December 11, 2008

Hitting Lightspeed With Evasive Space's Development Team
By Louis Bedigian

“For our past WiiWare titles, we've tried to come up with some fun ideas for smaller games that would take advantage of the Wii, show off our engine and company in the best light, and would fill a void. With Evasive Space, the great idea for the game was proposed by YUKE'S and we took the ball and ran with it.”

Geometry Wars showed the world a thing or two about Xbox Live Arcade development. Basic, old-school gaming is fine but you have to make it fun. If you can make it challenging, even better – Geometry Wars thrived on its ever-increasing difficulty.

Though that gameplay philosophy may have been applied to the upcoming Evasive Space, a new WiiWare game from YUKE'S and High Voltage, the inspiration comes from a wide range of sources. "We were given a jumping off point from YUKE'S Irritating Stick and the 'Bunnies are A-Mazing' mini game in Raving Rabbits," said Lewis L. Harris II, Lead Designer at High Voltage. "We liked the concept of Irritating Stick but the controls were definitely tailored to dual-analog. And Bunnies was just too short of an experience on which to base an entire title.

"So we thought, 'How can we make a fun Sci-Fi game using the IR pointer?' We got a lot of inspiration for the control scheme from an old Commodore Amiga game, Wayne Gretzky Hockey, where the hockey stars follow the player's mouse pointer. Some other inspirations for the controls were the arcade game Asteroids and the NES classic Solar Jet Man. The look of the game was inspired a bit by the Oddworld universe; a realistic but somewhat 'cartoony' look, and surreal color palette."

DLC services like WiiWare and Xbox Live Arcade have given new life to older gameplay styles. Five or 10 years ago, did you ever think this would be a possibility? Or did the PS2/Xbox/GameCube era (and PSone/Saturn/N64 era before that) make you think that old-school gaming was done?

Nate Fitt (Marketing Manager, YUKE'S): Internet connectivity on next-gen consoles finally opened up a new world of controllable, downloadable content, but I can say that I'm impressed with the seamless method in which anyone with a current-gen game console can now download and play a classic. With a platform that enables easy access to such content, we're seeing more and more developers with great ideas considering modern takes on classic gameplay, especially since the games of old were accessible to the casual player, yet challenging to the hardcore gamer. It's a widening audience that we can't ignore, and we couldn't have guessed in the PS2/Xbox/GameCube days that the market opportunities to monetize these offerings would grow to such a considerable size.

What's the first thing you do as a WiiWare developer? Tell us a little bit about the process.

Keith Hladik (Associate Producer, High Voltage): For our past WiiWare titles, we've tried to come up with some fun ideas for smaller games that would take advantage of the Wii, show off our engine and company in the best light, and would fill a void. With Evasive Space, the great idea for the game was proposed by YUKE'S and we took the ball and ran with it. We started brainstorming the type of controls to use, the type of gameplay, art style etc. Once those were fleshed out, we were able to plan for the Wii's controls and our engine.

Is there any difference (programming, design, anything) in working with WiiWare as opposed to simply making a game on disc?

KH: There is a great deal of difference. For starters, the space limitation is always looming when we create assets for the game. When you compare that to a disc-based game, it seems daunting. When planning the project we have to make considerations on level counts, texture sizes, and game features. With a disc-based game, there is some freedom in creating more content such as Voice Over or Full Motion Videos. I don't think gameplay suffers at all, but special care has to be taken to ensure loads of superfluous content doesn't get in the way of a fun and worthwhile game experience.

What was it like working with the Wii's motion controls? Was this your first time?

KH: We've done multiple Wii Motion Control games (Gyrostarr, High Voltage Hot Rod Show, Dora the Explorer/Go Diego Go! and more…), so we definitely have experience. It does provide a unique challenge, of course. But with Evasive Space, the pointer was our focus, so it's a bit easier to handle from the development side.

The range in motion quality in Wii games is pretty huge, yet many developers say the Wii is easy to develop for. Still, I would imagine that getting the motion controls to work properly is at the very least challenging.

KH: They can be a challenge, to a point. It is fairly easy to add the functionality into a game. The real challenge is to tweak the controls so players are not frustrated when they pick up and play the game for the first time. You want people who have never played a Wii game to be able to instantly be able to control the game the same as if they were mapped to a digital control pad. Luckily, for Evasive Space, using the IR pointer for our control scheme worked very well.

Similar to XBLA, WiiWare space is not unlimited, primarily due to the Wii's small internal memory. Has this posed any challenges while working on Evasive Space? And on that note, I'm curious: are the file sizes for motion controls bigger than the file sizes for traditional button implementation?

