Articles: Interviews

An Impromptu Q&A with Jason Rohrer

Thu, 19 May 2011 21:46:00 +0000

Following my review of Inside a Star-filled Sky, I had a chance to talk with the developer, Jason Rohrer about some aspects of the game. He answered some of the questions I had and was able to provide some insights into the game's design. The following are some excerpts of the chat that I had with him, edited into Q&A format.

Q: Any survival tips?

A: The general idea (at least how I approach playing the game---there are many ways) is to "bootstrap" your next power up with your current one.
Yeah, entering power-ups from level 118 is really hard if you're carrying a pea-shooter (because of the difficulty modifier). So, you want to enter your NEXT power-up pick up before you get down to a pea-shooter. I.e., start working on an even better weapon while you still have a pretty good one.
And when you enter enemies, everything is inverted in terms of the kinds of power-ups you see. High powers are likely to be found, while weak powers are rare (when you enter yourself, high powers are rare). There should be no "quick fix" for an enemy. You need to think about the best trade-off for that enemy given its position. If it's down a long corridor with distance and bounce (hard!), give it spread. Even high spread isn't so bad if an enemy is down a long corridor.
Of course, you can also enter power-ups inside enemies to weaken them before picking them up, but there's also a difficulty modifier increase when you do that.
Bottom line: there's supposed to be no "trick" to grind you way through the game. It's not like, "Oh, all you have to do is _____ and _____, and you'll easily get to level 300." There WERE those grinding exploits in the past, but this is version 16, and I've fixed all of those by adjusting the design.The only way to get to level 300, really, is to be really good at the game. Current record is 349, by the way...

Q: The game has a very unique concept, but I had some trouble in later levels.

A: the other unfortunate truth about an infinite game that never ends is this: you stop playing EVERY game eventually, right? Well, why would you ever stop playing this game except when you're finally sick of it? So as great as it might be at first, it will always end up leaving a bad taste in your mouth. That's where art (a truly infinite game!) meets engineering and design. My job as the designer was to extend the time it takes for you to get sick of it.
Level 118 is a pretty long session.

Q: I really do like the idea of it, but it is indeed more of an "art game" than something you can just play indefinitely like Geometry Wars or something.

A: Ah, yeah, but Geometry Wars kills you eventually in every game. And then you start over. Over and over. That is indeed an addictive game design that you can play over and over for the rest of your life! There's something about "a chance to start fresh and do EVEN BETTER next time" that is like interactive heroin. (Tetris, Pac Man, even Spelunky).
I was intentionally trying to design an endless game that DIDN'T use that pattern. What happens, it turns out, is that you get up to your current failure point (level 118 or whatever) and then just hover there.... maybe forever.
Though it is less addicting, maybe it also wastes a lot less of your time? Because in Geometry Wars, you basically "hover" at that same failure point forever, but it's interspersed with playing the easy parts (that you've already mastered) over and over in between visits to your current failure point. It was definitely something that I thought about a lot as I designed this game.

Q: Ever consider something like a shield power up, or maybe a bullet effect that makes your bullets block enemies', within reason so you're not using a rapid fire spreadshot of invincibility?

A: I tried to avoid power-ups that would really permit skill-free play over the long haul. It's possible to build up some over-powered combos of 3, but the powers always decay eventually. The moments that REQUIRE skill, where you actually pull it off, are the main sources of drama in the game.

While this doesn't change my opinion that the game gets somewhat "imbalanced" towards the higher levels, it's nice to get some insight into what went into developing it. It's not meant to be the next Tetris or whatnot that will keep you hooked forever, but more an interesting idea put into game form by a very creative developer.

Gabbin’ with Gamercide – Hyperduck Music Studios (Follow-up)

Wed, 16 Jun 2010 13:10:06 +0000

Gabbin’ with Gamercide

An interview with Chris Geehan & Dan Byrne-McCullough – Hyperduck Music Studios

About a year ago we did an interview with the guys from Hyperduck Music Studios. In our first follow up, we see what the guys have been up to, what’s new, and dig for some big announcements. That said, let’s get started and see what we can find out.

