Last month, we reviewed a new indie title developed by new studio Stickman Studios: "Buccaneer." The game came out of nowhere, and made a big splash in the indie scene. I had a chance to ask Stickman Studio's co-founder Simon Nevill some questions about the game, its development process, and indie development in general. Here's what he had to say.
Brendon Lindsey: I think the thing that surprised me most when I played the game and read up on it, was that you two don’t have a background in coding at all—you both came into this project with a background as artists. What was it like learning how to make the game? Do you think it helped being involved with the industry prior to this—other than the obvious connections you guys made?
Simon Nevill, Co-Founder, Stickman Studios: Our previous industry experience proved absolutely vital in the development of "Buccaneer" for a number of reasons. Obviously having a large number of contacts within the industry meant that we had a lot of support. This ranged from help and advice on animation to invaluable programming work. Fortunately we have a lot of great friends who sacrificed a good deal of their spare time as well as measures of their sanity to help us out. Additionally, our time served working in the industry prior to founding Stickman Studios ensured we were familiar with most aspects of game production and knew in advance exactly what elements were needed to create the game.
One thing that really sets "Buccaneer" apart at first glance is the visuals. For a small budget, two-man game they really are quite amazing, especially the water texture. Did you guys try to put more of an emphasis on the visuals since many indie games tend to put those in the backseat to gameplay? Or did your artistic background just make you go, “No, it has to look better!” until you got it as-is?
As Harvey [Greensall] and myself are both artists by trade I think it would have been inexcusable for the game not to be aesthetically pleasing. We both take a pride in our work and if something didn’t quite look or feel right, we simply reworked it until it did. A lot of credit has to go to Garage Games here for advances in the Torque Game Engine.
Regularly they provided upgrades and enhancements for their engine that meant we could keep improving the look of the game and each time they released a new version we ported the game into it and used the added features to improve our game. We also benefited graphically from not having a full-time programmer on board. There were a number of occasions when we were waiting for code to be completed and that simply gave us more time for visual polish that may not have been otherwise available.
We didn’t at any point sacrifice gameplay for graphics though – the two aren’t mutually exclusive and we wanted to try and create a game that was instantly accessible and simple to play, yet visually pleasing to the eye.
There’s no shortage of sea-based games, or games with ships conducting naval combat. "Buccaneer," though, seems to be more of an arcadey title. I mean, a ship can pull off a three point turn! Why did you guys decide to go with a more arcade-like approach rather than a more realistic one?
From the outset we saw "Buccaneer" as an arcade title. We had no interest in creating a sailing ship simulator that required an understanding of wind direction and the limitations it imposes on ships and their crews. As far as we were concerned… there are many other titles out there that can give a player a fix of more realistic sailing if that’s what really matters to them. What mattered to us was creating something that didn’t require players to read a manual or learn numerous keyboard controls just to get their ship to sail in a straight line.
We have had one or two guys bemoaning the fact that we gave the ships the ability to reverse for example. But we needed to consider gameplay problems such as beaching a ship – not much fun for players to get caught in a small bay or on a rock and be unable to free themselves. Similarly we were required to increase the speeds of the ships to unrealistic levels and the multiplayer game in particular benefits from having players able to get to the action quickly.
Most games, once analyzed, tend to fall down on a realism front – how many first person shooters permit a player to carry 6 or more weapons (including rocket launchers!) and hundreds of round of ammo for each. No-one ever questions where their character might actually be hiding these weapons, let alone their ability to run and jump whilst doing so. And how many times does a 2 foot high box become an impassable object or a perhaps a locked door with no handle? What we wanted to create was something that was simply fun to play and easy to control.
A lot of times in games, multiplayer tends to just be a You vs Them affair, especially in vehicular combat titles. You guys set up multiplayer largely the same, but threw in little differences. Some ships being worth more points when defeated, pick-ups, various types of ships on each side with their own unique advantages, etc. How’d you come up with the idea for the multiplayer? Did any other games influence that?
I don’t think we can point at any particular game as an influence for our own multiplayer experience. Obviously there are elements used that are pretty standard to most multiplayer games, such as deathmatch and capture the flag, but we have put our own spin on them to add an extra layer of strategy. Having some ships that are obviously vastly superior in a fight to others created a sense of scale often missing from standard MP games.
To offset the imbalance in the ship combat capabilities we introduced a value system that rated ships by overall effectiveness. Smaller, less effective ships will cost your team less points if you lose one in combat. So your ship choice is not only governed by what you want your ship to be capable of… but also whether you consider yourself capable of keeping a valuable vessel afloat. Losing your team’s flagship can turn the tide of the battle in your opponent’s favour.
Each ship though, despite its overall fighting ability, has it’s own particular strength. The smaller vessels may not be capable of standing up against the larger ones in a duel, but are much faster and therefore suited for evading defensive turrets and capturing the various “flags”.
With the flags in the game we wanted to deviate from the standard “capture the flag” system of returning numerous flags to your base to win the game. We included a number of different flag types that operate more as a bonus, rather than a specific objective. Capturing them is not necessary, but a team that knows how to use them will have a distinct advantage over one that doesn’t.
You sort of became the unofficial spokesgame for the Torque Engine. What’s it like, as independent self-funded developers, to have an engine like Torque available for such a low cost? Is it fairly simple to make games with, or did you run into problems?
Well… I’m not sure about us being the spokesgame for Torque, but it is flattering to receive some positive feedback from Garage Games themselves, as well as members of their community. I do remember someone commenting on our screenshots and saying that they didn’t look like they were done in the Torque Engine and I would like to think that with Buccaneer we are helping show what IS actually possible. The engine is very cheap, but is quite flexible and graphically we didn’t find it limiting at all.
