Pixelsocks: Tell me about your game.

Adrian: Owlboy is a retro game: it feels retro and looks a little bit retro, but it couldn’t have been done on a retro console. Cave Story kind of did the same thing. It looks so cool that I want to break out my Master System.

It’s kind of Kid Icarus with lots of other elements that roll into one big blob. A lot of it is based around vertical platforming and puzzles that we built around a dungeon or area theme. It changes a lot of how we approach platforming. We can’t really use Mario or Sonic tropes, and instead we have to think about things like how the camera should work, or how far people are willing to drop.

It’s more of a relaxed adventure. There is action, but it’s not Strider-like. It’s casual, but it’s based more around precision control. It doesn’t take long to get used to the controls, but once you do, that’s the play.

Pixelsocks: Your main character, Otis, can fly. So it’s not exactly platforming as usual. Do you think genre fans will still be comfortable with the game?

Simon: We have all the standard platforming elements, though there’s also a lot of Zelda-esque elements, like puzzle-solving. The way we’ve constructed our flying mechanic will feel new, but intuitive to platforming fans.

Personally, I love the controls. They look wonky from a distance, because you’re bumping into walls and jerking around. However, when you’re playing, it feels like it’s your fault when you fail. That’s the key element. When you feel like a game is being unfair, it’s another story.

Pixelsocks: Your game is loaded with gorgeous pixel art, as evidenced by your nomination for artistic excellence. Can you explain why pixel art is cool and why you picked it?

Simon: I didn’t have to pick pixel art for this game, though I do love it. For me, it was about how to expand the medium of 2D. The reason pixel art is “inferior” now is because of marketing. Console makers wanted to create the impression that something new had entered the market, so they said that pixel art is old hat and 3D is the new thing. People really picked that up, especially our generation and the one before.

That just doesn’t work for me. As an artist, pixel art is just another medium. You don’t stop making paintings when the photograph is invented. So I thought, “What’s something we can expand on?” So we made a completely vertical game where you can move freely.

I picked it because I just love pixel art. So I wanted to see new games that pushed that envelope. A lot of pixel art games don’t try to animate things properly. Instead, they’ll use it as a gimmick, or to capture a retro audience. I’m trying to make something that’s authentic and has the quality to stand on its own.

Pixelsocks: So, what makes this game impossible on a classic 2D console?

Adrian: There’s the sprite limit, for one. We also set everything at a very high resolution, and we use that to zoom. We were actually talking to a middleware guy for the Wii, and if this were at 480p, it would blur out and look weird. It’d just lose that crispness.

Actually, Owlboy draws elements from the Saturn era. That console was just brilliant when it came to 2D art. However, once the hardware was getting to the point where we could have anything we wanted in 2D, the market said, “no more.” You saw a little on the PC, but we didn’t really have the time or resources to do what we wanted. We had to restrict ourselves on detail, and Simon puts Metal Slug detail into his art.

Simon: We also didn’t use tiles for the game, and you can’t avoid that on old consoles. We use elements you can place anywhere in the game. It’s actually a challenge for me, because, while XNA is brilliant with high-resolution graphics, there’s a limit on how many things you can have onscreen. So I have to make elements that can fit together in any shape or form, but in return, everything looks organic because you can mix and match whatever you want.

Adrian: When it all comes together, I can just go into the level editor and drop in pieces. I can drop, stretch, or whatever, and it still looks like a retro game. Without that, you would have so many duplicate sprites and tiles that you’d overload a cartridge, or even a CD.

Pixelsocks: So would sprite manipulation be a fair summary?

Simon: Yes, but we also spent a good deal of time trying not to cheat with this game. In a lot of games, indie games in particular, you see a lot of shaders and bloom aftereffects. They do help the game, but it feels cheap. I feel like I can do that by just drawing it. For example, if I used gradients in the game, it would take you out of that authenticity.

Pixelsocks: Moving away from technology, Owlboy can only communicate with facial expressions. Do you think you’ve found the happy medium between the laconic hero and having a personality?

Simon: This is an experiment on my part. It’s an interpretation of the silent hero. It was originally a parody of how Link never talks and Gordon Freeman never says a word. I actually like that kind of hero, so I knew I wanted to try something like that.

At the same time, the idea behind it was that people use different languages. So the way you communicate is by facial expression. That grew into this idea that Otis wouldn’t ever be able to say a word, and everyone acknowledges it.

You’ll be able to use this emotion system for things outside saying yes and no. For example, there will be a hippie-like character that does interpretive dance. For the sake of argument, let’s say that her puppy died. While you’re doing this dance, she’ll be singing, “~oh, my beautiful puppy~” and you’ll want to pick your sad face. Another place, you’ll be in a play, and if you’ve read the script, you’ll use your angry face. Another time, you’ll be translating for some guy who talks by playing the bongos.

We’re trying to be creative with the system, but it’s still not quite where we want it. We’re thinking that you’ll make friends with these characters, which leads to other sidequests, and eventually you’ll earn gunners, which work as weapons.

Adrian: A lot of the emoting is done in the sprites. The dialog is full of little cues where Otis responds to the different lines. You may notice them while you’re reading the screen; they’re tips of the hat. We try to fill it with little details.

Pixelsocks: On that topic, can you tell me something about your game that nobody else knows?

Adrian: A little kettle needs to get off the burner.

Simon: Yes. If you put the kettle on the table, you’ll get some extra text.

Pixelsocks: Very coy.

Adrian: Actually, another thing about the game is things you can pick up and fiddle with.

Simon: The entire game is made to be flexible. For example, we have an enemy that can pick up any item you can to throw it at you. I think that if you have a flexible enough engine, you let the player loose to play around with it. If you can encourage that, you have the game.

Pixelsocks: It sounds like a lot of stuff is in the idea phase. How far along is the project?

Simon: We’re about a quarter through the project. We’re halfway through the first dungeon, and it needs a lot of fixing. We’ll be adding two more, and then a last one of four that adds all the extra stuff we’ve been talking about. Right now, the project has stood still for a year because programmers start on project training and then jump off. We’re not a company, so we can’t pay our employees.

Adrian: We do it for love.

Simon: The love!

Simon: At this point, I want to get content in so people have something to play with. Then we’ll use that feedback to add to what we have. The thing about ideas is, even when they’re good, they need a lot of testing time, and some won’t fit with your game. So I want to have the world in there so people can just play around.

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Tags:   adrian bauer · D-pad studio · Excellence in Visual Art Nominee · GDC · gdc 2010 · IGF · IGF 2010 · owlboy · simon andersonNo Comments

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