Renegade Kid talks Cult County, Treasurenauts and Mutant Mudds 2 development, considering Metroid-style 2D game
A portion of a Siliconera interview with Renegade Kid's Jools Watsham...
S: Cult County is a horror game, judging by the few screenshots you’ve released of it. How is that game going to differ from Moon?
JW: Cult County is a full-on survival horror experience. It doesn’t hold back in terms of mature content, and very much aims to disturb and scare the players whereas Moon Chronicles is more of a dark Star Trek or Battlestar Galactica.
S: When you say Cult County is a “survival horror experience,” do you mean it’s going to be a game along the same lines as Dementium, or are you aiming for a different style of game this time around?
JW: Yes, more along the lines of Dementium but with a stronger emphasis on story and characters.
S: Developing first-person games for the Nintendo 3DS is helping you stand out. Do you feel the need to branch out into more genres as more and more developers put platformers out on 3DS, or are you going to continue making those as well? Treasurenauts is expected this year, but I know Mutant Mudds 2 is on hold.
JW: We branch out into genres that excite us. It is definitely a very pleasant fact that Moon Chronicles will be the first true FPS for the 3DS, which is certainly a big coup for us. But, we will continue to develop platformers because we enjoy making them and feel that there is much more to explore in that genre.
The difference between Mutant Mudds and Treasurenauts is relatively large in terms of gameplay experience. Mutant Mudds 2 is on hold only because we want to finish developing Treasurenauts before we focus 100% on it. Mutant Mudds 2 is still coming and will have a lot of new and exciting content to offer the genre.
S: Since you were inspired by the Metroid series while making Moon, have you considered a 2D platformer that’s inspired by Metroid, or do you think something with an interconnected world like that is a little too large in scope for the time being?
JW: Yes, I have always found the Metroid approach to 2D platformers very interesting and would love to develop something in that vein someday. Maybe even something in the Moon Chronicles story-line!?
S: Cult County is a horror game, judging by the few screenshots you’ve released of it. How is that game going to differ from Moon?
JW: Cult County is a full-on survival horror experience. It doesn’t hold back in terms of mature content, and very much aims to disturb and scare the players whereas Moon Chronicles is more of a dark Star Trek or Battlestar Galactica.
S: When you say Cult County is a “survival horror experience,” do you mean it’s going to be a game along the same lines as Dementium, or are you aiming for a different style of game this time around?
JW: Yes, more along the lines of Dementium but with a stronger emphasis on story and characters.
S: Developing first-person games for the Nintendo 3DS is helping you stand out. Do you feel the need to branch out into more genres as more and more developers put platformers out on 3DS, or are you going to continue making those as well? Treasurenauts is expected this year, but I know Mutant Mudds 2 is on hold.
JW: We branch out into genres that excite us. It is definitely a very pleasant fact that Moon Chronicles will be the first true FPS for the 3DS, which is certainly a big coup for us. But, we will continue to develop platformers because we enjoy making them and feel that there is much more to explore in that genre.
The difference between Mutant Mudds and Treasurenauts is relatively large in terms of gameplay experience. Mutant Mudds 2 is on hold only because we want to finish developing Treasurenauts before we focus 100% on it. Mutant Mudds 2 is still coming and will have a lot of new and exciting content to offer the genre.
S: Since you were inspired by the Metroid series while making Moon, have you considered a 2D platformer that’s inspired by Metroid, or do you think something with an interconnected world like that is a little too large in scope for the time being?
JW: Yes, I have always found the Metroid approach to 2D platformers very interesting and would love to develop something in that vein someday. Maybe even something in the Moon Chronicles story-line!?
