The Lies We tell Ourselves (Interview)

 1. WHAT WAS THE FIRST GAME THAT YOU PLAYED THAT MADE YOU FALL IN LOVE WITH GAMING?

1) I've been playing videogames since I was 4, I instantly fell in love with the media as soon as I put my chubby hands on it.
Among the titles that cemented my passion, I would say Monty On The Run for the Commodore 64 was probably one of the most influential.
40 years later, I can still hear the amazing Rob Hubbard soundtrack in my head.

2. HOW DID YOU GET INTO GAME DEVELOPMENT?
2) I like to understand how things are done and I tend to learn very quickly anything I’ve a real interest in, so when I was a kid most of the fun was figuring out how to do certain type of games or mechanics from scratch, in a time in which there was no internet, no youtube tutorials and very limited documentation available.
I’ve been making videogame prototypes since I was 10 or so, first on the Commodore 64, then on the Commodore Amiga (in Assembly) and eventually on PC in various languages.

3. TELL US ABOUT THE INSPIRATION BEHIND THE NAME OF YOUR STUDIO?
3) It's the name of my cats (they're both called Poopsy, not that it makes any difference cause they will only answer to 'pstpstpst' anyway).
As stupid as it might sound, I kinda liked the idea of people playing a very serious game and then giggling at the name of the developer cause there's the word 'poop' in it :D

4. WHAT GAMES HAVE YOU CREATED BEFORE THE ONE YOU ARE WORKING ON NOW?
4) Nothing commercial, just several small games for my and my friends' amusement.
My studies are Humanistic in nature and my work has revolved around art direction and design, which has kept me professionally busy for most of my life.
Only recently I decided to make my first commercial game, mostly for fun but also to keep my mind busy during the pandemic.

5. WHAT WAS THE IDEA BEHIND THE NAME OF THE GAME THE LIES WE TELL OURSELVES?
5) I had the title in mind since I started developing the game and it's strongly tied to one of the themes of the story (the perception of self).
Nowadays it's an overused expression that people like to throw around to instantly give the impression of a deeper meaning to sometimes very shallow subjects, which is unfortunate.

6. WHAT ENGINE ARE YOU USING FOR THIS GAME AND WHY?
6) I'm developing the game on Unity, on the Built-in pipeline.
There's no fanboyism behind my choice: it's just very easy and quick to prototype anything and test the results.
Had I started the game 20 years ago, I would probably have built my own little engine from scratch, but now there's no real need for that anymore.

7. WHERE DO THE LIES WE TELL OURSELVES TAKE PLACE?
7) The basic setting is a suburban area of an unnamed American city.
However, where the actual events of the game take place, is part of the mystery behind the story.

8. WHO IS THE MAIN PROTAGONIST IN THE GAME?
8) Vincent Arno, a 27yo young man who still lives with his parents and has no plans nor ambition to make a life of his own.
As a result of choices he made (or didn't) throughout his life, he has become a selfish and indifferent adult, with a distorted perception of himself and life in general.

9. IT SEEMS IT HAS THAT HORROR ASPECT TO IT ON THE LEVELS OF PT CAN YOU TELL US ABOUT SOME
OF THE GAMEPLAY ASPECTS OF THIS GAME?
9) I don't think PT has had any influence at all on the design of my game. I would say the first Silent Hills (1 to 4) had probably a more direct influence, especially in conveying a certain dreamy-dready atmosphere, but the similarities end there.
At its core, the game is actually closer to end of the '90s point and click adventures, in terms of design, although the gameplay has a modern take on it.
The horror aspects of the game are in a way secondary in the context of the story: it's not about scaring the player, but rather tell a supernatural story that only incidentally has some scary or disturbing elements in it.

10. IT SEEMS LIKE THIS GAME HAS PUZZLES SO WHAT TYPE OF PUZZLES CAN WE EXPECT TO SEE IN THE
GAME?
10) The game has a strong emphasis on puzzle solving, however the puzzles themselves are not the main focus of the game: the story is.
My design rule in terms of puzzles is that every single one of them has to serve or be in context of the story, which basically means you won't find puzzles for the sake of puzzles or stuff that was put in the game just cause it sounded 'cool', but has no meaning whatsoever.
I won't expand on what type of puzzles you will find in the game, however -even the most abstract ones- will be solvable by just paying attention to the story and surrounding context and applying some deduction and interpretation.

11. WHAT TYPE OF ENEMIES WILL BE IN THE GAME?
11) There's no 'type' of enemies. There’s no direct combat: no weapons nor zombies to shoot, it’s really not that kind of game.
Just like with puzzles, every creature you'll encounter in the game has a role in the story and it will be up to the player to figure out which is it and what they represent.

However, the game certainly features more action-oriented situations like stealth, chasing and boss fights sections; the catch is that you won’t directly fight a monster with weapons, but rather abuse a specific mechanic in that particular area (that the player will have to figure out) to overcome it.

12. WILL THERE BE ANY PLANS FOR ANY DLC WITHIN THE LIES WE TELL OURSELVES?
12) The game has been designed to have two more self-contained separate chapters, with a yearly release schedule, that will expand on two of the side stories introduced in the main title.

However, it will all depend on how well the titular game will perform on release.

13. WHY SHOULD PEOPLE WANT TO PLAY THIS GAME DAY ONE?
13) I think it has an interesting take on the genre: it's slightly more mature than the average and it's accessible even to those who might not usually like horror games, but would love a weird story.
However, at the end of the day I’m well aware I’m making a niche game for a niche audience... I don't expect it to be a viral game ever, nor do I actually care.
It might sound boring to those who just wanna shoot filler zombies or get startled by constant cheap jumpscares, but I really hope those who can go beyond that, really really enjoy the experience.

14. WHEN WILL THE LIES WE TELL OURSELVES RELEASE AND WHAT PLATFORMS WILL IT BE ON?
14) The game is set to be released on Steam by the end of the year, but I don’t think I’ll have a specific date until the beginning of Q3, as the decision will strongly depend on what else is going to be released during the same time frame.
It doesn't help that this year in particular seems to be full of very interesting games releasing, which makes me very happy as a gamer and slightly worried as a solo dev. :D

A console port is being discussed, but as with everything else, it will strongly depend on how the Steam release will perform.

15. WHERE CAN THEY FIND YOU ON SOCIAL MEDIA?
15) Honestly, I don't have a strong social media presence, by choice.

Maybe because I'm older, but I still value the peacefulness that privacy brings to my own mental health.
People can find me on twitter (https://twitter.com/SuperPoopsy) to strictly follow the development of the game, but that's pretty much it.