Q – Alright guys, for the uninitiated, give us a quick introduction to who HyperDuck Studios is and how you guys got started. (Don’t worry; I’ll add the shameless plug for you.)

Chris: Sure thing Shawn. Hello! We are HyperDuck Music Studios! We're a two duck/man team that composes records and produces music and sound effects for computer games and their soundtracks. We are Chris Geehan & Dan Byrne-McCullough, both from Ireland, and we're just finishing up our BMus Honours Degree in Music in England at the moment! On how we got started, well it was due to a game called Iji, which I had been asked by Dan Remar to do him a favour and make the music behind it. I never thought much of it until we actually had to do it, and that's when the gloves came out. We grabbed a copy of Cubase SX and Dan & I worked at it from our student house in 2007/2008. Iji got an amazing response, being credited as one of the best freeware games of all time, at least this was a strong opinion in the 'game maker' software community; game maker being a program that is primarily used for making waffles, but can also make games.

Anyway, that settled it for us, we thought that if we could get that reaction to a game we made music for, without much knowledge of how to make it sound great, how big a reaction could we get if we learnt how to make it sound, well.. amazing. We'll keep trying to get to 'amazing' but the support from that fans of Iji since has pretty much driven us up to this point, were we're working on two Microsoft Dream Build Play titles, so it's all stations go at the moment!

Q – Since we last talked back in September ‘09, what have you guys been working on?

Dan: We've been finishing up the music and sound effects for A.R.E.S (formerly Trashman), produced by extend studios (http://blog.x10studio.com/) which has just recently been entered for and won First Prize at Microsoft's Dream Build Play 2010 competition. We've also been heavily at work on Dust: An Elysian Tail, which is proving to be really interesting; we're really excited to see the final release. Other work has included looking for future projects - we have just completed our degrees this week, and so are likely to be putting a lot more into our music making from now on!

Q - First Dust and now A.R.E.S. I think I can speak on behalf of everyone at Gamercide when I say congratulations on your SECOND win in the Dream.Build.Play competition. How does it feel to have a game you guys worked on, win 2 years in a row?

Dan: Thanks, and it feels great! We are really very lucky to be working with these immensely talented people. For our music to be a part of these creations is a real boost for us. We're really excited at the prospect of these titles being released to the public - it'll be a real milestone for us I think, especially in terms of exposure. With any luck we may end up on future dbp projects, but the main focus at the moment is getting all the material for Dust finished.

Q - Any update on when we can expect releases for Dust or A.R.E.S? Not just the XBLA versions, but PC versions as well.

Chris: A.r.e.s. is going into testing phases soon for the PC release, I think it might be being released on Steam, I can't confirm that though. It'll be through a digital distributor anyway. The XBLA version I am estimating a 2011 release or a late 2010 release, but more likely the preceding date. The x10 team are working their brains out to get the PC version finished and ready for testing, then will work out all the kinks, if any, and you should see it coming to your PC this summer. Dust is finally back on our plates after the University exams, so we're getting stuck into that with full force, since Dean has been so understanding and patient while we complete University, and helpful along the way is really an under-statement for this guy. He is a gem.

We will be working again with Dean as of next week and any updates on Dust will be coming from the man himself, so you know as much as we do at the moment. We're quite eager to have a sneak peek at all the tweaking and work he's been doing, if you follow him on twitter (@noogytweet) you can see what he is up to in Dust now and then, needless to say he's all about getting it out as soon he can, but not at the risk of ANY quality loss. So essentially, it will be very much worth the wait.

Q - Is there any possibility of maybe a PS3 or Wii release for anything you're currently working on?

Chris: We're not currently on any projects that will see the PS3 just yet. We are in talks with a few game developers who are working on projects for the PSN, but would love to be involved on a Wii game project, something with the sparkly attitude of Super Mario Galaxy, but really anything. We're pretty happy to be working with developers who are passionate about their craft as much as we are, that's not just what gets the job done, but it's what gets the job done well.

Most of the projects we're on at the moment are on the PC, however by the end of the year, there should be a few more XBOX360 titles to show, or at least one. I can't say more about it yet, since I am not certain yet, but yes, we'll keep you posted on that.

