"When a plastic surgeon is found dead in his office, the police is quick to apprehend a main suspect. It's a textbook case - except that the suspect is actually innocent. There's much more behind the deceased doctor. Much more.
Dirty Split is a point & click adventure game in which you direct a private investigator, Alan Baxter. You'll accompany him on his investigations and help him to do his job and to solve the case. You'll travel alongside Baxter through the wild world of the early 1960ies, and together you'll visit the sparkling life in Los Angeles, the exciting events in Las Vegas and many more places. In conversations with a variety of interesting characters both Baxter and you will come closer to the truth step by step." (taken from the official manual)
The graphics, the soundtrack and the voice acting of "Dirty Split" are amongst the best ones you'll find in the freeware sector. The game also has an interesting story and you won't guess the solution of the mystery right from the start.
So even if the puzzles are a bit too easy to solve, you should give "Dirty Split" a try!
There are also translations into German, French and Czech. Please visit the official homepage to download these.
You can find Dirty Split here. The game developers site is here.
Interview of the man behind the face-lift-killer.
We contacted Uwe Sittig, who developed this adventure game with which he fell right into the trap of leaving people wanting to see more of this character he developed! Now screaming hordes of worshipping gamers are showing up at his door misguidedly throwing underwear in through his bedroom window asking to deliver us more code-lines containing the words Alan Baxter!
Chroelle:
Tell us more about yourself - how old are you, where do you live, what do you do for a living? (one of these basic interview questions)
Uwe:
I'm 28 years old and living in Bremen, Germany. In my day job I'm working as a software developer in an advertising agency. That's not half as creative as I wish it was, though, which is why I'm developing games in private.
Chroelle:
What lies behind the title Dirty Split?
Uwe:
Funny, I get this question a lot. Next time I'll try to make the title a little less ambiguous, heh.
Splits are a central theme in the game: There's the couple that just split up, then there's a private eye / former police detective who quit the department, and there's even an entire family that broke up. None of these separations went over cleanly - hence 'dirty split'.
Chroelle:
Dirty split is described as a high-end freeware game wherever you encounter a description of it. What kind of tools, skills etc was needed to get such a good result.
Uwe:
My main tools were Photoshop (mostly the path tools to get that crisp look) and the wonderful Wintermute engine. What I've found is that it's not so much the set of tools, but rather the mindset you have. Today there is a wealth of great tools available for everyone, often for free, that enable you to build pretty much anything you can dream of. I always dreamed of making my own adventure games and telling my own stories ever since I played Monkey Island back in the day, and in Wintermute I found the perfect way to do that. But the best tools are no help at all if you don't stick with it and put a lot of energy into it.
Chroelle:
The private dick setting has been seen before - though many times in a film noir setting. Did you play any specific titles that made you do this the way you did?
Uwe:
It's not so much inspiration from games rather than from movies and books. I love those classic Bogart movies from the 40ies, and the Baxter character is a little reference to that. Still, I tried to give him his own personality instead of imitating anyone. I tried not to make him the typical private dick. Give him his own set of problems and view of the world.
Chroelle:
Alan Baxter has a James Bond quality to him - it might be the suit or the somewhat 70's feel to some of the story. Was there any specific thoughts behind making him this way?
Uwe:
I like to think of the game in a 60ies era, a golden and glamorous 60ies with a very distinct style dripping from every scene. I drew a lot of inspiration from Josh 'SHAG' Agle's paintings (www.shag.com) which set the mood and jetset flair for the game. Baxter was designed to be a counterpoint to that. He's an old-fashioned, scruffy guy who doesn't quite fit into the jetset / lounge scene, but he's adapting.
Chroelle:
Will we see more of Alan Baxter - And I am not talking nudy-pics here?
Uwe:
You might. Right now the Baxter character still comes across as a little bland, there are only slight glimpses into his life and personality. I'd love to tell more about him, have him entangled in more exciting cases that give the audience a chance to learn more about Baxter and his past as well.
(And I AM talking nudy-pics. What you don't know is that Baxter was a nude model before he joined the police, and that will come back to bite him. Major plot point here...)
Chroelle:
Have you thought about making it into a multi-part series?
Uwe:
Actually, yes. There are no immediate plans to make a sequel or even more than one, but I have it in the back of my mind. I love the style and flair of the 60ies, and there's so much more to tell that wasn't touched on in Dirty Split. Some day I'd like to return to that and tell more, in longer and more elaborate episodes.
