Anito: Defend a Land Enraged

An RPG within a world of Asian influence.


Q: What do you think makes Independent games distinctive?
A:  Indie games are different because usually, their vision of the game is pure and complete in their finished products, unlike other games which need to drop or modify content to satisfy a publisher. Indie games are free to try out weird or downright wacky ideas because there's no one breathing down their neck, checking their game to see if there's anything that they don't agree with.

Q: How did your studio get your start in working with independent games?
A:  Anino Entertainment started as a studio made entirely of first-time game developers (but longtime game addicts!). We have a great dream to make our country one of the hubs of the game development industry in the future, and the best way to start was to prove that we could make our own game, with little resources and no experience but great determination and perseverance.

Q: What is the most innovative feature of Anito:DLE and how is it innovative in your mind?
A:  Story-wise, we featured two characters who had different stories but were intertwined in a central plot. Maya and Agila are siblings, and playing each character takes you on each one's quest to find their father and save their land. This has been done before, but hasn't really been attempted to that degree in the CRPG industry. Then, the setting is unique, as most Rpg games are set in either tokienesk or sci-fi worlds. Most interpretations of Asian culture are in an oriental setting, where as in our game, we show the ethnic side to asian culture. The graphics are a bit unique, as we blended the smoothness and detail of 2d sprites with the dynamism of a 3d world. Finally, the controls and battle system are unique to other isometric Rpg games, where purely mouse driven games are the norm. We felt that we had to offer the players something different and interesting so that they would give our game a chance.

Q: What do gamers appreciate most about Anito:DLE?
A:  There are many things to appreciate in Anito, but overall they will find the world of Maroka an exciting place to be in. It's an exotic setting that hasn't been tapped before in computer games, and has a rich world to offer to gamers. The story that takes place there, the quest of Maya and Agila to look for their father and defend their enraged land will satisfy players who love good stories in their games.

Q: What was the most difficult part of Anito:DLE to program?
A:  The most difficult part was not having the budget to get middleware. And we were really determined to create a world class game, which involves creating an RPG engine from scratch. We had to build everything from the graphics to the scripting engine to all the tools - which we only had 2 programmers for. We did get help though from other indie game companies such as inhuman games (www.inhumangames.com) that helped us with the pathfinding, which we are very grateful for.

Q: Other than your own game did any one of the IGF finalists or Student Showcase games stand out to you? Why?
A:  We've been hearing a lot of good feedback about another finalist, "Savage: battle for new earth". It stands out because, 1) it is being sold like other commercial (non-indie) games, because of its high production value, 2) many people don't even know it is an indie game and think of it as a AAA game, 3) the concept is really original. We still have to play it though (because we lack the high bandwidth it needs).

Q: What is your definition of an Independent Game?
A:  This question is almost as hard as asking, "What is a game?" Independent games come in all shapes and sizes, and it is hard to categorize them all into a generic statement. For me, an independent game is one that creates their game without a traditional publisher. As a result of this, the production values of indie games are usually not as high as traditional games. But they make up for the lack of resources with innovation that most publishers are afraid to support. As with independent films, these games may not make millions but it is in indie games where the seeds of imagination are best implemented.

Q: How do you think Independent Games will evolve in the future?
A:  Analysts have been saying that the future of indie games look bleak, as games require bigger and bigger budgets, and franchises and licensing become more and more the ideal. But we believe that it is in independent games where talent and great ideas will continue to cultivate and grow. So indie games will continue to thrive as more and more creative people will take up game development. This is especially true in places like Asia where game developers will be able to produce better and better games without requiring the massive cost of creating games in the US.

Q: What is the biggest challenge facing Independent games?
A:  Money. Money for production, money for marketing, money for publishing, money for distribution. (But then we wouldn't be indie if we had that would we). Resources are also limited such that, for example, testing your game on multiple platforms is very hard. The avenues for showcasing indie games are less than say that of indie films. So getting your game to be noticed is really hard. But this forces indies to innovate, and I think this is what independent games have to offer over mainstream titles - the degree of innovation is usually much higher than publisher-funded games.

Q: As one of the leaders of Independent Games, what is next for you?
A:  We don't really view ourselves as a leader of the indie gaming industry. We just strived to come out with our own game - we're actually surprised that we made it to the IGF finals. Having said that, we're now concentrating on selling Anito in as many territories as we can. Anito will be coming out in the UK, Belgium, the Netherlands, Luxembourg, Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Finland, and Russia. We're also looking for a distributor in the US and other territories. Of course, we have plans to make another RPG, then move on to other platform and genres as well, but we can't say anything about this yet. We'll be taking what we learned from making ANITO, and make something a hundred times better.