Rodrigo Castillo

Revistronic

Posted by Stefan Lubienski.
First posted on 28 June 2009. Last updated on 17 July 2010.
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Fenimore Fillmore's Revenge

In the early 1990s, graphic adventures dominated gaming on the PC. While most prominent adventure game developers all hailed from North America (LucasArts, Sierra On-Line, Cyan, amongst others), many other lesser known game developers from Europe were hot on their heels to try to catch onto the trend. Revistronic, a Spanish game development company cofounded by brothers Hernán and Rodrigo Castillo, released in 1996 its first adventure game—3 Skulls of the Toltecs. The Wild West adventure caper, inspired by LucasArts' Monkey Island and Spaghetti Westerns such as The Dollar Trilogy, quickly established the company as an innovative adventure game developer.

Since then, the company had expanded its game portfolio and even developed its own in-house game engine for many of its projects. In 2003, the developer released the first sequel to the Fenimore Fillmore series—Wanted: A Wild Western Adventure (also known as the Westerner). In 2008, the developer released the second sequel to the series—Fenimore Fillmore's Revenge.

We are privileged to have an opportunity to interview Revistronic's cofounder, Rodrigo Castillo. In the interview, he speaks about the history of the Fenimore Fillmore series, his own attraction to the Western genre, what gamers can expect from the final game in the trilogy, and where his company will be heading in the future.

Revistronic was founded in 1995, at a time when most adventure games were still developed in America rather than Europe. What inspired you to establish Revistronic to target the adventure game market in Europe and beyond?

My brother Hernán, had by then began to publish little games he made just by himself (platform games) at the beginnings of the 90's. But, usually, by then we began to play adventure games like's Sierra's Leisure Suit Larry, that was the first one, I guess, and, above all, Lucasfilm's (later LucasArts) sagas of Indiana Jones and Monkey Island. We just love those funny complex games that were a little like a movie. We said "Why can't we do something like this?" So, we just think merely in the kind of movies we and many people liked, as a child and even as a grownups: war-WWII related movies (that's Indy saga), adventure-pirate movies (that's Monkey Island Saga) and westerns. That was it, cause there was no western graphic adventures then, but, that's true, when we have just began the production, Freddy Pharkas appeared (doesn't matter, nothing to do with our Fenimore Fillmore). So, the only thing was that that kind of games required better graphics and, above all, a script, and more money, of course. So, as I had just won a literary prize, I put a little money and the script, to take the first steps of the production.

It seems more than a mere coincidence that Revistronic is from the same country (Spain) where many prominent Spaghetti Westerns (such as The Dollars Trilogy) are filmed. To what extent has the popularity of this film genre in Spain inspired you to create the Fenimore Fillmore series? How worried are you that the series may scare off gamers who may not have an intimate fondness of the genre?

Yeah, the coincidence is not as mere as everybody use to think. First of all, as mere boys, we had see one time and another a lot of spaghetti, the Dollar trilogy above all, but also Trinity and many others, and also we knew, personally, a bunch of people that had worked in those movies, actors and directors, for our father worked by then (in the 70s) as a screenwriter here in Spain, and he used to carry us to the filming locations, on Almeria, where all the greatest spaghettis were filmed in the 60s. About the intimate fondness of the genre, it is not necessary to have it, of course, to enjoy the Fenimore Saga.

Fenimore Fillmore's Revenge is a drastic change in direction for the Fenimore Fillmore series. How much of the change is due to external pressures from sales of and critical responses to previous games of the series? How much of the change is due to your own artistic decision?

We don't know really. Everything change or evolve for better or for worse. All factors had it influence, sales, critics...

With its darker themes, Fenimore Fillmore's Revenge is clearly targeted toward a more mature audience than Wanted: A Wild Western Adventure. Taking this perspective, how much has the series evolved over the years from 3 Skulls of the Toltecs?

Well, it has been over a dozen years since 3 Skulls. Fenimore, as us, has grown and changed in a lot of senses and aspects. 3 Skulls was a 2D production, drawn frame by frame by traditional animators, like it used to be then. The script was also funnier, I think, because it was also a way to do it then, I mean, in a way that everything was more crazy, free and uncontrolled, the software companies (no marketing nor financial direction then) and the proper games (almost surreal scripts, as much crazy at they can), no political correction or good taste impositions then. Later on, with the arrival of the 3D, we needed a little time of readjustment (making some 3D tooncar games and so), and, about 7 years after 3 Skulls, we decided to make a sequel, now in 3D. The look and the personality of Fenimore changed a little then, but not a lot.

