opinions
18 mark 2023, 15:20
Julia Dragovic
When the Danes make a game about Eastern European countries, you know something’s up. The creators of Szrot are inspired by Slavic music, old cars and Polish food. And it all started, of course, with The Witcher.
We meet Gustaw Mackay in the Old Town of Krakow. On the way to the tram, we stop a few times to look at old cars. Sometimes Gustaw takes a picture of them, sometimes he just tells me something interesting about them. We are going to Nowa Huta; the plan is simple – we are looking for old Polish cars in the most socialist realist environment possible, and if there is enough time, we will do an interview. Interview about Shitthe “cultural game” he and Hjalte Tagmose have been creating for over a year.
“Cultural”, i.e. focusing on the culture of specific regions of Central and Eastern Europe and the Balkans, on everyday life, but also on “cultural cars” – in this case, on toddlers, polonaises, yugos, which today are not only means of transport, but symbols, carriers of emotions, part of the identity of post-communist countries. “Toddler, crocodile, cucumber – if the car has its common name, it means that it has become an element of culture.” At first glance scrap it’s just a low poly car. But don’t get confused. From my perspective – a person living in Poland and with Serbian roots – it is a tribute to the Slavic extract from culture. How will the game be received by US players? Their perspective is not a priority for Kontraktor Studio.
During our visit to Nowa Huta, we found a total of a dozen or so polonaises and toddlers. And one old Volvo. We talked about the first Witcherlearning Polish, bread, milk bars, nostalgia, Yugoslavia, PRL, patriotism, brutalist blocks of flats and plans for the future of the game. The more I listened, the more I became convinced that this is a game tailored to my needs. We walked all day. A few months later and after thousands of steps taken together, thanks to Gustaw, I fell in love with my country again. One and the other.
From the left: Gustaw Mackay and Hjalte Tagmose – artists working on Szrot.
Don’t have any illusions about my objectivity. At the current stage of development scrap takes place in Belgrade, in 1989. Among the sunny blocks of flats of New Belgrade (the most concrete district of the Serbian capital), iconic k67 kiosks and equally iconic cars, you race against, for example, the beautiful Jovana, and in the background you can hear Yugoslav synthwave alternately with turbofolk and other hits. I am almost sure that this is what my private paradise looks like, because this is how I like to spend my free time – visiting blocks of flats, listening to jugoplaylists. Unfortunately, I will not meet Jovana, and I don’t have “rubble” (a matter of time). But I will move to Belgrade eventually.
Gustave just moved here from Copenhagen. He had been living in Krakow for three days when I heard that he loves this country and that he is learning Polish. The national spirit of pride full of shame spoke up in me and I asked: what for?! And I immediately regretted it. After hearing this information, absolutely every Pole asked him about it. Reluctance to his own country and language combined with disbelief hidden in this one short question began to depress Gustav. “Why don’t you like your country? Why in Poland do you still want to be like the West when your culture is great and sufficient?” On the one hand, I was ashamed that I followed the same pattern as the rest of his interlocutors. On the other hand, I really started to think about the answer. And I didn’t find her.
EVERYTHING YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT SROTA
The atmospheric low poly “turkey” is stylized on PS1 games not only for the climate corresponding to the turn of the 80s and 90s. As Eastern Europe did not have its games for PSX, Kontraktor Studio creates trash just as a position that could have been created for this console, but never was. Subtitles in different languages are supposed to give the impression of fan translations.
You will find here a lot of cultural references to our part of the world, related not only to the language, cars (including beetles, Ikarus, passenger cars, trolleybuses, trucks) and the architecture of selected cities, but also to emotional aspects. Example? I’m giving it now.
W Shit in addition to racing, you will get missions to complete. You will have to, for example, transport your friends after the party so quickly that they do not have time to soil your upholstery. But also, for example, shopping for grandma. You don’t want to disappoint your grandma, do you? That’s what emotions are all about. The more tasks you complete, the more races you win, the more funds you will collect to tune your rubble, trash, junk. You’ll have plenty of models and colors to choose from, and they’ll all sound authentic. It is still not known whether they will be authentically named, because obtaining a license to use names is not that easy. Another challenge is to license a huge playlist from different parts of Europe – necessary to maintain the atmosphere of the game.
