Super Mixtape Interview

Yeah for sure. There are so many great games out there that tackle different elements that I’ve tried to tackle myself with Super Mixtape such as: depth, and controls, breaking the fourth wall etc. Spelunky, Project Zomboid, the work of Pippin Barr, there’s so many. Even back in the Amiga and Commodore 64 games. I love these games that are fun, and that’s a core focus of Super Mixtape, fun gameplay.

This is a really good point, when I made the game, the difficulty curve was insane. For the most part, unless you really ‘got’ the controls, then the game was unplayable. I made the cassette physics really out there and made the momentum a big part of the game. After testing, tweaking, testing and more tweaking, I started to really dial back some of the craziness and I planned to have a high difficulty level in the game, but still be fun and achievable. I dialed everything back a few weeks before EGX and thought that maybe 20% of people will get the controls and understand the movement, and I would be able to learn off the other 80% on where I need to improve and change things.

After EGX, I noticed that it was the complete opposite, and those that got it (over 80%), really got it; and those that didn’t, -it was clear I needed to invest time in making a clear and comprehensive tutorial showing them how the controls work. One of the small things that could make a big difference that I’m looking at implementing are having the rotate control ‘wiggle’ mix when he is static so that there is some player feedback. I think this would help a large percentage of the 20% of players that didn’t get it. It’s as if they were looking for some form of feedback from the controller, and unfortunately I wasn’t offering it in that build.

The next step is crowdfunding to raise some money for the game. I wasn’t expecting the game to get the Greenlight so quickly, so it threw my plans off as I was planning on running crowdfunding at the same time, but I got Greenlit in under 8 days so I’m extremely excited about that. It does mean that I need to work on promotion and raising awareness that the crowdfunding campaign is now live. I launched an IndieGoGo mid-January, but I don’t know if I picked a particularly great time, given that Christmas wasn’t that long ago. I’ve made the campaign live until the end of February, so at least it spans a few weeks. After that, it’s getting a demo environment together so people can test the mechanics themselves. I think it’s important to let players get their hands on the game as early as possible so that I can get feedback from them and see what needs improving whilst I have the chance to make those changes etc. The internet is for the most part a brutally honest place to be, so where better to put a build than in the thick of it?

With the release of Super Mixtape there will be a mix of genres, from jungle, electronic, hip hop etc. The idea being retro style music with a modern twist. There’s some exciting stuff in the bag for release and I think people will be excited about the audio as much as I am. The guy I’m using for audio is amazing, I’m hoping that I will work with him on future projects. As for specific genre’s, it’s quite hard to categorise, but I hope people are as excited about the music as I am.

Yeah of course, it’s one of the most enjoyable part about making computer games. Being able to make snap decisions in your mind and being able to run abstract forms of Agile for organizing freelancers and my own tasks. It’s just fast development, no hold backs and I can work on the game within my own time frames which keeps it a pleasurable journey. The only downside of working on your own, is you are on your own, but I quite like my own company, and I have made some great friends with other developers from going to EGX (Birmingham), Rezzed (London), A.Maze (Germany) and Indievelopment (The Netherlands). If anyone is interested on making computer games, build a support network around you, and get feedback from other developers. It’s healthy to challenge and share with each other whilst having the freedom to go crazy.

I have a few things on the back burner. I have an idea for a market data tool for stock markets, and a small procedural generation mobile game that has the potential to be endless, but they are all pseudo dreams and weekend ‘tinkerings’ at the moment until I complete Super Mixtape. After Super Mixtape is released, I will be looking at doing DLC with different artists as an ‘artist special’ kind of thing with a new level etc. Just some small ideas. I really like the idea of linking

So far? I’ve played a little bit of the new Diablo 3 season 5, but not much. I’m excited to see RPG Tycoon released this year, and I can’t wait to see what happens with Squad. I’m looking forward to playing Cities: Skylines when I get a chance. I hope ‘RIOT’ gets released this year, I want to pump a few hours into that game! I’ve got a massive queue of indie games on Steam that I need to get some time on, but I’m having to hold back until Super Mixtape is ready.

It hadn’t crossed my mind, but now you mention it, I have something extra to worry about now. Haha. Nah, it should be ok, I think for the most part, the ‘retro’ theme and style will always be kept alive, even with younger generations that never experienced cassette tapes etc. It’s a nostalgic element as well for many older players. One thing I noticed was by trying to give Mix a cute look, and a personality, younger players weren’t bothered what Mix was, other than a character that had a mouth and eyes that responded to your movements.

Whilst at EGX, I was told by many other developers I should reach out to Microsoft because of their support for ‘indie-developers’ is excellent, and I’ve got to say, it really is excellent. I had spent some time working on a project with another team whilst I was in incubation studio in 2014, and there was a lot of focus with working with Sony, so it was refreshing to mix things up as well. I’m really happy with Microsoft at the moment, and with future games I make, I will be approaching them again. I still deem Super Mixtape as my own first proper title.

Yeah, I would really like to reach out to Nintendo and Sony to release on their platforms, but we’ll see. There has been a lot of talk of putting the game on a mobile device, but I need to do some tests as the audio files are very large. There was some banter back and forth at EGX about the possibility of making Super Mixtape work on a Commodore64, but the physics and the audio would massively restrict what could be done. I’m always up for doing something fun, and I like the idea of making games available to everyone. I don’t think someone shouldn’t be allowed to play a game because they didn’t buy into that platform, this is why I wanted to do Steam with Microsoft whilst I work on everything else.

Yeah, I played a lot of Commodore and Amiga games as a kid and I loved the pre-set rules and heavy focus on gameplay those games had. I never remember playing any of those games and thinking, wow, the graphics are amazing. My memory of those games was all about the gameplay and the fun I had playing them.

So the audio is made in layers in bars to a fixed BPM. The track specifics are level dependant but for the most part, it’s retro with a modern twist all made in Ableton live by a great musician from Wiltshire. He’s amazing to work with.

I’m hoping to have Super Mixtape ready for an early Summer Launch, maybe late spring. I’m planning on not being firm with the deadlines, as I’m sure with the alpha and beta testing, there’s going to be suggestions made that I will want to incorporate.