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116 PAGES MONTHLY
LIFTING THE LID ON VIDEO GAMES
2022’s THE RISE OF
MOST SERENE
ANTICIPATED SKATING
INDIE GAMES SIMS
Issue 58 £6
DESIGNING
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Game history needs to
be preserved and made
accessible to all
E mulation is a dirty word in the games fragmented – for example, Numskull recently had to
industry, with Nintendo annihilating ROM halt development of a Track & Field Quarter Arcade on
download sites with zeal. Elsewhere, Apple discovering the cabinet artwork rights were held by
merrily booted iDOS off the App Store for the original creator rather than Konami. So it’s tricky.
having the audacity to provide file system Even so, you’ll find entities doing their best to preserve
access. Meanwhile, many games are at risk of extinction CRAIG what came before. World of Spectrum has long
on a daily basis. But who saves them? Historically, GRANNELL attempted to secure legal permission for hosted game
pirates: ancient classics have been preserved for all Craig Grannell has files. GameClub ambitiously rescues mobile games
time in digital form by people who made illicit copies of been writing about from oblivion (while Apple and Google have no interest
the kind that would make a Nintendo lawyer itch. tech and games for in doing so). Blaze reissues licensed old games as
years. He divides
The industry’s lack of broad interest in and respect collectable carts for its own Evercade hardware.
his time between
for gaming’s past is driven by it being young, profitable, black rectangles, But these efforts are a drop in the ocean – and only
and always about the next big thing. Gamers have Polytopia, and World of Spectrum’s is genuinely open. Moreover, none
been trained to believe in tech evolution above all else rediscovering compare to the success of illegal actions, or legally
one-button classics
and to ditch gaming’s history as detritus. Even this is dubious ones such as the growing collection of ROMs
to play with the
nothing new: I recall during the mid-1980s seminal C64 youngling. Tweet over at Internet Archive. Yet if nothing changes, it will
magazine Zzap!64 casually dismissed excellent games him here: be pirates and nonconformists that future generations
that just happened to be conversions of two-year-old @CraigGrannell thank for letting them explore gaming’s past. It’s they
arcade titles. But the reality is old games do matter: who will have kept countless games alive, rather than
they show where the industry came from, can help us the wider industry itself – and that’s an absurd position
learn, and can be superb fun in their own right. for the games industry to find itself in.
Compare gaming’s situation to the music industry’s. On Twitter, GamesBeat’s Jeff Grubb (@JeffGrubb)
How absurd it would be if any recording more than responded to Spencer’s remarks by reiterating that
a decade old was inaccessible to the average punter, emulators are legal, adding: “The thing we’re talking
bar a few choice cuts Nintenmusic deigned to sell 58 about here is getting companies in line to accept
#
you remastered versions of again and again. It was emulation as a natural end point for their copyrighted
therefore great to hear Phil Spencer, Microsoft’s vice software”. That is a reasonable goal and likely wouldn’t
president of gaming, suggest the industry work towards impact on balance sheets either, even for companies
keeping games alive through “legal emulation”, noting making money from old games. Emulation has friction.
that many games are locked to devices that are no Many folks happily splash out on a zero-fuss re-release
longer supported, and arguing we should long be able of an old favourite, not least if the package is pretty
to revisit these past works of art. – witness the success of Nintendo’s Game & Watch:
The snag: emulation is mainly legal already. Super Mario Bros. But this stance would positively
The problem is game distribution. Companies impact on gaming as a whole, provide widespread
ferociously guard old IP, on the basis it’s still profitable. access to the industry’s past to those who want it, and
Elsewhere, where rights lie isn’t clear and can be stop many games from disappearing forever.
