World Of Platforms - Screaming Duck Software

(WoP) Who had the original idea to make Wik and the Fable of Souls?
(Simon) At Reflexive we regularly spend time developing what we call "one day quick prototypes", the idea behind these is to build a working prototype that everyone in the office can play that demonstrates a new play mechanic or idea, they are often wire frame or use recycled art & sound effects, the important thing to communicate is the game play. Wik evolved from one of these prototypes that is called BugEater.

(WoP) Were there any other games that acted as inspiration for the game?
(Simon) Believe it or not the original prototype was based on the arcade classic Missile Command.

(WoP) How many people were working on the project, and for how long?
(Simon) During the initial 2 month pre-production phase there were 2 people working on Wik. During full production there were up to 9 people in house working on the game at any one time, & 3 contractors.

(WoP) Did you start with a full game design plan before you started making Wik and the Fable of Souls, or did you have a rough outline and let the game evolve during development?
(Simon) There was a rough design & a comprehensive back story that was developed during pre-production. Once the basic design outline is in place, I prefer to let a product evolve naturally over time.

(WoP) When Wik and the Fable of Souls was released the entire indie community stopped and went WOW! Did you have the feeling that you were developing something truly exceptional while you were making the game?
(Simon) Up until about 3 months into the project we were seriously concerned about the core play mechanic, it was not until the addition of gravity, tongue latch swinging and the shotgun style spitting that we knew for sure we were on to something special. The entire team is very proud of this product & the way it turned out.

(WoP) A lot of people have said that Wik looks a lot like Gollum from the LoTR movies. What do you think of the resemblance? Do you think he looks distinctive enough?
(Simon) I do see the resemblance, but Gollum was not one of our influences. Wik's character evolved from many hundreds of concept sketches that started out looking like a cross between a frog & a gecko. Towards the end of the project we did realize that Wik was starting to look a little like Gollum, so we made adjustments to compensate for this.

(WoP) With Wik and the Fable of Souls you have produced a basis of a world that feels like it could sustain a great deal of depth. Are you planning to do more games with either the character Wik, or the world in which he lives?
(Simon) This is entirely dependant upon the commercial success of Wik over time; to date the product has performed below our expectations, unless this changes it is unlikely that Wik will have future adventures. If by some miracle we were given the opportunity to make another game based around Wik & the rich environment that surrounds him, I think the entire team would jump at the chance.

(WoP) The system requirements for Wik are listed as a Pentium 733 with 128MB. Did you decide upon the system requirements before development with an eye towards keeping the features within that limit, or did you simply develop the game and see what it needed once it was complete?
(Simon) We have a rough target system specification in mind at the beginning of any project. Most of the people who work for Reflexive are veteran game developers, so programmers, artists and designers alike understand the ramifications of targeting a particular system, everybody respects that during development.

(WoP) The first release of Wik required a TNT2 or better 3d capable video card. The 3d hardware acceleration requirement is no longer there. Do people running the game in software 2d only mode get a significantly reduced experience? Was it your plan from the start to do a version without any 3d hardware requirements?
(Simon) Our plan from the get go was that this product would require a 3D accelerator & OpenGL drivers, we had planned to use SDL for initialization & shutdown of OpenGL, but the game seemed to run fine on every machine we beta tested on (about 25 in house & another 20 external) so we released the game without using SDL. It wasn't until after release that we discovered people were having compatibility issues. It was not my decision to re-release the game using a software only rasterizer. Some of the more intense particle system effects had to be toned down to get performance to an acceptable level on lower end machines.

(WoP) Do you have plans to port Wik and the Fable of Souls to other platforms, such as Macintosh or even consoles? Do you think the game could be played effectively with a console style gamepad?
(Simon) Currently there are no plans for ports to any other system. I have my doubts that a console style gamepad would lend itself effectively to the control methods we employed in this game, but my roots are in console development & I would love to see Wik running on any of the modern console platforms.

