Agustin, of course the most important question for our readers is: How is Asylum progressing. When can we expect news about a possible release date and are you already in negotiations with a german publisher?

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And what about the possibility to download the game? And will there be a soundtrack cd? Or other extras?

Love Scratches and can't wait for Asylum!

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The scariest monsters are the ones that lurk within our souls ...
Edgar Allen Poe

I can imagine. Here's the thing: the game is doing fine. We're making solid progress every week. For instance, last one we finalized work on the audio system which is far more complex than the one in Scratches.

Progress is solid but slow though. It's a large game, and yes, it got out of hand. It's quite literally like doing THREE Scratches. We want to make sure that quality is constantly maintained throughout the entire game too. So it's doing OK, there's still a chance that we make it in 2012, but I don't want to promise anything. When we're positive about a release date, you will hear about it. Oh yes, you will

We have been in talks with a German publisher and you can bet for a localized release. We're looking at both retail and digital releases. Soundtrack? Check. DLCs? Check. And we think that what we have in mind for the DLCs is going to be quite innovative (and before you ask, we're planning free extras). So it's already many hours in the main game which are going to be extended even more with additional content.

Sounds great - and makes me even more bite my nails in anticipation!

Are there, for the poor souls who cannot wait, teasers?

I loved the teasers from Scratches. And how they became afterwards a part of the story.
After i played them i knew i would love Scratches.

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The scariest monsters are the ones that lurk within our souls ...
Edgar Allen Poe

I know what you mean, the teasers were very significant during the development of Scratches. Players were able to see for themselves how the game was evolving, and they shed some light about the story in the game.

Yes, there's something like that coming up for Asylum

The interior of the house in Scratches was so realistic that, years later, I can still walk around in it in my head. I'm not sure how you achieved that, but I was curious as to whether you want that effect with Asylum, and if so, how you plan to achieve it. What do you do to give a setting its own character?

Hi Becky!

That is a good question to which I can't give a straight answer. I know what you mean and many feel the same; players often feel as if they had really spent a terrifying stay in Blackwood Manor.

One of the key reasons, I think, is something not directly related to the setting but a "relationship" that the game creates between you and the setting. For instance, passage of time: this was an ever present factor in Scratches with a clear implication on the story and commanded your actions. From looking to candles before the day ends, to sleeping, to preventing you from going outside because it was raining in the second day, I think this flow of time greatly contributed to the realism of the setting. In a way, it created a sort of intimacy that made you care for the house.

At least I THINK so. It's very hard to explain... We did go to great lengths to make sure the house had the right layout and everything made sense (architecturally). Many were surprised to find that nothing was cheated, that is, every single room and hallway were spatially correct, even the secret ones

Hopefully you will get the same feeling in Asylum as the approach is exactly the same: it's one big, completely "functional" building. Every room has a purpose and the layout was inspired by real asylums. And there's also the passage of time thing. All in all, the realism should be even more pronounced here.

I hadn't thought of the passage of time as an important factor in making the environment seem real. I'm intrigued as to how that will work in a setting that is more "impersonal" -- where many people have been held against their wills, rather than choosing to live there, arranging the furniture, making the place a home. Will there be a contrast between the public rooms and rooms that were not accessible to visitors? How to give a sense of history in rooms that are more like prison cells? (I may be imagining aspects that aren't even there in the game -- if so, I apologize.)

I think you're right in calling the setting more "impersonal". You won't feel the same connection as with Blackwood Manor as you're visiting Hanwell under very different circumstances. Scratches conveyed feelings of nostalgia, sadness and mystery. Blackwood Manor could be equally comfy and scary.

The goals with Asylum are different: the building is menacing from the very first moment and it only gets worse as the night evolves. There is going to be plenty of mystery, of course, and some passages of sadness as you revisit memories of past inmates, but the environment is meant to be infinitely more threatening.

So I'm sorry, you just won't feel the same as with Scratches (which is a good thing, we don't want to replicate the game). But it will feel realistic, you have my word. If Scratches felt like an uneasy dream, Asylum will feel like your worst nightmare

Infinitely more threatening sounds exciting! Thanks for your evocative descriptions. I am now (if possible) even more curious than I was before.