Helloooo everyone! As you may know, there was only ONE person left that we hadn’t interviewed yet. The “final boss”, or “the-one-who-created-all-this-and-now-because-of-him-we-are-in-this-together”. Let me introduce Matthieu Richez, our boss and the Lead Game Designer of Dead In Vinland.
Matthieu and his daughter. Arent’ they cute together?
Who are you?
CCCP: Tell us your name, your age, and your role at CCCP for Dead In Vinland?
Matthieu: Matt, 36 years old. I’m the eldest member of those whippersnappers… I’m the boss of CCCP, and on Dead In Vinland, I am the Lead Game Designer.
CCCP: What did you do before?
Matthieu: Before CCCP… That was 13 years ago 😉 I did some IT studies, and then a master’s degree in production management and game design at Supinfogame – Rubika. I finally created the company just after I finished my studies.
Your role for Dead In Vinland
CCCP: Tell us more about your role in the game.
Matthieu: I’m the one behind the game’s concept. I wrote the different systems on paper, described the characters, the objects, etc… Then I managed the team and oversaw how the different elements that I had designed were going to be implemented in the game. And well, I wrote almost all the game’s dialogues, and made sure to give a personality to each character, and implemented all those things in the game’s engine.
If it were not for Coke, we’re not sure Matthieu would have survived so far.
CCCP: What’s your typical working day at the moment?
Matthieu: Haha… We only have one week left before we send the game to the press, so my days lately have been pretty simple: from 7 to 1pm, I play the game, and I write a billion things to fix, and during the day I fix them. We make a new build at 6pm, and on and on… 😉
I’m at the balancing phase, and it’s long, sooooooo long, for a game with as much content as ours.
CCCP: Your favorite mechanics in Dead In Vinland?
Matthieu: I really like the new camp stations that we made, especially the pens. Taking care of those silly animals, is so cute. (That’s the subject of our next blogpost… *Wink wink*)
What is this new feature?
CCCP: Your favorite character? Why?
Matthieu: Overall, an author loves all of their characters, otherwise, that’s disappointing ^^. But, I find myself still laughing at some of Gudrun’s dialogues, so I think she’s good 😊 I loved to write Parvaneh too, I’m looking forward to hearing the “pro” and “anti” Parvaneh x) It’s a divisive character I think, and that’s what is funny.
How will the players react to Parvaneh?
As a gamer
CCCP: Your favorite game?
Matthieu: I’ll say without hesitation Crusader Kings 2, by Paradox. I could talk about it for hours (with a nice beer, of course)! Plotting to murder your incapable and sickly son so that his brother will have the kingdom, that’s what really matters.
Crusader Kings 2 is Matthieu’s favourite game!
CCCP: What have you been playing lately?
Matthieu: Lately, I’ve only been playing Dead In Vinland 😉But before that, I took a break and played Into The Breach and Slay the Spire. Oh, I also took an hour to try Ash of Gods: Redemption this weekend.
In the office
CCCP: Describe your co-workers with 3 words.
Matthieu: Comfortable – Spacious – Bright
CCCP: Any good anecdote from within the walls of CCCP?
Matthieu: I remember that when we started the project we thought we could make the game with only 3 people… Then, we added an artist, “temporarily” (she ended up making all the environments and the outside objects of the game x)), and the more time passed, the more people we added. For a few months, there were a dozen people on the project…
“That was not so easy after all.”
CCCP: Any particular habit at work?
Matthieu: I can’t work without 2 things to give me the strength I need to finish the game: a fresh can of Coke and a picture of my daughter (who was born during the game’s development ^^).
CCCP: Any advice for those who want to become a Game Designer like you?
Matthieu: Personal work. In our jobs, we are lucky to be able to work from everywhere, with only an internet connexion and a good computer. We work in creation jobs, so “only” doing the school course is not enough. And you have to cling to it, life is not a sprint, it’s a long marathon filled with banana skins, so you need to get up on your feet and carry on.
Oh wow, that’s it. It’s a little sad to think that there will be no more interviews…
BUT LET’S NOT GET EMOTIONAL. We still have the mysterious blogpost that Matthieu talked about (the pens!). Don’t forget to join our Discord server if you want to join our community or just say hi to Matthieu! Only two weeks before release. Happy surviving!