Q - When you decide to work on a game, is there a specific process you go through to determine the feel of the music for it or do the developers give you some ideas to work with initially?

Dan: It varies from project to project. The developer may have a really specific idea for what they want, for instance, Dean Dodrill is a keen collector of video game music, and so was able to send us loads of reference material. We can then analyze these pieces and produce a totally new compositional idea, while incorporating more of our personal style into it. Sometimes we have game images to work from, which is really useful as you get a feel for the style of the game, and the colouring etc. If there is a particular storyline then that may dictate the pace and style of the piece. Personally, if I have little reference material I usually brainstorm ideas about what might be appropriate, and try to figure out the instruments that convey the right sound for the piece. Also Chris and myself are constantly bouncing ideas off each other, which is one of the big features of our music – It’s a collective thing, and we're able to get more ideas made that way.

Q – I’ve been following the development blog of Monolith since you announced you would be doing the music for it back in late February. Are there any developments or progress on that project that you can share with us right now?

Chris: I know that Timbo Jay, the animator and artist behind Monolith, just came back from being MIA for two months there last week. He has been very busy with other stuff, but his focus is solely to getting back on the Monolith train. We sat and discussed what direction Zach and Timbo felt Monolith could benefit from going in, musically, and in general I guess. It was a productive chat over quite a period of time, which helped build up a better image of what they want the game to be, and what they want it to sound like. Zach has a great business mind, and I felt I didn't need to hold back anything on that end when talking to him. Timbo Jay is an incredible piece of work, and his artwork and animating brought me to the idea in the first place, he's also a really nice guy, they're both just brilliant. It's been on hold with us until we finish Uni but come May 18th, the ball will begin rolling again, and within this ball, two ducks shall be waddling. Oh yes.

So expect Monolith stuff over the summer I would say. Expect a lot of interesting stuff over the summer!

Q – I literally listen to your Demo Reel and YouTube pages all day long at my day job, any updates we can look forward to on those pages?

Chris: So nice to hear that really makes us feel good about what we do even more. Well actually we just started uploading OSTs to Dropbox.com so you can get the Zero Gear OST from this link (Zero Gear OST). We plan on putting a lot more up later this year and since Katakijin should be released soon (finally!) we will definitely put that up as well. Expect progressive synth ninja iji-esqeu epic music. If you don't use DropBox.com that's ok, but if you want to sign up to it, it's free and quite cool, essentially free space to share stuff you like online. And if you use this link to join https://www.dropbox.com/referrals/NTQ1NjA5MDQ5 then HyperDuck Music Studios get more space, more space means more soundtracks in the future. You know it's right.

Aside from the DropBox.com stuff, I would also expect the A.R.E.S OST soon. we just finished mixing and mastering it recently, and I really think it's the best sounding OST we've done to date, in that style. Zero Gear I thought sounded great, but was not a big a challenge as A.R.E.S in terms of making the guitars mix with everything else. Though Zero Gear helped a lot. After that, A.R.E.S was not as daunting, even with the 80+ odd sound effects we had to make. We actually used a friend Kevin Carville (at hotmail dot com) to help make the sound effects. He's a long time friend of mine, and Dans, but I've known him since we were 5, so that's 19 years. He's a solid composer and a good sound designer. I'd recommend him for any game project. Keep an eye out for Frantic Panda Studio Works; no doubt I will rant about him on the hyperduck.co.uk newsfeed very soon. In fact I am working with him on the Mon & Bot OST, so expect that later this year. We start working on it at the end of May, or continue working on it. We have a lot of material for it already in the pipeline.

Q – Over the last while a TON of Triple-A titles have been released, what are you currently playing or looking forward to playing?

