Talk To Me: Ghost Town Games9/5/2016 We talk to Ghost Town Games about their cuisine-based title Overcooked, augmented reality, local multiplayer master-classes and the glorious Sega Dreamcast - enjoy. What inspired you and your team during the development stage? We've been inspired by all sorts of things. We've always loved local multiplayer games, we used to plays lots of games like Gang Beasts, Towerfall, Mario Kart, Wrecked, Goldeneye etc. etc. and we knew we wanted to make a game which people could play together. We also played a game called Storage Inc. which was an indie game for Xbox 360 and is another co-operative game which really inspired us. Can you tell us about your team at Ghost Town Games? We started Ghost Town Games about 12 months ago. Oli De-Vine and I (Phil Duncan) used to work for Frontier Developments (Lostwinds, Kinectimals, Elite etc.) I was a Designer there for 7 years and we left basically because we wanted to start making the kind of game that we wanted to play. Oli handles all the code, I handle the Art and the Design, we're a really small setup which means we can afford to take more risks and we can be much more agile with the way we develop, there aren't any day-long meetings to discuss minor features, we can very quickly make decisions and act on them. How difficult is it for indie developers in this current market? Can you take artistic risks and still make a profit? It's difficult obviously, there are a lot more independent studios out there creating games now than there have been in the past, but I think if you look at some of the recent successful indie games they are all trying something new and trying to push games in a new and exciting direction. I think that's the beauty of independent development, you have smaller studios with less mouths to feed that don't need to see millions in profits to stay sustainable and so they can in some ways afford to take more risks. What advice would you give to someone looking to work in the video gaming industry? Obviously people have vastly different routes into the industry and it depends what experience you're looking for. I will always recommend to people trying to get work with an established studio first, largely because you get to experience making games without the extra work that comes with being independent (admin, PR, marketing, finances etc.) not to mention getting to work with developers who are at the top of their game. In terms of getting into the industry I think the starting point should always be a passion for games and a good amount of knowledge/experience in the field that you're trying to break into, that and talking to as many people as you can; going to tradeshows, meetups, game-jams, anything you can do to get your name out there. What game(s) have had the biggest affect on your life, and why? Oof. That's a really tough question. Rather than games I've played I think I'll instead answer with a game I worked on: LostWinds 2: Winter of Melodias was one of the first games I worked on at Frontier Development and for me it epitomised everything I now love about games and games development. It was a smallish team (around 30 at its peak) we were tucked away in a different building and were given something like 6 months to bring out the game. Steve Burgess, who was the Lead Designer on the series was an absolute inspiration (and a good friend) and it was just such a magical time working on a project that everyone was just so passionate about. Everyone was working really hard on the game, and not because there was some pressure from above, but because everyone genuinely wanted the game to be as good as it could possibly be. Add that to the fact that it was a metroidvania puzzle platformer with some truly innovate mechanics (absolute dream for me as a designer) and yeah it was just an absolute blast to work on. Where do you think the industry is heading - is VR the future in your opinion? I honestly can't weigh in on VR much at the moment. I've been blown away by the various demos I've tried and I'm excited to see how much it catches on as a medium. I think when VR games start to encourage more social interaction, that's when I'll get really excited. I also really like the promise of Augmented Reality, I like the idea of playing a game in my living room with friends, where the game is projected into the space in front of us, maybe we're all looking down into a miniature kitchen and we're playing Overcooked together, that could be really exciting :D. What does the future hold for Overcooked and Ghost Town Games? We're working on the console ports of Overcooked at the moment (it’s coming out on PC, Xbox One and PS4), and we're hoping to release the game some time in the next few months. We have some really exciting news which I can't quite share with you yet but we'll hopefully be announcing that soon too. In terms of the future for Ghost Town Games we want to keep making exciting and innovative new games. We have some great ideas for follow up projects which I think are going to blow people away so we just hope we get the chance to make those a reality really. : ) If you were on a desert island (it has power) and could only take one console, what would you take, and why? Yikes! Again, a tough one... my initial reaction was Dreamcast, because I just have so many favourites from that era: Chu Chu rocket, Crazy Taxi, Power Stone, Jet Set Radio. In fact, yeah, that's what I'm going to go with because just reading back through that short list aren't those just such diverse and such innovative games? Then there's Shenmue and Skies of Arcadia and and and... so good! Thanks to Phil & Oli at Ghost Town Games. Want to know what we thought of Overcooked? Check out our report from this year's rezzed, and leave your comments on the forum.
