Developer Interview #1- Reprisal, Jon Caplin
Hey guys, early last week I sent an email to graphic designer, Jon Caplin, who is currently developing Reprisal, an 8-bit god-like RTS, similar to From Dust. I have been playing the game for the past few weeks and suggest you to do the same!
Now that you have done that, he was also awesome enough to answer a few questions for the wonderful readers of 8bm. Being the first Dev interview, the 8bm team is very excited about this! I hope you enjoy it, and we will most definitely post a review when the game releases!
Q1. How has your style as a designer helped you mold Reprisal into what is it?
I studied fine art but my work would always consist of freehand drawn lines and points. It was quite technical. I was then introduced to Graphic design, layout and typography, and soon fell in love with this design discipline. This technical interest has always played a part in my designs and I think that Reprisal and its style reflects this. There is also an element of less is more, keeping the graphics simple and a real sub-conscious tug on retro gaming.
Q2. What is the main thing to keep in mind while playing Reprisal?
The time! It’s one of those games that you can play and time goes by without you realizing. RTS games by nature have this effect.
Q3. Are there any games you have used as a guide during the development?
Yes definitely!Tthe whole game was inspired by a game I played on my Amiga 500 called Populous many years ago. I remember falling in love with the isometric view and it was among one of my first experiences of seeing an isometric view point in a game. Seeing a view point that was so technical without a vanishing point was trippy! I remember sitting down with bits of paper redrawing the view over and over.
Q4. Will there be multiplayer of any kind in the final release?
Not at the moment although I won’t rule it out as on another project I’ve been helping with. We have been creating a multi-player game using Union platform [http://www.unionplatform.com/] which is a relatively new multi-user platform.
Q5. Why did you choose a more ominous force for control, instead of direct unit commands?
The original played from this view point and it just seemed a lot grander giving you control over weather and other natural elements as a sort of deity. Earth, Wind and Fire also gave it a good foundation to create the users powers.
Q6. If you could give beginning indie developers one tip you have learned while working on Reprisal, what would it be?
Hmmm … it’s all about momentum and sticking at it. Create yourself a prototype as quick as possible. I built the original view prototype in an afternoon and within a week had people walking around. Also no matter how excited you may be about a game idea you will find yourselves flagging. The most helpful thing I did was to start the dev blog. In low moments I would post something and see what kind of reaction it would get. Also join forums and share your idea when it’s in development to get feedback. Its great hearing supporting comments and critique from people, which helps you with your project. I joined a pixel art forum to begin with and then went on to more programming based forums.
Q7. What have you learned while making this game, which you will bring into your design work?
I’ve developed a new style in pixel art for myself and by combining pixel art with textures this has given a nice overall visual style that I will continue to play with on other projects in the future. I guess from a geeky point of view it has pushed me into learning ActionScript 3 which I very much held off from and it’s not as bad as I thought. The conversion process took me only an afternoon to get most the game up and running from ActionScript 2. I often use ActionScript in personal design projects [ http://blog.electrolyte.co.uk/?p=341 ] making code generated work so I’m looking forward to using more of the speed and features.
Thank you so much for doing this interview Jon and we all can’t wait to see the final release of Reprisal! Good Luck!
Article by: CmdrShphrd
Graphics by: Jon Caplin
Developer Interview #1- Reprisal, Jon Caplin
Hey guys, early last week I sent an email to graphic designer, Jon Caplin, who is currently developing Reprisal, an 8-bit god-like RTS, similar to From Dust. I have been playing the game for the past few weeks and suggest you to do the same!
Now that you have done that, he was also awesome enough to answer a few questions for the wonderful readers of 8bm. Being the first Dev interview, the 8bm team is very excited about this! I hope you enjoy it, and we will most definitely post a review when the game releases!
Q1. How has your style as a designer helped you mold Reprisal into what is it?
I studied fine art but my work would always consist of freehand drawn lines and points. It was quite technical. I was then introduced to Graphic design, layout and typography, and soon fell in love with this design discipline. This technical interest has always played a part in my designs and I think that Reprisal and its style reflects this. There is also an element of less is more, keeping the graphics simple and a real sub-conscious tug on retro gaming.
Q2. What is the main thing to keep in mind while playing Reprisal?
The time! It’s one of those games that you can play and time goes by without you realizing. RTS games by nature have this effect.
Q3. Are there any games you have used as a guide during the development?
Yes definitely!Tthe whole game was inspired by a game I played on my Amiga 500 called Populous many years ago. I remember falling in love with the isometric view and it was among one of my first experiences of seeing an isometric view point in a game. Seeing a view point that was so technical without a vanishing point was trippy! I remember sitting down with bits of paper redrawing the view over and over.
Q4. Will there be multiplayer of any kind in the final release?
Not at the moment although I won’t rule it out as on another project I’ve been helping with. We have been creating a multi-player game using Union platform [http://www.unionplatform.com/] which is a relatively new multi-user platform.
Q5. Why did you choose a more ominous force for control, instead of direct unit commands?
The original played from this view point and it just seemed a lot grander giving you control over weather and other natural elements as a sort of deity. Earth, Wind and Fire also gave it a good foundation to create the users powers.
Q6. If you could give beginning indie developers one tip you have learned while working on Reprisal, what would it be?
Hmmm … it’s all about momentum and sticking at it. Create yourself a prototype as quick as possible. I built the original view prototype in an afternoon and within a week had people walking around. Also no matter how excited you may be about a game idea you will find yourselves flagging. The most helpful thing I did was to start the dev blog. In low moments I would post something and see what kind of reaction it would get. Also join forums and share your idea when it’s in development to get feedback. Its great hearing supporting comments and critique from people, which helps you with your project. I joined a pixel art forum to begin with and then went on to more programming based forums.
Q7. What have you learned while making this game, which you will bring into your design work?
I’ve developed a new style in pixel art for myself and by combining pixel art with textures this has given a nice overall visual style that I will continue to play with on other projects in the future. I guess from a geeky point of view it has pushed me into learning ActionScript 3 which I very much held off from and it’s not as bad as I thought. The conversion process took me only an afternoon to get most the game up and running from ActionScript 2. I often use ActionScript in personal design projects [ http://blog.electrolyte.co.uk/?p=341 ] making code generated work so I’m looking forward to using more of the speed and features.
Thank you so much for doing this interview Jon and we all can’t wait to see the final release of Reprisal! Good Luck!
Article by: CmdrShphrd
Graphics by: Jon Caplin
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