- What can you tell us about progress of the Collector?

"We've been working on a design and demo over the last few weeks because we managed to obtain partial funding. We are still seeking full funding and a distribution deal. When those things happen, then there will be something to tell. Until then, it's "just a demo". The demo attempts to illustrate our ideas for the game. But because we had budget and deadline restrictions, I think it only represents a portion of what we have in mind. To get a full understanding of the game, you'd want a supplementary document."

- What can you tell about the story?

"Briefly, the scenario has Doktor Stauf as curator of his own little, very curious museum. It exists in a timeless world in a place that appears to be in some old European town or city. Perhaps it is Stauf getting back to his German roots. The "good" Doktor has populated his modest institution with objects and artifacts from around the globe that generally tell fantastic, but historically accurate tales of evil, triumph and the absurd throughout human history."

"You could regard the storyline as being that of human history as seen through a collection of representative short stories. The good the bad and the ugly. Mostly the bad and the ugly. As with an historical novel, there will be some amount of fictionalization, but the essential facts will be true and historically accurate. We are going with the maxim that truth is stranger than fiction and you just can't make up this stuff."

"The storytelling will be done in an eclectic mixture of styles, performing arts and media forms throughout human culture. The presentation of each Vignette will be done in a manner reflective of the time period, culture or theme. For instance, a story of a Japanese warrior may use puppetry in the Kabuki theater style. Our humorous take on the Spanish Inquisition will be done as a Monty Python-esque comedy sketch."

- How will the player play the game?

"Rather than merely travel about the museum freely, you must work to open up routes to various destination galleries. This is done by playing an overarching strategy game against Stauf, who will attempt to thwart your efforts. This is a simple strategy game that is played on a two-level board which represents the 1st and 2nd floors of the building. Since the configuration of the board is ever changing, so too is the physical layout of the 3D environment."

"Once a path is opened, you are free to navigate and explore within the boundaries of available passageways and galleries. There will be many interesting, informative, animated and entertaining items and displays to find and enjoy. Each item has a story to tell, usually as part of a general theme of the particular gallery. These range from very short AV gags and entertainments, to extended dramatizations. These larger dramatizations, which we call Vignettes, are like magically animated tableaus."

"The world of The Collector exists on a number of "levels". So travel is not just laterally or through time, but in depth. There are macro and micro spaces within spaces, worlds within worlds."

-What about the puzzles?

There are also games or puzzles to be played, one for each of 13 galleries. This being a museum, they are called Hands-on Displays. Some resemble action/skill activities, some are more like non-goal oriented toys, some require spacial logic to solve and others pure logic, as with the puzzles in the original 7/11 games. Where possible or appropriate, the player will be placed within the puzzle world. Playing and solving them is not mandatory, but doing so offers some rewards... so there are incentives. This is in keeping with our philosophy of balancing the game to be very accessible and not overly frustrating. Failures are not punished, but accomplishments are rewarded.

- How about the eyecandy?

"The environment will be rendered in realtime 3D. Because speed will not be an issue the graphics it will be high res and visually rich. Technologically we have an excellent engine and tricks to get the most out of it in terms of presentation quality. At this point, I doubt that there will be a game that looks as good. Because of the realtime graphics there will be a great deal of freedom within the puzzles as well, where we will employ simulated realworld physics."

- Why will Lunny interactive be developing the title?

Our development partners, Lunny Interactive, are a talented and experienced group that is interested in penetrating the game development field. They put their commitment where there mouth is, which is more than other chicken hearted, risk-averse, parties have managed to muster. (I say risk-averse only because it is not yet another me-too clone.)

- For what platforms will The Collector be released?

"I cannot say for which platforms it will be released for, (if it ever is released at all) but in order of likelihood - PC, XBox, other console, Mac."

- Any last comments?

"All creative endeavors are subject to change right up to the moment of release. So being this early in development, the design for The Collector is still fluid. The basis for the overall gameplay and the scenario is there. Publisher/distributor will have much influence and input about any and all of it. As you know, we have made and will continue to make efforts to listen to the 7th Guest fans and to remain true to the spirit and substance of the franchise."

"Hopefully we will manage to maintain our vision of what we think the game should be since there may be some pressure to make it into something else... namely a shooter or some other "proven" or "marketable" genre. That pressure has been there since the advent of Doom. Virgin Games, unbeknownst to us, had started development on just such a version of the title. The effort was, fortunately, aborted."

(Note by the interviewer: Landeros probably means the thirteenth soul project from a couple years ago based on the unreal engine)