Talk To Me: Super Icon Ltd18/4/2016 Super Icon Ltd’s Rich Hill-Whittall is no stranger to the indie world; as well as making games he’s also the writer of The Indie Game Developer Handbook. Rich was good enough to discuss current game Life of Pixel, falling out with Sony, the tribulations of the industry, the SNES, and being inspired by his son to create new game Best Buds vs. Bad Guys with us. Enjoy. What inspired you and your team during the development stage? Was the educational side of the game there from the beginning? First and foremost the systems themselves, and their graphic limitations. Then the games we grew up with. While designing Life of Pixel, I wanted to pay homage to as many of those games as I could. Several levels have themed sections with nods to many different games, such as Uridium, Paradroid, Castlevania, Jet Set Willy, Exolon, Ghosts’n Goblins, Rick Dangerous, Sonic, Super Mario, Monty Mole, Blagger, Exile, Pitfall, Chucky Egg, Citadel, Megaman, Altered Beast, Streets of Rage. There are many more too. The educational/machine info was added later in the development – just to give a little more info on each system for those unfamiliar with any of the machines. Can you tell us about your team at Super Icon Ltd? Super Icon was founded in 2012, initially working on PlayStation. We then started work on PC, releasing a couple of games onto Steam (Life of Pixel and Vektor Wars), later porting them over to Wii U. We also have Xbox One kits we are very keen to get all our games onto, and we are planning Vita versions too. We’ve done a lot of Playstation stuff over the years – going back before Super Icon was formed. We kind of fell out with Sony for a bit during a tough spell (my fault entirely), so I am looking forward to getting back onto Playstation and rebuilding a relationship with Sony. We’re based in Cornwall, having recently relocated from London. The team is small, currently there are the 3 of us – Claire, who handles business development, Steve, who is our coder and myself, all things art/design/audio. From time to time we also work with freelance artists and musicians, and the odd extra coder as needed. How difficult is it for indie developers in this current market? Can you take artistic risks and still make a profit? Eek – OK – I’ll be honest here, even though it isn’t perhaps a very inspirational answer. From our perspective it is incredibly tough. We don’t make anywhere near enough in sales to pay a proper living wage to any of us. I think it is particularly tough if you have family – Claire and I (who are also married) have had to move out of houses a few times as we couldn’t afford rent, and the upheaval is severe. I love creating games, but really struggle with the marketing side of things and bringing in a regular cash flow. So many times we just haven’t really had enough money to even cover basic bills, which is frustrating as it slows development down. I think as a studio we’re good at making games – and so far the three of us have developed and released over 30 games together on a variety of platforms. But we are crap at promoting and selling those games. I think the best advice would be to work with others with a different range of skills – and if you are starting a studio find someone with either a good marketing background, or the "gift of the gab"... What advice would you give to someone looking to work in the video gaming industry? Hmmm… creatively it can be wonderful, incredibly exciting to realise your vision and very rewarding to get a game out to market. I think the best advice would be to work with others with a different range of skills – and if you are starting a studio find someone with either a good marketing background, or the ‘gift of the gab’ - someone who can get out there and engage with the players and effectively promote your game. What game(s) have had the biggest affect on your life, and why? Definitely Life of Pixel; it is the game players have enjoyed the most out of all the games I have created. That means a lot – to speak to people that enjoy playing a game you have made, especially as I loved creating Pixel so much. Even though financially it hasn’t really worked, I feel very positive about Pixel and the whole development process. I learned a lot, good and bad, and I am very happy we made Pixel. Can you tell us about upcoming games Vektor Wars & Best Buds vs. Bad Guys?
