ALL FORMATS

LIFTING THE LID ON VIDEO GAMES

Recompi le Save data

A game-changing The state of modern
3D Metroidvania game preservation

H A RD TIMES Crime and moral bankruptcy

in Family Man

V irtua l rea lity

Finding humanity and
emotion in video games

Issue 14 £3 wfmag.cc
 UPGRADE
TO LEGENDARY

AG273QCX
2560x1440
 An industry of imposters
waiting to be found out

I
don’t belong here. I studied Modern Drama at think – but no longer say out loud (progress!) – that
university, a conse uence of hurriedly filling most character designs can be improved with the
in my college application the night before the addition of jaunty hats and/or googly eyes. That those
deadline and just assuming it meant ‘minimal pitches we won in unfamiliar board rooms and across
Shakespeare’. In retrospect I was correct on that GDC hotel lobbies, those games we made that went
point, I just hadn’t factored in all the rolling about, on to find fans and nominations and enough success
JEFF TANTON
primal screaming, and frankly questionable nudity that that we got a chance to go again, all those impossible
Jeff Tanton is the
went hand in hand with the noble deconstruction of Creative Director things that somehow became possible, were just happy
theatrical principles. I secretly wrote some silly words at Mediatonic, and accidents where I was, at best, the innocent bystander.
in the evening, dialogue, often linear, like the massive has spent a decade Imposter syndrome doesn’t go away, and it’s
sell-out I am. designing, pitching, incredibly prevalent in an industry embarrassingly
producing, and writing
I don’t belong here. I spent a long Christmas working stacked with the most professional and passionate
for over 20 titles
at a then-thriving music and DVD chain in Kent’s including Foul Play, people ’ve ever worked with hen first oined
premier super-mall, Bluewater. I once located a copy of Hatoful Boyfriend, we were ten strong there’s now nearly of us a
The Princess Diaries for Helen from Big Brother 2 and for and Fable Fortune. number that never seems more ludicrously vast than
a time thought life might have peaked then and there. when we’re all trying to share a single karaoke mic).
I spent the next four years measuring strangers’ One of the advantages of managing a large team is
houses in order to set their council tax bands, once that I get to hear these talented individuals regularly
getting called a ‘clipboard wanker’ across a garden convincing themselves that each of their successes are
fence, which would have been devastating had it not merely luck, that their intuition isn’t to be trusted, or
been, given the circumstances, fairly accurate. that they’re honestly not the right person to do the job
don’t belong here landed my first industry they’re already capably doing despite their best doubts.
break writing those silly words again, this time for a It’s the same when I meet students at talks and
small company called ediatonic t was a ba ing events: fresh faces with a drive and purpose that
decision on their part, considering my output up until humbles the kind of person who was considering ‘local
then consisted of amuel eckett rip-offs and the taxation’ as a career path well into their twenties. You

#14
aforementioned rolling about – a decision they then see all that from these fantastic people, and it helps
idiotically doubled-down by hiring me full-time. to put some perspective on your own doubts. I don’t
I decided to ride it for as long as possible before being believe there’s a force powerful enough to silence our
inevitably fired, bringing bold new ideas to the studio internal critics completely, but I might suggest looking
like ‘making lists’ and ‘prioritising the things in the lists’, for a bit of balance by sometimes engaging with your
and ‘not sleeping through constant crippling anxiety of internal champion: the voice that recognises the times
being found out’ ll the good stuff you nailed the implementation, steered the project to
Because I don’t belong here. Still. Ten years later. a better place, e ecuted the awless pun, supported a
Not really hey’ll find me out at some point they’ll colleague when they needed it.
realise I have no formal game design training, that my Honestly, it can temporarily make a fraud like me
direction is based largely on not repeating catastrophic believe that maybe I belong here – which means that
decisions from my personal back catalogue, that I still you definitely do, too

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 Contents

Contents

6
Attract mode Interface

06. Family Man 18. Virtual reality

Crime just about pays in a he indies finding deeper human
downbeat RPG truths in game design

10. Cyber Shadow 24. Rog & Roll

igh-tech nin as in a lo-fi, A solo dev’s charming
NES-inspired platformer underdog platformer

12. Recompile 44. Game preservation

eaping, blasting, and hacking The heroes saving the
in a 3D Metroidvania medium’s history

16. Incoming 50. Frontier

18 ampires, detectives, and
a digital Keanu Reeves
The Elite Dangerous and
lanet Coaster studio profiled

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 Contents

WELCOME

24
Games can be many things – an
escape, a challenge, an all-
consuming pastime – but they
can also function beautifully as
digital comfort food, something
familiar we can turn to when
we’re tired or need a bit of
reassurance. As our deputy ed
an ransfie d rites on age
65, Stardew Valley is one of
those games: an experience
so soothing and gentle that
you can almost feel the day’s
stresses ebb as you water
and harvest your crops. Not
that games have to be gentle
to be soothing; years ago, I
found comfort in Renegade, an
old ZX Spectrum game I got
so good at, I could complete
it on multiple loops without
breaking a sweat. Later, I started

50 56
memorising the positions of
enemies in GoldenEye, and
analysing maps in Halo 3. The
process of mastering a fast-
moving game provides a sense
of control that’s frequently
Toolbox Rated lacking in the chaos of the real
world. Sure, games are about
skill, judgement, precision, and
problem-solving under pressure.
28. CityCraft 56. A Plague Tale But there’ll always be a place
in our hearts for games that
Analysing the genius of City 17 An action-adventure with swaddle us like warm security
and New Vegas rats in its walls blankets; whether they’re old or
new, they’re always there as a
32. Art and commerce 59. Mortal Kombat 11 refuge after a hard day’s work.
aking creative games that lmost a awless victory for
actually sell Midway’s brawler Ryan Lambie
Editor

36. SIN made simple 62. Whispers of a Machine

Master the SIN function without point-and-click sci-fi epic
all the fiddly maths with an emotional core

40. Source Code 64. Vasilis

ake a onkey ong-style dreamlike adventure marred
animated walk cycle by nightmarish systems

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 AttractMode
Attract Mode
Interview

Even killers
do dishes
An ordinary father is drawn into a life of crime
in the grim RPG, Family Man. We chat to its
mastermind, Broken Bear’s Craig Harrison

W
here most crime An obvious place to start, but what was
simulators offer stirring the inspiration behind Family Man? What
power fantasies about prompted you to start making it?
stealing cars, automatic Funnily enough, my wife was pregnant
firearms, and mansions, when I first came up with the concept.
Family Man delivers the opposite: a dark I was thinking about it one day, and it
domestic drama about Joe, a middle-aged struck me that I would probably do literally
guy drawn reluctantly into a life of low- anything to look after my own child; that’s
level gangsters, murder, and boat theft. when I thought it would be an interesting
Far from the cathartic ladder-climbing of and unique concept for a game.
the Grand Theft Auto series, Family Man
sees Joe lose his job and, with mounting What was your process for creating the
debts and a family to support, faced with world map and drawing the characters?
a stark choice: commit to low-paid shifts Really, the answer to both of those
flipping burgers or agreeing to slightly questions is story. I knew from the start
better-paid but increasingly horrifying jobs I wanted the town to be coastal because
for the mob. that gives you a lot of context for free.
Inspired by the moral murk of Breaking There has to be a dock, there will have to
Bad, Family Man is a story-driven RPG be a coastline vista, there has to be a local
viewed through a lens of low-polygon economy that would’ve been developed
characters and boxy, Minecraft-esque around that. Once I had that as a baseline,
environments. It’s a stylistic choice that I wrote out the story beats I wanted to hit,
not only saves on costs, but also serves to and the rest of the details were painted in
make its askew take on the real world all around those.
the more engaging: it’s a place where small
moral compromises gradually snowball
Endlessly flip burgers for low pay,


into ever-more grim outcomes. Taking on or earn more money by working for
shady jobs for gangsters has a corrosive the mob? That’s just one path
Family Man lays out in front of you.
effect on Joe’s relationship with his family;
if he kills someone, then the whole coastal
town will show up the next day for the
victim’s funeral.
With scenarios like these on offer, we
just had to catch up with Broken Bear
Games’ Craig Harrison to find out just how
dark his low-poly crime drama gets.

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 Attract Mode
Interview

As for the characters, it’s the same – in

Family Man, the characters really embody
their story. When you see the banker
in town stood by his sports car, you’ve
probably already made a value judgement
about that character. The intent is the
characters are larger than life, and you
can decide how or if you want to interact
with them.

Was it a case of writing little biographies

for each character in the game?
Yes! That was really fun to do, even going
as deep as who would’ve known each
other back in school or when they grew up,
what their relationships were. It was a little
easier as the characters are all connected,
but you’ll have to play the game to
find out how…

When writing a video game script where

you have multiple paths, are there
certain bits of software or approaches
you’ve found to help streamline
the process?
That’s a great question, and I looked into a
couple of different solutions. The sad truth
is I just wanted to get started instead of
learning new software and ended up using
a massive, horribly unwieldy spreadsheet
to track it all. Never again.

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 Attract Mode
Interview

f this oo s a it dar ait unti you


see ho the fu scene p ays out.

Given that Family Man is heading to the

Switch, have you found that Nintendo
is quite relaxed about the game’s
darker moments?
onestly, we don’t really know yet – think
they usually pass udgement closer to
launch opefully, they like it

Have you struck a balance so that every

approach is a viable way of making
How dark are you allowing yourselves to back the money you need for the mob?
go? You’re able to take on ‘dirty jobs’, but Or, are some options just not worth
how dirty are we talking here? bothering with?
e’re talking dirty iterally, figuratively, “It’s about the player very approach is viable, but as in real life,
morally ost of the time that’s the player’s doing these terrible there are always sacrifices ou could work
choice, though f you want a be an evil, things, then having to at a burger oint all day, and not spend any
twisted, morally bankrupt father figure, time with your family, ust to pay the mob
then that’s your call
return home and look n the other hand, you could compromise
your family in the eye” on your morals, make money faster and
There’s the mundanity of home life, too – spend more time with them – which is the
how important was it to have household lesser of two evils
chores like cleaning and tidying in there?
Was the aim to make the anti-GTA – an Similarly, a lot of games about men What’s been the toughest aspect of
unromantic portrayal of criminality? getting into crime portray it as exciting making Family Man so far?
eah, it’s about showing all sides of people and empowering; here, it almost seems ough uestion odd oward of
ometimes good people do bad things emasculating. Is that something you had ethesda said: e can do anything, ust
ven murderers still have to do their in mind? not everything, which has been a difficult
dishes, maybe they even read to their didn’t have it in mind to be emasculating, lesson to learn on this pro ect ou get
kids aybe they’re even good at it t’s but certainly, the idea was sometimes you so e cited about some cra y new idea
also about the player going out and doing might choose to do terrible things because and ust want to will it into reality, that’s
these terrible things, only having to return that’s the easier choice to make ifficult how the obby’ intro see bo out even
home and look your family in the eye situations are constantly thrust upon you came about eining that in has been
– it’s down to the player how they want to challenging, particularly as it has worked
deal with them out in the past
ne of a i y an’s


ost intri uin

touches is its
do estic dra a
When writing a game like this, how long
coo in c eanin does the script end up being? Is writing
p ayin ith your
ids a p ay a part in all the dialogue for each scenario one
the unfo din story. of the more time-consuming aspects
of development?
he script is nearly done and will end up
running to about 1 , words riting
isn’t time-consuming, but good writing
is very time-consuming t’s an area ’ve
definitely improved in, having written
such a long, e pansive story ne of the
toughest parts is having the dialogue
choices actually be interesting and
entertaining across so many characters

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Interview

Where did the desire to question the

morality of players come from? And is
it in any way related to the fact we all
play games where endless, cold-blooded
murder is the goal?
think in the vast ma ority of games there
en ith the a straction of o po y
is very little conse uence to anything
 characters a i y an’s io ence can
layer hero murders countless bad sti pac an e otiona punch.
dudes and moves on without a second
thought, and there’s a place for that, but
wanted to make a game where you very Bears appear in the trailer. Do they play
much feel the conse uences of your o a role in e finis ed ga e
actions f you kill certain characters, there early sorry
will be a funeral the ne t day where people
from the town show up hat’s the kind of o any di eren o o es an
e perience was interested in creating, we expect?
something that might have the power to hat depends on how you define
a i y an runs on nity an en ine that
actually make you feel bad outcomes – the world and characters


a es iteration super fast critica for
physically change in a multitude of ways craftin this ind of e perience arrison says.

Is it intended as a comment on the depending on your choices our version

real world of the gig economy and of iverport will probably end up looking
precarious jobs? different to mine aybe you have a giant
n a way, but hopefully, in the real world ollywood sign that spells - - - , but
gig economy, you don’t get paid e tra for in my world urt is a nobody here are
spitting in people’s burgers or stealing three main endings: good, bad, and true
their organs poilers ow you achieve those is up to the player
to discover
While the subject matter does seem
dark, is there a sense of humour running o se l did yo find an ary s be a
through the whole thing? Was that an p ase in er s o fine ning e
important thing to get in there? game’s balance? a i y an’s coasta settin is positi e y


idy ic. ut i e a a id ynch o ie there’s

ark but entertaining was my aim, but o much stuff e had a lot of players horror aitin ust e o the surface.
really, it’s one of those things that ust and got critical feedback on ust about
happened naturally: the game re ects my everything ime was a big one: people
personality in some ways, and humour was wanted more time to en oy and e plore
one of them here’s another big benefit the world, but balancing that against the
PERFECT SHOT
to humour, though, in that you can create tension of not having enough hours in the
e on t s oi it by going into s e ifi s,
uests that are much more imaginative o day was a tricky one omething else that
but there’s an early scene in Family Man
me, it’s more entertaining to have a uest was really valuable was finding out which that aptly sums up its blackly comic
where you have to remember your lines elements of the game people thought storyte ing it s start ing, bruta , and
for a terrible play rather than find another were the strongest he storytelling in the bi arre a at the same time, and sets
radio tower intro went down really well, so ’ve doubled the tone for oes des ent into a rimina
down on that t’s great to have feedback under or d. hat moment has ind
Is the visual style one borne of artistic that early so you can course correct and of be ome the signature of the game,
desire or necessity? What’s the idea make good calls about what gets cut and hi h is so oo and unintended,
behind it? what stays arrison ex ains. he ay it ame
about as hen sa an e isode of
oth simpler art style is easier from a
rea ing ad that ust tota y sub erted
practical development perspective, but Finally – seeing as we ask everyone this –
my ex e tations. he riters ere
Family Man is a game all about contrast will there be a battle royale mode? a ays one ste ahead of the audien e,
aving a bright, vibrant world filled with here will now and e t thin ing, hese guys are so
colourful, immoral characters ust seemed f i ing smart. o that moment as me
like a fun way to create even more of Family Man releases later in 2019 for PC, trying to reate hat they ou d, but in a
a dichotomy PS4, XBO, and Switch ideo game, ith . of the budget.

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 Attract Mode
Early Access

Return of the Ninja

Not just another NES-style ninja platformer – developer
Aarne Hunziker talks to us about Cyber Shadow

F
or the past five years, acht Club up like Batman, Contra, and Shadow of the Ninja
Info

GENRE
2D action platformer ames has focused on ust one aka Blue Shadow in urope as inspirations for
FORMAT
game: Shovel Knight ranted, Cyber Shadow’s dark, futuristic setting
PC / PS4 / games are increasingly becoming fter getting caught in a nuclear e plosion,
XBO / Switch a live service of never-ending your protagonist is reborn as a cyborg nin a
DEVELOPER updates, but it’s not what you would associate and embarks on a uest to rescue their clan
Mechanical Head with a retro-inspired platformer ut as acht t’s a pretty straightforward set-up, but it’s told
Studios
Club finishes up its ickstarter-funded classic with similar cinematic’ art the classic Ninja
PUBLISHER with a final e pansion, the developer’s ne t step Gaiden was also known for – as well as its
Yacht Club Games
has been to move into publishing nter the hardcore action platforming, of course nd
RELEASE
newly announced Cyber Shadow, a nin a-focused unlike most retro-inspired games that indulge
2019
title that confirms the company is comfortable in in postmodern fourth-wall breaking and gags,
its love affair with the 8-bit era un iker says, here’s nothing funny about the
he game is the debut of solo developer game – it’s very serious
Unlike Shovel Knight arne un iker, who’s been working on it for t’s also pretty singular in its aesthetic and


or The Messenger, the past three years nd as he puts it, f Shovel mechanics a no-nonsense linear action-
Cyber Shadow keeps
things pretty serious. Knight is inspired by all the happy and cheerful platformer that sees your cyborg nin a slashing
games of the N era, mine is inspired by all the their way through obstacles, culminating in
dark and gritty ones challenging boss fights ut although it starts
here’s a tendency to e uate dark, mature simple, with ust ump and slash inputs harking
games with the ega ega rive, but un iker back to the two-button N controller, it soon
The colour palette is


noticeably darker instead cites the N games he played growing takes on modern elements that players have
and murkier than come to e pect, such as unlocking new skills and
you might associate
with the NES era. upgrades to make your nin a even more adept,
and changing the ow of how you play as it goes
o take one e ample, illustrated in the
opening moments of the game’s announcement
trailer: a dash attack that has you slashing
through enemies doesn’t ust look cool – it also
allows you to move across the screen in fewer
frames hile the ability is limited, a successful
attack also refills its gauge, meaning a skilful
player can feasibly chain-kill multiple enemies
and move across a level at a much faster
speed he first level might take five minutes

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 Attract Mode
Early Access

Expect some big, tough set-piece



boss battles – though hopefully

not as tough as Sekiro.

to complete on the first try, but with all the games, but it makes me find new, uni ue things
skills unlocked it can be seconds, un iker so that it’s not ust another Ninja Gaiden
says – which suggests Cyber Shadow will prove peaking of Shovel Knight, it was actually a
particularly replayable for speedrunners suggestion from an artist at acht Club ames
f course, the structure of an 8-bit game that led to the latter offering to publish Cyber
evolving its playstyle over time, as well as the Shadow, although it wasn’t without some
nin a premise itself, may resistance nitially,
draw comparisons with “It’s partly thanks to Shovel was like no’, because
last year’s Ninja Gaiden- had decided to do it by
inspired retro throwback
Knight that I started to myself – was stubborn,
The Messenger, and the take my project seriously” un iker laughs ut
recent Katana Zero also then they offered to help
combines pi el art action platforming with with level design and in ect some of their magic
cyberpunk and apanese tropes those last two into the game, and that sounded like a very
elements are, admittedly, a common blend good idea
ven discounting the sub ect matter, there’s ar from a traditional publisher then, acht
no doubt that, while Shovel Knight was a breath Club’s role is more akin to co-developer, which
of fresh air in 1 , we have a lot more pi el has been a boon for the game’s development in
platformers knocking around these days ut to an intensive past si months – down to the pi el
conclude there’s an oversaturation of the genre detail, as un iker puts it
would be unfair, especially when the rest of the here are only a few companies would work
industry is also rushing to ape bigger trends like with, and acht Club is one of them, so it’s been
ireframe favourite, the battle royale very lucky to team up with them
un iker, meanwhile, isn’t bothered by the
comparisons, and indeed welcomes them rior
The running slash is one of the signature


to Cyber Shadow, he was learning pi el art in movements for skilful play, though a whole suite
his day ob, which involved creating assets for of abilities can be unlocked as you progress.

avatars on acebook and mobile games with

that very aesthetic
lsewhere, he cut his teeth in the modding
scene with the earliest N emulators, which
allowed users to view and change graphics on
the y ut it all comes back to acht Club:
t’s partly thanks to Shovel Knight that started
to take my pro ect seriously, un iker e plains
t showed that there’s a market for this sort of
game or the consumer, there’s a lot of choice,
which is great or the developer, there’s more
of a challenge because there are more similar

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 Attract Mode
Early Access

Hack and slash pproach ith uns a in and


the AI will react more aggressively.

