“In Palestine Skating Game we want to show that we destroyed a place full of life”

Over the past year, everything has happened in a hurry. For the creator of Palestine Skating Gamewho wishes to remain anonymous (read box)his video game has become a way of showing what life was like in the occupied territories before October 7 precipitated the Israeli-Palestinian conflict into a new dimension. On Saturday, he released a trailer and launched crowdfunding for this action and parkour game, still in the prototype stage. In the hope of giving a new dimension to the project.

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How was the project born?

It started about three years ago. I saw the British series We are Lady Partsand I had a eureka, a month later. I figured this would work well in a video game along the lines of Jet Set Radio. I started modeling Bethlehem, researching the music of that area. It was clear that there was a lot to explore. From a gameplay perspective, there’s a lot of skating grinding and painting, exploring occupied territories. We’re going to try to have a variety of enemies and ways to get rid of them, and in that regard I was inspired by the remake of resident Evil. We’re going to have to ask ourselves how realistic we want the game to be. I think the first episode won’t be so much. We will try to find out what the public likes and what works. From there, I imagine we can go in a more realistic direction, but it will also depend on our resources. The first step is to show the occupied territories in 2022 and what life is like there, before everything accelerates. The goal is to show to what extent this city, a real city, has been destroyed. Show that it was a place full of life and not just a terrorist camp.

Who works on it?

It started as a solo project. People have come and gone, in total there are already between thirty and forty people who have contributed. The bulk of the budget went to two contract coders, who did the bulk of the programming between last November and July. A Palestinian-American author contributed dialogues. A Lebanese artist contributed voluntarily to the design of thobe [vêtement traditionnel du Moyen-Orient]. Several Westerners contacted us for music, but for that I think we should really favor regional music. The group Hazy Noir, which comes from Palestine, composed the two music that we hear in the trailer. There is a person and his sister whom we were able to get out of Gaza thanks to a pot. The rest of their family is still there and has been bombed.

Beyond material conditions, what does developing a game in times of war involve?

It makes it more urgent. More and more people are offering themselves as volunteers. It hasn’t changed the trajectory of development so much, but it feels more central.

Why address this subject through video games?

Before even talking about what’s happening today, it helps show the situation in Hebron, or Bethlehem, or any place where there are soldiers. For example, we can show children fleeing Israeli soldiers. I think it’s important to show civilian life.

Between graffiti, colors and music, what does the aesthetic of “Palestine Skating Game” say about the Palestinian Territories?

I don’t know if this will remain in the final game. I imagine that the closer we get to a finished product, the more we will be able to see if we need to change certain artistic choices. There is a way to combine realism and color. You can also do a lot of things with music. There is quite a bit of intense Arabic electronic music, but also less intense and more traditional tracks. I think of Yasmine Handan, who composed a song called Walk. It’s a song about waiting for things to change, but the change never comes. There are also Palestinian artists like the group DAM or MC Abdul who may be interesting.

How do you see the future?

We are looking for financial partners. If we had a real budget, I would start by trying to hire people who are in Lebanon, and who are central to what is happening today, as well as Palestinian refugees. Beyond that, we are looking for creative partners. I’m not a screenwriter, more of a 3D artist, so it would be nice to have more people on that side. Especially since I am not Arab or Palestinian. A lot of what was done before October 7, 2023 was mostly me having fun. We need Arab artistic direction, directors and producers.

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