2020 interview with Hervé Lange (B. A. T., Fer & Flamme)

[cwpab]

I have just discovered this wonderful interview with Hervé Lange, the main designer of the Amstrad CPC games B. A. T., Fer & Flamme, L'Anneau de Zengara.

But for me, the most important thing he did was B. A. T. 2, an incredibly immersive game for 1992 that blew me away in 1997.

Sadly, B. A. T. 2 didn't come out for the CPC, but this guy made 3 complex games for the system.

I learned a few interesting things reading the interview:

- The Atari ST version of B. A. T. needed a special audio card to run as an anti-piracy measure. They estimated they lost half of the sales of their previous RPG games for the CPC due to piracy (false: if the pirated game is not available, you don't go running to the shop to buy the original game, you just play another pirated game or even watch a movie), so they created this measure.

- B. A. T. 2 was too ambitious, and the end result was a bit confusing. Apparently you don't even need combat at all (except when the game forces you in an ambush). Feedback at the time was like: "Why didnt' you just make a graphic adventure with these designs?". I kind of agree because man, the visual designs were so good.

- After those games, he surprisingly shifted to 3rd person graphic adventures with Down in the Dumps, a very strange game with 3D cutscenes that remind me of Heart of Darkness (also French... Maybe same people?). And apparently he lost all his money when Sony cancelled an Island of Dr Moreau game he was making for the PC! (Sony focused on the PSX instead). So he decided to move to animation, and had a successful career!

A very fun read.

PS: If you haven't tried B. A. T. 2, I recommend you just explore the city (or even cities? you can control a 3D ship to go to others) without even knowing what to do. It's one of those games where you have a good time by simply moving around.

[genesis8]

And another interview in 2011 by NoRecess

Thanks for the link of this 2020 interview.

[Gryzor]

Thanks for sharing, very interesting! 

@genesis8 , wrong link?

[genesis8]

Thanks for sharing, very interesting!

@genesis8 , wrong link?

No it's the third paragraph, first link.