RPS: When returning to the game to develop the sequel, what other directions did you consider taking the story? Were there ever plans to reuse the original cast, perhaps filling in gaps in the timeline? Or plans to go even earlier?

AC: Well, we could have gone a little earlier, but in reality the American Mafia doesn’t go back too much further in history, as you get back toward the start of the century was when these guys were first arriving in the US - maybe there could be a story there, Gangs of New York style? I suppose the problem here would be that we’d start driving round in carts... No, [game author] Dan Vavra's intention was always to move the story forward and explore new eras, the 40s and the 50s. The story in Mafia II is a new chapter, set in the same universe as the original game, returning to the same themes, but its not a direct follow-on. The fate of the original characters was pretty... terminal... lets say, so there wasn't much choice. In fact we don't pick up too far from the end of Mafia which ended in the late 1930s, we pick up Mafia II in early 1945.

RPS: Mafia appeared very early on in the world of open-city games. Are you surprised more developers haven't attempted to create more narrative-driven games in this genre?

AC: Well, maybe not so much. One of the challenges of the genre is that on a philosophical level the 'sandbox' is about emergent gameplay. It's actually very difficult to create a dramatic, compelling narrative that melds naturally with the freedom of a sandbox world. Films are directed - you would get a far diluted narrative experience if the viewer was encouraged to pause the film regularly, leave the cinema for a while, maybe go and watch some other films, then unpause to continue. Mafia is about constructing a very consistent experience, one where all the various sandbox elements have been designed to support the narrative. It's totally understandable that most open-world developers have chosen to take the mini-game, mini-quest approach - it emphasises the sandbox playground and that's fun and no bad thing. Mafia II has a super-detailed sandbox, don't get me wrong, but we are using it in a different way, where we have rules that encourage the player to behave realistically, to encourage the player to act 'mafia', so that we can walk from the street and engage with other gangsters in a plausible way that doesn't break the narrative. Not so plausible if we allowed Vito to visit the Don wearing a diaper, sporting a pink pimp hat, wielding a bazooka. If you want the diaper pimp bazooka game, or you want to focus on other non-linear gameplay elements then you naturally have to compromise on the strength of your narrative to some degree.

RPS: Have you felt pressure to develop other aspects of the open world genre - side quests, bonus missions (say, stealing an ambulance and triggering an ambulance minigame), giant helicopter mayhem rocket launcher pedestrian murdering fests?

AC: That sort of carnage can be a lot of fun, it certainly is in many other notable sandbox games, but it has to resonate with the narrative. And Vito running around with crazy weapons, leaving a trail of burning wreckage behind him just doesn't fit the story or the world. As you know we have a police presence in the city, and you can of course run around shooting vehicles and so forth, but in Empire Bay, the punishment fits the crime. If you break the law, you can expect an appropriate response from the police - from a speeding ticket to shoot-on-sight. We don't want to discourage the player from making choices, but we're presenting a believable reality that offers consequences commensurate with your actions. Again this feeds into the reality thing - Mafia guys are part of a secret society. They don't generally wake up in the morning and loon around a city murdering hundreds of people. We aren't going to encourage that - of course the player is free to do this, but you are going to have to face the consequences...

RPS: You've said that when you wanted to start making Mafia II, the technology didn't exist to achieve your goals. So you made the Illusion engine in response. Can you tell us what the Illusion engine does that meets the needs you had?

AC: To give you a topline view, it handles all the things we need it to handle, and it needs to handle a lot. Multiple civilians, vehicles, intelligent pathing routines and detailed, period-authentic architecture, seamless streaming between the city, interiors and cutscenes. What people are finding surprising is just how much detail the Illusion Engine is capable of. Not just incidental detail, with civilians going about their everyday lives around you, but also in terms of graphical fidelity. Empire Bay is a stunningly attractive environment - we definitely expect to set the same visual benchmark with Mafia II that Mafia did when it released, but this time we'll be doing that on console as well as PC. Building the Illusion Engine was a labour of love - but now 2K Czech are armed with the tool they need to deliver Mafia II exactly how they visualise it.