As for problems… there will always be problems in game development, regardless of the engine you decide to use, but few are insurmountable. You will always want it to do something it was probably never intended to be used for and it is then down to the skill of your coders to sort out. Fortunately we had help from some very good programmers, who managed to implement all of our “moon on a stick” requests and make Buccaneer everything we wanted it to be.
Any plans or attempts for "Buccaneer" to show up on other consoles? Maybe on XBLA or PSN? Or have you already had enough work getting the PC version completed?
We would like to see "Buccaneer" on XBLA and firmly believe that the gameplay would suit the platform well. Actual porting to the Xbox is possible with the Torque Game Engine Advanced that we’re using, but some optimisation would no doubt be required. Currently, however, there are no specific plans in place to develop the game on any other platform.
I don’t want to get you guys in trouble… But I’m sure you’ve noticed when you took breaks from making the game, that a lot of big-budget AAA PC titles are launching with a lot of bugs and glitches, many of which still have no patch or even acknowledgment from the developers. Meanwhile, you’re two guys making a game, and you’re engaging fans on comments and forums when they have issues, asking them to email you so you can help them work it out. Would you say some studios are moving away from a “gamers first” philosophy, and do you think the interaction with users on such a personal level is one of the things that makes developing an indie title so unique and refreshing?
One of the reasons we decided to set up on our own was to distance ourselves from this trend towards “branded” games. Many of the big companies have definitely lost sight of what is important to a gamer… namely gameplay. How many gamers are bothered by a recognizable logo or celebrity face on a box? No true gamer for sure. This obsession with many large game companies means that games are “designed” by a marketing department, rather than a group of game-playing developers. Very often the people working within these marketing departments don’t even possess consoles or PCs, let alone play games on them. Unfortunately, as the industry has proved to be one capable of generating massive amounts of money, companies are being run with a greater emphasis on revenue rather than entertainment. Ironically though, if a game plays well it will sell well. And if a game sells well, it will become a brand in its own right. Did the original "Tomb Raider" rely upon a celebrity angle? Or "Grand Theft Auto"? "Half Life"? "Halo"? No. Each of these games succeeded because they got the gameplay right and have subsequently become big money spinners and brands in their own right.
Perhaps I’ve gone off on a slight tangent there and wandered away from the question a little. Yes, I think some companies are no longer putting gamers first. Large companies can afford to do this as they generally have numerous games in production at any one time and failure of one product can be offset by the success of another. They will also sell sufficient quantities of a game to be able to cope with a percentage of people being dissatisfied.
Ultimately though, what a company needs to remember is that the guys buying and playing your games are the ones who really matter, for without them you are nothing. Our own personal approach to individuals is not only driven by a genuine eagerness to ensure that everyone who buys Buccaneer is satisfied, but also from a business point of view – "Buccaneer" is our first and only title and if it does not succeed…
Then, unfortunately, neither does Stickman Studios.
How much did fan input help determine the course of the game’s development?
Fan input definitely played a part in the development of Buccaneer -– particularly in the multiplayer game. Initially tested with a few friends and then with a great bunch of guys online during our Beta Testing, we implemented several new features as a direct result of recommendations for improving gameplay. Many other features that we would still like to include have come as suggestions from existing players and may be added in future patches to the game.
What’s the best part of being an independent developer?
The best part of being an indie developer is definitely the freedom to be creative. Being able to make your own design decisions and simply implement them without any need for countless meetings and bureaucratic red tape is wonderful. Nothing irritates a creative type more than having to have your designs or recommendations approved by someone who is often not qualified to do so.
The worst?
Financial stability is by far the worst aspect of being an indie developer. Throughout the entire development process of "Buccaneer," we have had to worry about how to fund ourselves. Obviously if you have a successful title then it will provide you with the finances to continue working on your own projects. Unfortunately if your first game does not sell the required number of units, then you are likely out of business.
Exposure is also a real issue. As a new company without an established name makes it very difficult to get enough people to even notice your product, which you need to sell to become established. So a real Catch 22 situation which we now find ourselves in at Stickman Studios.
I know you guys had planned on bringing in a third person (a CODER!) if "Buccaneer" did good enough on Steam, so any signs of that becoming a reality yet? Or is it still too soon to tell?
It is still far too early to tell whether "Buccaneer" will actually be a success and enable us to take on a third Stickman. Our first games reviews are now beginning to appear though, so hopefully the raised awareness will help to move us one step closer to realizing our dream of becoming a self-sufficient, independent game company.
What’s next from you guys? And for the next game, could I make a suggestion? PLEASE have an autosave feature!
We do have a number of designs already written up and waiting, but ultimately our plans will be determined by the success of "Buccaneer." If all goes according to plan and "Buccaneer" sells a few copies, then we shall be adding a third Stickman to the team -- "an uber-coder" -- and wading straight into our next project. Which game design we settle upon will be governed by personal preference, technical difficulty and time afforded us by "Buccaneer" sales. One thing we can guarantee, though, it won't be water-based or pirate-themed. Oh, and yes -- it will include an autosave feature.
January 26th, 2009 at 11:11 am
Awesome. I loved that game, so it's cool to see what kind of work/influences went into it.
Yarr!
March 18th, 2009 at 11:48 am
Nothing wrong with this, at all, people should get it more.
March 23rd, 2009 at 12:41 am
hey cheers for that... very informative - i've added your blog to my netvibes account - thanks