“Scratches” Designer and Programmer Agustín Cordes Warns Us: We Are Not Alone

by Louis Bedigian

“You will eventually find out the source of the scratches, oh yes you will. Just make sure that you leave the nearest door open in case you need to run.”

I used to hear them in the middle of the night. Strange noises that sounded liked fingernails being scraped along the walls. It was horrifying. I could swear there were ghosts living in my house, but no one believed me. Not even the gatekeeper who lived down the street…

In the late 90s I left my haunted home for a rustic apartment. It was built about 50 years ago in a small town called Silent Hill. Boy, what a mistake moving there was! I fled the second I saw the pyramid head. The local butcher insisted that he was just a crazy old man with a block of cheddar on his head, but I didn’t believe it.

With nowhere to turn, I ended up living on the streets. Raccoon City had a few quaint back alleys with some fairly sturdy cardboard boxes, but I didn’t feel safe sleeping there. All those drunk guys walking the streets with their mouths hung open. They were like zombies or something!

Finally it came time for me to search for another home. I saw an ad in the paper for an old fashioned Victorian home on the outskirts of a small English town. It was far away, but I thought it’d be worth the trip. Maybe that’s what I needed. To get as far away as possible.

Everything was fine until the day I met Agustín Cordes. He’s the co-founder of Nucleosys, as well as Designer and Programmer of Scratches. 

Scratches is about a fictitious famed horror writer, Michael Arthate, who acquires an old Victorian home on the outskirts of a small English town. Why did he choose to move there?

Agustín Cordes: Who wouldn't? If I can ever buy a house like that, rest assured I will!  Remember, Michael is a writer and the old fashioned Victorian house is perhaps the quintessential source of inspiration for horror writers. The situation is rather complicated though: Michael is truly brimming with cash from the sales of his debut novel “Vanishing Town” and can permit himself all kinds of luxuries – however, he’s in dire need of inspiration to prove the world (and himself) that he isn’t a “one hit” wonder, so he’s very pressured to put together a worthy follow-up. He sees the house as a tool that serves such purpose.

How did he acquire the home? Does its acquisition – and the people he bought it from – have an impact on the story?

AC: It does impact on the development of the story, in one way or another. The house itself is almost a secondary character of the story - it breathes personality and shifts as the game evolves. You won't see it with the same eyes once you leave (if you do). The person that Michael buys the house from, Jerry, is in fact very essential to the story. He’s of utmost importance as he’ll guide Michael through certain problems that are to be found in the property (no surprises there).

What sparks the beginning of Michael's journey? He hears strange noises, but he's a writer. Don't all us writers hear strange things in our heads every now and then?

AC: Well, you have hit the nail in the head! What you said is key to the development of the game: are those noises for real or are we just dealing with Michael's overactive mind? The dilemma will haunt you over the course of the game. But you could say the hearing of the scratches is the event that get things going. 

It eventually becomes apparent that Michael is not alone in his mansion. Can you give us a hint as to what's out there? …Are they ghosts?

AC: Now that’s funny – we never said that Michael is not alone in the mansion. Just that he’s not alone ;)

Seriously now, it’s part of the story to find out what it is, and you won’t really find out until the very ending. All I can say is that there’s a particular theme present in the game that has been kept very secret and is essential to the story. Think “drums”.

In what was is Scratches a non-linear experience? Is the gameplay open-ended, or does the non-linearity refer to the story?

AC: No, the story is linear, meaning the important events will be always the same. It's very detailed and complex, so it would've been very risky to go with a too open-ended gameplay. There are many clues and small details scattered around and you simply have to bump into all of them to understand the plot. The focus of the game is to solve the mystery surrounding the Blackwood family, the previous inhabitants of the house, so there wasn't need to diversify the plot.

What the game does is allow you to freely explore the place and let you solve many problems in any order you wish. It’s very, very non-linear in that aspect.

Is there more than one conclusion? Is there more than one path that can be taken to reach the end?
 

AC: We were intending to have two endings: the real and the alternate one. But, the game will be released with the real and “proper” solution to the story. The alternate was an afterthought of a wildly different ending that surprisingly fitted the game, but it will be available in a special edition that we’re preparing.

What can you tell us about the game's puzzles?

AC: They are varied and range from easy to very challenging. Good observation is a must in a few of them and that means studying the locations and noticing the clues. Most puzzles are inventory based but some could be described as “deductive”. There are no sliders, mazes or that sort of self-contained puzzles, which can be reused. While there’s a small number of entertaining obstacles to spice up the gameplay (such as the key puzzle in the demo), most of the problems that Michael will face are very related to the story and the environments he meets.

This being a point-and-click adventure, what steps were taken to ensure that it's a scary, entrancing experience? It seems like it'd be harder to achieve big thrills without a movable, 3D environment.

AC: I'm fully confident that a 3D environment would have spoiled the game's atmosphere (not to mention that there’s no way to reproduce the detailed graphics in 3D!). Big thrills aren’t really essential to achieve a scary experience – some would even say they kill the purpose of horror. Ever wondered why the first Alien remains the scariest one of the series? It's by far the least "thrilling" one of the bunch and you barely see the creature. That's the trick: once you face the horror, it stops being scary.

In Scratches less is more as it's strictly psychological horror. Just give it time to develop the atmosphere and then, just when you think you have nailed down the game... you'll see!

Are there any shocking, that-just-came-out-of-nowhere! moments?

AC: Just a few. As I told you previously, we didn't want to turn the game into a cheap experience with formulaic scares. There are some jumpy moments but they are well staged and eerily effective. What Scratches manages to achieve is a constant feeling of dread and despair – you truly can't tell what's coming next and when, and in the meantime the atmosphere does a nice job in getting under your skin. It's a charming experience! 

The soundtrack is said to be an important part of this game's experience. Talk about that.
 

AC: I won’t ever get tired of saying this, but we are SO lucky to have Cellar of Rats around. His approach to the soundtrack has been very movie-like and the compositions fit like a glove to the many situations. When you first arrive at the house, the music is soft and sad, and then becomes majestic and almost epic as the exploration progresses. Then everything changes during the night sequences, for instance, becoming dark and brooding. It really helps the game to unfold like a horror movie.
 

Tell us about the other sound aspects. How is sound being used to enhance the mood and horrify the player?

AC: In ways you can’t imagine... the scratching noises is one obvious scare mechanism, but you won’t hear them actually that much. You have many layers of atmospheric sounds, from strong winds finding their way through the intricate garden, to the ominous grandfather clock ticking inside the house. Sound plays an important role in fact – for instance, the phone will occasionally ring, bringing you “back” to the outside world. Then you have the other sounds, sinister special FX created by Cellar of Rats, which of course I won’t discuss.

Will we hear any of the monsters/creatures/ghosts (or whatever they are) make any "scratching" sounds? :)
 

AC: You will eventually find out the source of the scratches, oh yes you will. Just make sure that you leave the nearest door open in case you need to run.

Thank you for your time.