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Attract mode Interface
06. OlliOlli World 26. New horizons
Roll7 is back with its most ambitious Our pick of the best-looking games
board-’em-up yet coming up in 2022
14. 502’s Arcade 34. Kim Justice
A high-score chasing coin-op On the surprising excellence of the
collection from Guatemala GamesMaster reboot
16. Shattle 38. Soothing skateboards
An indie survival shooter with The developers exploring the sport’s
pigeons? Count us in relaxing side
18. Alliance Peacefighter 70. Digital love
The upcoming space shooter with Romance’s ever-evolving depiction in
Wing Commander vibes video games
20. News 76. Runner Duck
Another wry glance at the month’s How the studio behind Space Crew
video game happenings found indie success
24. Letters 88. Steve McNeil
26
A rummage through this month’s More thoughts from Britain’s
Wireframe mailbag foremost gaming personality
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CCoonntteennttss
WELCOME
It’s January, which means it’s
time for a customary look
ahead to the year’s most
exciting games – you can see
our pick on page 26. If you’re
into that sort of thing, though,
January’s also the month when
you start setting the odd New
Year’s resolution – and if you’ve
been thinking about making a
50 game of your own for years, but
keep putting it off, then take
a look at our profile of British
70 indie developer Runner Duck on
page 76.
Just a few years ago, its co-
founders, David Miller and Jon
Wingrove, were thoroughly
miserable: stuck making free-
to-play mobile games that had
their sights set on wringing
money out of their players at
every turn. Disillusioned, Miller
and Wingrove started spending
their evenings making their
debut game, Bomber Crew;
when it launched in 2017, the
hectic management sim was an
97
indie hit, taking the number one
spot on Steam.
Bomber Crew put Runner Duck
well and truly on the map,
and they’ve since released a
Toolbox Rated second game, Space Crew,
as well as a free Legendary
Edition expansion, released last
October. So there we have it: if
46. CityCraft 90. House of Ashes you’ve been on the fence about
Tips for designing the perfect video The Dark Pictures Anthology returns making a game of your own,
now’s a good time to get started.
game town square with a new shocker
Not all indie games are hits, but
Runner Duck’s story proves that
50. Card games 97. Moonglow Bay life-changing successes really
Create your own Hearthstone with A charming, winning combination of can happen.
our in-depth guide fishing and life sim Enjoy the new issue!
58. RetroPie Controller 99. Tunche
Ryan Lambie
How to build a tiny retro console A brave amalgam of roguelike and Editor
inside a SNES-style joypad scrolling beat-‘em-up
64. Source Code 104. Backwards compatible
Code a Skate-or-Die!-style half-pipe Xbox drives, Game Gear analogue
minigame in Python sticks, and more
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Attract Mode
Interview
BACK
TO THE
GRIND
Bringing everyone on board in more
ways than one: it’s OlliOlli World
O
lliOlli World’s developer But OlliOlli World isn’t just about
Roll7 wants its game to be bringing more players on board –
accessible. The previous it’s bringing in more character, too.
two titles in the series, The clue’s in the title, as you’d expect,
OlliOlli and OlliOlli2: with a whole world of colour and
Welcome to OlliWood, were exceptionally exploration to be uncovered in the
well-crafted slices of hardcore finger game’s location, Radlandia – a far cry
dexterity, requiring timing and reactions from the functional-but-lacking-pizazz
to be tip-top in order to skate your way approach of the first two games.
through their lo-fi worlds. Both were Players work through a storyline with
excellent games, capable of instilling a a fully customisable character, meeting
sense of Zen-like calm as you ran through and engaging with plenty of other
another flawless combo… but both were colourful characters along the way,
also difficult games, where hitting that including new favourite BB Hopper, a
flawless combo just wasn’t something business frog.
everyone could do, and making a small And, frankly, the game plays really
mistake resulted in the sort of penalising well too. It manages to bring along that
that puts people off continuing to play. sense of skill and mastery from the
So it’s understandable that the series’ history, while blending in a more
UK-based studio wants its third welcoming approach – you’re slowed
skateboarding game to bring more down rather than outright failed if you
players into the fold and help us all don’t quite nail things, for example. High-
engage with that ‘flow state’ we hear so level players should still be catered for,
much about. OlliOlli World brings more too, so this genuinely doesn’t feel like
carrot than stick this time around, opting anything other than a win-win.
to encourage and reward rather than With a desire to find out more, we had
penalise and deride, all while being just a chat with Roll7’s co-CEO, Tom Hegarty,
as technical and skilful as before. and creative director, John Ribbins.
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Interview
CLOSE, BUT... Where did the idea for OlliOlli World
come from?
