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Interview: Wave Interactive On The Making Of Buck, A Post-Apocalyptic Noir

We chatted with Gal Kfir at Wave Interactive to find out what's going on with their post-apocalyptic noir game, Buck.

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Speaking of voice acting, if the demo is anything to go by, the finished project will feature quite a bit of extensive voicework. Who are some of the other people behind these characters? I assume their work is part of where your out-of-pocket expenses went?

GK: You could say that, haha. Nearly all of the voice acting in the game is performed by close friends and myself. None of us have much experience in vocal acting, but at least we have good recording conditions.

How is the game structured? Are players going to have a lot of choices when it comes to shaping and exploring Buck’s world, or would you say it’s fairly linear?

GK: The game will be linear. There’s a limit to what we can change in the game’s world. The change is more about character relationships and the repercussions of their behavior towards Buck.

I assume the three of you identified as developers — Adi, Gal and Amir — are friends. What’s it like working with each other on something for so long? Do you occasionally disagree or drive each other crazy, or has it been smooth sailing?

GK: Well, Adi and I are half-brothers. He taught me a lot about how difficult it is to produce art. So I learned to appreciate the often misspoken difficulties that artists face in their careers. He taught me how to play guitar and make my own music (which I also compose for Buck). We both have the same sense of humor and really enjoy working together. It is sort of a dream coming true to work with a close family member that you happen to really get along with.

When I describe something to him, and show a reference picture, he sees it in his head exactly how I imagine it. It’s an amazing process.

Working with Amir is a fantastic learning experience. I learned how difficult it is to program when I was working at Microsoft, but Amir is very patient and he loves what he does and it shows. He’s an incredible talent and I learn a ton from him.

I met him by chance at a local gaming convention. We both started talking about how much we love The Witcher series and Cyberpunk movies and video games. Luckily for me, he liked the concept of Buck from day one. I’ve spent a lot of time looking for the right programmer and Amir was definitely the one. It’s an absolute blast working with him.

We don’t really argue all that much, you’d have to ask him, haha! The only major difficulty we had was Amir’s accident. When I heard he was rushed to the hospital, unconscious, I was terrified. The stress is the lack of funding. With both Amir and Adi having kids, it’s hard to commit to a job that doesn’t guarantee income.


We’d like to thank Gal and everyone else at Wave Interactive for their time. As we said before, the project is currently on Kickstarter, so don’t hesitate to visit if you’re interested in funding.