We catch up with Phigames and their 3D

Metroidvania set in a virtual world: Recompile

L
ooking at YouTube videos or time-honoured Metroidvania style, Recompile
Info

GENRE
Metroidvania perusing still images is one thing, has you exploring an open map and acquiring
FORMAT
but there are some games where abilities which in turn help unlock new areas;
PC / other you have to experience them to the twist here is that the world itself will begin to
platforms TBA truly appreciate their potential adapt and change depending on your approach
DEVELOPER – it’s only when you feel the responsiveness of to the game, as programmer and director Phi
Phigames their controls that things really click into place. inh e plains t has a dynamic narrative, so
PUBLISHER Such is the case with Recompile, the forthcoming the kind of you create depends on your
Dear Villagers 3D Metroidvania from Manchester-based indie play style, inh tells us o if you go around
RELEASE studio, Phigames. shooting stuff and being aggressive, you’ll end
2020
Recompile certainly looks striking: its low-poly up with an angry , and if you’re more hacking-
world, set inside a computer mainframe, recalls oriented and stealthy, then you’ll get a different
the clean lines of Disney’s Tron and Mike Bithell’s personality
sneak-’em-up, Volume. What’s even more striking ten-minute demo ireframe got its hands
is how Phigames have created a place that on earlier this spring provided a taste of
feels alive as you move through it: as blocky Recompile’s abilities: The Program can blast away
platforms form in front of you and shadowy at the Mainframe’s army of cuboid enemies
Phigames cites Breath Of towers shiver into existence, Recompile positively with a satisfyingly meaty ri e, hover through the


The Wild as an influence

in the design of its open crackles with energy. air, and perform an infinite ump – the latter
map: “In a digital setting,
rather than fantasy.”
You take on the role of The Program, a allowing us to get a better view of Recompile’s
computer virus injected into a mainframe with impressively large landscape. Looming in the
the goal of creating the first sentient n distance, we can see the outline of a building
we later learn is called the Hypervisor Core; in a
nod to Breath of the Wild, it’s a place we’ll be able
to visit later in the game once we have the right
abilities, Dinh says.
To get there, Recompile will require the
mastery of combat, terrain traversal, and the
hacking of power grids and locked doors –
activities enlivened by some frankly gorgeous
visual effects, dreamed up by inh and
animation artist ames incent arshall
here’s all kinds of physics stuff and cra y
shaders that we use for the visual effects, inh
e plains t’s built in nity, but we don’t use any

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 Attract Mode
Early Access

thou h ui t in nity


Recompile uses a suite of custo

shaders to create its uni ue oo .

of the standard shaders – it’s all custom shaders,

and that’s why people are really surprised when
say it’s made in nity, because it doesn’t look e anted to ta e that rea y


like a nity game day nd if it looks rubbish, we can get rid of it, responsi e fee t itchy i e
Castlevania in 3D,” Dinh says of
Recompile began life three years ago as or reiterate it, and then we end up a week later Recompile’s controls.
a project Dinh worked on in his spare time, with something that’s really polished. We don’t
while other collaborators – including Marshall, need a game document or a concept artist; we
composer Richard Evans, and narrative designer can ust make it
aye imms – lent their talents for free hanks Dinh estimates that there’s still about a year
to some much-needed financial support from of development left before Recompile is ready
publisher ear illagers, to launch; one of the
though (see boxout), hurdles they’ve yet to
Dinh was able to work “People are really clear, he says, is the
full-time on Recompile surprised when I say game’s transition from
from November last year. it’s made in Unity” PC to other platforms.
“Games are so expensive think mostly it’s going
to make, and people are to be optimising for
expensive to hire, but you need a good team – performance, inh tells us lot of the physical
so you need funding somehow, inh says Now stuff, like lighting and , is in real time, which The way Recompile’s scenery


coa esces around you as you
everyone’s full-time on the pro ect means when we’re optimising for consoles or e p ore it is a e itchin
ecause the pro ect had so much potential, handhelds, it’s going to be really difficult hat’s isua tric .

was happy to work on it in my spare time while my concern at the minute

was working for another company, arshall s our conversation with higames draws to a
adds of Recompile’s early stage of development. close, we watch as another player sits down and
saw some special stuff going on in this game, starts moving around Recompile’s world. With a
and thought, need to get on with this’ tap of a button, the player sends The Program
With such a small, agile team, Phigames has leaping into the air and crashing back on the STANDING
been able to come up with ideas for Recompile’s ground, causing a shower of blocky sparks. The OUT
glitchy, glowing aesthetic relatively quickly, as player grins at the effect f higames can make ”A few years ago, you could
arshall e plains t’s a very weird process t the rest of the game as tactile and pleasing as put your game on Steam, but
there are so many games
wasn’t traditional in the sense of concept art this, Recompile could prove to be something very
now,” Dinh says, when we ask
signed off and then developed t was very much special indeed. him about the importance of
an internal vision that had, and we ust riffed off finding an indie ub isher i e
each other e made it organically together Dear Villagers. “So how do
“Because we’ve got such a small team, there you stand out?”
“Well, my advice is, hire an
was no point in having concept art, inh artist,” Marshall (the game’s
concurs. “[Marshall] could model something, artist) laughingly cuts in.
send it to me, and can have it in the game that “Oh yeah, there’s that,” Dinh
says. “But with a publisher,
they already have that
Recompile’s isua effects are the network. Publishing means


resu t of speedy ac and forth you get [funding], but also

iteration et een its de e opers.
they provide marketing, PR
help, and stuff that I don’t
want to do. I want to make
a game, and not do all
this other stuff. And that’s
important – I think that’s the
way forward.”

wfmag.cc \ 13
 Attract Mode
News

Headlines
from the virtual front
02

03

01 03. Game (Boy)

02. Boot the loot Maker Studio
01. Riot riots
issouri enator osh awley has tudio, a free tool produced
OK, so they haven’t rioted per se, but introduced a bill called he rotecting specifically to create games for the
iot staff have staged a walkout with Children from busive ames ct and original ame oy, has launched ade
around 1 employees protesting the hopes to enshrine in law his belief by Chris altby, the dev tool came off
company’s forced arbitration policies and that loot bo es in games constitute a the back of a game he made for a
a more general culture of se ism which form of gambling he bill would stop game am – several disconnected scripts
is claimed to still e ist despite the studio games for under-18s, or titles whose and tools’ were brought together into
promising reform over the past year developers knowingly allow minor one whole package
rbitration policies at iot have been players to engage in microtransactions, ou can make games for emulators,
changed so new hires no longer have think Candy Crush from featuring loot but what makes tudio e tra special
to participate in the process, which bo es and other similar elements is the s created can also be used
removes the public ustice system lobbyist group with publishers’ on original ame oy hardware isual
from internal disputes, but removal of interests at heart, the Entertainment scripting means there’s no actual
forced arbitration policies for e isting oftware ssociation, responded to programming knowledge re uired, and
employees had not been enacted at the awley’s bill, stating other countries GB Studio can accept art from near
time of writing iot rep, speaking to – including the – had deemed loot enough any source – though you do have
otaku, said: e respect ioters who bo es not to be gambling, and that to be able to draw it in the first instance
choose to walkout today and will not robust parental controls were available ou can check out tudio over at its
tolerate retaliation of any kind as a result on consoles Not that awley is 1 home on the interwebs:
of participating or not right, but follow the money wfmag.cc/GBStudio

In case you forgot, here’s ua e on ea es for rst ti e

what Sonic looked like i e he d in ondon uy

14 / wfmag.cc
 Attract Mode
News

04

05

06
04. Turn and face 05. ‘Potato aim’
the strain icrosoft released guidelines on 06. The worm has
acceptable and unacceptable forms of
Changes are coming to how launches trash talk after updating its bo ive (re)turned
games following a few high profile community standards, and uite frankly
underwhelms s that a thing Anthem it’s hilarious ither it was written by Earthworm Jim will see another entry to
didn’t do as well as the publisher had some sincerely pure being who has the series with ten of its original creators
hoped and predicted, basically chief never e perienced full bore internet, or it on board, and the game will release
ndrew ilson pointed out in a financial ust has to be having a laugh e clusively on the upcoming ntellivision
results call that the gigacorp was already amples of acceptable’ trash talk – mico he return was announced for
changing how things work behind the because a lot of us do engage in it, and it the series’ 25th anniversary, and further
scenes, and there will be more obvious can be healthy – include hat was some details are sparse, let’s say
tweaks to launches in future serious potato aim et wrecked, or the he ntellivision mico, which we
hat this means is a change of focus mantra for our times: et destroyed missed the e istence of given it was
on elements like and dev processes, Can’t believe you thought you were on announced during our run-up to
but also a move to ape the mobile world my level launch, is set to arrive in ctober
by introducing things like soft launches he unacceptable stuff, though, is and focus on low-priced games with
– that being where a game is released where the harsh words really do come no microtransactions or C, and it’ll
in a single territory as a test bed ther into play: ey, that was some serious basically try to return us to the fabled
tweaks will also see move towards potato aim et wrecked, trash, and state of being in the late seventies by
conversing more with its players, though well, the rest is ust swearing or racism, only featuring family-friendly titles hich
why anybody would specifically choose to really o genuinely unacceptable otato means Neo Earthworm Jim will have to
ump into the comments is beyond us aim, though Potato aim. tone it down a bit then, surely

Epic purchases Rocket League anish studio tra tra announces it has
dev Psyonix for undisclosed fee ‘ceased to e ist’ cho i re ain on sa e

wfmag.cc \ 15
 Attract Mode
Early Access

LUNA The
Shadow Dust
A point-and-click adventure with arresting
hand-drawn visuals, LUNA tells a wordless story
with two characters to control and a plethora
of puzzles to ponder. Backed by a soaring
orchestral soundtrack and – really, just look at it
– LUNA is one we can’t wait to have a closer look
at when it releases in the summer.

To The Rescue!
Doraemon Story Twee and joyous it might look, running a canine
shelter in To The Rescue!, but there are darker
of Seasons – real-world – elements at play in the world
of dog-saving businesses. Diseases, negative
How to make a long-running farming series personality traits, and other, sadder factors
stand out from its forebears? Add a robotic cat- are still being worked on to make sure they’re
thing from the future! Yes, Doraemon is making handled with the care they deserve. To The
its way to the Story of Seasons world, bringing Rescue! might be a fun management title, but it
with it an actual storyline running through the could prove just as good at advocating for the
game, rather than just the endless, thankless phrase ‘adopt, don’t shop’.
graft of your usual Harvests and Stardews and
Storys of the world.
Somewhat surprisingly, the manga/anime tie-
in has been confirmed for a release in the est,
so those of us averse to imports will still be
able to employ a futuristic cat-bot in aiding with
menial tasks like tilling soil and... watering... soil.
And it’ll be great.

Project Downfall
Blending Hotline Miami with a retro nineties
shooter vibe, Project Downfall is already out
there in early access but will be continually
updated, tweaked, and added to over the
coming months (and years). That’s a good thing,
because this early version is heavy on (terrifying)
style, but somewhat lacking in substance. One to
keep an eye on for sure, though.

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 Attract Mode
Early Access

Jenny LeClue –
Detectivu
e’ve been on a bit of a
love-in with adventure games
recently, and it’s titles like
Jenny LeClue that show why
that is. A coming-of-age tale
about a young girl’s quest to
prove her mother’s innocence
after she’s accused of murder,
Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines 2 this mystery unfolds across
the backdrop of a unique art
iled firmly under se uels we never e pected player character – a ‘thinblood’ vampire – and style and mechanics that are
to see’, Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines their travails through a modern-day Seattle both dynamic – with story
2 hopes to hit the ground running following during a period of unrest between the varying elements changing based
on from ’s buggy-but-brilliant first-person blood-sucking factions ith arado publishing, on your decisions – and that
RPG. This is no great act of bringing the band we can be sure there’ll be little in the way of reward curious players.
back together though, with developer Hardsuit publisher interference to ‘dumb down’ any role-
Labs contracting original Bloodlines writer Brian playing mechanics, so it’s fair to assume choice
Mitsoda to pen the sequel’s narrative, but with and agency will be a huge factor in the game.
none of the ex-Troika bunch joining in the fun. Bloodlines 2’s biggest issue so far, then, is
This still doesn’t particularly dent early the rabid cult following the original has birthed
hopes for Bloodlines 2, which will return to following its underwhelming original release.
the original’s blend of first-person action and Fan expectations can be… unrealistic, let’s say.
in-depth RPG mechanics to tell the story of the Hardsuit faces an uphill battle.

John Wick
Hex
t’s a ohn ick game, so it’s
from a mid-tier dev and it’s
an FPS, and it’ll be nothing
special. Except… John Wick
Hex is coming from Bithell
Games, and it’s going to be an
action-strategy game, and it
actually looks special. This is a
confusing timeline we live in,
but one that registers a fair
bit of e citement e’re going
to have to dive deeper into
this one.

wfmag.cc \ 17
 Interface
Finding the humanity in game design

Humanity
Finding the

in game design
Understanding the relationships
between games and their players

WRITTEN BY
CHRIS KERR

W hat does it mean to make

people feel something?
To string them up like a
puppet and have them dance
to the beat of your drum?
It might sound like an odd question – the sort
The whole truth
“I feel like you’re asking what the most
challenging part of making art is,” replies
of thing you’d overhear at a soirée hosted by Florence creative director Ken Wong, when
Hannibal Lecter – but it’s one that most game I ask for his take. “What is art, but the
developers will have wrangled with at some attempt to connect with one another, to find
point in their lives. deeper truths?”
When you strip away the polish and look It’s curious to hear Wong (also founder of
past the technical nuts and bolts, most games Florence’s developer, Mountains) dial in on the
stick with us because they tease out powerful search for authenticity. Those who’ve played
emotions. Whether it’s the thrill of victory, his melancholic narrative-puzzler, charting
the frustration of a hard-fought defeat, or the the path of an ultimately doomed relationship
elation and melancholy of a stirring narrative, from optimistic beginning to devastating end,
our favourites often resonate because they offer will know he succeeded in telling a story that’s
the emotional hit we didn’t know we needed. wonderfully and painfully honest.
ow though, can devs find the emotional The acclaimed mobile title earns our trust
spark that lingers long after the gamepad from the word go by walking us through
has been put down? It’s a quandary without a Florence’s painfully humdrum life. Most know
singular answer, and while we could accept that what it is to be stuck in a rut – to feel like you’re
and move on with our lives, it wouldn’t make living the same day over and over again – so we
for a very interesting article. Instead, we went instantly relate to the dark-haired girl shu ing
and asked some of the industry’s brightest lazily across our screens.
minds. Turns out they had a few thoughts on hat first level has so much work to do t has
the matter. to be interesting enough to the player that they

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 Interface
Finding the humanity in game design

he reysca


e or d or
reflects he ence inha
r so itude an its ear y on
p ayers ac d on in
to a si i ar pu in
point in thei
r o n ife.

Developer Karla Zimonja want to keep playing, but it also has to portray


has branded Gone

Home a rst person
Florence as quite a mundane person, in a not-
snooper ecause it’s very-fun part of her life,” continues Wong. Virginia ch
arts the


ar e y a out puttin specia a en e periences of radu

your nose in other “We want people to like Florence and root in esti ates t nne ar ate
peop e’s usiness. the ysterio er as she
for her, even if she’s not strong or heroic. of ucas ai
rfa in rura
us disappea
rance
erica.
So we’re trying to make her relatable. She
snoozes her alarm clock, groggily brushes her
teeth, checks social media on the way to work,
and has to talk to her mother on the phone
even though she doesn’t really want to. The Those changes serve to reinforce the notion that
music, the art style, the colour palette, are all time spent with Florence’s new partner is time well
geared towards this.” spent. When we eventually reach the game’s bitter-
While some might consider the game’s sweet conclusion, we’re no longer passengers along
opening salvo tedious, that’s precisely the point. for the ride, but active participants reliving our own
layers are given time to breathe and re ect on tales of love and loss t’s a tough finale to stomach,
their own experiences as they trudge through and one that earns a reaction because of its sincere
Florence’s groggy routine. It allows them to build-up.
slowly begin projecting onto her, pulling them “When they break up, Florence has to ‘let go’ of
deeper and deeper into her head space as the Krish. To do this, the player has to literally let go
Tacoma ta es p ace on


a unar ransfer narrative becomes corporeal. Then as we’re of the screen, and allow Krish to simply fade away
tation aco a hich introduced to the ob ect of her affections, over time,” comments Wong, explaining how the
ser es as an auto ated
car o transfer point rish, colour and sound ood our senses ove team made the most of that intimate connection
et een arth and the
enith unar esort on
blooms, replacing the drab greys and dreary between player and game. “But people can’t resist
the oon. tones of singledom with increasingly vibrant touching the screen because they’re so used to
hues and music filled with purpose that, just like they can’t resist contacting or thinking
about their ex.”
Wong isn’t alone in his assertion that
truth (or the pursuit of it) is what really
sells players on a project. As Fullbright
co-founder and Gone Home developer
Karla Zimonja puts it when I ask her a
similar question, honesty is the handhold
that people reach for.
“The truth is that it’s very hard to make
an experience of any sort that’s generic

wfmag.cc \ 19
 Interface
Finding the humanity in game design

Build it yourself station drifting above Earth in

the year 2088.
Fullbright believes the ‘IKEA The rather drastic switch-up
effect,’ which is basically the forced Zimonja and the rest of
notion that the more work you the dev team to think about
put into something, the more how players would connect
you’ll value it, explains why
with characters living in a time
players became hooked by
detached from their own.
Gone Home’s build-it-yourself
narrative. It’s also a concept
Ultimately, they decided to blend their version of
that explains why you’ve been the future with the here-and-now, grounding it
clinging onto that tatty IKEA and has no identifying markers, because people in as much of our reality as possible.
desk chair for the best part of won’t find anything to grab onto, she e plains t was definitely more of an effort, to consider
a decade. omething that has all the edges sanded off is what it meant to be an everyday person in 2088.
not how we experience the world, so it works So what we ended up doing was making the
much better to create a specific situation nd landscape as much of a small leap from what
then, even though people haven’t been through we have today as possible,” she explains. “In
that exact situation, it’s close enough that Tacoma, we had seven major characters, and
people can grab onto it.” they were all important and had their own arcs
She posits that drawing from your own and own plot lines. It was a really interesting
experience is not only invaluable, but challenge to think about how to get that
absolutely necessary in game development. information across. We tried to give them all
If you want people to connect with your art, very understandable motives, and keep things
you need to look within yourself and reach an as human as possible.”
understanding. Find your truth, and share it with Indeed, clearly showcasing character
the world. motivations is imperative. If players begin to
“Using your own experiences, and the depth second-guess certain decisions, they may begin
to which you understand them, is probably to fall out of sync with the events unfolding
one of the most useful things we have in our in front of them, resulting in an emotional
bag of tricks,” she disconnect that’s
adds. “Massaging
those experiences
“ It’ s often hard to make art difficult to mend hat
very art of conveyance
to make them feel out of life, but specificity was something Variable
like a clear narrative
is hard, because life is very important to us ” State co-founder
Jonathan Burroughs
is a mess. It’s often sought to master while
hard to make art out of life, but specificity is very serving as game director on Virginia, a complex
important to us, and we find that’s the only way thriller centred around a missing persons case
to make a relatable narrative.” in rural America.
The unorthodox title attempts to tell a
Tacoma ets p ayers retrace Human after all complex story without any sort of dialogue


the steps of the issin cre

y recordin fast for ardin Of course, it’s easier to convey that sense or traditional structure. Instead, it steers
or re indin au ented of truth when your project revolves around players through a highly-authored narrative
rea ity ho o ra s.
common experiences like a break-up, or a trip that unravels across a series of painstakingly
back to the family home. How can you hope to curated vignettes, each bleeding into one
elicit a similarly powerful response when dealing another through use of clever cuts and fades.
with more far-fetched scenarios? As luck would Deft use of cinematic editing and rigid structure
have it, that’s a challenge propels proceedings forward at a breakneck
Fullbright encountered pace, but worryingly for Burroughs, also meant
with its sophomore effort players would be stripped of their agency.
Tacoma, which exchanges Aware of the issues that might bring, he sought
the nostalgic 1990s to humanise his stoic cast through the use
trappings of Gone Home of intimate dream sequences and expressive
for a high-tech space physical performances.

