Project Atius Update #7 Interview with Andy Wegener

So, I know that this project has been in the works before I joined the team. How long have you been working on it and how did this all get started.

I started this game over summer break of 2013. I knew my time in school was almost done and I wanted to make a game that I couldn’t say no to if I saw it in the store or on Steam. The game’s idea has changed drastically from a clone of Pokemon to a combat racer like Mario Kart. Then Steam’s Summer Sale came on and I saw one of my all-time favorites – Final Fantasy VII. In the last couple weeks of summer, playing Final Fantasy VII inspired and motivated me to build a working menu-style RPG before I went back to school. Once Art Director Mariel Thompson joined, she offered some great suggestions to give it more action and the game quickly evolved to what it is now.

What was your first vision for how the level should play out?

From the get go, I knew that the dungeon should be a tutorial stage, but not FEEL like one.   I’ve read several articles and watched many videos for research and each one has drilled this concept into my thick, stubborn head. The dungeon’s purpose was to serve as a learning tool and teach the player each mechanic one at a time. After using these mechanics, the player would have to quickly learn them in order to defeat Wisdom at the end.

Let’s talk about scope, did you have to cut anything to make it fit within the constraints or did you get it about right the first time?

We have had to change a lot. This has been a very difficult learning experience for me as a designer.  Except for the last month or so, everything I had made for this game has been cut (about 5-6 months of work, roughly). Although it really stinks, I’ve learned how to do much more than I ever would have. Originally, once we settled on the action game, we thought a starting area, 3 mini bosses with their own preceding dungeon, and a final boss was a reasonable scope. Unfortunately, we’ve had to cut it down to one miniboss and a dungeon.

Were there any major hold ups when it came to getting this started?

Definitely. First, I had a bad case of the good ol’ creative block. I couldn’t generate any ideas and not even Pokemon inspired me. I started playing around with some clone ideas, but I never really got started on any of them – until Final Fantasy VII. Once that got going, finding a team was a challenge. No – finding a team with TIME was a challenge.  It wasn’t until we got approved for a class project when things finally started moving forward at a solid pace.

How do you feel like the project is going so far? Is it about as challenging as you thought it would be or is it a bit more complicated that you first thought?

If it wasn’t challenging, it wouldn’t be a game I’d want to work on. Almost nothing goes the way I had hoped, and that’s when I start learning new things.  I love where the game is going!  It’s really starting to feel more and more like an awesome game with every new mechanic or art piece we implement. As for expectations, I expected many challenges, in fact, I encourage them because they will push me to be a better designer.

Last one, if you could expand the project in any way, what would be the first thing you would add?

Cut scenes. Our writers have created an amazing story covering the entirety of the original scope and the player is only getting a small taste of it. I think a few fleshed out cut scenes could really help give the player an understanding of the detailed lore behind the rest of the game.

There you have it, straight from the mouth of our design lead Andy Wegener. Huge thanks to him for taking the time to do this, I know he is working nearly nonstop to get this finished. And thank you for coming back and taking a look at what we are doing.

Cheers,

Robert