I am Benoît Sokal, co-founder of White Birds Productions, author of video games (“Amerzone”, “Syberia I & II”) and cartoonist. On “Paradise” specifically, I am the author and the Art Director.

Once I decided that this game would take place in Africa, I imagined a very big country. A country with a North border still of Arabic inspiration, and one that becomes more and more “dark Africa” when going South. I also have to say that I went on holiday in Morocco, in Marrakech two years ago and that I was fascinated by the city. Besides the global atmosphere, the challenge for me was to faithfully represent those amazing mosaics, like in the Prince’s apartments or the City Gate. I think that the final result, in Madargane, is close to what a real North African city is, without all the added fantasy of course.

Madargane (World 1) is first of all the place in which you discover who you are as a player, and that is Ann Smith. It is also the world in which you meet with the one that will be your silent companion throughout the whole game: the mysterious black leopard. But there are also a lot of other characters to meet and interact with in this world, from the little Palate servant, Aicha, to the Prince of Madargane himself.

When I started working on world 1, I did not look back to my holidays pictures :). In fact, I tried to re-create an “ideal” Moroccan/North African city from scratch, using only my imagination. I also bought a lot of Art and Travel books. And, lastly, I looked into the works of a painter from whom I learned a lot during my Art studies: Delacroix and his views from Morocco.