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 Interface
Finding the humanity in game design

ne of the first images in the game is

the character you inhabit stood in front of a
mirror. And they have a pensive expression, an
uncertainty to them, and we get an impression
of the character in that moment,” he explains.
“We also featured dream sequences, to allow
players to glimpse the inner mind of the
character, and perhaps understand their
backstory and what was weighing on their
thoughts. I think these were to feel empathy for
the playable character. And in turn, help you
feel what they might be feeling in the various
situations they encountered.”
Curiously, the Variable State team also didn’t
put too much stock into how they felt players
might react e definitely hoped players
would feel something from the story, but our Pu es e in to et si


p er as orence eco
ore co forta e ith es
barometer for success was really ‘did the game sense of e otiona pro
rish i in p ayers a tan
i e
ression.
make us feel anything?’ Rather than engineer
situations to produce specific feelings, we
welcomed a certain ambiguity and created
scenarios which interested us, and left it up to Rather than shirking away from that emotional
the player to feel whatever they may feel.” ambiguity, perhaps it’s important to embrace it.
Indies and
Leave everything
No piece of art can be all things to all people,
and that’s perfectly fine e cherish some games inspiration
on the page over others because they seem to be speaking Florence was borne out of
At this point, it’s evident there are some directly to us, as if an entire development a desire to create a game
common threads binding our devs together. team sat down and said, let’s make this one that eschewed violence, and
Honesty, empathy, and intelligible motivations just for them. It’s impossible to predict how the as s e ifi a y ins ired
make for a potent glue that seems to bind us multitude of people on the planet will react to by movies like 500 Days of
Summer, Eternal Sunshine
to our favourite games. Captivating narratives, something, but if you can find a seed of truth
of the Spotless Mind, and
stunning visuals, intrepid audio, and polished and plant it at the heart of a project, there’s a
Titanic. The Mountains team
mechanics all play their own crucially important good chance you’ll find out
have previously stated they
roles, but players also need to see a small part “That’s probably the most important thing,” hoped players would be
of themselves re ected back ften art will replies Zimonja when asked what advice she’d encouraged to explore their
bring to the surface things that the viewer is give to devs striving for a human connection. feelings, rather than try and
already feeling or thinking. It’s a mirror of their “Things have to ring true for anyone to care a hie e s e ifi goa s.
own selves. I see designing games in the same about them. Even if the whole story isn’t literally
way,” chimes Wong. “How the viewer responds true, which I don’t know how it could be, you
is up to them, and will always differ from person need to have a seed of truth in there that makes
to person.” everything else understandable.”

wfmag.cc \ 21
 Interface
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Beyond Machina

Beyond Machina
Game pioneer Mel Croucher revisits his viral marketing years,
from Duracell Bunny games to promises of free beer

W
WRITTEN BY
MEL CROUCHER hen I turned my back on Today, the industry calls this viral marketing;
Deus Ex Machina in 1985, I 25 years ago they called it bonkers. I called
thought all I had to do was it fun. Gameplay consisted of shoving virtual
wait a couple of years until batteries up the virtual arses of virtual Duracell
technology caught up with pink bunnies. The incentive was that if you
what had been in my head, so I could recreate copied the game and someone you seeded
it properly. I was wrong. Instead, I had to wait it to won a prize, then you too would win the
a uarter of a century, first for the internet to same prize. Provided I knew who you were,
be invented, and then for games machines to your email address, what hardware you owned,
go portable. Meanwhile, the mirror declared what hardware you wanted to own, and whose
I had grown old. During that quarter of a oxen you coveted. I produced Run The Bunny in
century I produced things which were not great eleven languages, mounted it on half a million
innovations, but neither were they a complete computer magazine covers for ‘free’, and I think
waste of time suffered from the dreadful it was the first viral marketing campaign to go
compulsion to Do-It-First, and it’s weird how global. Duracell seemed even more pleased than
compulsive Do-It-Firsters never learn what a my bank manager.
fundamental error it is to pioneer anything.
ooking back, it’s clear that the beneficiaries GOING VIRAL
from innovation are developers who wait for the My favourite viral marketing campaign for
pioneers to cock it all up, extract the essence of a bunch of multinational capitalist bastards
success, ditch the crap, and cash in. involved booze, which was how I squared it
In the early 1990s, I produced a video game with my conscience. One of my clients back
called Run The Bunny for Duracell. It exploited then was Bass Breweries, and one of my duties
something new called ‘email’, plus a novel was to encourage students to abandon their
strategy called let’s stick a oppy disc on the studies in favour of the pub. Obviously, Bass
cover of a rubbish magazine in a desperate had a strategically located pub within puking
attempt to attract readers’. It also exploited distance of every university campus, so instead
the age-old concept of piracy, where I actively of entertaining the student community with yet
encouraged players to copy the game. more video games, offered them free beer
All they had to do was tell me when their next
drinking session was going to be and which Bass
boo er they were going to in ict themselves on,
and there would be a free pint waiting for them
behind the bar. Well, that was not quite all they
had to do. I also needed their email address and
those of a dozen mates, to plague them with
future offers nd their mates had to attend the
drink-up so Bass could sell them enough beer to
recoup the bribe of the freebie. I launched the
 The faintly nightmarish Run campaign in Portsmouth on Saturday 5 October
The Bunny, a combination 1996 by emailing every student union in the UK.
of 3D maze game and viral
ad for Duracell batteries. By Sunday night, I was getting sign-ups from as

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 Interface
Beyond Machina

Thanks to a successful


Kickstarter campaign,
Deus Ex Machina
returned in 2013, and it
far away as Christchurch. That’s Christchurch, was just as surreal as ever.
New Zealand. Hey, this internet thingy had
potential. So I got sidetracked applying it to the
careers of various superstars by using the web
to harness their fans. Most of the superstars I
worked with were nuts, apart from the likes of
Prince, Eminem, and Frank Zappa, who were It was called Deus Ex, and no sooner had it been
genius nuts. released than I was asked by an eager member
of the legal profession if I was going to sue
NEW GODS them for trading on the name, goodwill, and
One morning, a few years after I hit my 60th legacy of Deus Ex Machina. I was not. A legal spat
birthday, I’d got back home from attending would have generated some great publicity, of
yet another funeral, and my dog went out the course, but I had absolutely nothing to publicise.
back yard for a sniff but dropped dead instead Besides, I would almost certainly have lost. The
I was not yet dead, but the clock was ticking, name of their game was undeniably a truncated
and it was time for a reappraisal. It was time version of mine, but their theme was the usual
to get back into the malarkey of kill or be
BREAK TIME
video games business. Another of my viral marketing
“Today the industry calls this killed, which could
That’s what it was. So I hardly be confused games was called Take A Break,
viral marketing; 25 years for the t o fingered ho o ate
decided to reimagine with my hobby-horse of
Deus Ex Machina for the ago they called it bonkers” non-violence.
mongers at KitKat. Essentially,
grou s of offi e or ers ou d
21st century. Spookily, Ian
stare at a dopey screensaver of
Well, you’d think the video games world would Livingstone quit Eidos in September 2013 after a branded planet Earth. As the
have changed beyond recognition in the time 20 years at the helm, the week that preview planet revolved, cities appeared
since I’d quit, but the only things that had really copies of my remake of Deus Ex Machina were as illuminated beacons, and the
changed were the numbers. When I started loosed into the wild. A bizarre coincidence. idea as for these offi e or ers
out, there were a few thousand video gamers Another bizarre coincidence was the key to eat a whole load of KitKats in
across the globe. When I came back, there were image used in the marketing of their Deus Ex. order to win a world trip to all the
a billion of the little monkeys. Before I quit, I was Like the cover of my Deus Ex Machina, it was in ities they had identified. gain, it
was based on the “please pirate
trying to sell products at a premium price. Then dark monochrome and featured a solitary face
me and pass me on” viral principle,
when I wanted to return, most games seemed to with surrounding hints of a dystopian world, but
and I probably bankrupted
be free. But guess what, I wasn’t in the slightest whereas my artwork had narrow beams of light
several essential corporates due
bit surprised to discover the games themselves coming out of one machine, their artwork had to non-productivity.
were still nothing more than a load of chess, narrow beams of light coming out of several
dice, ping-pong, and bullshit. The graphics were machines. Well, sod that. This time around I
great, though. resolved to wheedle and bribe the greatest
There had been the little matter of a actors on the planet, an enormous symphony
mainstream game released in June 2000 by orchestra, massed celestial choirs, rock legends,
Eidos, the software company founded by plus a programmer or two, and I resolved to
another old fart of a UK games veteran, the make the definitive interactive movie hat’s
Another piece of mid-nineties
sainted Ian Livingstone. His company’s title was more, I resolved to do it all with other people’s


viral marketing from Croucher,

voted the ‘best PC game of all time’ and it sold money. Which is exactly what I did. But that’s this time for Nestle’s KitKat.

more than a million copies, netting a fortune. another story.

wfmag.cc \ 23
 Interface
Interactive

Interactive
Cheering for the underdog in Rog & Roll
We chat to illustrator and game dev Clayton Chowaniec
about his underdog platformer, Rog & Roll

W
on’t someone please spare when athletic heroes like Mario and Sonic aren’t
Are you a solo a thought for the poor hogging the stage. Rog originally began life as a
developer working Goombas? For decades, Mario character in Chowaniec’s comic, Badnix, before
on a game you has cheerfully jumped and he began thinking about how his story could be
want to share with
Wireframe? If you’d stomped his way through transformed into a video game. “So the comic
like to have your adventure after adventure, leaving countless series, Badnix, is a story about a video game told
project featured in numbers of the series’ rank-and-file enemies from the perspective of the enemy monsters,
these pages, get squashed in his wake. Pittsburgh-based these underdogs living in the shadows of the
in touch with us at
wfmag.cc/hello illustrator and solo bosses and player
developer Clayton characters,” Chowaniec
Chowaniec is, at least,
“In any other game, explains. “I never really
intent on highlighting Rog would get stomped on thought much about
the plight of video n e firs se nds making it into an actual
game history’s little game – but then I had
but not in this one”
people – which brings this idea for a 2.5D pixel
us to Rog & Roll, his art platformer, and I
platform game about a Goomba-like character realised the characters and the world I built for
who finally gets an adventure of his own the comic fit with it perfectly ike the comic,
“Rog is kind of my take on the Goomba hope this game feels like you’re kind of diving
archetype,” Chowaniec tells us, “a tiny, armless through the screen into an old 8-bit game and
monster who’s outgunned by everything else experiencing that world from a new perspective.”
around him. I think it’ll be interesting to play a With an aesthetic that recalls a multitude of
platformer from that perspective. In any other games from the NES and SNES era, Rog & Roll
game, og would get stomped on within the first is being developed with a mixture of Unity and
30 seconds – but not in this one. Hopefully.” Blender; in fact, Chowaniec recalls that the game
Rog & Roll, then, is a retro-inspired platformer was originally born while he was using Blender
with a twist akin to Disney’s Wreck-It Ralph: it’s to make 3D scenes using 2D pixel art, and began
about the background characters we’d expect thinking that the resulting dioramas would look
to see in the genre, and what they get up to perfect as the levels in a video game.

24 / wfmag.cc
 Interface
Interactive

Follow Rog & Roll’s progress on Twitter



(@clayzulah), where Chowaniec shares

regular posts of new illustrations,
enemies, and level designs.

“The idea for Rog & Roll came almost



entirely from me messing around in

Blender,” Chowaniec tells us. IT’S SUPER-
EFFECTIVE
though it s his first
it ‘right’ until you’ve watched other people play ommer ia re ease, Rog &
your game. Music and sound design have been Roll is far from the on y game
a big new skill for me over the past few years. ho anie s reated isit his
t’s probably a case of me biting off more than website (claedalus.com , and
you find a ea th of miniature
can chew, but it’s something I have a lot of fun ex erien es to try out, many
ROLL WITH IT doing, and I want to see if I have it in me to score of them reated for game
“It’s built around a really simple set of a whole game.” ams i e udum are. ur
mechanics: jumping and rolling,” Chowaniec says While Chowaniec’s keen to handle as many fa ourite is hat o eyman
hing our rand ids re
of Rog & Roll’s platforming action. “But there’s a aspects of Rog & Roll’s production as he can,
nto an affe tionate arody
lot you can do by combining those abilities – you he adds that it’s not necessarily the right path of o mon o to d from the
can chain rolls and jumps to cross gaps, or roll for every indie developer. “I‘m not sure it is ers e ti e of a grandfather
into walls to ricochet off and reach new areas important for a dev to be multidisciplinary, or ith no understanding of hat
It’s a really movement-driven game, and I wanted if it’s even the best path to go down. I admit I the game itse f entai s.
ound u obb ing that
Rog’s moveset to be an extension of that.” have kind of a romanticism about the Cave Story together in t o ee s for
Although Rog & Roll is in uenced by console model of doing things, where the whole game a game am, ho anie
games from the eighties and nineties, don’t is the product of one person’s vision – but most ex ains. his as during
e pect the same harsh level of difficulty that of the time think devs are better off figuring the height of the o mon o
ra e, hi h ga e me a ot of
marked out NES staples like Mega Man or out the areas they’re really passionate about,
materia to or ith.
the infamously tough Mr Gimmick – instead, and seeking out a team that can help them with remember ha ing to rite
Chowaniec describes the game as closer to a the rest.” the entire s ri t and design a
friendly romp like Yoshi’s Island. All the same, Chowaniec hasn’t been entirely the ma s in the ast hours
“I’m hoping it’ll be accessible to everyone,” he alone on his Rog & Roll journey: Crescent Moon of the am, hi h is ind of
astounding to me no . guess
says, but definitely want to reward people who Games has lent assistance in porting the game that s the o er of ha ing a
like hunting for secrets and testing themselves to iOS and Android, while other friends and hard dead ine hanging o er
against ultra-challenging secret levels.” fellow developers have lent their support. And your head.
Chowaniec describes himself as an artist first although the game’s still deep in development,
and a programmer second, and while his other Chowaniec’s hoping that once the PC and mobile
games prove that he’s an adept programmer versions are ready, he’ll be able to figure out
(see boxout), the process of developing every which other systems he can port his underdog
element of a game – from graphics to sound to platformer to – not least that most in-demand of
level design – hasn’t been without its challenges. systems, the Switch.
“For months after I started working on the “Hopefully, lots of people will check the game
That Pokeyman Thing : a fond


game, was still focused on bouncing og off out when it’s released, and I’ll have the hard parody of Pokémon, and a
disarming little 2D adventure,
untextured cubes and trying to get him to walk data I need to justify bringing Rog & Roll to the to boot.
up slopes correctly,” Chowaniec tells us. “And Switch,” Chowaniec says. “And then people can
of course, you never really know if you’ve got stop badgering me about that on Twitter!”

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 Interface
Column

Why aren’t games

on TV more?
I
’ve ust come off stage at a
conference entitled Changing
Channels, organised by C tudios
and ames ndustry bi to e plore
the convergence between the games
and industries longside representatives
from places like ma on ames tudios, ego,
and the aforementioned C, ’m clearly the odd
STEVE MCNEIL one out hey’re all grown-ups with ower oint
Steve is that bloke off slides, whereas ’m ust a clown that likes ario It shouldn’t have worked, according to


of that thing. No, not aving been one of the people behind the execs, but for three series, Go 8 Bit did.
that one. The other one.
creation of the video gaming comedy show
Go 8 Bit, fre uently get asked why there aren’t
more shows about gaming on , and so it nd yet, in my e perience, still doesn’t
was today appreciate ’m preaching to the trust games f course, there are e ceptions
converted here but, obviously, there should be Go 8 Bit only e ists thanks to the core group
far more content created for gamers he music of people at who were willing to take a
and film industries are spoiled for choice when it punt on something received wisdom told us
comes to content: everything from live concerts, wouldn’t work roadly speaking, however, the
to documentaries, to panel shows and myriad fre uent blockage come up against when trying
other formats celebrating those art forms et to develop new pro ects is a feeling by non-
games are woefully under-represented gaming gatekeepers at channels and production
t’s doubly strange when you consider companies that the inherent entertainment
that, more broadly, nerds’ are e ceptional value of video games is insufficient to hold the
at consuming content’ tatistics provided at viewer’s attention
today’s event illustrated the high correlation ere this true, it would make the e istence
between gamers and their binge watching of of witch truly ba ing housands of witch
iconic franchises such as Game Of Thrones, streamers regularly entertain their communities
the arvel Cinematic niverse, and so on with the simple pleasure of passively watching
urely a nice chunky series about the history of others play games while having a bit of a chat
games, or a competitive gaming show would be elevision has plenty of devices available to
devoured by an eager audience it which could in ect even this most simple of
pleasures with additional things to en oy n Go
8 Bit’s case, for e ample, it was comedians being
“The music and funny on a massive – and totally unnecessary –
fil nd s r es rotating stage that added the e tra bit.
are s led r ’ve also had far too many conversations
where feels like it would be doing games a
choice when service to give them coverage, and raise their
it comes to profile ll too often, television simply doesn’t
content, yet understand that it needs gaming far more than
gaming needs urthermore, gaming’s got the
games are
internet, and that’s where Net i and ou ube
e ll nder live too f continues to ignore games, it does
Steve McNeil opining on the future
represented”


of video games, in a purple chair. so at its peril

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 Toolbox
Contents

Toolbox
The art, theory, and production of video games
28. CityCraft
Studying the designs of two
game cities

30. Game dev advice

The power of a positive team culture

32. Commercial
development
How to make creative games that sell

36. SIN made simple

Moving objects with the SIN function

40. Source Code

Make a Donkey Kong-style walk cycle

42. Directory Learn from the design brilliance of existing video



The 30 Years of Play podcast game cities like Half-Life 2 ’s City 17 on page 28.