Chroelle:
Do you remember any ideas you had for the game that didn't make it? Where there other plot-twists or endings planned?
Uwe:
There are a lot of ideas that didn't make it, mostly because I tried to keep the project managable and realistic. Apart from the music and voices I had to do everything on the game on my own, so I had to focus on the essentials. Too many projects fail because the expectations are too high and the goals are unrealistic. I fell into that trap before - everyone does at some point. Dirty Split was a conscious effort to NOT go overboard with features and expectations. It's so short because it was meant to be a managable project, a first try to see what is possible, a vehicle to learn how to do more ambitious projects.
Chroelle:
Do you think that Alan Baxter could be crossed over to a movie-series?
Uwe:
An animated series, perhaps. I said before that I love SHAG's paintings, and one of the reasons for choosing that style was that I wanted to see what those paintings would look like in motion. SHAG's world has so much to offer. Every painting tells a story, every image oozes character and style, yet somehow they're all coherent and from the same elegant universe. I'd love to watch that as a series, yeah!
Chroelle:
Can you tell me anything I don't know about Dirty Split or the production of the game. Simple trivia/fun facts.
Uwe:
1) The game was done in 7 months, with a 2 month break in-between because we moved to another house.
2) It was done mostly late at night when I should have been sleeping, and it ruined my sleeping habits to this day. My girlfriend is still not amused.
3) The oldest person who played it - and told me about it - is 82 years old.
4) There's an inofficial cracked version of the game that is being sold in Ukraine. It's completely translated into Russian and repackaged with some new cover artwork. While I can't say that I like or condone what they did, I must say I'm impressed by the professional effort. ;o)
Chroelle:
Can you tell us about the other games you worked on? Which is your own personal favourite(s) and why?
Uwe:
I haven't really worked on any other games yet, not counting some very basic, very simple ones that are best kept unmentioned.
Chroelle:
And are you currently involved in other game creation? Freeware or commercial?
Uwe:
I'm working on several titles that will be completely different from Dirty Split, although they'll be adventure games as well. I'm leaning heavily towards 2.5D and 3D for a scifi / mystery type story and a few other concepts.
Another freeware game that I'm involved in is Star Trek: Origins (origins.reichinspe.de), and adventure game with a gripping story about the Enterprise crew around Captain Archer. It's a lot of fun, I have a chance to work with highly creative and talented people on a subject that has been established for 40 years and that continues to fascinate all of us.
Chroelle:
When did you start playing games? Do you have any fond memories of those times and did you decide to make a game of your own because of some of them? Is Dirty Split based on some of them?
Uwe:
I started playing video games when I was about 8, and I turned to PC games when I was maybe 12. The first games I remember are Monkey Island 2 and Indiana Jones & the Fate of Atlantis, completely different from anything I'd seen before. I guess that impressed me so much that I caught the adventure game bug back then, and never recovered.
Chroelle:
Did more people work on the game, and if so was it difficult leading the progress with volunteers/paid workers working for you.
Uwe:
It wasn't difficult at all, surprisingly. I'd expected more obstacles and difficulties, and I was kind of afraid to rely on volunteers because there's the reliability issue. That's why I tried to do as much of the game as I can on my own.
But once a first playable prototype was done that I could show to people, I was contacted by very talented composers and actors. Finding the voice actors was a breeze, really, and I loved working with all of them - both the German and the English ones. I'm hoping to work with them again as soon as there's an opportunity. I was very positively surprised by how easy that part was to manage, and by how professional and reliable it was handled by everyone. The same goes for all the translators who helped create the Spanish, French, Czech, Italian, Russian and Catalan versions, to name just a few.
I welcome any chance to thank everyone who helped in creating the game
)Chroelle:
How do people react to the game when they talk to you about it?
Uwe:
Very positive. There's very little negative reaction to the game, which really surprised me as I expected a harsher reaction to this first project. The main criticisms are always about the length and difficulty of the game, and about the sometimes long-winded conversations. All valid points that I can learn from and touch upon in future projects.
Chroelle:
Were the games ever in danger of not being published? Why? And at what state?
Uwe:
No, I set my mind to it and put it into my head to publish the game no matter what. I've had that experience before where I planned a very ambitious game with a few friends, but never got past the concept stage due to the unrealistic work load and missing experience. Dirty Split was a conscious effort to avoid those pitfalls and create something that could be realized in a few months.
