I'm Bloo Da boo de, da boo daa!
It's portal visit's like this one that perfectly show how old school retro videogames directly now influence the indie games scene that is so strong across the world right now.
For this interview feature Olly023 took his love of Turrican and platforming games in general and went in search of the facts about the man who has not only made some fantastic games for younger kids but who is also taking the classics from the past and sprinkling some magic over them for the present.
It's off to mainland Europe we go once more where the indie scene is at the height it once was during the Amiga years. Exciting times!
The man, the scene and the indie game making dream...
RGG: Howdy there, fancy introducing yourself to the RGG faithful?
Jorg: Hello there! My name is Jörg and I am a 33-year-old game developer from Germany. I have been working in the German videogames industry for several years, contributing to a handful of not-so-well-known titles for various platforms. After founding my own browser-games company with some former colleagues in 2009, and after that company closed its doors two years later since our investor lost faith, I decided to give it a last try and start on my very own. And here I am, developing that kind of games that I always wanted to create: retro-inspired games fuelled by my ever-present and never exhausting childhood memories.
RGG: Being the creator of the legendary freeware title known as Hurrican coupled with the mascot platformer throwback that is the (soon to be series) Bloo Kid, what console/computer did you get your start on as a *gamer*?
Jorg: I can really call myself a "first generation" gamer. At least when it comes to gaming-platforms that were "accessible" for ordinary people and did not reside in a research-lab but in people's homes. My father traded an answering machine for a "pong" TV-console because he thought that might be much more fun for his kids. Of course he was right, and so my brothers and I spent our early days watching 80s cartoons and playing pong in all its variations, which back then was "play with one, two, or three paddles"... My career continued with an Atari 2600, Commodore 64 and Amiga, and finally PCs. I was always fond of console gaming, but we never got any console at home since our parents thought that "computers can be used for games AND to work with"... yes, we really did work very much with them... NOT! So I got my hands on a mega drive and my brother bought an SNES later when we got our pocket money. But the one computer that shaped me the most was the C64. I am still surprised today when I watch videos like "100 C64 in 10 minutes" and I can name 95 of the 100 games, even if I just hear the music.
RGG: With that out of the way in terms of your early days of gaming, what about the same for programming? How did you start in the indie dev scene?
Jorg: I started "programming", if you may call it so, on the C64 with the book that came with the C64. I made some very "basic BASIC" games. It was the type of games that everyone has done when learning to code. Evade "stuff" with a car/plane/spaceship e.g. I was convinced that I will make a living out of making games sometime in the future, but during that time, I focused more on playing games.
It took a while until I started coding again on a PC, using Borland Pascal. I made some small DOS-games, nothing that really got "released".
After creating a Katakis-inspired game called "Takatis", I started creating Hurrican together with a former colleague of mine. At that time, there was already an "indie-games" scene in Germany, even though nobody used that word back then. It was early 2000, and a bunch of guys where meeting every now and then to showcase what games they were creating in their spare time. Those meetings slowly became an "event" that got the name "DUSmania" (DUS = Deutsche Untergrund Spiele = German Underground Games). I was one of the main organisations of that event for a while until work and family matters took to much time and I moved on. Looking back, I can say that I was part of the German indie-scene in its very beginning.
RGG: Germany has produced a few small dev teams over the past decade that have sought to keep retro alive, what is the community like there? Anything to report?
Jorg: Nowadays, I have lost contact a bit. I still visit http://www.kickme.to/turri every now and then to see what’s new in the Turrican-world. There is one yearly event I am aware of which I sometimes manage to visit. It is a substitute for the now-dead DUSMania, and it is call "Devmania" http://devmania.org/. It has not so much to do with retro but with development in general.
The "scene" has evolved rapidly. Ten years ago, you were lucky to see some game featuring 3D artwork. Nowadays, everyone seems to have created his own powerful engine, or uses Unity or something similar to show really impressive stuff. I think the internet has helped many talented people to autodidactically train their skills.