Chris: Company of Heroes. Dan & I, and Kev, cannot stop playing it. Over and over. I'm getting sick of it to be honest. Dan’s internet connection is crappy over in England so we can't enjoy FPSers together like MW2 and Bad Company 2. Aside from Company of Heroes, I guess I've been dipping into Supreme Commander 2 & L4D2 now and again as well, I am really quite skint I cannot buy new games, otherwise I would. I have ME2 on the shelf and Dan bought me Bayonetta for my birthday in Jan, I just asked him to hold it off until the exams are done so I can enjoy it. We're both excited about KOTOR, but that's not until Christmas, so I don't know what I will play to hold me off until then. Hopefully Mass Effect 2 shall do the trick? Played a bit of it and thought "oh my god, I love this" so I stopped playing and decided not to touch it until after my exams. I know how to spot an 'exam failer' when I see one. This is an exam failer for me; it'll suck my attention span dry. So damn good.
Dan: I've spent some time checking out other indie games; recently we each bought the Humble Indie Bundle, which was a really cool idea full of great games to pass the time! Other indie games like Altitude and Bob Came in Pieces are lots of fun for casual gaming. Like Chris mentioned, we didn't want to sacrifice our results to gaming addictions just yet, but there are plenty of good looking games on the horizon. I'd like to play Final Fantasy XIII and Red Dead Redemption sometime soon, they look great.

Q – If you could work with any of the current game designers in the industry, who would it be?

Dan: Anyone who is making good games will do for me, there are loads of really talented groups producing video games right now, the folks at Media Molecule seem to have made something really cool in Little Big Planet - something I would love to spend some time playing. Every game has different challenges somewhere down the line so whatever keeps us on our toes and creating music is good to me.

Chris: Seconded. I'd also like the opportunity to work with a company that would look for music with the orchestrated calibre and unique quirkiness that came with the Super Mario Galaxy OSTs. Really brilliant tracks all the way through those games. I can't pick a bad one out of them, honestly. Amazing. And of course awesome games.

Q – Any progress on the “mango feeding” or “ninja monkey astronaut” dreams? (Please see the first interview for more info on these dreams J) Still have a little over 9 years to go, so no real rush I suppose.

Chris: Those dreams have mutated into other things now, as long as we're involved in music I can't see the mangos, cigars, and astronaut suits roll in at some stage. Probably shortly after our funerals. Timing pfft.

Q – Last one, give us a bad duck joke . . .

Chris: There's no such thing, as a bad duck joke. You know this.

Dan: *Quacks*

I want to say a HUGE thank you to Chris and Dan for taking time out of their unbelievably busy schedules to do this follow-up with us. If you want to know more about them head over to their website at: http://www.hyperduck.co.uk/ and be sure to check out their Youtube page at: http://www.youtube.com/user/HyperDuckMusic You can also check them out on Twitter at: http://twitter.com/hyperduck

The guys have also given us an awesome sneak preview of the soundtrack for A.R.E.S. Take a listen below and let them know how awesome it is in the comments and in the forum.

[audio:http://www.gamercide.org/audio/ares-teaserreel.mp3|titles=A.R.E.S. Teaser Reel]

Gabbin’ with Gamercide – An Interview with Kiloo

Wed, 30 Sep 2009 19:06:00 +0000

With each and every “Gabbin’ with Gamercide” we will look to bring you many interviews with members of the gaming world, from not only the console world, but the mobile gaming market as well. We try to give a “behind the scenes” look at what makes each company do the things that they do. In this interview, we get to know the CEO and Founder of one of the premier mobile gaming developers in the market today Kiloo.

Teaming with Manomio, Kiloo worked to release one of the very first retro gaming emulators for the iPhone, C64. C64 as I’m sure you can guess is a Commodore 64 emulator that lets you relive those awesome 80s games on the go. This did not come without its hiccups, but they guys powered on and continue to work out the kinks of the Apple App Store submission process. Kiloo has also worked with some of the most well known IPs among various industries in the LEGO and Happy Tree Friends brands. Please help me give a very warm welcome to Jacob Møller from Kiloo.

Q: Let's get things kicked off with a quick introduction. Tell us who you are and give us a little background about what you guys do at Kiloo.

Jacob: Hi Shawn! The whole idea of Kiloo started out more than 10 years ago, when a few of us was fiddling with computer graphics and games in our sparetime. Like a lot of other startups, this story began in my apartment with long nights, lack of funding and learning by doing. Luckily, we’ve improved a lot on those points since! With a strong foundation in developing for Java-enabled phones for a number of years, we’re right now looking to publish on the newer markets with iPhone, Android and Nintendo DS development. But we certainly won’t rule out other platforms as long as digital publishing is possible.

