Bringing Paris to Less Miserables
It was something we talked about at the very first stages of the game: we had to do a field trip to Paris! It would give us a chance to see the real places we wanted to have in Less Miserables, while capturing the visuals and feel of the place. But most importantly, it would be an adventure - something we could draw from for ideas, characters, puzzles and to make the game have depth and come to life.
We've already written about this for a feature in issue #10 of the fabulous Debug Magazine, a fantastic digital and print magazine that only covers indie games! Subscribe to read the full article, and the whole issue from just £4!
But how did we pull this off? How did we get our little team of 4 people to Paris for 4 days on a micro-budget? We are not a AAA studio, and entirely self funded, so we had to do as much as we could on a shoe-string budget. That meant flying by budget airline (train was too expensive), staying in a youth hostel (or crashing with friends), eating bread and cheese and researching the cheapest public transport tickets! These are the sacrifices we have to make for art, just like visiting the sewers of Paris! (Spoiler alert, they smell!)
Budget also meant optimising the time of year we went. The novel and our story is set in June, so ideally we would love to go in summer, and see Paris with full trees and long days. But the cost of flights and accommodation double in spring, so we planned to go the last week of March. This was a huge risk with the weather, but from April the cost would have meant either fewer days, or that only some of the team could go. It was a huge anxiety for me: if it rained the whole time, we would be miserable, and not get the research we needed, but in the end the rain managed to stay away until literally the last few hours of the trip! We got sun, and great weather, which is a huge relief as so much of what we needed to do was outside.
We also needed to maximise the time we had in Paris: flying in early in the morning to get the whole day, and staying as close to the centre as possible. We had a wet/dry schedule so that we could take a museum or sewer day if it was going to be wet. There was a list of key places to visit, grouped by area so we could easily go between them by Metro or foot. I was also trying to plan things for the light, for example to make sure that we were up Montmartre for sunset.
It was also an opportunity for adventures. Visiting the Queen's Hamlet at Versailles was a key moment for the trip: we chose the best day for the weather, and left it till the late afternoon so we could get the best light. In the end we stayed for 3 hours, until we had the whole place to ourselves, until we suddenly realised the sun was setting... and we were locked in! No-one else was left in the gardens, tourists or staff, and the entrance gate was locked! Eventually we found another way out, but did wonder if we were going to spend the night sleeping in a forest by the lake!
This did let us see Versailles at night though, with stars above, just how we wanted it in the game.
The whole time we were scouting out locations, interesting windows or doors, cobbles or portraits of interesting faces we could put into the game. But we also collected experiences from the fun and camaraderie that comes with hanging out for a few solid days, and yes we were still all talking to each other at the end!
We danced in the mirrored hall of Versailles!
Drank wine in old taverns!
We ate ice cream atop Montmartre!
Visited the graves of famous musicians!
Opened Pokemon cards under the Eiffel Tower!
Ate croissants every morning!
Spoke terrible French!
It was a magic trip, and a real bucket-list experience. The last place we visited was the actual bakery where Victor Hugo saw someone steal a loaf of bread, inspiring the story of Les Miserables. Yes, it's a real place (but now a hotel)!
So the four of us, exhausted and with very tired feet, went to find a burger place we'd been recommended, and with naught but some sketches and thousands of photos, headed back to Edinburgh... Stopping off in the airport just long enough to lead a rousing rendition of hits from the musical on a grand piano in the departure lounge!
Back to normal lives for a while, but with heads full, and ready to make something that transports you to a certain time and place, and invites you to come along on an adventure with us...