Create a simple yet effective walk cycle



worthy of Donkey Kong in this issue’s

Source Code. See page 40.

wfmag.cc \ 27
 Toolbox
Advice

CityCraft: Studying
two game cities
Both New Vegas and City 17 are virtual environments
well worth studying, as Konstantinos explains

AUTHOR
KONSTANTINOS DIMOPOULOS
Konstantinos Dimopoulos is a game urbanist and
designer, currently working on the Virtual Cities atlas,
and consulting on several games. game-cities.com

S
tudying cities always required The best way to begin to understand how to
dabbling in far too many construct a great game city is to look at existing
disciplines. Engineering, sociology, examples. Play in some of the medium’s better
geography, art, literature, statistics, cities, explore them, see what makes them tick,
topography, architecture, and and try and recognise what they got right, where
history are all required to understand and plan they failed, and how they managed to hide their
settlements, and thus a touch of dilettantism has shortcomings. You’ll be amazed at how much
always been integral to urbanism. Add the equally you’ll notice when playing with city planning and
wide fields of game and level design into the design in your mind, and how much well-made
equation, and things can get really daunting really game cities can teach you.
fast, as the intersection of urbanism and gaming What follows are some of my observations and
allows for (and occasionally demands) far too notes from the urban centres of Half-Life 2 and
City 17 as seen by visual


artist Maria Kallikaki many approaches. Fallout: New Vegas.

(from the forthcoming
Virtual Cities book).
EXPLORING CITY 17
Half-Life 2 redefined narrative shooters hrough
it, conceptual artist and art director Viktor
Antonov and his team demonstrated how urban
environments could be so much more intriguing
and immersive than corridors when it came to
FPS level design and storytelling.
City 17, Half-Life 2’s setting, remains to this day
a brilliant piece of game design. Its asset usage is
modest but clever, and it feels huge, oppressive,
and lived-in. Not much of it is actually shown –
creating a metropolis of City 17’s implied scale
would have been impossible back in 2004, and
probably even today – and players only get to
glimpse it at the game’s beginning, and during
short breaks that allow them to exit tunnels,
sewers, or canals. Yet the sense of a crumbling,
once-vibrant city is always present, with carefully
selected, richly detailed views reminding players
of their metropolitan surroundings.
City 17 is memorable and cleverly laid out. The
imposing alien Citadel at its core is a landmark

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 Toolbox
Advice

New Vegas remains one of the



most distinctive – and

civilised – settlements in the
Fallout universe.

VIVA NEW VEGAS

Unlike City 17, which comprises a succession of
levels that create the illusion of a seamless map,
New Vegas from Fallout: New Vegas actually is an
open world. New Vegas isn’t an amalgamation
of several real-world cities, but an abstraction Half-Life 2 made sure to


constantly show off its
of Las Vegas projected into an alternate post- infrastructure, and
meticulously researched
apocalyptic future. It wears its pop culture Vegas architecture.
stereotypes, and Fallout’s signature sense of
violent irony, on its sleeve, while finally putting
that instantly sets the game’s tone, and attracts the luck statistic of RPGs to good use. The city
player focus. Its sheer size, and alien-ness, act embraces Vegas weirdness, with robots policing
as a point of reference, as well as an obvious the strip, Elvis-impersonating gangs, gourmet
gameplay goal he tower defines the city, cannibals, the mob-like Omertas family, and
encapsulates its recent history, and provides a countless gambling opportunities.
landmark that makes City 17 easier to mentally The New Vegas Strip – the game’s colourful,
map, and its spatial relations much easier urban centrepiece that avoided the nukes – is
to understand. a resettled town of ashy buildings inspired
That the game’s environments closely follow by historical reality. Obsidian based the Lucky
the design of real-life neighbourhoods, and 38 casino on the Space Needle-inspired
thus contain and express Stratosphere tower, and the
decisions made by “City 17 remains Ultra-Luxe was obviously
real architects and real in uenced by Caesars alace
planners, adds to the sense
to this day a brilliant Using the geography of an Civic Research
of realism. We know that piece of game design” actual place, and taking Opportunities
what we see isn’t real, and advantage of the liberty Exploring game cities is useful
yet it feels realistic enough to help suspend our afforded by the post-apocalypse, New egas research, since it can provide
disbelief and immerse us in a dystopian world imaginatively recreates a stylised 1950s version all kinds of design solutions
made of environments based on cities in Bulgaria, of Las Vegas as a walled outpost of civilisation. for your own work. To cover
a breadth of genres and city
Russia, Romania, and Serbia. Valve mixed and The retro-futuristic aesthetic of the Fallout series types across various settings,
matched diverse elements from a variety of is perfectly served by the Googie and Streamline I’d recommend you take a look
settlements, seamlessly combining Budapest’s Moderne architecture of the era, and late 1940s at the following: Anor Londo
Western Railway Station and the Serbian and 1950s music, as well as some emblematic (Dark Souls ), Novigrad (The
Witcher 3 ), Kamurocho (Yakuza
Parliament in a cohesive place dominated by the 1950s cars. The city’s character was constructed
series), Silent Hill (Silent Hill ),
yards of ofia around the specialised land uses of gambling Propast (Dreamfall Chapters),
City 17 also inherited another quality that and entertainment, and an abundance of blinking New York City (Marvel’s
was subtle but crucial to its realism: a sense of lights and signs help to hide its simple design – Spider-Man), Rubacava (Grim
history ifferent technologies and architectural and the odd missing element here and there. Fandango), City of Glass
(Mirror’s Edge ), Arkham City
styles coe ist in buildings from different eras and For added authenticity, several locations in (Batman: Arkham City ), and
political systems. Baroque, Soviet modernism, and around Las Vegas, such as Lake Las Vegas, New Bordeaux ( afia ).
postmodernism, and eclecticism stand next and Searchlight, were rather faithfully recreated,
to each other just as they do in many parts of alongside versions of the car Bonnie and Clyde
Europe, only with the subtle addition of the died in, and the famous ‘Welcome to Fabulous
superimposed alien architecture emphasising the Las Vegas’ sign from 1959. Surrounded by
new normality of urban life. Like everything else an equally dense Mojave Desert, New Vegas
in the city, these combined edifices seem to also feels convincing and exciting, while hopefully
be fulfilling very particular civic functions in space reminding people that imaginary cities cannot
(mostly surveillance, and policing). believably exist without a believable hinterland.

wfmag.cc \ 29
 Toolbox
Advice

The power of
team culture
A team with a great culture can move mountains, while
a toxic culture can soon lead to trouble, Reid writes
AUTHOR
REID SCHNEIDER
Reid is the producer of Splinter Cell, ,
, , and
@rws360

G
ame development is a team sport. been hired to build a new IP, the studio would
Every day, there are both positive also focus on supporting projects from other
and negative interactions between studios he N of incoming ontreal staff
people making the game – in a therefore changed drastically as well. Recruiting
positive team environment, people was focused on hiring people to build content,
challenge each other to get the best results. This and provide engineering support for other
is why culture is so powerful: a team with a great teams. It’s important to realise that, generally, a
culture can move mountains, and achieve the development talent interested in one of these
seemingly impossible. When the environment is isn’t interested in the other the risk profile
strained or negative, however, these interactions of building a new IP (especially at EA) is very
can quickly become toxic. I’ve had the experience different to porting or development support he
of working in both – so you don’t have to net result was a studio without a real identity, and
In 2005, I moved back to Montreal after a worse, in con ict with itself
stint at EA’s headquarters in Redwood Shores.
was happy with my work, and offered me CULTURE AND CLARITY
Splinter Cell was one of the the opportunity to transfer back to their newly When the Splinter Cell core team resumed work


rst a es to use a rea ti e

dyna ic i htin so ution.
opened Montreal Studio, where they were about after a year of paid holiday (thanks, EA), they
to work on a new – what would become Army entered a studio whose mandate had shifted
of Two. I was fortunate to know many of the key significantly hey’d left their obs at bisoft to
players there, since we’d all worked together at create a studio that would build a new franchise
Ubisoft on the original Splinter Cell. for EA, but now it was a development support
EA had wanted to establish a presence house. This ‘new’ version of the studio also came
in Montreal for some time, and when the with some new senior management.
opportunity to acquire a core team from Ubisoft The port/content development team was led by
came up, they jumped on it. There was, however, a toxic and power-hungry individual whose goal
a problem: Ubisoft was protective of its talent was seemingly to replace the general manager.
pool, and filed a legal in unction almost as soon The Splinter team believed the studio was created
as they resigned. Thanks to a non-compete to support them building a new IP, and resources
agreement signed by Ubi employees, the team should be allocated as such. My mandate, in
was prevented from working for almost a year. joining the studio, was to work as the producer
n hindsight, bi was ustified core teams on the new o say that put the team – and
resigning isn’t good for business.) myself – in con ict with the to ic leader of the
o ui d a cu ture it’s essentia EA, not wanting to back down easily, decided support team would be an understatement.


to ha e a c ear oa . f the
eadership can’t pro ide c arity to battle Ubisoft in the courts and press, while it To be fair, the Splinter Cell team also had its
of ision and cohesi e oa s continued the process of building its Montreal own share of internal challenges. We had a
then you’re in for a u py ride.
studio. Though the Splinter Cell team had all reputation inside Ubisoft as a group that got

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 Toolbox
Advice

great results, but were tough to work with. In one

case, a Ubisoft executive tried to give the team
editorial feedback on a build of the game, but he
was literally chased out by the technical director.
In retrospect, I probably should have told him espite its dif cu t production and so e


i ed re ie s co op shooter r y of o
not to do that, but Splinter was a highly technical as successfu enou h to spa n t o se ue s.
pro ect, and we needed the tech director firing on
all cylinders.
Now that the Splinter Cell team was back in he studio had been created with a very specific
full development mode on Army of Two, and the mandate (new IP), and the shift to support and
toxic leader was supporting other EA titles, the porting (while the founding team was sidelined) Engine Trouble
studio was in the midst of an identity crisis. We was simply too great. Outside Montreal, EA was also
lacked a cohesive strategy at EA Montreal, and When we started Typhoon Studios, one of our embroiled in a technical crisis
of its o n the firm had re ent y
the teams could feel it. Two distinct cultures mandates was to always focus on a common
purchased RenderWare to use
began to develop, and goal: one game. Our as a game engine for PS3 and
there was a frequent ‘us “The Splinter Cell team thesis is that this will drive box . nfortunate y, the
versus them’ mentality. our culture, and people te hno ogy as drasti a y
faced weekly poking falling short. rmy of o had
The studio manager was will feel that we’re all in
torn between incoming from the toxic leader” this together. Though not
origina y been intended to run
on RenderWare (like all EA titles
revenue (the porting without its challenges at the time , but this ui y
and support team) and future potential (the (and there have been many since we started), fell apart, and the game began
Army of Two team), and the culture in the studio we’ve always placed a premium on building de e o ment on ith e h the
same engine used for Medal
suffered drastically a culture inside the studio where people are
of onor a ifi ssau t. his
This really became problematic when people supported and trusted to do their best work. was a patch, and the team
needed to move between teams. It goes without e also place emphasis on ob crafting’ – letting knew it wasn’t shippable. It did,
saying that game development is all about team people figure out the best way to do a specific ho e er, buy the team time to
culture and cohesion – it’s this level of trust and job without micromanaging them. The leads and ma e rototy es hi h sho ed
the games romise. timate y,
support which yield great results. This is the main directors on the team provide guidance, but we
the decision was made to move
reason why we frequently see teams who’ve also make sure to give people room to do their both rmy of o and Medal of
worked well together put out higher quality work in the way they see fit Honor: Airborne to Unreal 3.
games: they have a strong culture. This doesn’t mean that people don’t have
s the culture inside the studio suffered, it con icts or challenge each other – that happens
became harder for people to work together, and daily he key difference is that we encourage
both pro ects suffered, too he Splinter Cell team people to seek out resolutions between each
faced weekly poking from the toxic leader, who other. It’s often said that culture takes years
belittled their work to anyone who would listen. to build, and only seconds to destroy. Nothing
In a competitive environment, such as EA, this could be more true: positive culture in game
kind of bad-mouthing took its toll on everyone. development teams needs to be actively
n the end, both teams suffered from a weak cultivated and developed. We’re always watchful
studio culture. While the strategy of having a of it, and it’s never ‘done’. We need to work on
‘support team’ and a ‘new IP team’ sounds great it daily if we want to get the best results out of
on paper, it simply didn’t work in this instance. our teams.

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 Toolbox
Navigating commercial game development

Navigating
commercial game
development
Yes, it’s possible to make games that are creative, fun,
and commercially successful. Matthew explains how
AUTHOR
MATTHEW TAYLOR
Matthew Taylor is the creative director and co-
founder of indie game studio Catch & Release, LLC.
catchandrelea.se

E
We stand on the shoulders veryone in this industry is money should outweigh our creative bliss, but it


of giants. Stardew Valley united by one thing: passion. does mean that the pursuit of a comfortable life
(inspired by Harvest Moon)
and Undertale (inspired by Publishers show their passion by is nothing to be ashamed of. Making something
EarthBound) were instantly
appealing because of their
risking thousands on unknown you love and something that will find an
familiar formats. quantities, developers too often audience should never be considered mutually
show their passion with late nights and lost e clusive ’d like to offer some advice based
weekends, and fans show their passion with on what I’ve learned about commercial game
their money and time. In the midst of all this development in the hopes of turning your indie
passion, it can be easy to forget that we all still dreams into a steady(ish) living.
have to make a living. That doesn’t mean that
EXACTLY WHAT IS A
COMMERCIAL GAME?
define commercial game development as
making games with an audience in mind. For the
sake of this article, I’m going to assume that you
will achieve your creative goals along the way,
but I won’t lie that the balancing act of managing
our desires alongside what an audience will
accept and find appealing is part of the ob ur
goal is to break new ground without digging
ourselves into a hole that no paying customer
will ever see the bottom of.
There’s a deceptively simple shortcut to
success that I’m sure you’ve already noticed:
make things for an audience that you’re already
a part of. A ton of famous indie developers have
followed this advice because it’s an easy way to
find an audience, and because you are part of
that audience, you’ll already know what they’re
looking for.

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 Toolbox
Navigating commercial game development

What your
audience
wants Happiness

Figure 1: Making


commercial games is a
balancing act. Going too far
in one direction without
considering the others is a
recipe for heartache.

What you What you want

can make to make

THE VENN DIAGRAM press and still can’t find an audience, it’s safe to
THAT RUNS YOUR LIFE assume that no-one was asking for that game.
HITMAKERS
I want to help you visualise the three qualifying That was the challenge with Star Billions as
For more on the MAYA
factors at play when vetting your next game idea a commercial product ardcore sci-fi with
principle (see page 35),
for commercial potential. Take a look at Figure 1. deep philosophical implications paired with
familiarity, and what unites
The blue circle represents all the things you cute Animal Crossing characters is interesting, ‘hits’ across all mediums and
want to make. This is where your science-based, but I have to forgive every prospective player genres, check out Hit Makers:
1 dragon lives he yellow circle is who asked themselves before pressing the buy The Science of Popularity
all the things you can make right now, with button: “Why?” in an Age of Distraction by
your skills, your budget, and so on. Finally, the ur ne t game was Cold Iron. We made more Derek Thompson.
green circle represents the game your audience technical progress this time, like umping to ,
wants to play. The intersection is where you’re VR, and a new engine all at once, which meant
happiest: making that the ‘what we can
something you can “Everyone in this make’ bubble inched
accomplish, something a little closer to the
that you are excited to
industry is united by centre. Unfortunately,
make, and something one thing: passion” we still hadn’t caught on
that – based on your to the audience portion
research, experiences, and conversations – a of the Venn diagram. We were developing for a
significant number of people want to play platform (VR) instead of a particular audience.
To help reinforce this idea, let’s see where This meant that the conversation began and
Cold Iron performed well,
the games my studio has created fall on the ended with one question: “What’s the coolest


but it’s still important to

diagram, for better and for worse. VR game we can make?” We got lucky that Cold consider which elements
were your own doing and
Star Billions was our first game, and creatively, Iron’s Weird West aesthetic and challenging which were luck. Otherwise,
it was fun to make. It’s a visual novel with cute gameplay appealed to a hardcore VR market, there’s nothing to learn.

characters and unique features. We made it but that’s all it was: luck.
on a minuscule budget, but we got a surprising Rolling Hills is our current game in
amount of press, including a front-page article development. It’s inspired by games that we
on Polygon. Unfortunately, that didn’t translate (and many others) love, like Animal Crossing and
to sales. This was a blessing in disguise: if you Fantasy Life. It also looks and feels like the kind
release a game and no-one knows about it, of game we’ve always wanted to make. That’s a
you ust blame your lack of marketing skills ma or milestone for us as a company, and for
and move on. If you release a game that gets me personally as a creator. (Note: If Rolling

wfmag.cc \ 33
 Toolbox
Navigating commercial game development

and those mistakes may mean you never get

your money back.
Saying that your current game should fund
your next one is obvious. I mean, that’s what
a business is, right espite this, developers
convince themselves that swinging for the
fences is the only way to make something
worthwhile. This couldn’t be further from the
truth. Start small, think clearly about the ‘what
you can make’ portion of the Venn diagram,
and work from there. If it sells, rinse and
repeat. Invest more in the next game, and make
sure you put what you learned from the first
game into the second one. If it doesn’t sell, be
honest with yourself about why, then get back
For Rolling Hills, knowing
on your horse.


our intended audience is The internet is full of angry indie developers

important for many
reasons. Perhaps most Hills bombs, feel free to shove this article in my who swear that we’re all living through the
importantly, it allows us to face.) For now, my only proof is that I’m happy indiepocalypse. In my experience, these tend to
craft an aesthetic that
piques their interest. to come to work every day, and even though be people who spent years on their first game
we’re still a couple of years from release, Rolling and feel cheated that it wasn’t a hit on’t e pect
Hills has already elicited a more positive and to hit a home run the first time you swing the
enthusiastic response than any of our previous bat – ust keep swinging
games. Most importantly, that response is
coming from my intended audience which – you TIME
guessed it – includes me. Even young developers feel the time ticking
s you can see, the enn iagram hat uns away. There are moments when everyone else
Your Life is not something I pulled out of thin seems more successful than you, and you’re
air; it’s the result of both failure and success as rushing to figure out how and why n the midst
an indie developer. The goal of creative life is to of that doubt, remember to trust yourself and
YOU HAVE move these three circles closer to one another your process. Commercial game development is
TO LOVE IT with every pro ect f you can do that, you’ll find a ourney, not a vacation ou don’t climb to the
Never forget that your passion yourself making cooler and cooler things, and top of the mountain, become enlightened, and
is an asset. Players love that’s why we become indie developers in the come back down as a game developer. If you
games that pack an emotional first place tell yourself that you’re going to give it one shot
punch. If you need proof and that’s it, you’re setting yourself up for failure.
of that, read user reviews THE IDEA IS JUST THE START This industry is full of creators who started small,
for games like Night In The You’ve done your research, you’ve examined made mistakes, and learned from them. I hope
Woods and Wandersong.
what you can make, what you want to make, and you’ll be one of them, no matter how much time
Word-of-mouth is an important
what your audience wants to play. You’ve got the it takes.
part of marketability, and
perfect idea. Now it’s time to look at the most
audiences are more likely to
talk about games that made a common problems in commercial development. TALENT
heartfelt impression. In doing so, we’ll make sure our idea isn’t going ame development demands a lot of different
to make these hurdles even harder to ump skills. Between designing, writing, programming,
and animating a game – to name only a few of
MONEY the fields involved – it can feel like you’ll never
Money is at the heart of commercial game be ready to get started any devs ust need a
development because we not only hope nudge to get started: when we first broke ground
to recoup what we put in, but to make a on Star Billions, my partner had a few years of
reasonable profit as well his is why breaking programming experience, and I’d studied music
the bank in pursuit of your first idea is such and writing. But what if we’d decided to make a
a risky proposition. You will make mistakes different game, one with sprawling worlds full of
regardless of how smart and talented you are, highly-detailed models

