The new Indiana Jones Lego game has jumped straight into the number one slot in the UK. Gaming Verdict caught up with Jonathan Smith, the producer of Lego Indiana Jones : Original Adventures at Traveller’s Tales, and asked questions that only a hardened archaeological adventurer could ask. Read on...

GV :  Are Travellers Tales big fans of Indy series?

Jon : Like most human beings of our age, the whole team loves Indy. We grew up in awed admiration of his big screen adventures. It was a real thrill to have those adventures in our LEGO game world. We’ve all been excited about the
new movie too - although the game features the action and characters from the original trilogy of films (Raiders of the Lost Ark, Temple of Doom and The Last Crusade); so that’s been our focus during development.

GV : How many TT resources were on the development team? Can you please give a brief account of the development process on a Lego themed game?

Jon : Our development process relies on the creativity and expertise of the individuals on our team to make awesome levels based on the movies, taking advantage of the new gameplay features which we implement at the beginning of the project. For LEGO Indy, we spent a lot of time at the start developing the new "pick up and drop" systems, which enable Indy and the other characters to move around LEGO objects, and to use a wide variety of different tools and weapons - unlike the characters in our previous LEGO Star Wars games, who were more restricted. At the same time, we designed the levels and prepared our story-telling cutscene storyboards. Then the Production phase is simply a matter of building it all out, while continuously testing, playing, amending and refining the levels to ensure they’re entirely full of fun.

GV : In light of the closure of your Oxford studio and the fact that thecompany is now owned by Warner Bros., do you think film related games are to take precedence from this point onwards?

Jon : Traveller’s Tales has always worked with lots of movie properties; and we’ll certainly continue to do so.

GV : Making games to fit around film storylines and characters has always been notoriously difficult to nail, particularly in terms of trying to match the level of aesthetic polish that people have already seen on the big screen. Obviously with the ’Lego’ series you’ve hit the spot, allowing you to capture the feel of a franchise without getting too hung up on the scenes being picture perfect, but what other advantages have you found this now tried and tested method has had on your ability to capture the ’feel’ of a film?

Jon: In the LEGO world, we’re just a lot more free to play around with things - in fact, it’s *necessary* to play around with things; or else they don’t belong in a  LEGO game. This makes our games friendly to the way people engage imaginatively with characters and entertainment, supplemental to the specific ways in which those worlds are initially delivered in narrative.

GV : From what we’ve seen so far the actual gameplay elements across the different Lego games appear to be almost carbon copied, which gives the games a homely and familiar feel. Do you think in 10 years time Lego games will still be played in exactly the same way, or can we expect to see the formula being gradually changed over time?

Jon : We’ve been working very hard to move our gameplay forward with each new game - and you’ll see that clearly if you look back now at the original LEGO Star Wars, and compare it to LEGO Indiana Jones. You can expect to see continual innovation as we go forward, too.

GV : It would seem at this stage that anything with cult status could potentially be a fantastic fit for a Lego game, but where would you draw the line?

Jon : We always want our games to be playable by *anyone* - so anymaterial which was inappropriate for young players, would be a no-go area.


GV : On a personal note, if you were able to choose any film or franchise and have it magically transformed into a Lego game, which would it be and why?

Jon: We don’t need magical transformations - we’re working on exactly the things we want to, right now...


GV : There’s been word recently about your work on the ’Guinness Game of World Records’, in which you’ll be able to attempt to beat real world records with your friends. Frankly we’re a little confused, can you tell us a little bit more about the project? Most importantly, will I be able to create an avatar who’ll sit in a bath of beans for 6 days in real-time?

Jon : You’ve totally got it - our Guinness World Records game enables you to create an avatar, then do the most amazing things imaginable! You can break 40 different World Records - from cockroach-eating to tightrope walking; from the Land Speed Record to the longest fingernails on one hand - competing with your friends, family, and other players all over the world, to get the best scores. Break a record in the game, and you will actually get your name in the official book next year!


GV : Lego Batman appears to have taken an interesting twist in allowing you to play from the perspective of the baddies, a feature which will no doubt please many fans of the series. But the big questions at hand: are we going to get to beat up Batman? And if not, any clues about the kind of mischief we can expect to get involved in?

Jon : It’s good to be bad.


GV : Were Lucasarts a big part of the development process, or did they let you get on with the job? Any feedback from George himself?

Jon : We heard that George Lucas liked the original LEGO Star Wars game, which made us all very proud. The team at LucasArts have always been ncredibly supportive and helpful.


GV : What do you guys do to celebrate the completion of a game? With the new Indy game at #1 in the charts, how does that make you feel?

We’re really pleased with the reception for LEGO Indy, and we’re excited about our plans for the new games we’re working on right now.

Thanks Jonathan for taking the time out of your busy schedule to answer the questions.