Point of Departure – A look into The Games Creation.
As gamers, we follow with rapt attention the hit games that are about to strike the market. Whether it’s a role playing game, such as Final Fantasy, or an action adventure, much like the Uncharted series, we know when they are coming. That said, our concentration on the big titles often have us ignoring the ones that don’t necessarily have the means through which to advertise their fun product at the same level. These games – while not as heavily funded – should not be dismissed due to their hidden nature. Instead these games should be embraced by the public community – for often developers put in a whole lot of heart to make these games something special for the public and fun for gamers everywhere.
With these thoughts in mind, I introduce Point of Departure.
Point of Departure is a 2 – D side scroller game that focuses more on reactionary tactics, meaning extremely randomized gameplay, and destructible enviornments as a means of progression. With a whole host of upgrades available to us throughout the game, players are sure to find themselves blowing things up in style.
Players are given control of Messenger 1 (a moving computer screen) and a Security – Bot (the Escort) whom are on a mission of peace that has gone terribly wrong.
With their ship crashed and heavily off course, they find themselves in desperate need of energy and with no way home. The duo must find their way through this alien planet – through any means necessary.
The game, which was recently green lighted for Go on steam, will be hitting the market place as soon as possible. That said – I managed to get in touch with the developer of upcoming indie game and got an inside look into their thoughts on not only the game but also the creation process.
Interview:
First of all give us a brief introduction to who you are and a brief synopsis of the game.
My name is Michael Pirie, and I’m a jack of all trades artist born and raised in the Big Smoke (Toronto). While my primary focus has illustration/painting (digital and traditional) and anything visual, I try to dabble in just about every form of art, whether it be musical, sculptural, or digital. 2 years ago I started working on Point of Departure, so I guess you could say I’m also an independent game developer (original I know).
Point of Departure is a 2-D action side scroller with a focus on randomized gameplay, environmental manipulation/destruction, and plenty of upgrades. In a nutshell, the game consists of highly destructible and interactable environments, an eclectic cast of enemies and a plethora of upgrades and loot to obtain, all wrapped up with a bow made out of over 300 unique handcrafted levels and an endless arena. Players take control of a pair of robot diplomats on a research mission gone horribly wrong.
What was your inspiration for the game and why pick the side scroller format?
I love video games, and even more so I love to create, and so I figured it wouldn’t be a bad idea to combine those two passions! I really wanted to build an experience that merges the mechanics that I love from a number of games into a Frankenstein’s monster of sorts, while adding my one unique twist on the formula.
I chose the side scroller format as it’s a very visual style of representing gameplay, which allowed me a significant amount of breathing room in terms of creating detailed and interesting environments. I’m a visually focused person and thus I wanted to create a very visual product.
What was the early stages of development like, what were some frustrating parts of that process?
The early stages of development was quite the rollercoaster of experimentation, as I had a very specific concept that I was trying to build, but no exact path to get there. The only frustrating parts of the process were in regards to being essentially the sole developer on the game, which basically means if I wanted something done, I had to educate myself on it and implement it myself.
What were parts that you enjoyed?
It’s been incredibly satisfying to see the concept I came up with 2 years ago (seems like yesterday) slowly but surely turn into a living breathing product, and I’m very proud to have gotten this far.
What was the feeling when the community at Steam green lit your project and how has that impacted your process moving forward?
To say I was anything but ecstatic would probably be an understatement! I would compare being in Steam Greenlight to being in a purgatory of sorts. You have a product that you want to sell but you have no idea if or when you’ll be able to. All this time spent developing Point of Departure, I couldn’t help but think, “…Will anyone even be interested in this?” and to witness the support that I did means the world to me.
I’d like to take this opportunity to once again thank all those who helped get us this far!
Did you have any help making the game and if so from whom?
While I’ve been handling all of the programming, artwork and writing on my own, I’ve received a great deal of help from a lifelong friend, Miles Caswell. He is very knowledgeable when it comes to music production, and we’ve been collaborating on the game’s soundtrack, which he has been imperative in working with. He’s also assisted me in testing and promoting the game, and generally being my Guinea pig for any ideas or mechanics I implement, so if you’re reading this thanks bud!