34 / wfmag.cc
 Toolbox
Navigating commercial game development

You may not be happy to hear this, but if design. In all of that success, he had one guiding
you need to hire someone to make your game principle: Most Advanced Yet Acceptable
and you can’t afford it, then you’re making the (MAYA). The idea is that there’s a sweet spot
wrong game. Constraints encourage creativity, between total familiarity and total innovation
so design a game that revolves around the where comfort and surprise converge to make
strengths you have today. You can always revisit something exciting but approachable. This
your more ambitious ideas later once the ‘what concept pairs e uisitely with the enn iagram
you can make’ portion of the Venn diagram That Runs Your Life, because we want to make
inches a little closer to ‘what you want to make’, something wildly innovative that still rises to
whether by hiring someone with those skills or meet the expectations of a demanding audience.
mastering them yourself. MAYA is an excellent tool when thinking about Celeste from Matt


he important part is figuring out what you commercial game development. It’s why a game Thorson and Noel
Berry may be backed
can make today on’t get stuck honing your like Stardew Valley rockets into the gaming by imperfect code, but
skills inishing a pro ect is a skill worth honing stratosphere. Its creator took an acceptable it’s a triumph in every
category that matters.
A buggy game will always be more fun than an concept and advanced it in brilliant ways.
unreleased one. If you need inspiration, look to
Celeste, a game that won every award under the CONCLUSION
sun. It’s powered by an ugly player script with Some readers might consider me a cynic.
over 5000 lines of code. It breaks every clean Commercial interests are often at odds with
coding principle you can think of. And it’s perfect. creative ones, but it isn’t my intention to tell
Think of an audience that you’re a part of, you to trade in your dreams for more profitable
design a game that they want to play, and make ones. Instead, I want to help you forge a path
it as fast and as fearlessly as you can. toward making your most ambitious ideas, and
I want to show you how to turn the spotlight
IT’S A HIT… I THINK on them. The life of an indie developer is hard.
I want to conclude by asking a simple question. t takes hard work ust to finish a game, and
It’s in the back of everyone’s mind when they harder work still to sell it. Whether you want to
make a game with commercial intent: “Is this a climb a hill or Mount Everest, it all starts with
hit?” If I knew the answer, I probably wouldn’t one step ou have to take the first step, but by
have to introduce myself when I write an article being a part of your own audience, building on
like this one. But I can tell you one thing that smaller successes, and mastering MAYA, you can
unites everything I’ve told you about making reach the top.
games with an audience in mind: MAYA.
The industrial designer Raymond Loewy
spent a 50-year career leaving his mark on
architectural, interior, product, and graphic

A big component of success



in the Twitter age is making

players understand how
they’ll interact just from a
screenshot. Star Billions
failed this test.

wfmag.cc \ 35
 Toolbox
SIN made simple

SIN made simple

If a fear of maths is holding you back,
here’s a guide to using the SIN function
AUTHOR
CLIVE TOWNSEND
Clive Townsend is an industry veteran best
known for the 8-bit Saboteur games, which
he’s now bringing to modern platforms.

I
hate doing maths. Not just square To start, imagine an old clock. Twelve is
roots, and sines and cosines, but at the top, and the numbers one to eleven
also division. Having grown up with go round the outside. Now let’s turn it into a
underpowered computers with programmer’s clock, with zero at the top instead
limited instructions, I prefer to avoid of the number twelve (see Figure 1). Far more
doing anything too complicated if I can avoid sensible. As one of the hands rotates around the
it. Sometimes the best way to avoid actually clock, we can make a list of the hour, the angle
doing maths is to figure out the bare minimum of the hand, and the position of the end of the
that needs to be done, and do it without using hand compared to the middle of the clock.
obvious solutions. In this little guide, we’ll take The purple line shows the distance across to
a look at a bit of trigonometry, and how we can 1 o’clock. From here, we drop a line down and
use the SIN function to move an object around mark its position in the 1 section of the chart.
on the screen. By breaking things down, we Viewing it this way, it’s easy to make a table of
can make a complicated-sounding process the across percentages. We can also do the
Figure 1: A programmer’s
quite simple. same for the up/down percentages.


clock, showing sine and

cosine values.

0 o'clock 0 degrees 0 percent across 100 percent up

1 o'clock 30 degrees 50 percent across 87 percent up

2 o'clock 60 degrees 87 percent across 50 percent up

3 o'clock 90 degrees 100 percent across 0 percent up

4 o'clock 120 degrees 87 percent across 50 percent down

5 o'clock 150 degrees 50 percent across 87 percent down

6 o'clock 180 degrees 0 percent across 100 percent down

7 o'clock 210 degrees 50 percent backwards 87 percent down

8 o'clock 240 degrees 87 percent backwards 50 percent down

9 o'clock 270 degrees 100 percent backwards 0 percent up

10 o'clock 300 degrees 87 percent backwards 50 percent up

11 o'clock 330 degrees 50 percent left 87 percent up

36 / wfmag.cc
 Toolbox
SIN made simple

Actually, the second half of this table is the

same as the first – but negative – so if we were
really short of memory we could just store the
Figure 2: A smooth sine wave. first half and have a slightly more complicated


way to access it.

n fact, the second uarter is a re ection
And you’re back to zero again. of the first, so if we were really, really short
It turns out that the across value traces out a of memory, we could do a similar thing with NOTES
neat (but chunky) sine wave, getting big quickly, that, too.) The code shown here isn’t
slowing down, then heading back to zero, then Time to draw our unlucky sailor, Bob, on the any particular language – it’s
repeating this pattern to the left. Imagine a screen. We’ll give him an X and Y position, and pseudocode to convey the
shipwrecked sea captain bobbing up and down a ‘clock’ value to remember how far through his general idea.
on a wave (see Figure 2). bobbing animation he is. Likewise, I’ve used values
Ignoring the o’clock and degrees, because we like 100,100 as an example.
bob_x_position =100 Depending on your platform,
know we’re doing a full circle, we can make a
more geeky version of the last two columns. bob_y_position = 100 some ideas may work better
clock_rotation = 0 than others. Perhaps your
Floats are quicker than Ints,
Column 3:
or you break your cache. Try
0, 50, 87, 100, 87, 50, 0, -50, -87, -100, -87, -50 And then in the main loop of our game, we’ll a different algorithm before
draw him like this: you optimise your code. Feel
Column 4: free to ex eriment and find
y_offset = SinTab[clock_rotation]
100, 87, 50, 0, -50, -87, -100, -87, -50, 0, 50, 87 the best solution for your
drawbob(bob_x_position,bob_y_position+y_ particular situation.
Column 3 is actually a list of the sine (SIN) offset)
values corresponding to the angle of the hand clock_rotation=clock_rotation+1
as it moves around the clock. Column 4 is a list if clock_rotation=12 then clock_rotation=0
of the cosine (COS) values for the same angles.
Combined together, the SIN and COS values for ach time ob is drawn, he gets a different
each hour give us the x and y position of the tip vertical offset from our list of twelve entries
of the hand. (see Figure 3).
As you see, the COS values are actually an Note that we don’t move Bob based on his
identical copy of the SIN values – just shifted current graphical position. We always recalculate
along three ‘hours’. his graphical position based on the clock value
There’s little point keeping two copies of the and his centre point. This is important, and we’ll
same thing, so I’m going to ignore column 4 see it again later.
from now on.
So we’re left with column 3, our sine table. I’ll A MULTITUDE OF SINS
rename it to SinTab for clarity. Hey – Bob’s been rescued! By, er, an alien. He’s
now in orbit around the Earth (Figure 4 overleaf).
SinTab: We’ll need both the SIN (the distance from the
0, 50, 87, 100, 87, 50, 0, -50, -87, -100, -87, -50 centre of Earth to the blue line) and the

Figure 3: Each time Bob



is drawn, he gets a
different vertical offset.

wfmag.cc \ 37
 Toolbox
SIN made simple

drawbob(bob_x_position+x_offset,bob_y_
position+y_offset)
clock_rotation=clock_rotation+1
if clock_rotation=12 then clock_rotation=0

Now Bob should be spinning around the

100,100 centre point. But he’s not happy about
it – he’s completing one whole rotation every
twelve frames. Wouldn’t it be nice if he could
rotate more slowly and smoothly ell, for that
we’ll need a bigger and more detailed table of
N values nd what if we wanted a different
si e orbit for ob e need to add a scale value
to our calculations.

SIN CITY
We’ve been using our own system of angles
so far, where every hour is 30 degrees. So 60
degrees is 2 o’clock, and the value at position
two in our list is the SIN of 60 degrees, 87%. But
actual sine values range from minus one to plus
one, not minus 100% to plus 100% like our list.
Figure 4: Bob in orbit
And normal folk use 360 degrees to represent a


around the Earth. circle – not twelve ‘hours’.

So we’re going to make a bigger table and pick
some nice numbers for the size of the table and
COS (the distance from the centre of Earth to the sine values themselves. In the olden days, I’d
the purple line) of the ‘hour’ angle to work out draw an ellipse with Deluxe Paint and count the
where to draw the spaceship. number of pixels on each row – but that’s only
Remember how the COS table was the same handy for small, one-off tables
as the N table – ust offset slightly he tables
are offset by three table entries, because in our
 Figure 5: See that
pixel in the middle of system three hours represents a 90-degree “We need to add
the curve? We can
avoid this – and draw
rotation – just like on the original clock. So we a scale value to
a smoother curve – by can get the cosine value by adding three to our calculations”
clipping our our angle then looking it up in our sine table.
maximum and
minimum SIN values. Our table has only twelve entries (0 to 11), so
if adding three to our angle will push us over Using a high-level language, we’re going to
eleven, we’ll get an error. But now we are aware create a table that is 256 entries long, with
of that, we can allow for it. values ranging from -127 to +127. We’ll use the
RADIANS Our code starts the same as before: high-level SIN function, then store the results as
Radians are actually the SI unit a binary file or a te t file to cut and paste into
bob_x_position=100
for measuring how far round a our source code) for use in our game.
circle you’ve gone. One radian bob_y_position = 100
is about 57.3 degrees, making clock_rotation = 0 for d = 0 to 255 // our new system has 256
them quite chunky. To measure a degrees in a circle
complete circle, you’d only count And in the main loop: nd = d*360/256
up to six in radians, so you’d need // get the angle in normal degrees
to use something instead of an y_offset = SinTab[clock_rotation]
sin = SIN(nd) // use high-level
Int to store your rotation value in. cos_rotation = clock_rotation+3
If you need to do any maths with SIN function to get a value -1 to +1
if cos_rotation>11 then cos_rotation=cos_
radians, just remember this: PI sin = sin*128
radians = 180 degrees. rotation-12
// scale up the sine value
x_offset = SinTab[cos_rotation]

38 / wfmag.cc
 Toolbox
SIN made simple

SinTab[d]=sin // Scale the size of the orbit

// store it in our table cos_rotation = clock_rotation+64
TRICKS
next d // 64 is a quarter turn in our new system
Sometimes, things which are
save_array(SinTab) cos_rotation = cos_rotation & 255 right mathematically don’t
// Make sure cosine value is in the range look right when they’re up
This looks like it should work – but it has 0-255. Not needed if value is a BYTE and running in your game.
two problems. Most of the values close to the x_offset = SinTab[cos_rotation] And sometimes in games,
3 o’clock position will be just under 128 – for it’s better for things to look
x_offset = x_offset*radius/128
example, 127. At three exactly, the value will be correct and be fast, than be
// Scale the size of the orbit correct but slow.
128, making the table have a tiny ‘bobble’, or
drawbob(bob_x_position+x_offset,bob_y_ If, of course, you need to
errant pixel – see Figure 5. For this reason, we
position+y_offset) do something accurately, then
detect and clip any values over 127 or under
clock_rotation=clock_rotation+1 do it properly. But even with
minus 127 to give a much smoother curve. faster processors, using tricks
Also, computers prefer to work in Radians (see clock_rotation = clock_rotation & 255
can free them up for other,
boxout) instead of degrees, so we have to tweak // Make sure master rotation value is in the better things.
the maths a bit. The new version looks like this: range 0-255. Not needed if value is a BYTE

pi = 3.14159
We’ve used an AND operation as a quick (or
for d = 0 to 255 // 256 degrees in a circle sometimes absent) and non-branching way
nd = d*360/256 to keep our values in check, which is possible
// get the angle in normal degrees because of the sine table’s size. And although
nd = nd*pi/180 we’ve used two multiply instructions in our
// convert to radians loop, note that we haven’t used a divide. If your
sin = SIN(nd) // use high-level compiler doesn’t do it for you, you can replace
SIN function to get a value -1 to +1 the /128 with a quick bitwise shift – made
sin = sin*128 // scale up the possible by having our sine values as a nice
power of two. And there you go! Happy Bob.
sine value
o ne t time you find yourself working with
if(sin>127) sin=127;
no memory, processing power, or advanced
// clip the maximum value
trigonometrical functions, you won’t worry about
if(sin<-127) sin=-127; the lack of SIN or COS. You can make your
// clip the minimum value own! And if you hated trigonometry at school,
SinTab[d]=sin perhaps you’ll prefer this way of looking at how
// store it in our table SIN and COS values are calculated.
next d

Length = r
save_array(SinTab)

Perfect! Now your table is ready to be used.

Figure 6: One radian


is about 57.3 degrees.

THE WAGES OF SIN
We’re all set to give Bob a smooth, luxury tour
around Earth. Here’s our new code:
1 Radian
bob_x_position = 100
bob_y_position = 100
radius = 100 // size of Bob’s orbit
clock_rotation = 0 // our new ‘clock’ counts r
from 0 to 255 instead of 0 to 11

And in the main loop:

y_offset = SinTab[clock_rotation]
y_offset = y_offset*radius/128

wfmag.cc \ 39
 Toolbox
Source Code

Mario’s walk cycle comprised


just three frames of animation.

Masterful sprite design and animation helped



Source Code bring Nintendo’s Donkey Kong to life in 1981.

A Donkey Kong-style
walk cycle
Effective animation gave Donkey Kong barrels of personality.
AUTHOR
RIK CROSS Rik explains how to create a similar walk cycle

D
onkey Kong wasn’t the first irstly, we’ll need some images to animate self.image = self.images[self.state][self.
game to feature an animated s this article is focused on the animation animationindex]
character who could walk code and not the theory behind creating he problem with the code described so
and ump, but on its release walk cycle images, grabbed some suitable far is that the animationindex is incremented
in 1981, it certainly had more images created by enney leugels and once per frame, and so the walk cycle will
personality than those that came before it available at opengameart.org happen way too uickly, and won’t look
ou only have to compare Donkey Kong to et’s start by animating the player with a natural o solve this problem, we need
another Nintendo arcade game that came simple walk cycle he two images to be used to tell the player to update its animation
out ust two years earlier – the half-forgotten in the animation are stored in an images list, every few frames, rather than every frame
top-down shooter Sheriff – to see how and an animationindex variable keeps track o achieve this, we need another couple
uickly both technology and pi el art moved of the inde of the current image in the list of variables ’ll use animationdelay to store
on in that brief period lthough still simple to display o, for a very simple animation the number of frames to skip’ between
by modern standards, Donkey Kong’s hero with ust two different frames, the images list displayed images, and animationtimer to
umpman later known as ario packed will contain two different images: store the number of frames since the last
movement and personality into ust a few image change
images = [‘walkleft1’,‘walkleft2’
frames of animation herefore, the code needed to animate
n this article, ’ll show you how to use o achieve a looping animation, the the player becomes:
ython and ygame to create a player with a animationindex is repeatedly incremented,
self.animationtimer += 1
simple walk cycle animation like umpman’s and is reset to once the end of the image
if self.animationtimer >= self.
in Donkey Kong he code can, however, be list is reached isplaying the current
animationdelay:
adapted for any game ob ect that re uires image can then be achieved by using the
self.animationtimer = 0
animation, and even for multiple game animationindex to reference and draw the
self.animationindex += 1
ob ect animations, as ’ll e plain later appropriate image in the animation cycle:

40 / wfmag.cc
 Toolbox
Source Code

Download
the code
from GitHub:
An animated walk cycle in Python wfmag.cc/
wfmag14
o get i s ode running on your system, you need to insta ygame ero you an find instru tions at wfmag.cc/pgzero
# the Player() class is a subclass of Actor() # update animation by incrementing timer
class Player(Actor): # and updating sprite image if timer limit reached
def __init__(self, **kwargs): self.animationtimer += 1
super().__init__(pos = (200,100), image=’stand1’, if self.animationtimer >= self.animationdelay:
**kwargs) self.animationtimer = 0
self.state = ‘stand’ self.animationindex += 1
self.animationdelay = 10 if self.animationindex > len(self.images[self.
self.animationtimer = 0 state]) - 1:
# a list of image for each player state self.animationindex = 0
self.images = { ‘stand’ : [‘stand1’], self.image = self.images[self.state][self.
‘walkleft’ : animationindex]
[‘walkleft1’,’walkleft2’], ‘walkright1’ ‘walkright2’
‘walkright’ : # create a new player
[‘walkright1’,’walkright2’] p = Player()
}
# the index of the current image in the image list def update():
self.animationindex = 0 p.update()

def update(self): def draw(): [ ‘walkright1’ , ‘walkright2’ ]

screen.clear()
A list of images along with an index is


# update position and state based on keyboard input p.draw() used to loop through an animation cycle.
if keyboard.left:
self.x -= 1 First image Second image
State
self.state = ‘walkleft’ (List element 0) (List element 1)
elif keyboard.right:
self.x += 1 ‘stand’ ‘stand1’ Animation cycles

self.state = ‘walkright’ can be linked to
else: player ‘states’.

self.state = ‘stand’ ‘walkright’ ‘walkright1’ ‘walkright2’

if self.animationindex > len(self. ust as we did with our previous single he correct player state can then be set
images) - 1: animation, we can now define a list of by getting the keyboard input, setting the
self.animationindex = 0 images for each of the possible player’s player to walkleft if the left arrow key is
self.image = self.images[self. states gain, there are lots of ways of pressed or walkright if the right arrow key is
animationindex] structuring this data, but ’ve opted for pressed f neither key is pressed, the player
o we have a player that appears to a ython dictionary linking states and can be set to a stand state the image list for
be walking, but now the problem is that image lists: which contains a single image of the player
the player walks constantly, and always facing the camera or simplicity, a ma imum
self.images = { ‘stand’ : [‘stand1’],
in the same direction he rest of this of two images are used for each animation
‘walkleft’ :
article will show how to solve these two cycle, and adding more images would create
[‘walkleft1’,‘walkleft2’],
related problems a smoother or more realistic animation
‘walkright’ :
here are a few different ways to sing the code above, it would also be
[‘walkright1’,‘walkright2’]
approach this problem, but the method ’ll possible to easily add additional states for,
}
use is to make use of game ob ect states, say, umping or fighting enemies ou could
and then have different animations for he player’s state can then be stored, even take things further by defining an
each state his method is a little more and the correct image obtained by using the Animation() ob ect for each player state his
complicated, but is very adaptable value of state along with the animationindex: way, you could specify the speed and other
he first thing to do is to decide on properties such as whether or not to loop
self.image = self.images[self.state][self.
what the player’s states’ might be – stand, for each animation separately, giving you
animationindex]
walkleft, and walkright will do as a start greater e ibility

wfmag.cc \ 41
 Toolbox
Source Code
Directory

Directory

The 30 Years
of Play podcast
Hear the stories behind the biggest British video
games from the people who made them

A
re you a podcast fan? Are you from the UK by interviewing leading creators
interested in hearing a host of and critics. And since it started, the show has
GET
lively inside stories from around gleaned some uicy tidbits from leading figures
INVOLVED the games industry? Then look in the industry about the making of numerous
Do you have an online no further than the 30 Years of big-name titles.
tutorial you’d like to share Play podcast from Ukie. Did you know, for example, that Shogun: Total
with readers? Have you
Hosted by video games writer George War was part-inspired by the slightly naff 19 s
created an online resource
that other game developers Osborn and dropping once a fortnight, the Japanese TV show, Monkey? Have you heard
might find usefu aybe show aims to tell the stories behind the making about how future Monument Valley producer
you ha e a o a ode ub of some of the biggest video games to emerge Dan Gray spent weeks on end phoning
you re een to romote f
ionhead to get his first work e perience
you have something you’d
i e to see featured in the placement? And were you aware that Beneath
Directory, get in touch with A Steel Sky and Broken Sword creator Charles
us at wfmag.cc/hello Cecil’s video game career could have been
abruptly ended if one car thief in the 198 s had
been just a bit more thorough?
To hear all these engaging stories and more,
subscribe to the 30 Years of Play podcast on
your favourite podcasting platform.
ou can find us on i unes, potify, cast,
and oundCloud by searching for 30 Years
of Play, where you’ll discover even more
episodes about games such as RuneScape,
Overcooked, and Thomas Was Alone.

