Indie Illuminator - Celeste

I only played TowerFall Ascension once—slowing my brother-in-law down in the game’s two-player survival mode. But despite my short time with the archery combat and platforming game (it’s similar to the popular Smash Brothers series or the vintage classic Joust) I had a blast. Well the same mind behind TowerFall, Matt Thorson, is releasing a new game called Celeste later this month on January 25^th.

A Celeste gif from Mini Boss's blog

Celeste’s Steam description says the game is a single-player platforming adventure. Players will help the main character, Madeline, scale a challenging mountain as she struggles with personal demons as well. Matt teamed up with artist/programmer Noel Berry, pixel art squad Mini Boss, audio team Power Up Audio, and composer Lena Raine for the project.  Lena and the Power Up Audio team already earned Celeste an IGF nomination for excellence in audio.

Another Celeste gif from Mini Boss's blog

If you enjoy platformers, Celeste looks like it will be another great indie hit. Check it out when it launches January 25^th on PC, Mac, PS4, and the Nintendo Switch. It will also release a day later on the Xbox One. 

Dev Take Tuesday – Because Survival is Insufficient

Over the holidays I finished reading the critically acclaimed novel Station Eleven. The story mirrors many other post-apocalyptic narratives, from civilization-ending viruses to eerie abandoned homes that might harbor unspoiled food. Yet the book still manages to feel immensely different from most other apocalyptic stories, and I think that sense of distinction results from a concept that the author herself describes as the novel’s thesis statement: survival is insufficient. I won’t expound on that any further in hopes of avoiding meaningful spoilers.

That line—the motto of the Traveling Symphony, a nomadic orchestra and troupe of Shakespearean actors that tours the post-apocalyptic landscape—actually first appeared in an episode of Star Trek: Voyager and two characters in the book argue over if that fact cheapens the impact of the motto. Like the character Kristen, who also has the line tattooed on her forearm, I disagree with that sentiment. Art takes many forms, and there’s no inherent disconnect between someone who loves Shakespeare, symphonies, and Star Trek.

"Inspiring people to rise beyond mere survival and reach out toward the stars"
(Image found here on Cubed3)

As a game developer, I take pride in the idea of games as art. I don’t bat an eye when a pop culture critic like Dan Olson (from the YouTube series Folding Ideas) follows a critique of the film 300 with a review of Skyrim. I don’t think that means every video game needs to strive to be philosophically dense fine art, any more than Star Trek: Voyager needed to attempt to be Shakespeare. But video games, sci-fi television, classic theater, and novels all offer a glimpse of humanity, inspiring people to rise beyond mere survival and reach out toward the stars. The mundanity of actual game development can sometimes obscure the potential of the final product, so I’m grateful that Station Eleven reminded me of the impact art, in all its forms, can have on our current society and even societies of the future. 

Dev Take Tuesday - A New Year

2017 was a great year for me as a game designer. It was my first full year spent designing games, and I learned a lot in those 365 days. Unsurprisingly, I often use this time of year to reflect on the past year’s accomplishments and plan for the future. So if you’ll indulge me, I’d like to provide a quick recap of last year’s development, followed by the next steps we plan for Alkanaur in 2018.

As a team we capped off this past year with a finished pre-alpha demo build of Alkanaur. We’d completed a rough demo for our game in the summer of 2015, just in time for a local game convention. However, thanks in large part to feedback from that convention, we decided to change our engine and rebuild from the ground up. While this meant that 2016 was spent climbing back to a similar spot that we reached in 2015, it was the right choice for Alkanaur. We built the game on a much more stable platform now, and that choice will also help on the art side of things as we focus more on creating content to fill out the game.

I’ve learned to help our programmer out in some ways, but the engine change definitely required work from an experienced coder. With my extra time as a designer and creative lead, I focused on refining the battle system, class system, and other game mechanics of Alkanaur. Additionally, I had plenty of time to expand our game’s narrative, world, and character arcs and backstories. Heading into 2018, we have a lot of the framework for Alkanaur’s systems and story already constructed, which should mean much faster and smoother content creation as we plow forward.

