Game preservation has just gone up a level
Digital Eclipse, the Californian developer specialising in videogame preservation, has created a kickass interactive documentary about Jordan Mechner’s groundbreaking martialarts action title Karateka. It covers Mechner’s life and loves, discusses pioneering techniques such as rotoscoping and features design documents, journal entries and videos along with playable prototypes and new remastered versions of Karateka and the unreleased Deathbounce too. We caught up with editorial director Chris Kohler to learn more.
Why did you choose to make an interactive documentary about Karateka?
Our studio president Mike Mika and head of business development Tom Russo are huge Karateka fans. After reviving the Digital Eclipse brand in 2015, they went to Jordan proposing we do a special re-release of the game incorporating his development materials – aproof of concept for creating a high-end release of a classic game. Over years of development, The Making Of Karateka evolved into a full, interactive documentary telling the story of the game’s development through video, audio, playable experiences, archival materials and more, arranged in a chronological narrative structure.
What made Karateka special?
It was a landmark game that doesn’t get its historical due. As Jordan Mechner’s directorial debut, it innovated on several levels – music, cinematic camera work, cutscenes, rotoscoped animation and storytelling. It’s no overstatement to say that it inspired a generation of game designers!
How did you plan the documentary’s structure?
We did a great deal of research and asset collection then worked out how we’d structure the narrative. The sheer volume of material made it a challenge so we have timelines nested in timelines, galleries nested in those and so on. It’s about taking an overwhelming amount of content and structuring it so the player never feels overwhelmed.
Did you have lots of material left over?
There’s not a lot of cutting-roomfloor material. With this and other projects, our feeling is that it’s our one chance to publish as much as we can, and make our product a truly comprehensive archive.
There are many entries from Jordan’s journals, is it unusual for game developers to keep such detailed notes?
It is definitely unusual for someone to document their creative process so thoroughly, yes! Having all of those notes was so helpful in so many ways – not only were they an incredible research tool that let u
