Developer Interview: Moonlight Peaks

Yannis Bolman: Hey there, GameGrin! We're a bunch of driven game-makers based in Amsterdam. We have a team of 20 people, mostly Dutch and one Dane. I am one of the founders of Little Chicken and currently game-directing Moonlight Peaks. I also draw some of the creatures and characters you'll see in-game. Most of the people at Little Chicken have worked on [the game] at one point. And from artists to devs, they all brought something that we added to the final concept.

Mia Boas: I'm Mia, the Art Director for Moonlight Peaks! I moved to Amsterdam around four years ago, and I've been working at Little Chicken since.

We mostly want to create enjoyable, vibrant, and family-friendly games for players of all ages. Our team is made up of nine developers, eight artists, our creative director, and our CFO; we usually have a few interns as well. Everyone at Chicken is quite versatile, and we're very used to switching between different disciplines or projects.

Yannis Bolman: We have tried many different themes before settling on the vampire [one]. We initially had the idea to make a life sim with a relaxed eighties surf theme. We didn't manage to get to [the] mechanics for that feel just right. We also tried hiking as a theme, but it also didn't really feel like it worked. Then on a delightful day, our art director Mia suggested doing a vampire theme. It was like someone turned on a bright light, and we all felt this could be the [one] we needed. We made a survey and asked what life sim enthusiasts thought of [it], and they all loved it. That's where we officially started Project Vampire, as it was called back then.

Mia Boas: As Yannis mentioned, we were struggling to find the right theme for the game. I really felt like it needed something magical to make it stand out, which is why I suggested going for the vampire theme. It felt like the perfect fit because it would allow us to create a supernatural world where anything goes! I actually thought of the idea while watching a vampire series with my little sister.

Yannis Bolman: I think that was the fun part, coming up with ways to make the magical and supernatural things feel logical in a life sim. I think we found the right answers when we considered them as ways to improve the things you do in a life sim. So, for example, you'll be using spells to automate your farming, and the potions will tie into improving your abilities, amongst other things. We're still in the middle of coming up with various ideas for these, and it's gonna be a challenge to pick our favourites for the game.

Mia Boas: We had a lot of brainstorming on how to make the game feel more vampire-y, witchy, and supernatural overall. We're adding a few elements that you don't typically see in life-sims, such as potions, spells, shapeshifting, and a few surprises that we're keeping under wraps for now. We're still experimenting and fine-tuning how all of these elements work together in the game!

Mia Boas: Not really! Vampires are quite popular in pop culture, and there is so much lore to draw inspiration from as well. We've also combined it with pretty much everything supernatural — werewolves, witches, mermaids, etc.! It's been a lot of fun combining these elements together, and we're really excited for players to explore the world we've come up with.

Yannis Bolman: Once we settled on the theme, it started making more sense as we went along. It feels like a unique setting that allows for a lot of room to have a fresh take on the genre. Somehow combining the cosy with spooky elements is something that tickles a lot of people. And the more we come up with, the more Moonlight Peaks becomes its own little world.

Mia Boas: We've drawn inspiration from a few movies and series with a similar theme, like The Addams Family, Wednesday, and of course, Harry Potter.

Yannis Bolman: Besides the other games in the genre, inspiration comes from a lot of different places. Movies and series being a big part of it, but also books and comics with supernatural themes have been a big inspiration on Moonlight Peaks. And I guess looking at the creatures, a lot of them have also been inspired by our own pets or other silly animals. Taking an animal and trying to come up with a spooky, supernatural version of it is a lot of fun.

Yannis Bolman: We had some challenges, but one of the bigger ones was aligning everyone on the team with the same vision for the game. When you say vampires, everyone will have their own version in mind, whether it's the more traditional lore or closer to something like more modern adaptations of the vampire lore, like Twilight and such.

Yannis Bolman: Personally, I mostly enjoy coming up with weird and crazy ideas for mechanics, creatures, and storylines for Moonlight Peaks. Since we have such a wide canvas to work on with the supernatural theme, anything goes, really. A simple doodle can turn into a fun feature within a day or two, and it's been a lot of fun making those crazy ideas fit in and make sense in this world we're building.

Mia Boas: Working with other artists and seeing all their concepts come to life. It's cool seeing how everything comes together in the game world and environment. Personally, I also really love working on lighting and set dressing, especially when it comes to designing the town and setting up all the little nooks and corners. It's definitely one of my favourite things to work on.

Yannis Bolman: Have a clear focus on what you want your game to be, and be aware of what players of that genre desire. Then make those things happen to the best of your ability. Research helps; listening to your community helps. Make that fit with your creative ideas and make something new out of it.

Yannis Bolman: When we set out to create a life sim, our first goal was to create a full-on multiplayer take on the genre. After some research, we found that multiplayer was not the main thing players were looking for in this type of game. That made us reconsider the multiplayer aspect and we focused more on finding a theme that would help us build out the narrative and the world as a whole. We shifted to a more linear buildup of the quests and storyline, but we abandoned that for a more open structure where players have more freedom to choose what they would do in the game. We wanted a more open, living world that would constantly entice the player to interact with it in various ways. And this more open structure also allows us more freedom to design cool and surprising things for the game. And that is the path that we will follow for the rest of the development.

Mia Boas: We had quite a few theme switches, as we already mentioned. At first, the game also had a more linear structure, but we quickly came to the conclusion that we wanted to create a more casual game where players have the freedom to explore and engage in various activities at their own pace. We also considered making the game fully multiplayer, but we decided against it because we wanted to create a more tailored experience for players, with a stronger focus on narrative.

Yannis Bolman: It's fun! You have to start out to make sure you tick some boxes of elements that are expected in life sims. Once those routines (farming, exploring, relationships) have been established, it's mostly about building out a world that offers enough distractions along the way. We really want players to be constantly distracted by cool and surprising things to do while they go about their daily routines. Ideally, those things tie back into your routine or offer a sense of progression in a way that ties back into the main loop. Although we also noticed some things are just fun to have in, without them having a larger purpose. We just add them because we think they might be fun things to do!

Mia Boas: Engaging with our community is also a big part of our process! It's always exciting to see how our concepts are received, and the feedback helps us a lot in fine-tuning our ideas.

Yannis Bolman: We're not sure yet. We're keeping all options open at this point. We do want to give our fans something to play with while we make the full game.

Mia Boas: Right now, we're focusing on a decorating demo that we'll share at GamesCom. Personally, I'd really prefer to have the full vision and storyline in the game before considering things like Early Access.

Mia Boas: We'll be at GamesCom this year, at the indie arena booth, where we'll be sharing our decorating demo for the first time! If anyone is planning to go, hop by our booth for a quick play session of Moonlight Peaks!

Yannis Bolman: Well, considering that you are at odds with your dad (Dracula) after running away from home, this is an interesting question. Dracula would probably be most impressed if you [turned] a whole lot of people into a vampire. But since your goal in Moonlight Peaks is to live life differently and do so without hurting others, doing this successfully will most likely be the most impressive thing you can do. Either way, some other things might also impress him. Things like eating a whole head of garlic without flinching or applying the highest factor sunblock and sunbathing by the pool.

Yannis Bolman: Haha, great question. We asked the team to chime in on this one, and we came up with some fun names. Some notable examples: Grim Fowls, Nocturnal Peacocks, Chicks of the Abyss, Goth-Chicks. The thread with suggestions is still going strong, so there might be more fun names coming out of it.