KH: I feel it is just as easy to create a fun game on XBLA as it is on WiiWare. The size limit for WiiWare can pose some challenges and it is always on our minds during development. When starting the project, you have to look at the necessary items and what will fit. As long as everyone on the project is mindful of this, it is not a huge problem. You can take a positive spin on the size limit and be proud of how much gameplay developers can fit into it. And no, there is no size difference between motion and non-motion controlled implementation.

Lewis L. Harris II (Lead Designer, High Voltage): From a designer's standpoint, having the size limitation hanging over your head is simply a constant reminder to be mindful of what you're doing. You really have to distill the title down to its essence because you don't have room for much else. There were a million more things that I wanted to add to ESpace but didn't have the space or time to implement.

Konki is the pilot within the game. I imagine she's your typical space shooter hero?

LH: Konki is awesome now, but when I initially envisioned the character, she was pretty basic. Who she was didn't really manifest until a third of the way through the project. In order to "get" Konki, I had to first figure out who the Stellar Guardians were and what they do. Once I had their goals and motivations, I could then really envision Konki. So to answer your question, "no," Konki isn't your typical space hero. She is very Mission-driven, but she is also a very compassionate character who, even though her mission is of the utmost importance, feels compelled to help all those who need assistance.

Both items and upgrades are available. How are they obtained and what benefits do they provide?

LH: The player's goal is to collect the 14 stolen Constellation Stones to help save the universe from Dr. Dark Matter. These can be found strewn about various levels in the game.

The main pickups are in the form of Energy Cells. These pickups are not only the focus of some of the missions, but power your ship as well. If you hit a wall or hazard, you lose some of the energy that these pickups provide; lose all your energy and you'll have to start the level over.

Collecting 10 diodes will unlock a ship upgrade. One such upgrade is your I-Shield which, while active, allows players to continue navigating their ship even if they hit a wall or hazard.

Since our game has an online leaderboard, ranking players on how fast they can complete each level, the Chronosphere pickup gives players a time bonus when collected, shaving off precious seconds.

What are some of the missions / levels going to be like? As a space shooter, there will be a lot of shooting… But what specifically can you tell us about them? Attack patterns, any possible boss battles, or…?

KH: I'd like to point out that the premise of this game is more of an exploratory action/adventure game. Players navigate each level completing specific objectives; whether saving lost spacers or collecting enough energy to open an end-level portal before time expires. The only shooting players have to worry about are shots coming from enemy turrets!

LH: Evasive Space is divided into "Acts," which are then divided into "Scenes." Each act has a graphical theme that carries throughout all of that Act's Scenes. For instance, the theme of the first act is Crystal and Rock; so here, the environments are populated with primarily crystalline or stone objects. The theme of Act II is fire.

Similar to what Keith has said, the missions in Evasive Space all revolve around two things: Konki's determination to do her job, which is collect the missing Constellation Stones; and helping others. Most of the time, collecting the Constellation Stones involves quickly navigating a very hazardous environment. And while helping others also takes place in some pretty dangerous environments, the focus is obviously a bit more altruistic.

We know the multiplayer is local and allows four players to participate. What else can you tell us? Is it split-screen, co-op, competitive, or…?

LH: All the players compete on the same screen and control one of four different colored ships. There are two game types: Collector, where players collect as many Energy Cells as possible; and Hero, where players try to save Spacers or Ships. Within these game Types are three Modes. In "Timed Mode" players compete to collect/save the most before time runs out. Point Total Mode has the players compete to collect/save a certain amount before the other players do. And then there's Team Player Mode in which players cooperate to complete a certain objective.

That's all the Qs I have, but if there's anything else you'd like to share with our readers about the game, WiiWare development or anything else, do so now.

KH: I'd really like to thank our CEO and founder of High Voltage Software, Kerry Ganofsky, for the opportunity to create another fun, simple and unique game. I'd also like to stress how great it has been working with YUKE'S Company of America, they have been really supportive of us and the game. They definitely "get it." I really hope when people play Evasive Space, they have as much fun playing the game as we did making it.

NF: Evasive Space is going to bring something totally new to the meaning of adventure games with the creative use of the Wii Remote. We can't wait for it to launch on WiiWare in January and are confident that everyone will have a great time with it! Lastly, I would also like to thank High Voltage for the opportunity to publish this game. They're a great group of talented developers and we're lucky to have such a partnership exist locally in Chicago. Keep an eye out for some more WiiWare titles to come from YUKE'S!

Thank you for your time.

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