following the attempt unfold in the 1940s, the searches, the arrests, the deaths of conspirators and so on.
Boris Chuprin: Well, if the operation had been a success I think the course of the war would not have changed as a result. If you read the diaries and memoirs of the conspirators – you'll clearly see that they themselves had a positive view of fascism and the nazi ideals. Their indignation was only about Fuhrer's failures in war. They were surely worried about the citizens of Germany but in one way only: Hitler has become incompetent as a strategist and therefore the army doesn't act effectively and more German soldiers die, and they are already losing the war.
Hitler was very well protected, but not by providence. He had a great Security service, and the player will have to oppose it.