One aspect that really interested me was the alien relic system. Do you want to give a brief summary of why it’s important to the games dynamic?
The Alien Relic system is an important part of keeping the gameplay fresh. Relics are essentially temporary upgrades or mutators found or purchased during each play through that drastically alter gameplay. Because the Relics are randomized both in placement and effect, you never really know what to expect when you come across one. While there is a persistent upgrade system in the game, only through Relics can you obtain some of the more interesting and unusual abilities found in Point of Departure.
In the foreseeable future what game platforms would you like to see POD on?
While I’m focused on a PC release for the time being, I will definitely be looking into porting the game over to Mac and possibly Linux. I’m also very interested in releasing on current consoles if possible as well, but that will most likely be farther down the line.
Personal question: what kind of games are you into and how did that effect the world building of this game, if at all?
I play games from just about every genre, but Point of Departure was inspired by a select few games, or more specifically “rogue lite” games, due to the incredible amount of replayability inherent in the genre. Spelunky was probably my biggest influence as I absolutely adore that game. After countless hours of playing, I still found myself being constantly surprised due to every play through being unique. I was also influenced by the Binding of Isaac and Rogue Legacy, another pair of incredible games.
One comment on stream mentioned they ” love games with lots of upgrades , makes me play way longer”. Do you feel this is a big selling point for the game?
Absolutely, upgrades and items are a huge part of Point of Departure. The game takes advantage of two systems for this, one being persistent and the other temporary. I wanted players to be able to tailor the gameplay to their playstyle using the persistent Upgrade Module, while also including a more randomized and temporary system (Relics) in order to nurture a sense of surprise and curiosity.
What is the dynamic between Messenger 1 and Security bot and how does that change with co-op?
The relationship between Messenger 1 and Security Bot is akin to essentially an escort mission, excluding the frustration that many gamers are familiar with. Messenger 1 is more or less the VIP, and is reliant on Security Bot for protection. When playing alone, players can effortlessly fill both these roles, but when playing with a friend, it is essential you coordinate and work together in order to survive, otherwise you probably won’t last 5 minutes!
A lot of the game deals with randomized environments and loot the player can interact with, what was the process for that and was it complicated?
While just about every feature of the game is designed to be randomized, it is all hand-crafted, as I really wanted to avoid the problems common in procedurally generated games, specifically lack luster environments and boring levels. For example, the campaign in Point of Departure consists of over 100 levels, each of which has a minimum of 3 completely unique hand built variations that interchange during each play through, resulting in over 300 levels in total. While this isn’t exactly rocket science, it is incredibly time consuming!
Tell us about the soundtrack and how it flows with the game?
The soundtrack is integral to the atmosphere of Point of Departure. Each of the four Zones in the game has more-or-less a mini album of songs written specifically for that area, in order to compliment the aesthetic and gameplay style unique to each Zone. For example, as you progress into the later Zones the game becomes more frantic and challenging, and the soundtrack in turn becomes faster paced and bombastic in order to compliment this.
What’s in the horizon for POD after it release? Will you continue with extra content ie: updates and DLC’s? Or move onto a new project.
I definitely plan on adding additional content to the game after release, whether it be new levels, mechanics, upgrades, enemies, or even new game modes. I hope to receive feedback on what people would like to see included in the game once it is released. All of this is of course dependent on the reaction customers have to the game, and if people want more content, I will be more than happy to provide it!
When can we hope to have a public playable version of POD?
I plan on having a fleshed out demo available to the public most likely in mid to late July. If you would like to keep updated on the state of POD’s development, you can follow my development blog on our website!
Website: http://pointofdeparturegame.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pointofdeparturegame/
IndieDB: http://www.indiedb.com/games/point-of-departure
Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCyNgKMS9wkdrqsi4_fWPIVA
Greenlight Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_pGnUwnOdoE
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