When it comes to retro, there is the so called "RetroGames e.v.", a society dedicated to retrogames. It resides in a town next to me, and I have planned to visit their "museum" many times, but did not find time yet. www.retrogames.info/
Introducing Bloo! My, my sir how do you do?
RGG: Before I properly get into it with Bloo Kid, we must mention the other titles available from Eiswuxe. Marketing the studio as games for kids, there’s obviously a fair few toddler and young children based app-games from you, is this a passion, a place to test what you can do with the tech, or simply something to push the studios name out in the current market?
Jorg: I never was the guy who created something just because "it has chances on the market". There are many people out there that choose their career based on the "market potential" of the qualification. Like, hey, I'll become a lawyer, because then I can earn lots of money. For me, my choices are solely "matters of the heart". I started making mobile games with Bloo Kid, because it was a game I really wanted to make. Then I decided to make a "small and fun app" for my niece and nephew because I saw that there were not that many apps out there that they wanted to play. That was "Farm for Toddlers". The surprisingly high downloads made me think: Why not make apps that make kids happy, and make money that way so I can eventually make retrogames again? That totally worked for me, and since I am now a father myself, I would love to continue make games for very small children, because it is incredibly rewarding to see people in general, but small kids in particular, when they have fun playing your games.
RGG: The original Bloo Kid came out in 2011 and has since earned a decent-sized following for its retro-inspired style and platforming fun, all the while being a very accessible title to grace the App Store(s). What were the inspirations behind it initially and what do you think has contributed to the games success?
Jorg: The idea to have "once-screen-sized" levels was more or less a "compromise". The technique I used to create the games was not able to deliver scrolling levels, at least when it came to android phones. Since I already recognized the potential of the android market back then, I wanted the game to run smoothly on those devices. So my approach was to take the basic "Bubble Bobble" formula (enemies spawning on different spots on the screen in a pre-defined order) and mix it with platforming elements. And so the core game mechanics were born.
One of the games from the 16-bit console-era that I embosom the most was "Wonderboy in Monsterworld" (or "Wonderboy V: Monsterworld III" in Japan). I cannot recall how many times I completed this game. That game is the reason why Bloo Kid has blue hair, and basically why he is called Blue Kid. Some of the enemies in Bloo Kid are also heavily inspired by enemies from Wonderboy 5. And since the wonderboy series started out as platforming games, I am planning to do a "Bloo Kid in Monsterworld" game soon. That might very well be my next game after Bloo Kid 2.
I think the success comes from different things:
Retrofans like myself only need some decent pixelart and chiptune sounds, and the "nostalgia-receptors" in our brains immediately tell us that this game is a good game :)But I also tried to keep the levels small and engaging, so that you can quickly grab your phone and play some Bloo Kid on the go, even if its just for three minutes.The gamecenter leaderboards with over one million entries show me that the "competitive" factor also works out very well.
RGG: Having Bloo Kid as the official Eiswuxe Twitter display pic alongside the aforementioned success, would you say the lil guy has become the defacto mascot for Eiswuxe at this point in time (much like a Mario or Sonic)?
Jorg: You, sir, are really an attentive observer! :)That is absolutely the case, even though I would not dare to compare him to Mario or Sonic =)The success of part one made the decision whether to create a sequel a no-brainer. And I would really love to see that character in more games, like the aforementioned "Bloo Kid in Monsterworld". Most of you might be familiar with the art of "making pixel art out of hama-pearls" (you might insert a link here in the blog if you like...). When a friend of mine took the time to create a "hama-pearl-version" of Bloo Kid, I knew that my "creation" was indeed a character that I should really take care of and "cultivate".
The Return of the platforming icon!
RGG: Now in 2014, Bloo Kid 2 is on the horizon. What can gamers expect from the new title? Any major changes and/or improvements? Also, any iCade (or similar device) support this time round?
