|
|
Hi, please introduce yourself and tell us about your background in the games industry:
I am 36 years old and live in Germany. I was addicted to computer games early on, and like many other developers I had the dream of creating them on my own. Not being a coding genius, it took quite some time for me to take the very first steps in game design. For this I used the AMOS basic. In 1994 my first freeware games were released for the Commodore Amiga 500.
It took several years before I found a game creation tool for the personal computer. It was very fortunate that Clickteam, who were the creators of AMOS, released Multimedia Fusion. This is a game creation system designed for Windows which included a sound collection, backdrop gfx, and animated sprites. This was cool because I did not have to rely on my terrible coding or my poor drawing skills any longer.
Since I was able to use this great tool, the first freeware games for the PC were released in 1999. Over the years some shareware titles have also been released.
When was Jochen Kaercher Game Design formed, and what previous titles have you released?
I would first like to mention that I do not represent a company. 'Game Design' is merely my profession. I am just a freelancer and luckily I have found some great people who are willing to help me with the work that I cannot do myself like sound, graphics and translations. I was having quite a bit of fun creationg some advertising games for some well-known companies. Therefore, in 2002, I made a decision to quit my job in IT-support and turn my attention to game design. Besides doing some contract work I have always created games that have been based on my own ideas. That is the way I want to do things in the future because it is my decision to be fee and indespendent which are two characteristics that are very valuable to me. During the past years I have created over 20 games. However, the most important and most recent ones are Penguin vs. Yeti, Frutti Freak/Frutti for Newbies, and Feyruna-Fairy Forest.
What inspired Feyruna - Fairy Forest, and why did you decide to make it?
I wanted very badly to create a game with a fantasy setting as I very much like fantasy themes and the creative freedome they offer. Another thing I prefer is natural environments with fascinating creatures and bright colors. Feyruna includes all of these.
The name Feyruna existed since the early stage of this game’s development and I am quite pleased with it. I first thought it was simply a moment of inspiration. However, I finally recognized where this inspiration came from. There were some fairy-like creatures called the 'Fey Elhai' that lived in the world of Meridian 59. This was an online RPG that I played for some years. One of my favorite areas in M59 was 'Faronath'.
What were your expectations from your game, and do you feel the end product lives up to those expectations?
While the controls and the gameplay of my previous games required some skills to succeed, I wanted Feyruna just to be a casual game that was very accessible even for the inexperienced players. Playing Feyruna should be a harmonic experience. Most of the creatures in this game, whether they are good or evil, have a predictable, rhythmic and slow movement. The difficulty level rises slowly, so the player has enough time to acquaint himself with the controls and the basic features of the game. After the player experiences some pressure and tension during each level, the game always calms down once again. During this time the players with gain special items as rewards or have some time to relax before getting into the next challenge. The players can also unlock three minigames while progressing through the main game. Two of them are well suited for relaxing just in case the players need a break from the more demanding main game. The third minigame is quite action-oriented and offers an interesting variation of the original gameplay.
It is my hope that the players will like the cute little creatures of Feyruna as well as the very nice landscapes that were created. Throughout the game there are no five levels that do not introduce something new whether it is a creature, a helpful spell or a powerful item for the treasure chest. Thus far, Feyruna is very user-friendly and has a great deal of content. It does, indeed, live up to my expectations, and I hope that the players like it as much as I do!
How long did it take to develop the game? Any big problems you encountered during development?
It took from 15 to 18 months to make the journey through the fairy forest, and it was quite exhausting for myself and for Sergej, the man who did the animations and the fantastic artwork. It is hard to say exactly how long it took for this game’s development because both he and I are freelancers and we had other work to do besides working on Feyruna. We should also not fail to mention the time spent by the translators, the musician, and the beta testers who all did such a great job.
The thing that gave us a real problem was the file size. The game uses a screen resolution of 1024x768 with large background graphics, a great deal of animation, about 100 sound-fx, and some minutes of music. It was very hard to find a balance between a maximun of quality and a file size that was acceptable.
The planned release date for Feyruna was November of 2006. Something very bad happened just before the game was to be released. There was a major problem with the runtime engine of Multimedia 1.5, something that I never even noticed before. It ruined the game of some personal computers. Luckily, MMF 2 had already been released. The problem we had disappeared after we converted the game to MMF 2. In hindsight, it was a very good thing that this delay happened. We were able to enhance the overall quality of the game and add some features which were impossible to do with the old runtime engine.
What’s the most interesting thing about Feyruna - Fairy Forest and why?
This game should have been a match-3. The original concept of the game featured the princes of darkness, all of the magic spells and most of the locations which can still be found in the game today. I had wanted a match-3 with a tactical element. The player should be able to fee glow-worms that were trapped in crystals, learn spells while following the storyline of the game and use the spells until he runs of out mana. I had to trash this concept because the match-3 part was done very quickly and I was not able to balance the game. A level was either too easy or hard to complete depending on the player’s tactic. Today there are many match-3 games either being developed or are already out on the market so I am not that unhappy about having to find something different.
What game(s) are you currently working on?
I am not current working on any game right now. There is an upcoming localization for Penguin vs. Yeti, but I do not have any new concept at the moment. Now it is time that I take long walks in the woods to help to open my mind. That has really helped me in the past. I would like to stay in the world of Feyruna, but I do not have anything planned yet.
What's your favorite indie game at this time, and which recent mainstream titles do you admire, and why?
Luxor Amun Rising is one of my favourite games. I purchased it some time ago for my girl friend. She became very addicted to it but now she prefers Feyruna. I wounder if she secretly plays Luxor while I am away???
I am going to have to take more time to look at indie games. For the past several months this was not possible. It is the same for the mainstream titles. Currently I am playing outdate games like Lord of the Rings 1, Doom 1 and 2, and Far Cry. I even sometimes play Wing Commander 1 and 2. Several weeks ago I left Guild Wars and decided to return to Meridan 59. It seems that I am becoming a retro-gamer more and more. I only wish that my C64 emulator would still work with my graphics card!
|
You are here: Home >
>
Interview with Jochen Kaercher
|
|