JR: After OlliOlli2, we were like, ‘No more
Another part of the flow of OlliOlli World
skateboarding games ever, thank you’, and
comes thanks to its soundtrack, as Tom
then obviously we did Laser League. We had
Hegarty explains: “A key part of the
flow as well has been the music we’ve a bit of a break, prototypes, lots of ideas – I
added over the years. We’ve toyed with think we learned an awful lot in the years Your character is fully customisable, meaning
lots of different styles in OlliOlli World, following OlliOlli2. I think we realised, being the avatar making its way through this world of
sentient cactuses can look as bewildering as
but we always come back to this kind of honest, OlliOlli is probably the best game you want them to.
particular style. ‘Swazzy’ music, we tend we’ve ever made and actually, it’s very dear
to call it – electronica, chilled. That really to us. And there were a lot of tweets – the
adds to the flow; it allows you to get
tweets going ‘When’s OlliOlli 3 happening?’ How do you design something to
immersed in the game and really feel like
never went away. Over that period of time feel right? How do you nail that flow state
it’s one cohesive experience.”
we learned a lot more, we got a lot better you talk about?
Which begs the question: no skate
at making video games, and we were TH: Watching people talk about the first
punk, then? “We have tried it and yeah, it
able to be a bit more critical of the games two games, we had some amazing reviews,
doesn’t work,” Hegarty laughs. “Although
we made. [We thought] even though it amazing feedback, people talked about
some people choose their own music,
and you can obviously do that. And if that reviewed well, and people really enjoyed it, them really fondly. But you had people
works for you, then all good.” if we had another crack at it we could do that went, ‘I can’t play this game, it’s just
a much better job making a much more it’s too difficult’. And that was quite sad.
accessible game. Over 2018 especially, I So when John talks about making it more
think we all coalesced around this idea that approachable, we wanted to kind of
we could make a really good third OlliOlli. remove that skill wall because the people
And it started to grow from there, delving who enjoyed it and got into the flow, which
more into the illustrative art style, trying is so important for us, those people were
to make the game more welcoming – how having a great time. [So we wanted] more
we could have this idea of multiple paths people to get to that flow. We looked at
in a 2D world, all of those sides [coming] the edges we needed to smooth, what
together, and we got really excited about it. we could do that [didn’t] affect the core
Then we had to start running around trying gameplay, so people who loved it before
to find a partner for it, because we really, still love it. What things we could remove to
You’re on a 2D plane, but that
doesn’t stop the 3D from making really wanted to make it. bring more people in, but keeping that high
itself known at times – especially ceiling of skill and mastery.
when switching routes.
JR: Tom says, ‘We’re gameplay first as a
studio’, right? The central toy at the core of
the game has to be fun… We prototyped
all of our games extensively; we’ve
prototyped this game for like, a
year. So that initial ‘finding the
feeling’ before you can hide
anything behind snazzy graphics
or nice VFX or even sound
design or animation – just that
the very core of it feels good to
play. [That’s] something we put
a lot of time into. With OlliOlli,
the idea of flow state is that when
you’re playing well, each action
follows intuitively from the last –
readability is really a key part of it,
right? As you’re approaching the
next obstacle, it’s really obvious
what you should do. The approach
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Interview
that we’ve had with OlliOlli World was to game up. But I think that what’s nice is we
put less emphasis on punishing you when see that goes out there, and then the team
you do something wrong, and putting more assimilate these things, and it starts to
emphasis on rewarding you when you bleed into everything else. So ‘welcoming’
do something right, which I think is more definitely became part of the tone of the
conducive to keeping people in a flow state. whole game, not just our approach to level
Even if you’re not doing that well, you still design or difficulty.
feel like you’re progressing. And when you One of our other pillars was that we Mostly colourful and bright it might be, but OlliOlli
World works smartly with its palette, using… wait,
start playing how we want you to play, it wanted the world to feel alive and to have that’s a UFO stealing a car, right? O-kay.
really starts to reward you visually and with heart. We want it to feel like a real place
feedback, and you’re scoring tons of points. that people live in, and there are characters
to meet and you go on an adventure. But it you trick here, you perfect land, you perfect
"we kept that took a long time to come together. I think grind. That’s how to get the flow. And if you
the actual world-building has always been can’t do that, we’re going to punish you.