Jorg: There is indeed one very major change: The introduction of scrolling levels. This moves away from the basic core mechanics that some people really learned to love, and I was very torn with that decision. But then I though "hey, Mario Bros. started out as one-screen game and then changed to scrolling, and nobody complained about that!". But since the one-screen designed has what you might even call a "puzzle" factor, since you sometimes need to "time" your moves in a way that require you to "know" the level and then "combine" the jumps in order to reach certain areas, I am already thinking about making another one-screen Bloo Kid in the future with more emphasis on puzzle-platforming. As you see, the "Bubble Bobble" quote "Now it is the beginning of a fantastic story" could not fit any better.
There are now SIX stars per level which you can achieve, which adds much more challenge to the game. You need to play the levels in "different ways" in order to get all stars. One run would be "explore and find all secrets", while another one would be "race through the level as fast as you can". And in some special case, you might need to combine those two... But I'll leave this to the gamers to find out ;)
iCade support is already implemented (with a small bug yet that I hope to fix in the first update to enabled the iCade support). But other game controllers are planned. I want to make Bloo Kid 2 as close to an "arcade" experience as it gets. This also includes porting the game to consoles like the Xbox 360, the PS Vita and hopefully a bunch of other consoles.
RGG: How’s Bloo Kid 2 being released? Is it exclusive to iOS/Android, etc. or will you be bringing the title to the likes of the Ouya/Gamestick? Perhaps Steam or indie programmes with Nintendo, PlayStation and Xbox, perhaps?
Jorg: The first release will be on iOS. Other mobile platforms like Android and Windows Phone 8 will follow soon. And as soon as the game is "content complete" with all 5 worlds (the first release will feature 3 worlds), I will port the game to the aforementioned platforms. Even Windows, Mac and Linux ports are possible. But OUYA will definitely be supported in the near future. As an indie developer, I can only say that bringing your game to as much platforms as possible is the way to go. First, you want everybody to play your game. Second, you can maximize your revenue. If you plan for that in the beginning and choose the right tech, it is not very time-consuming to port the game. The problem is more "design"-related, because you want your game to be the same on every platform, no matter whether people use controllers, keyboards or touch-controls.
RGG: Do you feel there’s a good community within the indie dev scene these days? Also, what do you think has contributed to the rise (again) of the old school ‘bedroom coder’ in the contemporary age?
Jorg: The indie dev scene is as strong as it never was before. You can get information about Everything on the net. People share their knowledge and experience, and there is help around every corner. There are basically no boundaries that prevent you from getting informed about what you need to know. That is part one.
Part two is that the "mainstream-perception" of games has changed. Indiegames are welcomed by most of the people right now. Being a gamer is nothing to be ashamed of. The internet in general has helped to encourage people in their individuality. Never before have people recognized (in a big way) that they are NOT the dumb masses, and that governments and politicians can not do to them whatever they like. People realize that there are movies besides Hollywood, games besides EA and Ubisoft, stories besides TV-news.
It goes so far that big publishers like EA try to label their games "indie" in hopes that people have a look at them. But people are not as dumb as EA wants them to. Ok, so now lets stop bashing EA and get back to the questions. =)
Getting to know you. Getting to like all the things about you!
RGG: Right, so it’s time for some desert island discs, RetroGameGeeks style. You’re trapped in a cave that somehow has electricity and a TV. You have to wait to be rescued, as you bumped your head on a rock and forgot how you got there. But don’t worry, to keep yourself entertained you've got FIVE retro games of your choice on any system. What five retro games would you choose?
Jorg:
-Wonderboy 5 for obvious reasons =)
-Actraiser 1 + 2 (I dare to see them as one game, because they should never be separated!). I would listen to the music every day and night.
-The same goes for Last Ninja 1-3. They were THE games back in school when everyone was puzzling how solve them. The wildest theories existed. Walkthroughs were not available at that time =)
-"Eye of the Beholder" series. My younger brother is still teasing me with those today because I never "officially finished" part 2 and 3. Now I'll have the time to.
-Turrican 1 on the C64. THE definition of the series. I bet I'll still find secrets I have never seen before!
RGG: Atari ST or Commodore Amiga? Also, Sega Master System or Nintendo Entertainment System? GO!