You can read more about each episode at

30yearsofplay.uk

ou’ nd the creators of ercoo ed, ho as as



one and une cape a on the ta ati e oices on

the ears of P ay podcast.

42 / wfmag.cc
 LIFTING THE LID ON VIDEO GAMES

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Out now for smartphones & tablets

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 Interface
Video Game Preservation

The Physical and Digital State of

The act of preserving the history of our medium has mostly

been undertaken by fans. As preservation builds momentum,
we get the perspective of those who’ve taken the mantle

WRITTEN BY
KIM JUSTICE

 Maps like this are all

we have remaining
of Airlock, an
adventure game
made by Joffa Smith
for WAP phones in
the early 2000s.

44 / wfmag.cc
 Interface
Video Game Preservation

or those who’ve made it their t’s a reminder, in turn, of how certain games
mission to preserve video games by legendary coder onathan offa’ mith,
as an art form, their job can be that he created for phones – such as Airlock
filled with tremendous highs and – are now essentially lost forever, as is any
shocking lows hey will happily mobile game that didn’t end up on a file-sharing
talk about how things are changing, the positive website back in the s
notes they’ve received from companies who’ll
work with them, and tell stories of unknown NOT VERY SMART
games they’ve managed to save or Cifaldi, founder of the ideo ame istory
ut there’s always a caveat: the thought that oundation in akland, California, those file-
for any game plucked or rescued from the ether, sharing websites were the start of his own
thousands are still out there and unlikely to see interest in preservation, and they do indeed still
a release o many games emerge every day on hold some keys now – especially when it comes
consoles, Cs and, in particular, smartphones to the big problem of the day, which is saving
– many of them will be downloaded by a ndroid or i games ecent events such as
minuscule number of people, if at all, and plenty the closure of Nintendo’s ii hop Channel may
will likely vanish irretrievably in the future have caused concern for people, but the truth
ome may wonder if such games are worth is that almost everything on the channel has
saving, but preservationist rank Cifaldi makes already been archived it’s relatively easy to get
an important point: hat will the developers of old iis and transfer the programs from their
these games go on to do nd what have they hard drives into a safe place
done ow many older game developers who ut how do you do this with smartphones
struggle to find work now tried things on mobile where games are tied to a person’s account that
ow many of these people might be recognised they’ll use over not ust one phone, but multiple
as budding geniuses later down the line, and phones nce the user switches to a new
we’re missing their latter-day work device, the old phone will most likely be wiped

wfmag.cc \ 45
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Video Game Preservation

of all games, with no way to access them made but never shipped, Cifaldi says n fact,
s Cifaldi succinctly puts it, ou’re not going we’ve had the opposite reaction eople are
to find a smartphone with a haul of games at a often pleased, if a little confused, that anyone
oodwill charity shop – it’s not a thing would be interested
ven the legal issues involved in e tracting hen there are human stories, such as
these titles pale in comparison to the technical when Cifaldi received an email from a woman
difficulties of actually doing it luntly put, there whose brother worked on an unreleased N
An example of artwork for an


unreleased game: Blimp, at one is currently no real solution to this problem game about the California aisins and later
point set to be made by Rage died without working on any other pro ects – a
Software for the Game Boy.
UNEARTHING THE UNWANTED ost evels article about the game gave her a
eople like Cifaldi have limited resources as it chance to actually hear her brother’s music for
is, and it would be impossible for him to save the first time hese stories are at the heart
everything – and so there’s more of a focus on of video game preservation, something that
what can be done makes the ob utterly
he igital ibrary BLUNTLY PUT, THERE IS worthwhile – even if
as intangible a thing they only represent
as that may be that
CURRENTLY NO SOLUTION TO a small sliver of the
Cifaldi and partners THIS PROBLEM work that people like
are creating, as well Cifaldi do, and what
as the website ost evels for unreleased titles, else still needs to be done to keep a fuller digital
both grow at a rapid pace t’s not ust fans and record of our history
pirates, but coders and companies that are
warming to the idea of saving their past highs THE LIVING SPACE
and, indeed, lows for eternity uch a record, of course, isn’t purely limited
’ve never e perienced hostility from a to the individual game itself – there’s plenty
company No-one cares about this game they more to be digitised, such as maga ines and
periodicals of which Cifaldi has an e tensive
collection , source codes, any other making-of
PRESERVING FOR TELEVISION material, and – of course – any and all physical
material that might be available Cifaldi’s work is
The Centre for Computing History has often worked closely on programs for both conventional
still very much digital, but others in the field use
television channels and digital streaming services, using their considerable assets in order to
the physical elements to create something that’s
provide technical props for productions such as Brits Who Made The Modern World, The Little
Drummer Girl, and, most recently, Black Mirror: Bandersnatch for Netflix (below). Jason Fitzpatrick more than ust a library rather, a space where
even once made an appearance in front of the camera, playing the role of David Johnson-Davies in games and computers are preserved for people
the BBC docudrama Micro Men. to e perience
he Centre for Computing istory in
Cambridge is a museum running out of an
old set of warehouses that, through time and
patience, has become a place not ust for the
older generation to reminisce, but one where
younger people can discover what came before
he museum’s curator, ason it patrick, is
uite proud of this or the generation used to
playing games on modern consoles, they have
no clue these games e isted before, yet they
really en oy them, and then they start asking
uestions, he says t has a knock-on effect
with kids who want to get into programming
and writing games, because although they think
there’s no way they could do a modern
triple- game, they think that making the old
retro game could be achieved in ython or
something similar

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Video Game Preservation

The Memotech MTX500, a UK


made MSX-esque machine, is one
example of the rare micros that
exist in the Centre’s archive.

The unreleased Penn and Teller’s


Smoke and Mirrors for the
Mega-CD achieved such notoriety
that playing Desert Bus became
an annual charity event.

PRESERVING THE HEART ABOUT THE

ince its founding in , the museum has
e panded from a private collection to a public FOUNDATION
one, and is now very close to obtaining full The Video Game History Foundation
accreditation his is an important part of was founded in Oakland, CA in 2017
the process that, in it patrick’s words, will by Frank Cifaldi and other fellows
officially put their practices on the same level as who have worked with institutions
institutions like the cience useum and allows such as the Library of Congress, The
our sub ect matter to be taken more seriously, Smithsonian American Art Museum,
and Frisco, TX’s National Videogame
something that the relatively new video game
Museum. Their main goal is to create
medium has historically struggled with
a “digital library” that collects all of
uch like Cifaldi’s endeavours, preserving the
their many assets together, a task
actual game itself is ust the tip of the iceberg for that Frank estimates will take several A mixture of bad organisation


the museum – the physical copies and stories of years. They are currently on the verge and in htin i ed the uite
the games and machines themselves must also outrageous Steven Seagal is The
of opening a physical space for the Final Option. But a prototype is
be told aving something for people to play is benefit of ideo game resear hers. available for play.
vital s it patrick puts it, f we ust did a very
dry preservation ob, taking a piece of software,
maybe digitising it, making sure it’s protected in
the normal ways and putting it in a bo that no-
one gets to see well, what’s the point
ames are meant to be played, and when
hearing it patrick talk, one can’t help but think
that collectors who take already unopened
games and seal them up in acrylic containers
are missing something fundamental about how
they’re supposed to be e perienced

THE COMMERCIAL SIDE

here’s also an argument to be made that,
in creating a public space, the Centre for
Computing istory has to focus on commercially
popular elements in order to attract customers,
with well-known names such as Space

wfmag.cc \ 47
 Interface
Video Game Preservation

Invaders taking prime spots over things that are

more obscure it patrick concedes this as a
simple fact of running the business, but behind
the eye-catching displays lies a monumental
archive of physical titles, long-forgotten micros,
and important development material
thers might fear there’s a risk of damaging
rare machines by letting the public get their
hands on them – but the chance of cola or
beer getting spilt over a strikingly e pensive
C omesday machine is reduced by using
duplicates on the oor while the original is
preserved in storage eanwhile, the entire
premises are covered in order to protect the
machines from harmful rays
e take preservation very seriously,
it patrick says happily he machines we
display in the main gallery are ones that can be It would amaze people to think


that not all versions of Street

repaired or replaced, because we want to make Fighter II are available. However,
sure it stays interactive – that’s really important the almighty ZX Spectrum apathy or lack of any real movement from
version most certainly is.
for us licence holders when it comes to making sure its
history is retained
MARKING OUR TRACKS Cifaldi relates a story of how, when
ecause gaming is a relatively young medium, commissioned by Capcom to work on a timeline
we’ve yet to obtain the same level of archiving of Street Fighter, he was uite shocked to find
that, for e ample, film has, where cinema’s that a si eable chunk of games in the series –
continuing history is preserved as a matter of largely mobile releases – were essentially lost
course through multiple means Cifaldi and forever, which acted as a personal wake-up
it patrick both say more has to be done in this call f a ma or series such as Street Fighter has
regard, both on the side of companies and on lost some of its games, what chance do more
that of the consumers obscure titles have
he preservation efforts of both the Centre
and the oundation are largely undertaken by THE FUTURE, BABY
passionate volunteers, which, of course, can only oth Cifaldi and it patrick take slightly different
do so much – and while neither has run into approaches towards a very similar goal: one
hostility from companies, there can be a certain focused more on the digital side of preservation,
the other gravitating towards physicality ut the
end goal is the same: to ensure these games,
Emuparadise, one of the Internet’s most popular ROM
machines, and the actual history of the titles is


sites, was recently subject to a takedown notice,

courtesy of Nintendo. not ust preserved and locked away, but is able
to be freely en oyed by everyone for generations
to come, e actly as they were en oyed by people

BEING FRANK ABOUT ROMS

As legally grey as they are, ROM sites have had a large part to play in
popularising preservation. As a veteran of the scene, Cifaldi takes a measured
view on how companies see these pages. “People have this weird perception
that video game companies are these cigar-chomping dudes on the 80th
floor… but the reality is more like, when Nintendo shuts down a ROM site, it’s
not because they’re “mean” – it’s because a lawyer has determined that if they
a o this ra ti e to ontinue, ith eo e rofiting from ad do ars through
distributing their property, that could set a bad precedent.”

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Video Game Preservation

A picture of the now closed Wii Shop Channel will surely



send peppy music through some folks’ heads. But all of

its games are safe.

when they were first released hile both

worry about swathes of games continuing to
slip through the cracks, particularly in a world
that’s moving closer to software tied to a user as
opposed to a platform, they’re optimistic for The California Raisins: The Grape Escape was


all set for an NES release, but shrivelling sales
the future of video game preservation and of the raisins themselves killed it.
believe that, while there is a long way to go,
things are certainly a great deal better now than
when they started
he future is tricky, as we’re moving away
interesting you might have along to be digitised
ou can even, as Cifaldi points out, install a
ABOUT THE
from any kind of physical media, which makes browser plugin allowing the nternet rchive to CENTRE
our ob harder, it patrick says here’s no automatically scrape a page that you might find Currently located in Cambridge, UK
packaging now for certain games, no media obscure info on with the push of a button and founded in 2007, the Centre
to preserve we are talking to a couple of ut still, the lion’s share of work will have to be for Computing History is a public
companies about making sure their games, done by the companies themselves – a process museum that aims to “tell the story
which are currently completely online, can that, while not without reward, can be slow of the Information Age”, and they
still be preserved and vaguely defined are currently in possession of over
24,000 unique items, including
through binaries and Cifaldi sums up with
information about
THE FUTURE IS TRICKY, some good advice
800 computers. More than just
computers and games, this archive
how those games are AS WE’RE MOVING y goal is that
includes a great deal of interviews
configured to run on AWAY FROM ANY KIND source code becomes with creators and coders, saving
a server OF PHYSICAL MEDIA an educational their stories for posterity. In the
ut in terms of the resource, he says future, they are looking to expand
interest, the future nd don’t know to a second location.
is looking very bright – lots of people are taking what the answer to that is yet, because feel like
more interest in the history of video games, there’s almost a time limit somewhere, where
especially the ne t generation t’s a bit of a companies are unofficially comfortable with
double-edged sword, really people seeing it, and don’t know where that
time limit is ’m also worried that people aren’t
HELPING OUT archiving things while they’re happening in order
s there anything we can do to help with a to let them be seen, when that comfort level hits
pro ect so massive and endless in scope here a point when they’re not going to freak out
are, of course, various degrees of assistance we ight now, the solution is to steal’ source
can provide – anything from getting involved code from work – take everything and put it
with the groups that digitise material on the up later, that’s the best solution or tear all of
internet or volunteering with your nearest capitalism down so we can access everything
museum-es ue setup, to sending anything don’t know

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Developer Profile / Frontier Developments

Developer Profile

Frontier
Developments
25 years of park management – oh,
and some space exploration too

F
ull disclosure: David rontier’s first released title was
Braben, founder and CEO actually a port of Frontier: Elite II for the
of Frontier Developments, CD32. It may well have been (arguably)
is co-founder and a the best version of the superb sequel to
trustee of the Raspberry Pi Elite, but it does tend to be a bit lost to
Foundation, the parent company of RPi the ether given the big first release the
Trading, which runs Wireframe. studio tends to be remembered for…
ut this isn’t specifically about avid well, didn’t go incredibly well. Frontier:
Braben, otherwise we’d spend a few First Encounters – Elite 3 in the common
hundred words talking specifically about tongue – was released unfinished,
the original Elite and how it changed without the dev team’s go-ahead,
games forever. No, we want to focus on by publisher GameTek, itself in dire
Braben’s company set up in 1994, one financial straits
which celebrated its 25th birthday back nd so rontier’s first ma or release,
in January – Frontier Developments. its namesake, ended up as a game
Because, quite frankly, it’s been a bit of a riddled with so many bugs as to render
ride for the developer. You’ll see what we it a mid-nineties laughing stock. Like
did there in a bit. itched, or iffel ou only pretend
to like them now because it’s ironic,
admit it. Frontier: First Encounters was
patched up and fi ed to a playable
standard, but the space-horse had
bolted, and the studio’s reputation took
an early hit.
What followed were a few years
of space and shooting, as well as
more lashings of technical nous with
the likes of Darxide; a rather simple
Asteroids-alike, but one that pushed
Sega’s 32X much further than anything
else on the format, arguably further

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Developer Profile / Frontier Developments

Rank Outsider
It wasn’t all sunshine and lollipops at Frontier
HQ in the park life years; the team was working
LostWinds is sti one of the nest – largely in secret – on an ambitious title known


moments in digital-only gaming. as The Outsider for almost six years, from 2005
to 2011. The open-world game would have seen
players taking the role of a wrongly accused CIA
inte igen e offi er trying to ear his name, and
than many Saturn games managed. promised plenty of bleeding-edge features – not
V2000 and Infestation followed, but least of which a massively non-linear story the
nothing really managed to capture player would have huge control over. Sadly, it
never became more than these promises and
the public’s imagination in the ways
a handful of public appearances, and quietly
Elite – and Braben – had before disappeared as Frontier veered back towards
Frontier’s formation. space and shooting.
Enter the pivot. In 2003 – naturally SNIFFING SUCCESS
one can assume the decision came But that’s skipping ahead of one very
earlier than that – Frontier’s output important title – often overlooked,
moved to one much more terrestrial always en oyed: Dog’s Life. A bizarre
in nature, with the team contracted to (yet completely understandable from a
work on the bo port of Chris awyer’s ritish perspective e clusive, Dog’s
superb RollerCoaster Tycoon and picking Life had you playing as a dog, doing dog
up work on the Wallace and Gromit things – digging bones, navigating by
license in the shape of Project Zoo. The smell, farting, peeing on things, and so
former was well received, the latter more on – in pursuit of your kidnapped (dog)
a case of classic licensed platformer love who was going to be turned into cat
fare – ‘classic’ used food by an evil cat
there in the sense “Frontier was born for food mogul. Don’t
you might e pect
Elite, but it’s done more in worry – spoiler
It must have – you manage to
been the smell the management genre” rescue your love,
of… vomit? that and fart said mogul Elite Dangerous – Elite 4 in the common
opened Frontier up to a whole new into her own machinery, thus turning tongue – released in 2014 and brought
world: the rollercoaster bug bit hard her into cat food and… look, Dog’s Life the studio back to where it had always
with the Tycoon port, and morphed the was and is bi arre, and it’s ust so utterly wanted to be: space, and shooting things
studio from one that had made four arring, proudly sitting there in the (and trading precious metals, obviously).
space-shooty titles (and two ports) by middle of Frontier’s gameography. It had its issues, but in the modern era it
2003 into one that had made 15 theme Frontier’s successes on a smaller scale was much easier for the team to fi and
park/management titles by 2018 (with continued, with forays into Microsoft’s improve – and with rontier e ercising
another coming in 2019). Frontier was inect tech showing off great ideas full control over its product, there was
born for Elite, sure, but it actually ended and brilliant family e periences – like no room for naughty publishers looking
up a studio that’s done far more work in the adorable Kinectimals, or Disneyland for a quick buck to ruin the party.
the park management genre. Adventures. Then there was the Wii’s pansions have followed and the
Peak Indie title, LostWinds, which game is still supported, a agship of the
displayed a perfect understanding of studio no doubt. Frontier has continued
both what the console could offer in with its park management and licensed
terms of its controls, and what smaller titles, too, even combining the two in
downloadable games could be in a 2018’s Jurassic World Evolution; while
nascent market. going public in 2013 reinforced the
From a shaky start, Frontier regained company financially investment from
its composure over a couple of decades China’s Tencent in 2017 helped, too).
and eventually decided to return to It wasn’t the strongest of starts with
Elite in earnest, after a few slow-paced, rontier’s first encounter in the games
Frontier has never shied
aborted attempts behind the scenes. industry, but it’s been a hell of a ride for


from licensed games. With the backing of £1.5m on Kickstarter, the 25 years that followed.

wfmag.cc \ 51
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Developer Profile / Frontier Developments

Finest Frontier
10 titles from the last 25 years
Troubled beginnings, a weird middle, a solid current day, basically

01 02 03

Frontier: First Darxide RollerCoaster Tycoon

Encounters 32X 1995 Xbox 2003
PC 1995 The argument goes that Darxide did more on i ot to ar s sa rontiers first efforts in
e eased unfinished by its ub isher, Elite 3 the 32X than was ever managed on the Saturn. Chris Sawyer’s Tycoon series: a port to the Xbox.
was never a legend as a result. It’s a shame, e an t no for sure there, but it definite y It was solid enough to earn the studio more
as this ambitious sequel added story to an pushed the Mega Drive add-on much harder work on the core PC version, making expansion
otherwise freeform, unfocused series, as well than any other game in its (limited) library. The packs, before Frontier took over the series as a
as procedural planetary generation and other game itself was Asteroids in a newer setting, whole for RollerCoaster Tycoon 3 and a couple
such tech highlights. Find reverse-engineered so nothing mind-blowing, but the tech behind it of add-ons. While the franchise went elsewhere
versions online, like the lovely GLFFE. makes us sad for the lost opportunities on 32X. later on, the park life bug had bit hard.