high ceiling consistent, and Radlandia has always been We’ve completely flipped that mentality,
a thing that has grown and developed and so now there’s this really good flow, you
of skill and gathered flavour and lore as it’s gone along. just need to learn to trick and grind – that’s
But the actual path you take through it, the all you need to do. If you can do that, you
mastery"
actual story of your player journey, did take can still experience the flow of the game.
a while to come together. It’s probably the And we build up from there. We amped
most effort that we’ve put into building a up the reward process as you get better
What’s the process of framing it world and story and characters, so it’s been at the game, so if you do want to perfect
around a narrative been like? Was it a bit of a learning experience. run, if you want to grind switch, if you want
straightforward, or has it changed from, to get your landing timing right, we can up
say, a gritty war story before pivoting to You’ve opted for a more carrot, less stick the score, we can up the visual feedback,
colours and joy? approach when it comes to difficulty – but etc. But start from the basis that the basic
JR: Returning from a space war, our how much of a challenge has it been to gameplay will make you feel good and
haggard protagonist turns to skateboarding make it more accessible while maintaining reward you.
to heal… [laughs] One of the early pillars things for high-level players?
of the game was ‘welcoming’. Initially, that TH: That’s probably been our biggest Obviously the visuals change with
was to really frame our approach to how gameplay challenge by far… It’s the whole the move, but are there any other
we want people to play the game and how idea that we had set up the best way to fundamental changes, or reasons, behind
we want them to feel when they pick the play OlliOlli, in our opinion, [which] was this: the switch to a 3D game?
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Interview
JR: When you’re making a game about the lore and narratives that we’re writing – the other founder, we went away for a
skateboarding, the player is going to spin one of the things that we’d said early on is couple of days and really looked at what
around an awful lot. This is probably the we want to make it feel like a world that you we wanted to do. We wanted to make sure
biggest driver. Players are going to spin skate through, not past, that there’s a path that the development process was actually
around a lot. If you hand-animate that, you going through this space. It’s not just like a fun. That was really important. I mean,
have to draw every single spin of every skate level with a background slapped on it. lately it’s fun, but it’s very stressful, it’s very
single flip trick as frames of animation. It really affords us a lot of ability to do that busy. We’re making video games, you end
There was something like 8000 frames of – you can swerve backwards into the scene, up making something that should be really
animation in OlliOlli2. Plus we wanted to we have things in front of the camera, we enjoyable, so we should enjoy the process.
do character customisation; we wanted make it feel like much more of a place.
to let you represent yourself in this game. "the player is
Those two things don’t marry up in hand- How did your work on Not a Hero and
animated sprites. Being able to customise Laser League factor into OlliOlli World? going to spin
my character to be who I want to be, and What did you learn from those projects?
then also having this really deep bag of tricks TH: Laser League really taught us how to around an
that you can do at the same time – that’s build out that bigger project. Those original
awful lot"
only possible with 3D… It also really helps us games – OlliOlli, OlliOlli2, Not a Hero – were
build that wealth that we’re creating through ‘proper indie’, as in a few people, in a dirty
studio, it smells a bit. Laser League was
almost the next phase of the studio – it was It’s still going to be difficult, there’s still going
a 20–25-person team. So we had to put in to be stresses and strains along the way,
much stronger processes to make sure our but we really changed our whole approach
production pipelines were working, looking to making sure that we were really enjoying
at all our dependencies. That was a really the process. We were still able to be critical
interesting lesson, [and] to be able to apply of one another in a constructive and nice
that to OlliOlli World has been really useful. manner. I know that ‘nice’ seems like a
But then interestingly, doing Laser League really weak word, but it’s really important.
really made us address how we develop We’re all friendly towards each other, and
as a whole. With Laser League, we had a lot respectful. Those previous development
of crunch, there was a lot of overtime. We processes have really informed how we’ve
hadn’t scoped appropriately. In between built the whole studio over the last few
Has anyone else had that
dream where two smiling Laser League and starting prototyping OlliOlli years, and really fed into OlliOlli World. I
trees wade out through a
river towards them? No? Oh. World, myself, John, and Simon [Bennett], hope you can see that welcoming attitude
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