Renegade Kid explains why Cult County is no longer on 3DS, taking to Kickstarter, using Unity, game details, parity on all platforms
Prior to today’s console and Kickstarter announcement for Cult County, the good folks over at Nintendo Life caught up with Renegade Kid co-founder Jools Watsham to discuss the project. Watsham tackled topics pertaining to the 3DS version, taking to Kickstarter, Unity, and more.
Check out the Q&A below. You can also find Nintendo Life’s full interview here.
On why the 3DS version was cancelled and why Renegade Kid is using Kickstarter…
We still love the 3DS and plan to continue making games for it with Moon Chronicles and Treasurenauts on the horizon and much more planned. Handheld gaming is my personal preferred choice for gaming, but I also really enjoy console gaming on my Wii U. Ever since we started Renegade Kid in 2007 we have loved pushing the boundaries of handheld platforms, but have always felt the allure of console development. We got close to developing a few console games in the past, but making the jump to console takes more people, more time, which requires more money to do it properly.
While we were developing the design and story for Cult County, our focus shifted from 3DS to console/computers. Cult County feels like a project that can really benefit from the extra graphical power that consoles/computers provide.
Kickstarter offers an opportunity to put our idea out there and see if the players want it. It can help us alleviate the financial burden of developing a game while also soliciting the fan’s input to help craft the game.
On the game’s plot…
I don’t want to spoil the experience for anyone who might want to play the game, but the basic plot is about you, as Gavin Mellick, travelling back to a small town in west Texas to contact your sister and deliver the sad news about your mother who has fallen deathly ill. You have tried contacting her via phone,but no answer. Upon your arrival to the town, a savage dust storm consumed the town. When you reach your sisters house, she is not home. You talk to some of the local town folk, who do not offer much help, but do share their accounts of some strange events that occurred recently that involved a cultish group that moved to town and the unexpected suicide of Father Pearce! And, comedy ensues – just kidding. It’s not a comedy.
On cancelling the 3DS version…
Yes, it was a very difficult decision for us to move away from the 3DS with Cult County, but the development of Moon Chronicoles helps soften that blow for us. We are very excited about what consoles offer, and the opportunity to flex some extra polygonal muscle with the power that consoles and computers offer.
On how far Renegade Kid got with 3DS development…
Production of game assets did not go beyond that of the demo. We have spent our time since focused on the story and game design.
On what new avenues are opened up now that Cult County is heading to consoles…
As far as the game itself, consoles offer a lot more freedom in how we construct the art assets and obviously provide a lot more potential for higher detailed environments and characters,which is really exciting for us as we’ve always been in the situation of optimizing everything to make it function on handheld. But,now we’re in a position of making what we want based on how cool it will look rather than always worrying about whether it will work within the constraints.
We are using the Unity Engine to develop Cult County for consoles/computers, which is another huge area of excitement for us because it allows us to support many platforms and offer the game to many gamers at once.
On whether the Kickstarter campaign encompasses one episode or the first series…
That is for all of season one, which is all five episodes.
On how frequently the five episodes will be released once the series is underway…
That is an area we are still working on, and the results of the Kickstarter campaign may affect that if we’re lucky enough to reach stretch goals, as that may require more assets, and more time to complete.
On implementing a “season pass” on Wii U…
It is something we are already in talks with Nintendo about, regarding Moon Chronicles. Nintendo is very forward thinking, and they are excited by the prospect of supporting a season pass system. It is a logistical challenge that we’ll learn more about soon hopefully.
On any intimidation by the idea of entering the home console space with this genre…
We have worked on consoles/computers in the past at Acclaim, and also with Mutant Mudds Deluxe on Wii U, PlayStation 3, and Steam. We have also done some top secret “ninja development” recently that utilized the Unity Engine on Wii U, and really enjoyed the experience.
On using the Wii U/GamePad…
We will utilize unique features of consoles where it is a natural extension of the game, but generally speaking, we are aiming for parity across all platforms.
On whether Renegade Kid will continue using Unity…
Yes, we would love to continue making games with the Unity engine alongside our 3DS development.
On potential interest in using Unity on 3DS if it’s possible…
Honestly, I would be very surprised if Unity could run as efficiently as our own 3DS engine in terms of maintaining 60 frames per second with a first-person shooter. But, I would be happy to be proven wrong.
On the Kickstarter’s high goal…
Nervous? No, terrified! This is the first time we’re putting ourselves out there like this, and even though I am very excited about the project and what the fans and Kickstarter can provide, I have no idea what level of interest this project will generate. I hope for the best and try to prepare myself for the worst.
The minimum goal amount is something we have wrestled with a lot. It seems as though $400K is becoming the accepted standard for a video-game Kickstarter projects, but we want to ensure that if we are lucky enough to reach our minimum goal we are able to deliver what we promise and not rely on hitting stretch goals to do that. $580K is the lowest amount that we can deliver a top notch survival horror experience on consoles/computers with confidence. Any lower would compromise our vision and our ability to meet the player’s expectations.
