Wired interview with ‘Golden Compass lead videogame designer Dax Berg.

Game|Life: What was the most difficult aspect of translating The Golden Compass into a videogame?

Dax Berg: We felt the story is primarily about a battle of opposing forces and Lyra being caught in the middle trying to resolve what is in a sense “true.” Translating this feel into a “game” with such a wide target audience is by far the most difficult design challenge of this project. I think fans of the books really appreciated the way author Phillip Pullman addresses his audience. Due to the age of the main character, the book seems to be involuntarily forced into the category of Children’s Literature. However, Pullman never pulls punches in the way he addresses his “young adult” reader. He never talks down to his audience, and with 14 million plus copies of the series sold worldwide you know that audience is larger than any one specific age category. Our goal on the project was to attempt to take this same perspective, and create vivid interactivity for a vast target market.

GL: Is the game more in line with the book or the movie of The Golden Compass?

DB: Specific gameplay areas are intended to be extensions of The Golden Compass screenplay adaptation while other areas expand upon interaction in environments that are only in the book. There are a few places in these additions where we take slight liberties to provide a solid “game environment” but first and foremost we tried to keep with the locations from the book and its screenplay. Our goal is to have the look and visual feel in line with New Line’s production and also produce gameplay and narrative immersion that makes the books such a huge success.

GL: How do you decide what story elements to keep from the book or movie?

DB: Technically, The Golden Compass videogame follows Lyra’s adventures as seen in the movie. Deciding on which elements went into the game was primarily based on what would make for an enjoyable interactive experience. The good news is that many of the environments stripped straight from the book simply scream interactive gameplay…battling bears, flying witches and attacking Zeppelins to name a few.

Continue interview at Wired.

The Golden Compass videogame is scheduled for a December 4 release.

For additional information: Visit Spy Fly’s Game Page and www.goldencompassgame.com