As we collect and review feedback from our pre-alpha demo, we’ll work on polishing everything in that demo to provide a great user experience. We plan to create a fully-polished “vertical slice” of Alkanaur that should look and play exactly like the final product, except for being a short section of the 20-ish hour game experience we intend. We’ll make that vertical slice a public demo and launch that demo alongside our Kickstarter project so that any potential investors (backers) know that we can follow through on our plan. The Kickstarter campaign will be for a relatively small amount of money, intended to cover a lot of the small fees that come from organizing a company and releasing a game on Steam. Any surplus money from that Kickstarter will go to stretch goals for additional professional art, sound, and music to make Alkanaur truly shine.

I’m excited to see what 2018 has in store for Alkanaur as well as for my own life and growth as a developer and designer. If you’re also excited to see what’s in store, keep following our blog for updates, and sign up for our Alkanaur.com newsletter (link at the bottom of the page) to be notified about big events like our Kickstarter campaign.

Dev Take Tuesday – Warming Up to Achievements

I have to admit that for a long time I found achievement systems pointless. To me the true achievement was beating the game, and the thought of playing the game repeatedly for the equivalent of a self-congratulatory pat on the back seemed tiresome. But I’ve done what many people (regrettably) might consider impossible: I changed my view. After returning to two of my favorite games, Civilization 6 and Starcraft 2, I noticed how the achievement system helped me have fun. And I learned it wasn’t simply about unlocking an icon in my Steam or Blizzard account, either.

I tend to fall into comfort zones as a player—both with the selection of games I play as well as my style of play. Once I got serious about game design, I realized I’d need to stretch myself a little or risk missing out on everything gaming has to offer. Still, even with new games I know that I zero in on one gameplay style and stick with it until it fails. That’s where achievements come in. Setting achievements can convince players to interact with the game in a new way, baiting them out of their comfort zone.

Some of my completed Steam achievements for Civ 6

Civ 6 offers around 150 achievements. Most of them are simple: winning a game with each distinct civilization, trying different paths to victory, and even playing on bigger or smaller maps. Some are more complex. One of my favorite Civ games ever involved a conscious effort to complete the “Loire Valley” achievement. Based off of the historically significant and vineyard-soaked valley of central France with the same name, the achievement challenges you to build five special chateaux buildings, unique to the French civilization, in a city that produces wine. I remember feeling remarkable pride in that game—not necessarily because of the achievement itself, but because of how beautiful the city looked. It felt just like the type of culturally-significant city that tourists would want to visit.

Starcraft's campaign bakes its achievements into the game itself, rather than abstracting the achievements into a space outside the game. After each completed mission, you can see if you completed any or all of three achievements. (You can find out the achievements before the end of the mission, but it takes a little bit of extra work.) Some achievements are easy to accidentally complete, but most require you to approach the mission in a completely different way. Additionally, one of the three achievements must also be completed in hard mode which provides a subtle push to try the game at a higher difficulty level.

I certainly haven’t become obsessive about “100-percenting” achievements. I doubt I ever will. But I do love how different achievement systems have encouraged me to get out of my comfort zone and try parts of the game I would normally pass right by. I think carefully considered achievements help game designers to nudge players toward unique gameplay styles they’d otherwise disregard, and I’m excited to mull over achievement options for Alkanaur as we get closer to release.

Dev Take Tuesday - Cuphead's Clouds

I’m going to complain about Cuphead in the next couple paragraphs: a tiny complaint that, yes, is tied to the game’s oft-discussed difficulty. But first, let me gush about StudioMDHR’s popular indie hit. It’s impossible to talk about the game without bringing up its unique and captivating art style. The early twentieth-century cartoon look and jazzy instrumental tracks truly set the game apart. My dad never plays video games (apart from the occasional game of Mario Kart or Madden) but will sit down and watch my brother and me play just because of the game’s visuals. However, Cuphead isn’t simply about spectacle—the game utilizes tight controls and uniquely challenging boss fight after boss fight to create a great gameplay experience.