Vektor Wars – do you remember the intro to Escape From New York? The glider bit with Kurt Russell looking at the wireframe city as he flew in? I never forgot that – I always wanted to play a game set in a proper 80s style neon drenched wireframe world. I wanted to shoot lots of stuff too – after Pixel I thought it was time to get some guns in, and what better to shoot than nasty evil robot invaders?! So we have a retro arcade FPS, one with a unique aesthetic, a load of different guns and wave after wave of deadly robot scum to destroy! Best Buds vs. Bad Guys – the idea came about from my son, Lucas and myself - we call each other Best Buds in real life, and we both thought it would be fun to create a game where we have to battle bad guys in a virtual world. This time I went back to late 80s, early 90s Arcades (there is definitely a theme to my game designs!). So we went with a pixelated 16-bit Arcade machine style, with plenty of modern touches including detailed background animation, multi-layered parallax backgrounds, weather and special effects. It is a run ‘n’ gun with gigantic evil bosses and over 100 enemies to fight, many of which were drawn on paper or built in Lego by Lucas before getting pixelated and animated. Like Pixel, there are quite a few references to classic games, such as Ghosts ’n Goblins, Green Beret, Bionic Commando, Black Tiger, Karnov, Doom and loads more! We’re in the later stages of development now, and are really trying to make something special. If you were on a desert island (it has power) and could only take one console, what would you take, and why? I think it would be a SNES. So many classic games, so many that I would still like to properly play through. I also think the SNES had some of the very best examples of pixel art – the extra colours it offered over the Amiga and Megadrive really made the difference. Thanks to Rich and Claire from Super Icon Ltd. Life of Pixel is out now on Wii U, PC, Mac & Linux. We talk to former Rare and Retro Studios employee Rhys Lewis, about his new company Squarehead Studios, debut game Star Ghost, life as an independent developer, Wave Race, and using a certain console as a method of shelter. Can you tell us about your team at Squarehead Studios? Squarehead is currently just myself and I'm based on the edge of the Brecon Beacons in South Wales. David Wise kindly provided the soundtrack and the voiceover was performed by Michelle Sundholm. I decided to form the company in 2014 after returning home from Texas, where I previously worked at Retro Studios. How difficult is it for indie developers in this current market? In many respects, it has never been easier to make games. We have a proliferation of tools such as Unity that remove a lot of the technical difficulty and up-front investment required. It's relatively straightforward to self-publish to the various app stores and even the console platforms have opened up and embraced indie developers. This is very much a double edged sword of course. Over-supply of digital entertainment has become a significant problem and one that is unlikely to get any better. The best content will stand out but the vast majority of projects are destined to be drowned out in the noise. What advice would you give to someone looking to work in the video gaming industry? Probably the same kind of advice I would offer anyone thinking about doing anything, just do it. Experience is the best teacher, so try to get as many game development miles under your belt as you can. Don't be afraid to make mistakes and keep learning. Your path will unfold before you. What game(s) have had the biggest affect on your life, and why? Thats a tricky one, there have been so many that have influenced me over the years… Arcade: Space Invaders, Pac Man, Asteroids, Commando, Track n Field, Defender, Scramble, Ikari Warriors, Star Wars, Space Harrier, Afterburner, Out Run, Double Dragon, Donkey Kong, Puzzle Bobble, Bubble Bobble, Ghosts N Goblins, Gauntlet, Centipede. 8-bit: Jetpac, Gridrunner, Thrust, Way of the Exploding Fist, The Last Ninja 2, Elite. 16-bit: Interceptor, Mercenary, Falcon, Another World, Sensible Soccer, Kick Off 2, IK+ PC: Chuck Yeagers Air Combat, Ultima VII, Wolfenstein, Doom / Doom 2, Duke Nukem 3D, Half Life, Civilisation, X-COM, Sid Meir’s Pirates. N64: Turok, Wave Race, Pilot Wings, Mario Kart, Golden Eye. PS2: Rez In terms of life impact, I would probably say that Falcon on the Atari ST might have been the catalyst for me originally training to become a pilot. However, when I realised that flying wasn’t quite as stimulating as making games, it was my childhood memories of playing Jetpac on the Vic 20 that made me change direction and apply to Rare for my first job in the industry. What are you hopes and plans for Star Ghost looking into the future? I’d love to think that people are getting a kick out of playing Star Ghost. Hopefully, it can evoke fond memories for older gamers and create some great new ones for younger players. I have a big pile of ideas I'd like to explore with it but I'm going to put them on hold for a while and maybe revisit the IP at a later date. What's next for Squarehead Studios? I can't reveal anything specific about that just yet but there will be lots of prototyping to find the right idea to pursue. If you were on a desert island (it has power) and could only take one console, what would you take, and why? Both the PS2 and the Xbox 360 have impressive libraries but I think the N64 would just edge it for me. It was the first home system where I really felt that the games were significantly better than anything that could be found in the arcades. Even to this day, I’m not sure anything can compete with Wave Race. I also really like that it has four controller ports and provides some brilliant couch-based, multiplayer experiences. If for some reason none of those were available, I’d probably take the original Xbox. That thing was so big, it could be emptied out and used as a shelter or possibly even a small boat to escape in. Thanks to Rhys at Squarehead Studios for talking to us. Star Ghost is available on the Wii U eshop now!