Fenimore has gone from being a clumsy, goofy, unlikely hero to become a macho, cocky roughen. How do you expect fans of the old Fenimore will relate to and accept the new Fenimore?

In the very deep, Fenimore is the same he used to be, as everybody will see when playing Revenge. The case here is that the bad are more evil than in the first two parts of the saga, so Fenimore needs to be a little rough with them, yeah, even to the point to kill them all. But, in the end, Fenimore is a joker and a little clown. Don't forget that, in the very beginning of 3 Skulls, the first title of the saga, Fenimore kills somebody, accidentally. I mean that he didn't mind if he had to kill. This is the wild old west.

It was probably hard creatively to re-imagine the character of Fenimore, as difficult as it would be to re-imagine the character of Guybrush Threepwood (of Monkey Island) as a merciless pirate. How early or late did the character change surface during development? What of Fenimore's character transformation was initially considered but later rejected?

The main thing about respecting the changes is the situation. Now Fenimore is seriously wounded, and his sweetheart is roughly taken away by a gang of bandits. So, this is not a joke, and Fenimore had to take hard measures, even losing some of his usual funny and carefree behavior.

Some critics of Wanted: A Wild Western Adventure have cited that the game is perhaps too ambitious as a genre bender, naturally causing a divide between traditional adventure purists and hybrid action adventure fans. What is your response to your critics about genre bending? To what extent will Fenimore Fillmore's Revenge address this criticism?

We can't really say. Again, this dangerous situation is the turning point. For the first time, Fenimore has to draw his guns with the real aim to kill. We are not pretending to do any kind of hybrids. Anyway, Wanted was really, to us and to many players, a pure adventure game, for you only have to point & click, as usual. Do the so called purists remember when, for example, in Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, you need a little left hand to avoid the German soldiers clicking to cross when they are not looking? That requires a little "arcade playing", just click quickly and in the precise moment. So, why can't a purist click here or there with some precision and a little faster?

What accommodations, if any, are made in Fenimore Fillmore's Revenge for gamers who may not be fond of the action elements in the gameplay? How is the gameplay in Fenimore Fillmore's Revenge different from that in Wanted: A Wild Western Adventure?

We make no games to please some against others, you know. The game is as it is. No accommodations, please. So, if you are in the west and don't want to draw and shoot, please go back east.

Fenimore Fillmore's Revenge is being advertised as having a "more ambitious script". How expansive is the script in this sequel as compared to previous games in the series?

The script is not expensive (or expansive), but cheaper, for, as everybody knows, the adventure game is a low budget genre in this days. Attending to the budget as we had, the script is as extensive as it has been possible. The theme has been simplified, just revenge. Revenge doesn't need almost any explanations, as love, hate and things like that.

The Fenimore Fillmore series is developed using a propriety game engine called the Revistronic Engine. The engine is currently at V3 (third version). Why do you choose to develop your own game engine? What are the advantages of Revistronic Engine over other graphic engines, such as the Wintermute Engine, that are favored by other adventure game developers? What are your plans to spin off the Revistronic Engine as a commercial game development tool?

The Revistronic engine as evolve far over the needs of an adventure game. We have always used our own engines, developed by my brother Hernan, from the very beginning, and the engine, in particular from the introduction of the 3D, had evolved as Revistronic and as Fenimore. And, yes, we have plans, and even offers, to develop the engine as a commercial tool.

Few videogame franchises had ever transitioned from one particular style to another successfully (an example is the Prince of Persia). In hindsight, how much did you feel you had accomplished (both hits and misses) in Fenimore Fillmore's Revenge of what you had set out to achieve initially?

We don't really think that we have transitioned, with Fenimore, from one style to another. It is just the adventure genre that diversified itself, introducing new little elements, but always retaining the real adventure essence. We look back in time, and there are, in the distant past, some kind of charm, perhaps false but evocative, and we really think those games, 3 Skulls or Wanted, were really good. Guess someday, in the future, we will think something like this about Revenge. Time will tell.

A question that all fans of the series will want to know: will there be another sequel in the Fenimore Fillmore series? What other game projects, adventure or otherwise, are on the horizon from Revistronic?

We don't know really. A trilogy is a trilogy, and a tetralogy is almost unpronounceable. I can confess that, personally, I will be glad to make a remake, in 3D, of the first title of the saga. About other game projects, we have plenty of them. Soon will be released a game from a worldwide film franchise we have made for different platforms (Wii, PS, PC). Also we have ambitious projects for PS3 and XBOX. And last, but not least, perhaps some title of the Fenimore saga will be adapted to Wii and other platforms. Anyway, we keep going on, folks, and we'll be seeing you.

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