Hey there, Enthusiacs. I recently had the distinct pleasure of interviewing Cheryl Cottrell-Smith, the community manager for The Station. This game immediately caught my attention for its atmospheric setting and stunning environment, and I was more than happy to have a chance to discuss its development with Cheryl.

Judge Greg: To get the formality out of the way, would you please introduce yourself and tell us how you came to be Community Manager for The Station?

Cheryl Cottrell-Smith: My name’s Cheryl Cottrell-Smith and I’m a writer, editor, and social media specialist who is heavily involved in the Canadian pop culture community. I’ve always been a fan of video games, especially narrative-based games, which is why I recently joined the team at The Station as Community Manager, where I will be managing all social media, public relations, and community-based channels for the launch of the new game.

JG: What is the story concept of The Station?

CCS: The Station is a first-person narrative-based exploration game that takes place upon a space station sent to study a sentient alien civilization. The alien planet is currently in a state of planet-wide civil war and, after something goes wrong and contact with the station is lost, a pilot is sent to uncover what happened.

JG: What makes The Station stand out from other first person exploration games?

CCS: There’s no violence or combat within the game—it’s entirely based on exploration, solving puzzles, and the storytelling aspect. We wanted to make something separate from the world of combat-based video games, which is why the focus in The Station is on ambience, experience, and narrative.

JG: How would you describe the experience of building community for The Station?

CCS: It’s amazing to see just how many people are engaging with community posts and expressing excitement about the upcoming games because everyone is excited for different reasons. We have people who adore narrative-based games, people who are intrigued by our approach to space exploration and our alternate reality website, Explore Axiom, and people who are looking forward to the game’s day one Linux support. We’re getting a lot of great feedback from the community and we can’t wait to see how this builds as we get closer to launch.

JG: Day one Linux support isn’t something I would expect featured in a game’s release. Was there a specific reason this was done?

CCS: It actually always surprises our team that day one multi-platform support isn’t available for games more often. This was a choice we made so that we could reach a more diverse audience and also give gamers from different platforms the opportunity to enjoy our game. We’ve had some great feedback from the Linux gaming community so far, so we’re looking forward to it.

JG: Could you provide some context for the “alternate reality” website ExploreAxiom.com?

CCS: The Station itself is so heavily invested in story that we wanted to build on that and add context to the game by creating ExploreAxiom.com. This website posts updates that deal with issues prior to the mission launch within the game, including the politics around embarking on such a mission, initial images of the alien planet Psy Prime from the probe, and more. We wanted to give more depth to the story with this extra content and also build up excitement for the game. Once the Explore Axiom updates end, the mission in The Station begins.

JG: The Station has been fully backed on Kickstarter. First of all, congratulations. How have you found the response from the backers?

CCS: Thank you! We did something a little different with our Kickstarter, just to test the waters. Our game was already well into development when we launched it, so it wasn’t relying on funding from the Kickstarter. Whether we met our goal or not, the game would be made. Rather, it gave us a way to gauge general interest for the game and give people a way to get on board before launch. Our Kickstarter backers have been amazing so far and we appreciate their support and feedback more than anything.

JG: Have you become frustrated with first person exploration games, such as The Station, being dismissed with the pejorative shorthand descriptor “walking simulator?”

CCS: I just find the term “walking simulator” funny, to be honest. If the entire game consisted of walking from one spot to another, then that would make sense, but exploration and narrative-based games have way more depth than that. There’s a mystery—you have to unravel it. That may include learning new information, investigating things, and solving puzzles. There’s a story to discover and an experience to be had, so I think referring to these games as walking simulators is much too dismissive. Some people prefer combat games, some prefer unlocking achievements, and some prefer games based in narrative. All games are simulations at the most basic level, anyways, so those kinds of terms are pretty redundant.

JG: I understand the development team has AAA game experience. Could you tell us about that?

CCS: Yes! The leads on our team come from senior roles on projects like Destiny, Bioshock Infinite and Prototype. With the goal to form a studio around narrative adventure games, The Station is a way to test the production of creating an indie game using triple A pipelines. Many of the game universes that we have worked on have inspired The Station’s experiences and we keep hearing the feedback of “Did your team work on [insert one of our past games here]? Because it really reminds me of it.”

JG: What game engine is being used for The Station, and how has the experience been using it?

CCS: Our developers are using Unity 5 to produce The Station, which is an accessible development engine. We chose to use Unity because we wanted to see if we could build something comparable to AAA games in quality, at a much lower overall development cost. Our team have all come from lead roles at a number of AAA studios and we wanted to take that talent and prove that a high-quality game doesn’t require a development engine costing tens of thousands of dollars—it can be made using Unity and still rival the quality of AAA games out there.

When we first started production using Unity (having worked with the top engines in the industry), it was with tongue-in-cheek that we said “we should try and produce our game at the same level of production just to prove a point that it’s possible.” This joke became almost a challenge for us that we’re trying to prove that yes, the engine matters, but the right team can challenge those expectations.

JG: What does the future hold for you once The Station is complete?

CCS: I’ll be continuing to work with the community once The Station is launched, making sure that everyone has a fulfilling experience with the game. Our developers are also currently at work on the next game, so it doesn’t look like we’ll be stopping any time soon!

JG: I’m now forced to ask, is there anything you can tell us about the next game?

CCS: Not yet, I’m afraid! Stay tuned.

JG: I had to try. When you’re not managing the community around The Station, what do you like to do with your time?

CCS: I’m the kind of person who always has to have multiple projects on the go, so I’m always busy with something or other. Outside of The Station, I run a pop culture website called The Pulp, I occasionally post to my local food blog, which I’ve had running for five years, I cosplay and attend comic conventions around the province, and I get involved in a number of gaming and comic-related events held throughout the city. There’s been an explosion of these kinds of events in my city lately, so I always like to stay at the centre of everything that’s happening in the world of pop culture.

JG: When do you sleep?

CCS: I honestly have no idea, Greg. Coffee helps.

JG: I couldn’t function without it. Thank you very much for talking with us. Can you tell us when The Station will be released, and where can people find it?

CCS: The Station will be released summer 2017 and will be available for purchase from our website (thestationgame.com) or on Steam. We’ll initially be launching for Windows, Mac, and Linux and are hoping to have console and VR versions of the game available in the near future.

JG: Where can people go to learn more about you and The Station?

Website: thestationgame.com

Alternate Reality Website: exploreaxiom.com

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