Rocket Lolly Interview - Creators of The Rocky Horror Show: Touch me

Well it all began when Ella met Andy Leighton, around 3 years ago and started talking about what might be possible. When Ella told me about it I exploded with excitement and immediately started thinking about what kind of game we could make.

For me (Oscar) it's not really a case of what I would have done differently. I've been working at the cutting edge of what is possible for so long, that it's very easy to get caught up with how hard it is to make progress. Wireplay, PlayStation Home even running the operator app store for 3UK all had incredible challenges and at the time it was impossible to step back and see what was really achieved.

Heck in the end, arguably all of these projects were failures depending on your point of view. However, they all gave all of us on those teams the chance to do things before anyone else in the world. Imagine looking back and realising that your stupid rent games model was the first ever mobile in-app purchase? Probably the first time I really got to appreciate it though was about 2 years ago when Ilkka Paananen invited me to speak at Supercell's own conference in Helsinki, he reminded me that 11 years earlier we had awarded his company at the time a prize to have the first game on our 3G network. That's when you realise all the effort and frustration is worth it.

Ella’s background is very different to mine. She started Remode from University and grew the company over 7 years with no previous experience, which is amazing and definitely something to be proud of. However I know she wishes she had started making her own games sooner, as that is what she really love doing - being able to work on things that she's truly passionate about. That's why this project means so much because working together has unlocked each other's different skills and, we hope, will means we can make games we really believe in like The Rocky Horror Show: Touch Me.

The core reason is simple. We wanted to find a way to engage the community and at the same time get a sense of the potential for the game. Of course that makes sense if you are remaking a classic board game or reinventing the design of a travel backpack; but it's a little bit crazy with a Freemium mobile games but we think it's important to show that this type of game can be just as good as any other and worth investing in. There is a lot of value in reaching out to a community of fans regardless - and the fans have been hugely supportive. If we can hit our target we can make sure we deliver a 'real' Rocky Horror experience with their help. And if we were to reach our stretch goals there are a lot of extra features we simply can't offer in the basic game without the extra support.

Keep your eyes peeled for our updates - we will talk about those other goals soon - but to give you a taste you already know that we want to create a Karaoke mode the Eddie Tier. Its called that for a reason. We plan to add Eddie's character to the launch collection, along with a new outfit for Riff Raff, another scene, and lots more. So obviously the next tiers will similarly add the named character at launch plus even more great features. We have so many ideas but they include things like build your own avatars from all the body parts you own, Local and Online multiplayer modes, ways to disrupt your friends play and perhaps even a way to put the player themselves inside the game.

That's the benefit of being the official game for the show. We explained that we needed to be able to offer something unique and the idea of pressing the Demo Tapes into a Vinyl just seemed to us to be the perfect collector's item and something which would allow us to join the dots between the original show and the new game.

Well we have both been fans of the show a long time, so we probably feel the pressure more keenly that most people. Not everyone will get what we are trying to do but that's why we have reached out to the community to take part. Its also why we are creating a game with its own identity. It will feel like it is its own thing, part of the Rocky-verse, familiar and comfortable but not trying to replicate the film or the stage experiences exactly. Its own thing. Perhaps the most important reason to back this game now is that we genuinely want fans of the show and fans of dance games to be involved. That's a pretty unique offer. Something that only an indie studio like us would dare to do!

We just want to get past this Kickstarter for now. What happens next is another lifetime. However, it's also important to us that we have a long term relationship with The Rocky Horror Show and in fact our licence is for quite some time to come. So we hope to make other Rocky experiences too.

We play a lot of games, but the trouble is that we both get involved in helping small indie teams and analysing games so our favourite games change on a daily basis. Oscar is currently playing a lot of Clash Royale but today discovered a card based dungeon game called Card Crawl which he is obsessing over right now. Ella is slightly obsessed with Best Fiends still, and also loves puzzle and narrative games - so The Room (1, 2 & 3!) and Her Story have been popular recently.

Lots of planning. That might sound odd, but it's true. We knew whatever art we would use had to look great in 3D and that meant it had to emphasise the movements of the characters but at the same time we wanted to have elements which referenced the feel of the original science fiction and horror sources which Richard O'Brien talks about in the opening number. The lasers directly inspired by the original Flash Gordon, Buster Crab, and we wanted a touch of the mad scientists Victorian mansion from the classic horror movies. At the same time we knew this had to be distinctively belonging to the Stage tradition with occasional hints for fans of the Film to still feel at home. Even getting the dusty black flooring on the stage right matters, right down to the colour duck tape showing the starting positions from 'previous productions'.

A toast to absent friends perhaps? Sorry I can't help but quote from the script when I have the chance! I've spent a lot of time looking at how gameplay works best when it fits in with our daily routine, offering a brief escape from the daily pressure. That means we want to create those precious 2-3 minute breaks from the mundane where you can escape and express yourself whist at the same time trying to outdo your friends performances. And who doesn't need a little bit of rocking out to blow the cobwebs away?

That's to hard to say... but for me it's probably got to be Sweet Transvestite as its perfectly suits my Karaoke voice. For Ella it has to be Hot Patootie, due to her love of rock music and saxophone :) Bless My Soul!