Chroelle:
Which freeware games do you remember playing that made you take on freeware game development?
Uwe:
I remember playing an Indiana Jones parody game by Stefan Zwanzger called Udoiana Raunes, and a more obscure freeware game called Mission Supernova (which was actually shareware, not freeware). What impressed me about those was that in both cases someone had an idea, sat down and turned it into a fun game. No fuss, no big team, all creativity... they simply did it. That got me thinking I could do that as well, and creating games from my own ideas was actually possible.
Chroelle:
Were there any games that inspired you for Dirty Split? Maybe something other than games?
Uwe:
The main inspiration really were SHAG's paintings that I talked about earlier. They're all made in that kind of 50ies art style that you could often see in advertising back then. They all have this elegant jetset / lounge / tiki vibe that I have come to love. I thought it would be great to have an interactive version of that. Being able to walk through this world on your own and experience it all in sound and motion.
Chroelle:
What part of Dirty Split was the hardest part getting done?
Uwe:
The writing. Starting a project and getting the concept right is always the hardest part. Once you have a round concept and a thorough design document it gets easier.
Chroelle:
What kind of game you would love to make if you had the resources needed and open boundaries?
Uwe:
GTA - in space ;o)
Chroelle:
What do you think was the coolest feature in the game?
Uwe:
The coolest feature is the photorealistic 3D mode that is enabled if you finish the game 5 times. And the millionth person to play the game has confetti raining from their speakers and fireworks shooting from their monitor. I'm really proud of that feature. (ED: And now to complete the game for the 5th time...)
Chroelle:
We know there are some features in the game that you don't always notice - like subtle hints or easter eggs. Are there any such in Dirty Split?
Uwe:
Absolutely. There are quite a few cheeky references to pop culture... movies, games, artists that I admire and wanted to give a little nod to. If you spot them all then you've earned my admiration as well.
Chroelle:
Where do you see yourself 5 years from now regarding game making?
Uwe:
I'm still heavily in love with the adventure genre, that won't change in the next 5 years. It might not always be 2D, and releasing games in an episodic fashion (like Telltale do (ED: The makers of the new Sam and Max adventures.) is a very attractive model. The next games will differ greatly from Dirty Split, especially in tone, length and difficulty, but they'll be adventure games nonetheless. I'm hoping to have finished at least two more games in 5 years time.
Wow, I'll be 33 then...
Chroelle:
Do you have any favourite games from the freeware scene?
Uwe:
Actually I'm not playing many freeware games outside of the adventure genre, but there have been quite a number of perls in the last few years. The ones that impressed me most were those in the Trilby series by Ben Croshaw or 'Yahtzee'. I love how he manages to invoke an eerie atmosphere without much eye candy or musical cues, simply through great writing.
The games I'm most fond of are not yet released, though. I'm anxiously waiting for Indiana Jones and the Fountain of Youth, and I also have a keen eye on Rise of the Hidden Sun. And there are a couple more, too many to mention.
Chroelle:
Any other freeware games you think we should know about for our site?
Uwe:
Again, I can only talk about adventure games here. But very notable freeware games would be Timanfaya or Zak McKracken 2.
Chroelle:
Which leads up to the next question.
If you were to mention a GOD of freeware, who would that be?
Uwe:
That would be Mark 'm0ds' Lovegrove. The guy had his fingers in so many great freeware titles and in so many different positions that you can't help but admire his work.
Chroelle:
What are your views on giving away commercial games as freeware when they have been commercial for some amount (you decide) of years?
Uwe:
From a gamer's perspective it's great of course. If a publisher decides to do that it's a great way to show some connection to their audience. And it's a very respectable move. I'm sure there are many people who would never even have heard of Flight of the Amazon Queen or Beneath a Steel Sky if they hadn't been released as freeware. And those games are too great to miss.
Chroelle:
If you could choose to do a freeware game with any game developer or publisher(freeware or commercial) who would it be?
Uwe:
Actually, I don't have any preferences. There are so many talented people out there who I'd like to work with that I can't even name anyone in particular.
Chroelle:
Ok. To finish off the interview. The classic question:
Any words for enthusiastic independent game developers?
Uwe:
Stick with it and never lose sight of the big picture. If you put your mind to it and don't peter out, it'll pay off in the end.