04 05
Dog’s Life Thrillville
PS2 2003 PS2 / Xbox / PSP 2006
Bewilderingly weird in an utterly banal way, rontier s first stab at oasters of its o n
Dog’s Life is one of those games you tell people creation came in this LucasArts-published
about, and they both don’t believe you, yet number which, naturally given its target formats,
entirely believe it’s possible. You’re a dog, you saw a more diluted take on park management
do dog things, there’s an overarching story to than we were used to over on PC. Thrillville isn’t
follow, but really we all just got a bit caught up exactly top of anyone’s list when it comes to
activating smell-o-vision and weeing on things, classics of the era, but it was an important step
or staring at Pedigree vending machines. for Frontier in its coaster ambitions.

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Developer Profile / Frontier Developments

06 07

LostWinds Kinectimals
Wii / PC / iOS 2008 X360 / mobile 2010
One of the best games on WiiWare – one of Cries of ‘PSHAW’ were loud on Kinectimals’
the best on the Wii as a whole – and arguably announcement, but there’s no denying Frontier
one of the best indie games ever released, handled its Microsoft contract admirably,
LostWinds was a gorgeous and inventive bringing an inventive and fun take on fuzzy
puzzle-platformer that took full advantage of its creature interaction. Other Kinect projects like
home platform. A sequel followed and was just Disneyland Adventures were dismissed by the
as good, to be honest. This is a series we’d love hardcore community and embraced by their
to see revisited on modern hardware. actual audience: children and families.

08 09 10

Elite Dangerous Planet Coaster Jurassic World Evolution

PC / PS4 / XBO 2014 PC 2016 PC / PS4 / XBO 2018
In and out of development behind the scenes All that came before led to this: peak park Frontier mashed together its Planet Coaster (et
for a long time, it wasn’t until 2012 that we saw life. Planet Coaster showcased Frontier at its al) experience with Universal’s dino blockbuster
what Frontier had in mind for the next chapter management-and-rollercoaster best, offering up franchise to surprisingly good effect. It wasn’t
of Elite’s smuggling and shooting (in space). a fantastic spiritual sequel to the likes of Theme perfect, but Jurassic World Evolution allowed
n effi ient de e o ment s hedu e sa the Park and RollerCoaster Tycoon. And to think, us all to live out our fantasies of making a
Kickstarter-funded title release in 2014, and the many of us wondered why Frontier moved to successful dinosaur park, then ‘accidentally’
updates have been coming in ever since. And, park sims in 2003 – if we’d have known it would seeing it break down and watching our exhibits
dare we say it, it does the series proud. lead to this, we’d have been more supportive. feast on the previously gawking masses.

wfmag.cc \ 53
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 Rated
Review

Review

GENRE
A Plague Tale:
Info

Innocence
Action /
Adventure
FORMAT
PS4 (tested) /
XBO / PC
DEVELOPER
The walls are alive with the sound of rodents

O
Asobo
PUBLISHER ne of the most remarkable yourself with the rules, so do they, bouncing
Focus Home things you can find in A Plague dialogue back and forth about what they see
Interactive
Tale is a ower hen you do, it’s and what they should do.
PRICE
nothing more than an optional Most of the time what they need to do is
£44.99
collectable, but in a world full solve environmental puzzles and avoid capture.
RELEASE
Out now of despair, each bloom amongst the mud and t’s mostly familiar stuff here are bo es to
corpses feels important. A speck of beauty in the push and levers to pull, Hugo can squeeze
heart of unrelenting ugliness. through small spaces, and Amicia’s slingshot
It’s a theme that runs throughout Asobo’s can break locks from distance. When dealing
REVIEWED BY game. Its visual representation of 14th-century with enemies, the focus is on stealth, with low
Jon Bailes France is a picture of decay, yet also consistently walls and long grass providing cover, and rocks
evocative. Abandoned villages feel like they were to throw to create distractions. As you go on,
once full of life haunting mist oats over a the slingshot becomes essential here too, not
battlefield as you pick your way through piles of least allowing you to outright kill guards with
HIGHLIGHT bodies he light of the full moon shines over clinical headshots.
an old ruin. Even when the sights are repulsive, But not all enemies are human, and soon
Occasionally you’re faced
there’s an attractive quality in the detail. you have to face the cause of the plague: rats.
with a larger puzzle that
requires coordination hen there’s that innocence’, embodied in the hese are no ordinary rodents but a possessed
between multiple team game’s young protagonists, Amicia and Hugo. mass that bursts forth from oors and walls,
members, with Amicia he pair are forced to ee the comfort of their
directing each character to family estate when the dreaded Inquisition
do their part. It’s here that A Plague Tale is dark and gruesome,


the camaraderie develops,

comes knocking, and it falls to Amicia, the older but rarely scary. Unless you’re a
sibling, to protect her sick brother and find musophobe, of course.
as the group exchange
good-humoured banter and refuge hese characters, especially ugo, have
spur each other on. When been sheltered from the grim realities of the
you fina y su eed, you
outside world, and their sense of wonder, fear,
really feel you’ve achieved
something together. and e citement is palpable s you ac uaint

The world is dark and



uninviting, albeit
intentionally so.

56 / wfmag.cc
 Rated
Review

The high-quality character models and absence


of a constant HUD really help build immersion.
carpeting the ground in teeming, squeaking
swarms, devouring anything in their path.
Fortunately, they’re afraid of light, so you’re safe checkpoints, as frequent as they are, aren’t
as long as you stay near a ame Navigating updated after you’ve looted a secret area. Even
rat-infested areas thus becomes another kind so, A Plague Tale seems aware of its limitations
of pu le, as you figure out how to move around and tries to work within them t doesn’t e pect
them or move them around. Often it’s a case of lightning reactions, keeps the rules of stealth
manipulating light sources. Sometimes you need simple, and offers a generous auto-aim feature
some fresh meat. It certainly gets more testing towards the
hatever you find yourself doing, it’s usually end – switching between ammo types under
quite straightforward. You never have to think pressure can get awkward, and one late-
too hard or do too much to reach the ne t stage ability is rather erratic – but never feels
checkpoint, and any tools you need will be close unnecessarily punishing. Distraction skills quickly


graduate into headshot kills.
to hand. Also, while you sometimes get to poke So, despite its rigidity and lack of polish in
around and e plore areas, actual progress is some respects, A Plague Tale is a successful
strictly linear. Every scene is carefully contrived narrative-led adventure. It shines as a personal
to set up that one path for story, with Amicia, Hugo,
you to advance. Enemies “A Plague Tale is mostly and the gang providing
are predictable and limited, highly sympathetic
artificial borders keep
interested in building characters whose VERDICT
you from wandering off momentum” relationships feel honest Simple structures are
track, torches last just long and believable. It’s also an elevated by great art
enough to reach a safe area, and so on. effective portrayal of a society stricken by war, design and characters.
It can feel overly mechanical and prescriptive poverty, and religious zealotry, heightened by A tale well told.
at times, but this approach has its advantages. the symbolic contrast between the rats and the
For one, it allows the game to maintain its
dramatic pacing, as it switches between
downtime, taut stealth, and panicked escapes.
children. One question, perhaps, is whether the
themes gel with the amount of killing you end
up doing ut even here there’s enough conte t
75%
Some sequences take a few attempts, but to suggest some ambiguity. After all, if there’s
A Plague Tale is mostly interested in building beauty in ugliness, why not something dark in
momentum. And it works, with each episode the heart of innocence?
providing a gripping narrative arc and unique
situations. As you progress, you’re joined by
other characters with their own helpful abilities,
and you learn to craft different types of ammo
Every section focuses on a new skill in a new
conte t, until you have an e tensive repertoire
to e ploit irst, you’re making noises with rocks
and pots, then you’re lighting torches to clear
rats Ne t, you’re dousing the torches to turn the
rats on the guards. Finally, you’re using all these
tricks and more in increasingly creative ways.
t times, it doesn’t ow as smoothly as it
might Controls can be fiddly and movement
imprecise, and occasional AI quirks can lead Guards are wonderfully


slow and stupid, giving you

to abrupt deaths. It’s also irritating when plenty of time to slip by.

wfmag.cc \ 57
 Rated
Review

HIGHLIGHT
The way the puzzles weave
in story beats, change your
controls, or add new elements
is amazing. They sneakily The pixel art is


mimic the story in a plethora consistently lovely.
of ways, and in a manner few
puzzle games manage.
It makes the game feel much
more intriguing.

Review

Surreal in isolation,

Photographs


Photographs ’ imagery makes

perfect sense in context.

A snapshot of smart design and heartbreaking storytelling

T
here’s something disarming about way that demands you play through them all in
a game telling you upfront how one sitting t the same time, they’re so heart-
long it will be. Photographs opens wrenching that you’ll probably need to take a few
GENRE
Info

by stating it’s a collection of five breaks now and again.

Puzzle
short stories that should take It’s impossible to discuss any of these mini-
FORMAT
around minutes each to finish hese stories narratives without going into spoilers, but it’s
PC (tested) /
Mobile all follow a different person through a defining enough to say that each one is both affecting
DEVELOPER moment in their lives, and every story presents a and engaging he narratives all tie in to the
EightyEight harrowing tale of ‘what-ifs’ and regret. final chapter – the chapter that dictates which
Games ou follow he lchemist, he thlete, he ending you get, and the chapter that’s the
PUBLISHER ailer, he ournalist, and he reventer, one hardest to complete he tonal, mechanical shift
EightyEight after the other, each of them introducing their in this final section is perfectly e ecuted, and
Games
own pu le mechanic or a basic e ample, punctuates the experience in a way that makes
PRICE he lchemist has you manoeuvring he and his Photographs unforgettable.
£9.29
granddaughter around a board to slot them Photographs somehow manages to be both
RELEASE
into certain tiles t doesn’t remain basic for long, intellectually and emotionally powerful, and its
Out now
though, and as the story progresses, you have designers handle potentially difficult sub ect
to deal with new ha ards and mechanics, with matters with a sensitivity that’s vanishingly rare in
pu les becoming harder and mimicking events in video games
REVIEWED BY the tale as it gradually unfolds his latter aspect Focusing on a single character in each of its
Jason Coles is one of Photographs’ most intriguing ideas, and tales creates a relatable whole the weaving of
works well in all five of the stories by keeping the mechanics and puzzles into each of those stories
pu les closely tethered to the narrative is masterful ruly, Photographs is a picture that
Photographs is presented in a lovely pi el art speaks far more than a thousand words.
style that has you looking over dioramas through
a camera lens in order to find the ne t pu le
VERDICT It’s a case of tracking around and focusing on
Photographs is tear-jerking specific elements in order to move on to the ne t
and intelligent, and quite part a direct and effective system that makes
possibly one of the best sure you’re really taking in what you see around
games of the year. the game world.
hile the pu les are clever some are also

80% infuriatingly challenging, though in a good way

they’re not the focus in this particular picture: The early puzzles in each


story are simple; the latter

the stories Photographs tells are gripping in a ones are de nite y not.

58 / wfmag.cc
 Rated
Review

Kick, punch, it’s all



in the mind. Along

with plenty of
stabbing weapons.

HIGHLIGHT
New character Geras has some brilliant
time-manipulating abilities: he can
Review freeze opponents in time, meaning
damage inflicted registers when they’re
unfrozen; he can rewind time after a KO

Mortal Kombat 11
to come back to life; and he’s able to add
or remove seconds from the round timer.
If mastered, he could be very dangerous.

Down, up, left, left, A, right, down

I
t’s been 27 years, and we’re still trying ut the fighting es, the fighting ’m by no
to make people coo with shocked means an e pert, but the actual fights seem to

Info
GENRE
delight as someone gets their head play out pretty well. Combos feel less sticky than
Exsanguination sim
smashed in, then chopped off, then they did in MKX, but there’s still a bit of Marmite in
FORMAT
thrown across the room, then stabbed the way it plays out, with a slower pace favouring
PS4 (tested) / XBO /
again. Oh, Mortal Kombat 11, you’re silly, but you said combos – especially of the juggle variety. I PC / Switch
really don’t seem to know it. Because yes, this is a don’t like being battered relentlessly and not being DEVELOPER
return to the arena of K’s able to do anything about it, but really it’s hard to NetherRealm
and kills – a one-on-one fighting game for the say that’s a failing of the game itself – especially Studios
(more than) eleventh time, featuring a cast of with the awless blocking mechanic allowing skilled PUBLISHER
characters straight out of both Todd McFarlane’s players a chance to shift the momentum – more Warner Bros.
Interactive
rejects pile and terribrilliant kung-fu movies from just that I should stick to Tekken.
the 1970s. It’s… it’s just Mortal Kombat. That’s how Oddly, there’s a warmth running through PRICE
£54.99
it’s always been. Mortal Kombat 11. For a game so obsessed with
RELEASE
So your mileage may vary, but where there’s teenager-baiting hypergore and sassy, throwaway
Out now
definitely going to be bumps (terrible) one-liners, it’s still a
in the road is in the story “Oddly, there’s a warmth 27-year-old series with a lot
mode. It tells a tale of time of nostalgia behind it. It’s
travel, the past and present
running through Mortal no surprise the story jumps
colliding, palette swapping Kombat 11” back into the past as much REVIEWED BY
ninjas not having masks, all as it does and sometimes, Ian Dransfield

that sort of stuff nd it is, it’s fair to say, absolute every now and then, there’s even a bit of pathos.
nonsense. Far too po-faced for us to be in on the Which is a surprise.
oke, way off the mark when actually trying to make It’s not something I’m going to go back to once
you laugh (aside from one where a young Johnny this review is over – 1993’s Mortal Kombat II is my
Cage makes a sexist remark and is called out on it), bread and butter – but if the MK series continues
and full of more exposition-laden lore than an Elder down this path of nostalgia-laden warmth and
VERDICT
Scrolls book shop. It’s not going to be the main draw re ection, maybe it’ll end up as something with a I’ve no idea why it’s still a
for most players – they’ll go online and batter each broader appeal in a few iterations’ time. I mean, it thing. At the same time,
other to death there – but those of us drawn in by categorically won’t. It’ll remain as idiotically violent MK11 is fun… so maybe
that’s why.
the fine production values of the campaign will be as ever with a storyline that’s just so the wrong
left utterly confused by just how unwittingly bad it side of earnest. I just need to convince myself of
is lus, why do these superpowered fighters who
can shoot energy beams from their hands use guns
so much? Kids these days, and so on and so forth.
some reason to bother paying attention to the
series’ continued existence which, quite frankly,
bewilders me these days.
70%
wfmag.cc \ 59
 Rated
Review

HIGHLIGHT
The game unfolds a single click
at a time; one for doin’ stuff,
and another for explorin’. While
there’s not much else to it and it’s
unlikely you’ll overlook anything
of signifi an e, its a ays orth
s ending an extra moment or t o
on each screen to ensure you’ve
intera ted ith e erything at east
once, if only to hear all of Tondie’s
excellent exclamations.

Immediately after this, Tondie’s face swells like


Review a meringue, and there’s not a single moment
of his discomfort that isn’t fun to watch.

Guard Duty
Tondie has something to say
More British than the Queen eating toad-in-the-hole


about pretty much everything.

Y
es, Guard Duty describes itself as didn’t play a lot of point-and-clicks the first
a ‘comedy adventure’, and yes, time around, which immediately dampened
I’ve been burned by those same e pectations here’s been a surge of nostalgia-
GENRE
Info

broken promises of hilarity, too. laden games of late, but I can’t shake the feeling
Adventure
But while Guard Duty may not that if you hadn’t been into this kind of game back
FORMAT
PC (tested) / be laugh-out-loud hilarious, admittedly, this little then, you probably wouldn’t dig ‘em now, either.
Mac point-and-click just might be cheeky enough to It’s a testament to developers Sick Chicken,
DEVELOPER pull off its lofty claims ust however, that while Guard Duty is neither visually
Sick Chicken It’s unapologetically British – enough that I stunning nor a cerebral masterpiece – it’s a
Studios wonder how broadly it’ll appeal beyond this traditional pi el adventure right down to the
PUBLISHER narrow, rainswept isle of ours – and stuffed customary resolution – it’s stuffed with enough
Digital Tribe with a wealth of colloquial charm via its eclectic cast and
PRICE
£7.19
humour that wouldn’t look “It’s stuffed with creative voice work to hold
out of place on the front page your attention until the credits
RELEASE a wealth of
of The Sun. Ostensibly set in roll (which won’t take long).
Out now
Ye Olde Tymes, Guard Duty colloquial humour” There’s a lot of gaming
follows the life of the hapless in-jokes – a sneaky dig at
Tondbert, a guard in the castle of Wrinklewood C, achievements named loosely after triple-
with an overdeveloped adoration for both ale franchises, and a not-so-subtle nod to Metal
REVIEWED BY and the princess. When the former leads to Gear Solid – but they fall just on the right side
Vikki Blake the kidnapping of the latter – whoops – Tondie of amusing most of the time nd while didn’t
takes it upon himself to do what all the King’s much enjoy the backtracking or the mazes (video
knights seemingly can’t and sets off to rescue the game mazes go into my Room 101, along with the
princess himself. feckin’ spider the maze led me to), Guard Duty’s
When you boot up Guard Duty, though, simple premise makes it a surprisingly effective
VERDICT ondbert’s nowhere to be seen ou kick off in palate cleanser compared to some of its more
An accomplished, if brief, a puff of pi ellated neon as gent tarbound, a comple contemporaries
pixel adventure stuffed thousand years on from the princess’ kidnapping. Yes, the characters are a little two-dimensional,
with colour and charm. Starbound’s mission – a last-ditch attempt to and no, the story’s not particularly original, either,
reclaim arth and save humanity from e tinction but Guard Duty is an ine pensive and en oyable

69% – makes it painfully apparent that Tondbert’s

drunken mishap has somehow butter y effect-ed
its way into an apocalypse. Whoops again, Tondie.
single-shot, single-player e perience that’ll keep
you busy – and maybe even smiling – for an
evening or two.