As always, let us know your thoughts on the forums. We chat to Delirium Studios’ designer and creative director, Arturo Monedero, about new game The Delusions of Von Sottendorff & His Square Mind, Justin Bieber, Monkey Island, the European indie scene, and mosquitoes. Forty people have been involved in the production process, over four years of hard work. This is a big difference from our previous work The Rivers of Alice, which was a much more intimate and personal creation. Von Sottendorff retains Delirium’s soul though, but we have completely changed our tone. What inspired you and your team during the development stage? We wanted to develop a new platform game, with a different and original mechanic - but in keeping with the flavour of the classics. We also wanted to recreate a more "European" aesthetic and atmosphere. One could say that there are three key references in which inspired the development: for mechanics, the 15-puzzle game; for its platform side, Jet Set Willy (a very old Spectrum game); and for the story & character, The Adventures of Baron Munchausen (by Terry Gilliam). My own nice memories of those references have impregnated this development. Can you tell us about your team at Delirium Studios? How you got started, where you're based etc. Sure! This adventure began nine years ago in Bilbao - a beautiful city in northern Spain. Delirium Studios has three main partners, all there from the very beginning: Asier Quesada (CEO), Ivan Armada (CTO) and myself (CCO). We began developing advergames, animation and 3D. We needed to learn a lot before making the leap to the video games industry, and becoming independent developers. After three years we got there, with Kinito Ninja - our first game. We got some revenues and some international awards with this first title, so we decided to focus on game development. At that point we left advertising agencies and “clients” aside. This was one of the most courageous decisions we have ever made in our life, but one that provided us more happiness… Gradually, we accelerated our productions’ quality level, until The Rivers of Alice saw the light – a title as personal as it was strange, but the one which placed us in the national and international scene. Today, we have six people in the team, but at some points we are as many as twenty - crazy! ...It is a very difficult market - between AAA and indie developments, there is a tremendous desert... How difficult is it for indie developers in this current market? It is a very difficult market - between AAA and indie developments, there is a tremendous desert. The player is so demanding because he/she really does not care if your game is developed in Bilbao or New York - it is difficult to make a space for yourself on the international tablecloth. To achieve it takes time and hard work – a great effort. In Spain, the situation is not particularly good, four hundred studios have emerged, and the country has no capacity to absorb all the titles going on sale. International communication is a must – not investing in it could mean your studio vanishes before you get to launch your second title. I would like to know what American indies’ point of view is in this regard… Would they feel the same as I? What advice would you give to someone looking to work in the video gaming industry? Years ago, I would have said to start up a studio with three friends and explore... Nowadays, I really think the levels of market saturation don’t allow enough space for trial and error... I would advise them to get experience from a larger company. It is interesting to get hired and learn as much as you can before: i.e. how do they work, how do they produce, why do they do what they do like they do, etc. Do not stop learning and observing until you have enough experience to make the leap and become a well-trained indie developer. We would probably only need four years to produce what took us eight… What game(s) have had the biggest affect on your life, and why? This is a tricky question, it is impossible to answer! LOL! It is true that there are games that become a milestone, such as Monkey Island, which taught me that games could be a story, could have humour... Recently, I had the pleasure of meeting Tim Schafer and I felt like a teen fan in front of Justin Bieber, hahaha! There are so many games I can’t leave out, such as Flashback on the Mega Drive, Age of Empires, Journey (which reconciled me with current video games) or The Last of Us (which taught me there is already hope with AAA). What are you hopes and plans for Von Sottendorff looking into the future? We are very excited for our game to get out there, we hope players are gonna like it! We think we have made a great game, and we are very much proud of it – we paid particular attention to the little details. We think it's a great covering letter for Delirium Studios, and Nintendo the best possible framework. If you let me dream, I would like to see Von Sottendorff on other platforms later on, and if it gets some success, I would take out my notes to start with the second part! But I am a dreamer… What's next for Delirium Studios? Personally, I am in the funnest moment of my job, giving shape to new ideas to become new titles. It is like being faced with a clay block that you have to start molding. It is too early to say what is it going to be about or which mechanics will be included at this time. However, what I could say for sure is that we always aim to develop differently, to make very unique stuff or to tell an interesting story - otherwise, we wouldn’t develop. If you were on a desert island (it has power) and could only take one console, what would you take, and why? Oh! Lots of doubts: Do I have a TV? ... I see many logistical problems in there… and I don’t know if I will be rescued. Uhmm.. I think it would be more sensible to take a Game Boy, with a huge battery pack and hundreds of games. It's simple, it would never break down, it has great games and without a back-lit display, mosquitoes won’t bother me! Thanks to Arturo, Asier and Alexandra at Delirium for the interview. The Delusions of Von Sottendorff & His Square Mind is out now for Nintendo 3DS - look out for our review in the coming weeks. Why not check out Delirium’s earlier work, The Rivers of Alice too! |
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