Paolo Costabel

- What was your role in the development of Crimetown Depths?

Paolo Costabel: I was the lead programmer.

- When did development start?

Paolo Costabel: Hmmm, it has been a long time... Around 1984 I guess.

- Did you have any interest from game publishers?

Paolo Costabel: Yes, we actually signed a contract with Mirrorsoft.

- Why was Crimetown Depths not released?

Paolo Costabel: After several delays, we told them that the game was going to fit in three disks. At that time , it was not viable so we agreed to cancel the contract.

- How complete (%) was the game?

Paolo Costabel: Hard to say... the graphics were almost completed, but the code needed a lot more work. It was my first attempt at game development so I did a lot of mistakes. Plus, the game kept growing in complexity and scope, and simply became unmanageable.

- The trailer of Crimetown shows a great deal of variety. What genre of game was it intended to be?

Paolo Costabel: There were two sections: a platform/sidescrolling part and a shooter. You were in charge of defending a fortress from attacking ships, while moving to different battle position in between levels.

- How were E-Motion Software and Newtronic related?

Paolo Costabel: The owner of NewTronic, Roberto Marino, first contacted Magnasciutti with the idea of making a game. I joined soon after. Eventually, E-Motion was formed with Marino, me Magnasciutti and other four people.

- Did any games or films influence the design?

Paolo Costabel: Massimo would probably be the right person to answer, but aside from the obvious influences (Giger, Blade Runner), Max had a very unique style. He was really the mind behind the project.

- What are your favourite Amiga games?

Paolo Costabel: Adventure games. All Lucasarts ones were great, Deja Vu was another good one and I was and still am a big fan of Infocom text adventures. After the unfortunate Crimetown experience, Max and I went on to realize Nippon Safes, Inc. for Dynabyte, an adventure game. I had a lot of fun working on that one, despite the crazy deadlines.

- Are you still writing games? What are you working on at the moment?

Paolo Costabel: I work in Los Angeles for a startup company called Jailed Games. We are making a PSP game.