60 / wfmag.cc
 Rated
Review

HIGHLIGHT
The praise could be aimed at
any of its predecessors, but
Yoshi’s Crafted World really
is gorgeous to the point of
being quite ridiculous. Sure,
the impact wears off the
more you play, but it never
really stops looking lovely.

Review

Yoshi’s Crafted World When you complete a level,


you can ‘flip it’ around and
search for Poochy Pups.

Yoshi’s craft-centric platformer is cute, but all too familiar

Y
oshi may be the cutest Nintendo down a linear path – and it does at least add a
character there is. Following nanny hint of challenge to a near insultingly easy game.

Info
GENRE
state adventures with Baby Mario, When you complete a level, you can also return
Platformer
he came into his own with a series to it from the world map to replay the ip side’ of
FORMAT
of impossibly adorable platforming it (i.e. in reverse) while looking for Poochy Pups.
Switch (tested)
games. Yoshi’s Crafted World is the latest in that These levels are timed and require you to search
DEVELOPER
collection of family-friendly adventures. high and low for the little dogs, and if you find Good-Feel
After spending some time as a small woollen them all, you’ll (usually, not always) be rewarded PUBLISHER
doll in Yoshi’s Woolly World, the green dino’s back with a ower re uired to unlock additional stages Nintendo
in a whole new universe, this time made out This highlights a frustration: new sections are PRICE
of crafting materials – cardboard, paper towel gated behind these ower-locks, and it can be £49.99
tubes, aluminium cans, that sort of thing. It’s the deeply frustrating to have to replay levels to find RELEASE
macaroni art of the Nintendo world – but while all the collectables just to progress. Out now
the style’s endearing, it doesn’t There’s also a bewilderingly
hold your attention for long. “The core experience frustrating co-op mode, in
After Kamek and Baby which players can swallow
here is exactly what
Bowser destroy the Yoshis’ the other Yoshi, steal their REVIEWED BY
Sundream Stone – because you might expect” eggs, and ride on their back. Brittany Vincent
there has to be a story – you Obviously, that’s hilarious, but
embark on a quest to piece it back together. Said if you’re near your partner, you’ll end up doing
quest involves exploring a map of themed worlds: these things by accident, which makes it difficult
pirates, trains, caves, and more. But if you’ve to progress smoothly. Inevitably, one person will
played one Yoshi game, you’ve played them all, be stuck with the other player swallowing them
and the core experience here is exactly what you every five minutes or riding on their back, which
might expect: swallowing enemies whole, turning doesn’t make for rewarding co-op play at all. In
them into eggs, and spitting said eggs at switches fact, it’s better to take turns playing through levels
to progress. While out of context that’s just just because of this factor. VERDICT
thoroughly weird, it’s a familiar Yoshi staple to the Yoshi’s Crafted World does one thing An adorable platformer
point of being rote. perfectly: it gives Yoshi fans a new world to with familiar mechanics
There are a few branching paths taking you explore that’s so cute it’ll make you want to that doesn’t attempt to
into each level’s background to e plore different throw up. But it’s ridiculously simple, relies on break any new ground.
planes, which does mix things up, and you’ll loops that we’ve seen many times before, and
sometimes need to toss eggs at items to uncover
new paths. This does add variety – handy when
you realise all you’re doing otherwise is trudging
absolutely butchers its co-op play t’s fine if
you’re looking for more Yoshi, but don’t expect
anything groundbreaking.
61%
wfmag.cc \ 61
 Rated
Review

Review

Whispers of a Machine
GENRE Valhalla 9000
Info

Adventure

W
FORMAT
PC (tested) hispers of a Machine’s greatest If you’ve played enough adventure games
DEVELOPER strength, as a story, is how it to know your rubber chickens from your goat
Clifftop explores grand speculative distractions, it’s habitual to try and discern clues
Games, Faravid
science fiction uestions by exhausting every conversation path on each
Interactive
while staying focused on the character you meet. Vera can be empathetic,
PUBLISHER
personal. Parenthood, romance, grief, faith, dry, and funny while talking to people, but her
Raw Fury
work, and small-town paranoia all take centre hidden scanner introduces a calculated duality
PRICE
£11.39 stage here. A disjointed background static of and wariness to her character that plays into
conspiratorial murmurings phase in and out, the noirish distrust permeating the setting. The
RELEASE
Out now while crackling electrical storm clouds threaten a option to use the scanner in every conversation,
technological Ragnarok. Skillfully, these creeping not just ones predetermined to yield results,
threats never overshadow the fundamentally mean you always feel like a detective in Whispers
human con icts at the core of this clever, of a Machine. The simple choice of when to use it
REVIEWED BY engrossing adventure game. fre uently made me consider whether trusted
Nic Reuben You’ll be verbing your way through the city the person I was speaking to, and whether using
of Nordsund as Agent Vera Englund, who you’ll it anyway counted as an unspoken betrayal of
meet as her train pulls into a station below the Vera’s better nature.
towering structure holding the city above. A lone This and other abilities are all thanks to a
photograph in Vera’s inventory hints at past magical blue cyberpunk juice, helpfully called
tragedy, but Whispers of a Machine wastes no ‘Blue’. A strength of the writing throughout is
time throwing you into a murder scene so fresh, how science fiction elements are well-defined
the blood has barely had time to dry. enough to be believable without subjecting
Not that that would be much hindrance to the player to huge lore dumps, and Blue is no
the technologically enhanced Vera, whose different echsplanations never give way to
cybernetic abilities augment well-worn genre weary technobabble, and the history of this
conventions by providing opportunities for world is sprinkled throughout for the player
novel puzzle design. A pulse scanner detects to discover and dwell on in their own time.
Vera’s dialogue responses anomalies in speech patterns, transforming Vera’s own history with her augmentations casts


alter her personality,

leading to new ways to
conversation into a more explicitly methodical uncertainty on some later plot revelations, but it
solve puzzles. tactic for extracting information. also serves a more practical purpose. Blue, we’re

62 / wfmag.cc
 Rated
Review

told, adapts to its user’s personalities. During

Guybrush would have
certain interims, the game will tally up the


done terrible things for
conversation choices you’ve made and give you a UI this informative.
one of three nifty augmentations as a result.
This means there are plenty of puzzles with
multiple solutions. It can lead to a few red at the heart of the urban village of Nordsund
herrings and non-essential items, but there are make themselves known.
some instances where, if you speak to the wrong Occasional obtuse puzzles come with the
character as part of a puzzle, but there’s a fairly territory, but even Whispers’ head-scratchers
strong logical reason why they should be able are never illogical; just sometimes reliant
to help you, they’ll often give you some extra on responses to the functional-but-limited
dialogue and a hint in the right direction. animation. Having spent a few hours solving
Additionally, Vera will often refuse to enter puzzles in motionless environs, encountering
areas she has no reason one that re uired me to
HIGHLIGHT
to visit. It means that not “Parenthood, romance, consider reaction, rather Despite dealing with some
ery big s i fi uestions,
only do you have to do than just action, stumped
grief, faith, work, and Whispers of a Machine
the detective work first – me for a good while. remains, at its ore, a story
before Vera goes charging small-town paranoia Once I’d solved one or about human re ationshi s
into people’s homes while all take centre stage” two, though, I found I was and anxieties. Even when the
they’re eating, turning thinking about things the stakes of the plot threaten
to engu f the on erns of the
over their valuables for shiny clues like she’s way the game wanted me to, and made steady
indi idua ayers, the s y
90 percent of RPG heroes ever – but the story progress. A few later puzzles veer towards ity of ordsund remains
maintains a consistent pace throughout. It’s simplicity, but with the narrative stakes growing remar ab y grounded.
a rare and praiseworthy accomplishment in a higher, it was a relief not to suddenly hit a
genre where you can conceivably spend hours wall ’d estimate four to si hours for a first
dragging inventory items onto random bits runthrough, with dialogue choices, additional
of foliage. augmentations, and puzzle solutions, and
Sound design is great throughout. Ivy Dupler multiple endings inviting a second or even third
is immediately fantastic as Vera; at once sharp, playthrough. Whispers is paced so well that I’m
world-weary, and just that tiny bit aware she’s thankful it wasn’t padded out for the sake of it. VERDICT
a character in an adventure game when the I still can’t work out whether the classic Smart and engaging,
player attempts a redundant puzzle solution. adventure game formula is so solid to make Whispers sets a story of
Other standouts include Andy Mack as eccentric it timeless, or whether Whispers is designed love and loss against an
roboticist Valter, and Andy Manjuck as crotchety so smartly, and written, acted, and scored so intriguing, high-stakes
janitor Rolf, but there’s no real weak links here. engagingly that it brings reality in line with my science fiction backdrop.
eveloper Clifftop ames describes Whispers as personal nostalgia. Highly recommended.
‘Nordic noir’, and nowhere is this more apparent Either way, it’s made me fall in love with an
than the soundtrack. Instrumental folk, driven
but melancholy, gives way to bubbling, evasive
synths and spacy ambience as the conspiracies
entire genre again. Like ‘walking simulator’ – a
term I loathe – ‘point-and-click’ is selling this one
woefully short.
85%
wfmag.cc \ 63
 Rated
Review

HIGHLIGHT
Vasilis ’ best quality is surely
its aesthetic. The hand-
drawn world resembles an
uncanny fever dream, and
fi s you ith a rofound
sense of unease as you
traverse its illustrated
environments. Even when
other arts of Vasilis fail,
its visual integrity remains
Vasilis may be an old woman,
intact throughout the


but sometimes the elderly

need to be the ones to drive a entire ex erien e.
cement truck into a factory à
la battering ram.

Review Faceless people everywhere, all spouting nonsense


that nobody else is listening to. Kind of like Twitter.

Vasilis
A fever dream you’d find interesting on a night without cheese

C
onsider a fever dream in resuming their course as if nothing had
monochrome, where white happened or a game that you can complete
ames engulf charcoal edifices in an hour or two, it’s teeming with idiosyncratic
GENRE
Info

and riots erupt in e plosions details commanding your undivided attention

Adventure
of grey Vasilis’ colour palette is hat’s why it’s such a shame that Vasilis is as
FORMAT
PC (tested) simplistic, and yet its tones are anarchic, with broken as it is hile its ambiguous narrative
DEVELOPER
each hue attempting to arrest its opposite and outlandish structure do accentuate the
Marginal act into submission as the world’s hand-drawn game’s uncanniness, it’s still awed hese
PUBLISHER structures shake violently and unassuredly in a features succeed in making the game weirder
Marginal act unter hompson-es ue trip – and Vasilis thrives on its inherent weirdness –
PRICE arginal act is an enigmatic developer but walking around slowly as an elderly woman
£6.19 lthough it has started to attract a minor cult performing rudimentary fetch uests isn’t
RELEASE following over the past few years, its games particularly e hilarating, especially when the
Out now are consistently met with polarisation, and game glitches out and you’ve got to reload it
Vasilis is no different he game is visually ust to leave an area
astounding, but deeply awed he synths in Vasilis’ art style is both chilling and charming,
its score complement its uncanny mood, but which makes for a spectacular u taposition of
REVIEWED BY grammatical errors litter the dialogue bo es contrasting moods ts use of music is subtle,
Cian Maher n more than one occasion, had to reboot it but it works well n fact, the sound design is
because of a game-breaking glitch trapping me particularly affecting – when characters speak,
in an isolated area all you can hear is static crackling, wrenching
nd yet can’t stop thinking about Vasilis n language into a scarily unintelligible cacophony
a strange way, its errors and issues make it far owever, the actual game itself is boring,
VERDICT more eerily arresting t’s a game utterly derived the narrative is lacklustre, and the whole
Unfortunately, Vasilis ’ from the weird, centring on ordinary townsfolk e perience is riddled with bugs s with
arresting art style and the naive pursuit of immortality utilation arginal act’s previous games, Vasilis is
is outweighed by its is commonplace, people have started to get polarising or me, games like this are
broken systems and high on cow’s milk, and the entire population worth playing – they’re e perimental and
substandard narrative. lives in perpetual fear of some unseen other that should be celebrated ut despite how
that is ambiguously growing’ ambitious Vasilis is, it’s both basic and broken,

47% s people walk the streets, they throw

themselves into inversely hunched positions
and let out almighty groaning bellows before
which stunts its potential and unfortunately
detracts from a uni ue art style and
absorbing structure

64 / wfmag.cc
 Now playing
Stardew Valley

Wireframe
Recommends

Back to nature
Now playing, still playing, forever and Harvest Moon:
always playing Stardew Valley Friends of Mineral Town
GBA

I
A stone-cold classic and
massive influence on Stardew
have been playing Stardew Valley is, to me, a superb mix of captivating game and
Valley, Friends of Mineral Town
pretty consistently since its release psychological crutch, there to focus my mind
has some clunky elements by
in February of 2016. That’s over on Something Else when the rest of the world
modern standards, but little
three years of dipping in and makes my brain want to scream. Also, it lets me beats reaping the rewards of
out, ten minutes here, five hours grow loads of melons, and I’ve never been able to sweet potato season.
there, managing my little slice of the planet, grow a melon in real life.
overwatering blueberries and frightening crows, The point where I realised the Stardew
and courting people by literally giving them a obsession might have taken over a little, though,
gold bar twice a week, every week, until they was when I sat down and really thought about
fell in love with me. To say I am ‘now playing’ the changes and events in my life that have taken
Stardew Valley is to say I am now breathing, I am place since first played the game back in 1
now thinking, I am now existing. It has become moved to the country where I now quite literally
a second home; a part of live on a farm. I got a dog. Story of Seasons:
the routine. And it’s not I started growing my own Trio of Towns
changing any time soon.
“It has become a second produce. I made jam from 3DS

But why? It’s just a home; a part of the foraged blackberries. I

This is what the Harvest
Moon series has become,
farming game t riffs very routine. And it’s not went through a series of
and it’s brilliant for it. Ignore
heavily on the previous time-consuming, expensive
changing any time soon” the modern titles with the HM
golden child of farming upgrades to my tools name and go for Trio of Towns
Harvest Moon: Friends (never buy a £5 garden instead for your farming fix.
of Mineral Town. There’s a lot to do, but it’s fork, kids). I married a dungaree-and-spectacle
not unlimited – or quick to change – in the wearing mixed-race genius with a vested interest
e periences it offers here’s very little about in science, my very own real-world Maru. I tired
Stardew that really explains why it’s so popular myself out to near-unconsciousness through the
and enduring, why those who play it do so for act of pulling weeds from the ground.
a very long time, or why my Switch has just I’d be genuinely worried I’m living in some
become a Stardew Valley machine and I don’t kind of Truman Show (except with farming video
regret that fact. games), were it not for the fact that a) I’m terrible Recettear:
It’s endearing without being saccharine; at keeping plants alive, unlike in the game, b) I An Item Shop’s Tale
PC
characters suffer through harmful conditions like make £0 from any of these endeavours, while
A bit different, but ticking
alcoholism or PTSD. It comments on genuine, my character in the game is a millionaire, and c)
the same boxes, Recettear
real-life concerns relating to a life slaving away there is no way in hell I am ever starting every day
sees you running an RPG’s
for someone else, somewhere else, in the vast at 6am, like my silly bugger digital farmer does. item shop. It’s captivating
capitalist machine t offers uick feedback and And seeing as it’s clearly not entirely taken over and – importantly – funny,
regular rewards – it’s manageable, and only my life, yet, I think I’ll be happy to keep on going featuring the rallying cry of
ever as stressful as you let it be. Stardew Valley with Stardew Valley forever, and ever, and ever… ‘Capitalism, ho!’

wfmag.cc \ 65
 Killer Feature
Ghosts ’n Goblins

Ghosts ’n Goblins
Vanishing armour and a pair of undies made this
brutally hard game feel friendlier than it was

CAPCOM / 1985 / ARCADE, VARIOUS

I
n one of gaming’s early meaningful coincidences, Arthur initially came equipped with a suit of armour which
Capcom’s Ghosts ’n Goblins was initially released in proved far less protective than it looked: a single touch from
September 1985 – mere days after the Japanese an enemy or projectile sent it splintering into pieces, leaving
launch of Nintendo’s genre-defining Super Mario Arthur to run through the level in his white underpants. A
Bros. It’s meaningful because, in many ways, Ghosts second hit from an enemy would prove fatal, and leave Arthur
’n Goblins is Super Mario Bros.’ evil twin – both are platformers, in a heap of bones.
yet Ghosts ’n Goblins is full of monsters and demons where This single element managed to serve multiple purposes at
Super Mario Bros. is all blue skies and magic mushrooms. Super once: it was an efficient energy counter, since it told the player
Mario Bros. is challenging yet fair; Ghosts ’n Goblins exists to at a glance whether or not they could take another hit before
punish you at every turn, with randomly they lost a life. It was a gimmick that
spawning enemies emerging from the “This single element managed to ensured plenty of word-of-mouth –
ground and a quest that asked the because, let’s face it, whether you found
player to run through the entire ordeal
serve multiple purposes at once” it amusing or not, nothing quite like it
twice. Even the jumping mechanics had appeared in an arcade game before.
spoke to each game’s differing philosophies: Super Mario’s Finally, it served to make an incredibly tough – and at times
jump felt free and liberating, since the player could control overly punitive – game feel far more friendly and approachable
the hero’s trajectory in mid-air; in Ghosts ’n Goblins, the hero’s than it actually was. Ghosts ’n Goblins became one of Capcom’s
path through the sky was set the second his feet left the big pre-Street Fighter II hits, appearing on multiple computers
ground. If one of those randomly spawning enemies decided to and consoles, and receiving a few similarly popular sequels and
materialise in your path at just the wrong moment – well, tough. spin-offs – most notably 1989’s Ghouls ’n Ghosts. Unsurprisingly,
There was nothing you could do but watch Arthur – the game’s Arthur’s vanishing armour and undergarments remained a
scampering, lance-throwing hero – descend onto a potentially constant in all of them, even as – in the case of Super Ghouls
deadly obstacle. Even compared to other arcade games of its ’n Ghosts – Capcom moved with the times by adding a much-
era, Ghosts ’n Goblins felt cruelly unfair at times. But via designer needed double-jump. Ghosts ’n Goblins owes a fair bit of its
Tokuro Fujiwara, a hint of black comedy shone through. success, we’d say, to that pair of underpants.

66 / wfmag.cc
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