Q: What sparked your interested in working in the mobile gaming market?

Jacob: It came quite natural – we were keen gamers and we loved our mobile phones. When we saw that the phones started providing more datapower than the computers we had when we were kids, that was really the Heureka moment for us, and we’ve never looked back since.

Q: Most people working in any field in the games industry have a story as to how their love affair with games evolved. What games or type of games do you play most often and how long have you been in to gaming? If you can, throw out a couple of games that inspired you to get where you are today.

Jacob: We play alot of games at the office. From the newest iPhone titles over Wii Tennis and Geometry Wars to Metal Gear Solid. Even the fussball table is used quite often. But we’ve always been very passionate about retrotitles, you know all the games we played as kids. There’s something wonderful about the simplicity of these games. The value of quality gameplay at its core.

Q: What was the driving force behind choosing the Commodore 64 as the basis for one of, if not THE first officialy released iPhone emulators?

Jacob: It might sound like a terrible cliché, but there’s just so much emotion connected to the C64 that we instantly fell in love with the idea when presented to us. Just the thought of combining a really state-of-the-art machine like the iPhone with something as cool as the most popular personal computer of all times was too fantastic to let pass.

Q: Kiloo and the team over at Manomio seemed to have some trouble getting the app through Apple's app review process. How did you guys work with Apple to finally overcome these problems?

Jacob: We’ve been very happy working with Apple along the way. We have the biggest respect for the hard work guys at Apple put into this whole project to make it overcome the bumps on the road we’ve encountered.

Q: Any idea as to when we might expect the add-ons for the C64 emulator?

Jacob: We’re not quite ready to reveal that yet – but I can assure you that everyone are working hard on making sure that we get as many titles as possible for that platform. We are going to be releasing new content quite frequently though.

Q: The LEGO franchise seems like it would be a blast to work with. Did you play with LEGO bricks as a kid? If so, does this help in creating games for them?

Jacob: Oh yeah – our house was full of LEGO when I grew up. It’s only natural to be inspired by that when we had the good fortune to work with that great brand.

Q: The guys over at Mondo Media seem like really great guys, with a HUGE imagination. What's it like working with those guys and their Happy Tree Friends?

Jacob: Yeah what can I say? They’re great guys and girls, never afraid of pushing the limits. Everyone at Kiloo love their shows. It’s just so whacky that you have to laugh even though cute animals die in horrible ways.

Q: The one thing I haven't seen is a Happy Tree Friends game for the iPhone. Anything going on we can expect from the Happy Tree Friends for Apple's platform?

Jacob: I’m afraid we can’t say anything about that at this point.

Q: With some of the more edgy content, is there any series or type of game that you would absolutely refuse to work on?

Jacob: Yeah speaking of Happy Tree Friends - we’re very open minded people, but I’d say that Happy Tree Friends is a good example of that edgy content. We probably wouldn’t go much further in terms of gore and blood and those things – but given that it’s cartoon violence with animals for a mature audience that was just one of the most fun projects to work with for me personally. We set a very high standard of integrity in everything we do, and if something feels like it would threaten that integrity we wouldn’t pursue those projects.

Q: Every company has those "super secret" projects. Can you give me a little nugget of something you may have upcoming that you may not have announced yet?

Jacob: If we started chatting around about our secrets, it wouldn’t be secrets anymore would it Shawn?

I’d like to extend a huge thanks to Jacob for taking time out of his busy schedule to work with me on bringing this interview to everyone. With mobile gaming’s skyrocketing popularity due to the likes of the iPhone and the Palm Pre, I’m sure we will be hearing more and more from Kiloo and Jacob in the future. The release of their latest game, Mattel’s Whac-a-Mole, just really goes to show how big of a player these guys are. You really should go check it out if you have an iPhone. Also, keep an eye out for even more from them in the future. I’m sure they have TONS of stuff in the pipeline, even if they wouldn’t tell me about it first.