Jorg: Amiga! and NES! =)
RGG: If Manfred Trenz gave you his blessing and you managed to wrangle the rights to it, would you be well up for making Turrican 4 and give the world what it so desperately needs? The cult status of Hurrican combined by the recent rave reviews of NG:DEV.Team’s GunLord I believe more than clarifies now is the ripe time for a new Turrican game. Thoughts? Also, despite this all being hypothetical, Chris Huelsbeck to compose, please!
Jorg: I would stop writing answers if I could start working on this! In fact, here is a super-secret information for you (and now it is not super-secret anymore): Turri (the Hurrican artist) and I are constantly thinking about how to "reboot" Hurrican/Turrican without getting into copyright infringements. We are INDEED planning to do a Turrican-esque game soon...
RGG: Back to the Germany-based questioning, I asked previously about the current indie dev scene, but Germany have a remarkable past of great gaming contributions, the above with Turrican included (also, Giana Sisters, obviously) but many more outside of Trenz’s work. Is this added inspiration to the likes of Eiswuxe looking forward to the future?
Jorg: I have very well been inspired by my "fellow countrymen". I read a lot of games-related magazines back in the days (anybody remember the "POWERPLAY"? THE best magazine ever..."). Those magazines covered international titles, but also focused on German developers. I always tried to get my hands on games made by Germans, and I guess I played a LOT of the German classic games. I believe, as a child, I simply thought "hey, someone who could be from around my neighbourhood made this. So why the hell should I not be able to achieve this, too?".
I even managed to meet some of those legendary people in real life during my "industry"-phase. It was unbelievable. On the one hand, they are just "ordinary people". And then, on the second look, they are absolutely not.
RGG: Speaking of the future, what does it hold for Eiswuxe? Any more retro-inspired games? World domination..?
Jorg: What I really would like to do is "create more games (period)". One the one hand, I see retro as "pixelart, chiptunesound, high difficulty". On the other hand, for me, a game can be "retro" and still have state of the art presentation, while staying true to "retro"-mechanics, even if they are NOT remakes like "Bionic Commando". "Shadow Complex" is a very good example. I would love to make games that have a bigger scope than Bloo Kid 2. If I continue to be successful in a financial way, I will try and gather some more people (all of them are former colleagues which are already on my imaginary "employee-wish-list"). Then I will create bigger games that are still true to the roots of gaming.
RGG: Okay, time to wrap this up. Thank you very much for taking time out to speak to us here at RetroGameGeeks, especially as you’re hard at work at finishing Bloo Kid 2 as this has all gone on. Anything you’d like to add? Any plugs and/or shout-outs?
Jorg: Thanks for asking the questions and thanks to all you guys and girls who play our games! I can only say that while we all mourn the past, nevertheless do we live in interesting times! Expect some nostalgia overflow soon =)
RGG: Thank you again and one last question…Turrican or Metroid?
Jorg: Damn you! :)The world would be lost with any of those missing. But...let's say...I played Turrican first. And first impressions always create stronger ties...
RetroGameGeeks Final Thoughts...
Good read right? Yeah you know it was cause that's how we roll here at RGG towers but before we tell you what we think do us a favour and take another look at the screenshots around this box.
Remove the I-Phone overlay control markers and both games shown here could easily be mistaken for original retro game classics from the golden era. They are simply that good.
This is where the comparisson and magic of this guy's work shines through because put simply Jorg get's it! You can tell he is schooled from the greats and simply playing his work shows you he is easily able to replicate it for the new generation who never got to see colourful 2D scrolling platformers and shooters.
Having had access to the sequel to Bloo we can tell you it's a perfect follow-up and is everything a gamer could ever want or need from the genre. RGG shall be reviewing it very soon, spoilers: Expect massive scores!
I guess what we are trying to say here is that you cannot fail to be impressed with this man's work, if you consider yourself a retro game fan or a fan of indie gaming then why exactly are you reading any of this? Why are you not playing Bloo Kid or Hurrican right now?.... Go on run along and get this sorted now!
- Olly023