The environment will evolve. Graffiti is an important element – as a result of various events, new tags may appear on the walls. The dialogues and the characters you meet will not be without meaning. You will also be able to repaint your cars and make them look like pop culture icons, for example. Do you remember the orange taxi, the big Fiat from the show substitutes? Or the Polish Initial D, a caro polonaise converted into a white trueno? Exactly.
Collisions even warming up the asphalt.
Not enough culture in culture
Gustaw and Hjalte fell in love with the culture of Eastern Europe and the Balkans (although we are also talking about Poland, so I should write Central-Eastern to distance us a bit from the “Haunted East”, right?). The fascination started with the first one the witcher, as they call it, “a priceless, though rough diamond”, followed by a whole list of films from this part of the world and their enchantment with the scenography and surroundings. And this is where it begins scrap – not at all in the desire to make a game or in interest in old cars. They quickly noticed that despite the richness of the culture of these regions, it is in vain to look for references to it in games. And if they do appear, Hjalte tells me later on the call, they fall into the stereotype of a “Russian criminal.” Bad character with a hard accent, a lover of pure vodka, living in a kitschy apartment in a gray, dingy block of flats somewhere in the middle of Siberia.
Then Polish gamedev i enters the scene The Witcher. Somewhere between the recitation of “Lithuania, my homeland” and the story of how he accidentally met Lech Wałęsa, Gustaw tells me why he and Hjalt decided to make a game in which the main language is not English, and why we can find European culture in games far too little.
G.M.: Growy The Witcher is firmly embedded in Polish culture and represents it well in the world. But at the same time, he is somewhat blocked in this portrayal of her. It seems to me that there is a belief in gamedev, and I don’t share it, that too much of a country’s culture will be bad for reception and sales. In my opinion, it’s just the other way around. People don’t want to play generic American games that don’t have an ounce of culture in them over and over again – they’re tired of such productions. Dragon Age: Inquisition came out almost the same time as The Witcher 3just compare the two items. Unfortunately, The Witcher culturally loses a lot when translated into English. Dumplings are simply dumplings, and Konszu is an ornamental robe. Look at Japan – Japan doesn’t care. In their games, they won’t call sushi fish on rice, and katanas a sword. Of course, it’s a bigger country than Poland, but despite that, the games there sell very well around the world. We should follow her example.
J.D.: W Dying Lighcie 2 there are dumplings in the English version!
GM: This is also an interesting case. I played a game one – it takes place in a Turkish city, which is not in Turkey at all, because all the subtitles are in English. Medium is an insight into this culture. In turn, all items in the game are Polish. Washing machines are from the People’s Republic of Poland, cars are polonaises. It’s a really weird combination. You also have a Bloober Team. Very good [w The Medium – przyp. red.] shows Polish culture, but there is no Polish dubbing. Even a Polish actress lends her image, the character has a Polish name, but speaks English. It is sad.
Once upon a time, the United States was the leader in games, but over time, European gamedev developed a lot. We no longer have to manufacture everything under the US, but we still do. In the process, we mute the European culture to make the title more accessible to American players. I don’t think it’s necessary. Therefore, in Shit, in the game world, there will be no English at all. Of course, the English interface will be available, but it will not be the default – the options will be multilingual.
Stunts encountered every day on Polish roads.
Slav game, slav life
scrap it is intended to be a unifying place where cultures meet. Space for cars that you won’t find in other racing games; coming from countries (or parts of them) that will probably never get decent representation in virtual entertainment. So not only Serbia, but also Bosnia, Bulgaria… And of course Poland. And with them the most important elements of culture combined with an appropriate playlist. Yes, in Poland we will also race to disco polo. All this so that, on the one hand, players can finally experience their own country in the game in an authentic way, and on the other hand, get to know their neighbors better.
Some of you will probably ask what Danes can know about Poland or the Balkans and how they actually want to present this culture in an authentic way. In the future, it will be supervised by a “cultural consultant” specially hired for this purpose. The ever-growing community comes to the rescue, sharing its cultural achievements, memes and musical inspirations with them every day, helping with research and dispelling doubts. And even though he comes from countries with a complicated past, he still avoids conflict. It focuses on appreciating a culture that may vary from country to country, yet remains common and familiar. Gustaw and Hjalte are also still implementing the plan to visit all the countries and cities that will be in Shit. At the moment they plan to work on the game in Poland.
To make the slav game, you need to live the slav life.
After our first meeting, we continued our search for rubble in Krakow, sending each other photos of subsequent finds. A month later I was no longer able to surprise Gustaw with any car.
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