Cuphead is fun but extremely taxing. If I’m being honest, it’s my brother who keeps us afloat in the game’s two-player mode. In the vast majority of cases, this difficulty seems “earned” by the designers. You might die several times as you figure out a boss’s attack patterns, but once you learn the patterns you feel ready to vanquish your increasingly vexing foe. These boss attacks almost always have their own tell that clues players into which attack they must prepare for. One particularly elegant tell I noticed was during a convoluted carnival battle where a dangerous roller coaster could be seen distantly in the background before it arrived on the main screen.

Gif found in this Polygon article

Most of the time, my brother and I knew that our failures were our fault—we were clumsy with the controls or not focused enough to see the boss’s tells. But then we lost to the dragon. And lost again. And probably lost around forty times? I lost count. And with the dragon, the failures were much more frustrating. Unsurprisingly, Cuphead’s dragon flies, which means players need to jump from cloud to cloud throughout the battle. Unfortunately, these clouds briskly scroll across the screen in random formations. I’m sure the design decision here was intended to prevent stagnant play patterns, but I personally feel that the randomness of the attacks is enough. When an unlucky combination of attacks leaves you stranded without a cloud to jump too, fault is attributed to misfortune instead of personal mistakes.

Overall, Cuphead is an incredible experience that I highly recommend. As someone who gravitates more towards slow-paced strategy games, it’s rare that a twitchy game like Cuphead captures my long-term interest. A large percentage of that interest comes from the way the game thoughtfully handles difficulty, which makes the few missteps—like Cuphead’s clouds—really stick out. 

Indie Illuminator - Find Me

Find Me is a puzzle platformer that appears to take some inspiration from somber but soulful games like Limbo. The game’s narrative centers on a shadow trying to reunite with her human counterpart. Because of her shadowy nature, the player character must (of course) avoid light while navigating the game world, and, based off of interviews, the full game would feature more light-related game mechanics (such as reflections) as well.

Image found on the game's Kickstarter page

Another fascinating detail about Find Me? The game’s developers are a group of young girls in middle school and high school. They developed the game’s prototype during a summer camp program called Girls Make Games. An international program with support from well-known industry partners like Intel, Xbox, and Playstation, Girls Make Games attempts to bridge the gender gap in game development. Girls attend workshops and game jams, receiving support and encouragement to pursue any of the many possible careers in game development.

The girls hope to use their crowdfunding cash to get professional help with their art and music and for support to finish their game. Right now they’re awfully close to their Kickstarter goal, but they only have five days left to fund their project. If you’re interested in Find Me’s puzzle platformer mechanics or simply want to support a program like Girls Make Games, take a quick look at their Kickstarter page and their rewards for backers.

Indie Illuminator – Raji: An Ancient Epic

A unique theme can pull an entire game together when all game elements carefully work toward that theme. I think Bloodborne, Bastion, and Darkest Dungeon are all excellent examples of games that utilized an uncommon but cohesive theme to really stand out. While glancing through Kickstarter I found a current indie project titled Raji: An Ancient Epic, and I can see how the game’s chosen thematic background helps the game to stick out and the various game elements to stick together.

Concept art for Raji found on their Kickstarter page

Raji is an action adventure game inspired by Hindu and Indonesian mythology and set in medieval Rajasthan—India’s largest state. The architecture and art design in general looks amazing, and I believe a great amount of enjoyment from the game will simply come from exploring the environment. The game’s current trailer doesn’t show off too many enemy designs at the moment, but the acidic, frog-like Tezabsuras seem particularly unique and menacing. Although not listed as an RPG, it does seem like the game will feature some progression elements as you choose which gods to draw your power from.

Unlike many of the other Kickstarter projects I’ve illuminated on this blog, this relatively large indie dev team comes with a lot of experience from past jobs at AAA studios like E.A. and Rockstar Games. While they are currently short of their funding goal, they still have over a month to reach it. Take a look at their Kickstarter page if you think Raji: An Ancient Epic might be the type of game—and theme—you’re looking for!