New Interview on AMFP - "Infection" Mechanic Was Cut

[Alardem]

Thanks for posting that!

Even so, you water down almost any other premise and it's usually pretty ridiculous, too. Mandus began to think of people as banal swine, so he made them as he saw them, and tried to do away with the rest.

I'm fond of Pinchbeck's taste in 'low-brow' games and his belief that games can be an effective without imitating films. It's also pleasing to note that the comical elements ("How can a man shit so much blood?") to the horror were intentional. But I'm ambivalent about his removal of the infection theme - while it's true that an arbitrary mechanic like that would be exploitable, removing his illness' audio and visual effects ends up making Mandus appear less vulnerable. This ends up making his journal notes about his vomiting and his flashbacks regarding his condition seem disconnected from the fellow we play as.

I found this interview while browsing through tumblr discussions of the game. The tiny (and obsessive) community over there is devoting much more effort on analyzing the story as it is than complaining about what it was not. They don't withdraw from using their imagination through throwing ad hominem attacks on the creator being a smug 'hipster', or ask the writer to give an "official explanation" rather than think for themselves, or accuse the writing of being '2deep4u'/deliberately opaque - seeing how simplistic the story actually is, I'd say that reflects more on the accuser than the accused.

I only wish the official forum followed suit.