(WoP) In recent years a lot of games have benefited greatly from users creating their own mods to a game. Wik and the Fable of Souls does have a level editor Do you think the mod community will be able to add anything special to the game?
(Simon) If the mod community can get their heads around the rather complex editor and scripting system, I know there are many special things that can be done to the game. There are 86 customizable properties that control Wik's behavior alone. I have seen some of the crazy new levels that Brian Fisher, one of the programmers on the Wik team, has created for the game in his spare time; every single one I have seen so far has a completely different play mechanic & demonstrates just how customizable the game really is. Some day we hope to get around to posting a level pack on www.wikgame.com.

(WoP) Of the other 9 finalists in the Web/Downloadable section of the IGF, their listed budgets combined amount to less than the listed budget for Wik and the Fable of Souls. Do you think that Wikis an aberration, or is it just a sign of the indie world growing up? Do you expect to see many more indie games with development budgets this high in the future?
(Simon) I think that Wik is a sign of the direction indie games are ultimately heading towards, in terms of both innovation & level of quality. This level of quality means that you have to employ qualified professionals who can create the various assets & assemble them into the final product, individuals who are that talented rarely come cheap.

(WoP) With the amount of talented people putting in the effort to make Wik you could have made a number of smaller less ambitious games. According to your site, Wik does not sell as well as Big Kahuna Reef or any of the Ricochet games. Going with an original concept is always a risk. Do you think the effort to make a polished and original the game paid off financially?
(Simon) No, developing Wik has not paid off financially yet.

(WoP) Are you glad you produced Wik even if it may have been the case that your time could have been spent more profitably?
(Simon) Absolutely, we are proud of Wik, it's a great game that a number of people in the office still love to play. We were concerned during development that several aspects of the project could be considered ahead of the curve for this market space, and that as a result it could be a while before Wik really found his footing. But the game continues to sell steadily, and with Wik's wide critical acclaim, plus the fan mail that we receive, we believe that the future of downloadable gaming will see many more products developed on the same scale that Wik was.

(WoP) What kind of games would you like to make in the future? Are you working towards any grand goal projects or are you just taking things as they come?
(Simon) There are grand plans in the works :) We need to focus on developing a few games that will be commercially more successful than Wik is, ensuring that we are in a position to be able to absorb the high development costs associated with producing another project on the scale of Wik. Big Kahuna Reef and our next couple of releases are based upon play mechanics that we know are likely to sell well in the current downloadable market space.

Personally my passion is for developing games with innovative play mechanics. I love it when the core mechanic is multi layered and based upon some element of skill, where a beginner can get up to speed and become competent quickly, but with patience and practice will discover new and interesting ways to perform an action, or reach a level of success that they previously could not.

(WoP) Are there any games that have been released in the last year by the indie community that have particularly stood out in your mind? What were they?
What was it that struck you about those games?
(Simon) Global Defense Network, I purchased that one after playing it for about 10 minutes, it's visually and audibly very artistic, and I love The Last Starfighter like theme they have pulling the whole concept together. “N” is another interesting game, the bold styling is really daring and the physics are just awesome. It’s hard to mention great game physics without immediately thinking of Gish, which again has a really bold style and super innovative play mechanics. Star Chamber is interesting too, I have a great deal of respect for the dedication and effort it must have taken to build the entire system, and it’s great to see that people are not only innovating in game design but also experimenting with different purchasing models. I love the art style in Platypus, the day I purchased that one I wanted go to the store to buy modeling clay and some really long elastic bands so we could do a claymation version of Wik! Hamster Ball is another that stands out; it’s so clean looking and reminds me of Marble Madness and Sonic The Hedgehog, two of my all time favorite games. There are many more great games that have been released recently, in general though I have the greatest respect for any independent team that is able to finish what they set out to accomplish, even if a game isn’t the greatest the community has ever seen, it takes a great deal of commitment and energy to finish what you start.

(WoP) What would you most like to see from indie games in the future?
(Simon) Even more innovation in design, less match-3 clones, play mechanics that surprise and challenge me as a player, and also as a developer.