Scotland is the place to be right now if you want to be at the hub of (ficitious) criminal behaviour. Not only is it the base of your humble editors, but it is also home to writers like Ian Rankin, Allan Guthrie and Christopher Brookmyre and Alexander McAll Smith. But these guys, they're all behind the time, working in print and prose. Now a small, Dundonian software company have brought Scots crime into the twenty first century with their online PI game, Gumshow Online. Iwan Roberts of Hiding Buffalo was gracious enough to take the time out to answer a few questions for us about the game...

CS: For those uninitiated (and in case we miss the point entirely with our review) could you tell us a little bit about Gumshoe Online?

IR: Gumshoe Online is a private detective game set in 1930’s America. Gumshoe gives crime and mystery fans the chance to emulate their favorite detectives and solve a series of gripping mysteries. Players must explore locations, interview suspects and unearth clues to crack the case.

Played with a standard web browser (Internet Explorer, Firefox etc.) Gumshoe Online is available to almost everyone with an Internet connection, not just gamers with the latest computer hardware.

CS: What made you decide to turn to the PI genre for inspiration?

IR: The nice thing about the PI genre is freedom it gives us over the game’s content. Because anyone can hire a private detective we can introduce the player to every part of Wheaton City, keeping the game fresh with new characters, locations and puzzles.

CS: What do you think attracts players to Gumshoe online and more importantly what keeps them playing?

IR: I think people enjoy the challenge of playing Gumshoe Online and there’s a real sense of achievement when you find a clue, solve a puzzle or close a case. A perfect example of this is the number of people who replay cases after they’ve finished a mystery, trying to find every last clue.

Gumshoe Online also contains an extensive ranking system that allows players to compare their own performance against other detectives and find out who is the top online sleuth.

To keep people coming back to Gumshoe Online we’ll be releasing new cases at regular intervals. We’ve launched two cases so far and are working on another three. In addition to these mysteries there’s also a free tutorial case that takes about an hour to play and lets people try out Gumshoe Online.

CS: This is the million dollar question for some of our readers; but are your team fans of the genre in real life?

Yes we’re all big crime and mystery fans; I don’t think you could work on a project like Gumshoe if you didn’t really enjoy the subject matter.

As well as the computer equipment you’d expect to find in our office, there’s also a growing collection of detective novels and films. Pride of place goes to a battered set of Raymond Chandler novels; we’re all big Philip Marlowe fans especially “The Lady in the Lake”. The newest book in the office library is a copy of Faceless Killers by the Swedish author Henning Mankell.

CS: What advice would you give to idiots like me who find the lockpicking puzzles very difficult indeed?

IR: The best advice I can give to anyone who’s stuck, is check the forum and don’t be afraid to ask questions. I can’t think of another game where players are so willing to help each other.

CS: I understand Hiding Buffalo may have won an award for an early version of Gumshoe? If I’ve done my research right, could you tell us a little about that and what this recognition has allowed you to do that you may not otherwise have had a chance to do?

IR: Our original Gumshoe prototype won the Dare to be Digital competition a few years ago. Instead of being a web-based game Gumshoe was originally planned as a 3D console title with the same deductive game play. Unfortunately we couldn’t secure a publishing deal for the game, although the prototype did generate a lot of interest from the general public.

While obviously a set back, we always believed that an audience did exist for a detective game aimed at crime and mystery fans rather than traditional gamers. We began to look at ways of creating Gumshoe without publisher backing and decided to turn Gumshoe into the web-based game Gumshoe Online.

While Gumshoe Online differs from the original prototype in a number of ways the gameplay has remained the same and converting the game to the web has a number of benefits including making the game available to a wider audience and allowing new cases to be released directly to players.

CS: Wheaton City’s a large place; do you know it well or is it just being made up on the hoof, growing organically along with the game?

IR: A bit of both really. We had a list of locations we wanted to see in the game and the rest of the city grew up around these buildings. A few key locations have already appeared including the Police Headquarters and Courthouse.

I don’t want to give away all the locations we’ve got planned but the Mayor’s office, City Museum and even a baseball stadium will be making an appearance in the game at some point.

CS: For the writers out there who may be reading this, are you currently seeking active submission for games

IR: Yes we’re always searching for new content. Gumshoe Online is a long-term project and we plan to be releasing new cases for years to come. We’re looking for interesting cases with believable characters and realistic dialogue.

People interested in writing for Gumshoe Online should contact us at info@gumshoe-online for more information.

You want to know more, huh? Then check out our review of Gumshoe online or, better yet, go check it out for yourselves right here. Tell 'em Russel sent you.