Andy Bellatti: Well, Jane... yet *another* pesky interview for you! This is all probably becoming routine to you now, right?

Jane Jensen: It's not me I'm worried about! It's when it gets old for others that it's probably a mistake.

AB: How do you feel about all the attention you and GK3 (a whole year before its release) are getting? Does it add more pressure or do you just take all this attention lightheartedly?

JJ: I love to watch the web sites and read what people have to say. And I think it's a great omen that there's more interest this time around right from the start than there was after GK1. Hopefully that means GK3 will sell more right out of the gate. However, I realize that the folks I see on the web, god love 'em, are still a relatively small number of people. This medium is a limited niche compared to, say, books or film, and the Gk games are a niche inside that. That keeps one humble -- and working hard.

As for pressure -- I try to stay focused on what I think is right for the next game because you can't please everyone. But I'd say there's more of a feeling of pressure than last time when no one much cared what I did. :-)

AB: You've probably heard all the rumors about GK3: Brazil, crop circles, vampires, witchcraft, Italy, Manos Del Sol... are any of these even *close* to what GK3 is *really* about?

JJ: Can't say :-). It's not that we're trying to be coy and we actually don't have any kind of master plan for building suspense. The main pull is between the team and I who wanted to start getting some word/images out there about GK3 (because many of the big games do get attention a year in advance -- Phantas did) and PR which thinks its too early and *also* wants to be able to offer some 'hot exclusives' to some of the press down the road. Most magazines won't do previews until 3-4 months before ship which is Marchish in our case. And they won't bother if *everything's* been splashed all over the web already, you see? They need something to 'reveal', some exclusive. So we're trying to figure out what 'pieces' we have to reveal and when and where they'll get revealed. It's our job -- not to torment fans -- but to try to get the maximum web AND magazine PR because that's what it'll take to sell numbers -- and we all want gk3 to be successful.

AB: "Phantasmagoria 2", although a sequel to the first "Phantas" was like a completely different game. Will Gk3, when compared to Gk2, also be *totally* different or will it have things with previous games in common?

JJ: No! It will have the same main characters, Gabriel and Grace. Phantas was designed as more of a story anthology.

AB: In a past news brief you gave me, you said there would be a bit more sex in GK3. Is it because the theme itself deals with sex (like vampires, etc.) or is it for some other reason?

JJ: You asked if there'd be a similar level of violence and sex as the first two -- I said yes with perhaps a *bit* more sex. I'm not prepared to describe the sex scenes, Andy! But I wouldn't say the 'theme' revolves around sex, no.

AB: When will casting for the voice-overs begin? Do you have any ideas in your head as to who you want to cast for each character yet, or is it too early to think about yet?

JJ: We will be casting in the next few months and hope to begin recording in November (so I'm furiously writing dialogue). We do have a wish list together, but I can't discuss it. But I will say we've found all of the casting threads on the web pretty interesting to read.

AB: As you make each GK game, do you feel like each time you are learning more and exceeding what you thought as your best in your last product?

JJ: Yes. But it's also influenced by the current mindset in games. With GK1 I was determined to make a 'gamer's game' because many at that time had been complaining about Sierra's new 'icon' interface being too easy. Then, in GK2, that was at the height of the 'Hollywood meets Silicon Valley' CD-ROM hype. At that point I really wanted to try to expand the GK audience and make it more of a 'mass market' piece. Now, with GK3, the pendulum has swung back the other way towards gameplay as being the key thing.

AB: How long is the GK script? Will parts of it be cut from the game during the editing process like in Sierra's past FMV games were not all the script was used?

JJ: The dialogue script isn't final. However, I think GK3 will be about the size of GK1. And no, as of right now it doesn't look like there'll have to be cuts to the design/story, which is great.

AB: Are there any shockers in GK3 (i.e.: Gabriel and Grace getting together, learning a secret of Gabriel's past, etc.)?

JJ: Sure. There are shockers. :-)

AB: Although system requirements are not known yet, will this be a hardware-demanding game or are you focusing more on gameplay/storytelling than on making it look pretty?

JJ: It's definitely a technologically demanding game because we're trying to do it all in real time, *and* have both characters and backgrounds look as good as possible. There's a trade-off there of machine power-to-polygons and we'll try to have a balance, but to get the look we want we have to lean towards the polygon end of the equation, which pulls up the requirements. But it will also, hopefully, be scalable to different machines.

AB: What is the budget for Gk3?

JJ: I don't think I can say.

AB: What has been the most challenging aspect of working on Gk3?

JJ: I guess making the shift to the new mindset. Also, the story was very challenging to write.

AB: Now that you have seen and worked with both 3-D and FMV, if Sierra told you to make a Gk game and gave you an unlimited budget and if the amount of time taken up by the project was not important, would you rather make a Full-Motion-Video GK or a 3-D one?

JJ: I really don't know. I guess what I'd say is that I'd love to see GK done as TV or film because it's great to see the story in live action. But as far as the games go, they're probably better off *not* being live action.

AB: What is currently being done with GK3?

JJ: The programmers are still working on the higher-level functions of the 3D engine. The artists are pumping away on backgrounds and characters. I'm writing dialogue. And we're all getting a kick from the web stuff.

AB: Thank you very much for your help and cooperation, Jane. I look forward to staying in contact with you for the newsletter and expect to have a *huge* hit on your hands next year!

JJ: THANKS

Big Thanks to Jane Jensen!