Pow Pow's Great Adventure is an up-coming game from Outside the Box
Software due out in just a few weeks. We recently sent a few questions Chris
Evans about how things were going on the game, and where things were currently
at. Here are a few of his thoughts about what looks to be a very promising
game.
1.
Who is Outside the Box Software and the team that worked on Pow Pow's Great
Adventure?
Well, Outside the Box Software is made up of one full-time developer, which is
me (Chris Evans) and several freelance developers. The freelance developers
include; Pascal Vellet who did all the 2D character and intro/ending
illustrations. Fernando Arce who composed all the music and Erik Asorson who did
the 3D boss models.
I did the programming, game design, and any other misc. work.
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2. For those unfamiliar with Pow Pow's Great Adventure, how do you describe
it to them?
I describe it as a fairly fast paced platformer with classic 2D gameplay with a
unique blend of 2D/3D graphics.
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3. What influenced you to create Pow Pow's Great Adventure?
The gameplay was inspired by 16 bit console platformers, in particular Sonic the
Hedgehog. Sonic the Hedgehog’s gameplay was very straight forward. Yes, you
could collect coins and a few items, but the primary goal was to progress
forward to the end of the stage while choosing multiple paths.
Pow Pow is similar in that there’s less emphasis on treasure hunting and more
about forward progression. The items you choose and the paths you take help lead
you forward to your goal.
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4. There are quite a few critically acclaimed platformers that have come out
lately in both the mainstream world (such as Viewtiful Joe) and the indie world
(such as Gish). Do you take time to play these games as they come out?
I just recently played Viewtiful Joe. The little bit I was able to play, I
thought was really good. However, it’s hard for me to play games for an extended
period of time when I’m knee deep in development.
[However] at the beginning of development of Pow Pow, I played Jak II and
Ratchet and Clank on the Playstation 2. While I recognize them as quality games,
the controls were a little tricky (due to the free-roaming 3D environments) and
just to make any progress in the game required a huge time investment. With Jak
II, I clocked in about 2 hours of play time, yet I was just getting past the
introduction stages!
With the 16 bit versions of Mario and Sonic, I can play for a little over an
hour and see several different worlds and have a nice little gaming session.
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5.
What aspects of Pow Pow's Great Adventure set it apart from other platform
adventure games such as the ones mentioned above?
Well after playing a lot of mainstream platformers, I decided to restrict the
player controls to a 2D playing field. The controls in many of today’s fully 3D
platformers just don’t have the same precision as the older 2D platformers.
Also, I wanted to make Pow Pow quicker to get into and easier to make progress
compared to today’s mainstream platformers. This is not to say Pow Pow is easy,
but there’s no pointless back and forth missions. If you beat a stage, you go on
to the next stage, and so forth.
As for Indie platformers, there are several that are very polished. However with
the exception of maybe Gish, the vast majority have a heavy retro look. While
Pow Pow obviously has some retro elements as well, it has a more modern look
that I think will broaden its appeal to people who normally don’t play Indie
games.
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6. From the game play video and snapshots Pow Pow's Great Adventure appears
to be an interesting mix of 3D and 2D, what benefits has Pow Pow's Great
Adventure received from going this direction?
Having a hand-drawn 2D art for the main character and some of the enemies has
really helped give the game personality. With 3D characters, sometimes it’s hard
to give them personality or portray emotion because they’re limited to a certain
polygon count plus it’s harder to manipulate facial expressions.
However, we did use 3D models for our giant bosses, which I think works very
well. The bosses are huge and ominous, and come at Pow Pow from all angles.
Some other 3D elements in our game include environmental dangers such as tidal
waves, dust storms, and meteors. So the 3D benefit of Pow Pow is that we’re able
to use the whole playing field even though the gameplay essentially 2D.
-------------------------
7. Looking at Pow Pow's Great Adventure it is apparent that there has been a
lot of work that has gone into it. You have clearly spent time marketing the
game and thinking about the gamers who will play the game with your collector's
edition release of the game. What made you decide to create the Collector's
Edition of the game?
Well, I personally believe if you pay over $20 for a game, you should get
something tangible. We want to give gamers something they can hold on to for
several years or more.
Plus, I remember when I was fourteen years old buying a console game. There was
nothing better when you just bought a game at the store and you’re driving home
with the anticipation building up. You just can’t wait to play it. To try to
satiate the anticipation, you desperately open the box and read the instruction
manual (probably for the first and only time). You finally get home, quickly but
carefully remove the game from the case and put it in your game system. You sit
back on your couch/chair with the controller in your hand as you get sucked into
the game world.
You don’t quite have the same feeling buying Independent games that are
electronic download only. I don’t know maybe some people get the feeling staring
at the download progress bar, but hopefully when someone orders our collector’s
edition they’ll experience that same anticipation and excitement as purchasing
it from a store when the mailman leaves the Pow Pow package on their door.
Hopefully they’ll rush to open the package, glance through the manual as they
wait for the game to install, then with the gamepad in their hand they’ll sit
back and enjoy the game.
Yes, it’s a small one-time experience, but that’s part of the fun of buying
games.
As for the CD itself, we didn’t want it to just be a typical “CD-Backup�, so we
threw quite a few goodies on there to make it worth spinning the CD a few times
even after the game is installed.
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8.
What do you expect those who play Pow Pow's Great Adventure to come away
thinking/feeling?
I hope people come away entertained. Nothing more, nothing less. I’m not trying
to make a political statement with this game nor am I trying to turn your brain
into knots. The game is meant to provide an intense fun game experience, which
doesn’t take 40 hours to beat. A game that you can pickup quickly and have fun
for 30 – 45 minutes at a time.
9. What was been the most ambitious aspect of creating Pow Pow's Great
Adventure?
I can’t really pin it on one thing. Probably the biggest challenge was getting
everything to blend together from an art and gameplay standpoint. The actual
gameplay is on a 2D plane, but different dangers and bosses are also on the
Z-axis. Getting the interaction just right between the two was tricky.
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10. What aspect of Pow Pow's Great Adventure do you think gamers will
appreciate the most?
I think players will have fun with the relationship between Pow Pow and his
girlfriend Mai Mei. There’s a communication device in-game that allows Pow Pow
to talk, send, and receive items from Mai Mei. When and if she sends you items
is dependent on how nice you are to her. If you’re nice to her, she’ll send you
health items or rare items that are not found in the level Pow Pow is in.
However, if you’re rude to her she won’t send you anything and may even get
hostile.
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Complete this sentence: I will be perfectly happy with the release of Pow
Pow's Great Adventure if...
…people enjoy the game. All my other goals associated with Pow Pow will
eventually work out if people simply enjoy the game.
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A big thanks to the team at Chris Evans at Outside the Box Software who was
generous enough to take the time and answer a few of our questions. If you
haven't already, go over there and
pre-order the Collector's Edition and start salivating with anticipation.
By: Russell Carroll
Posted: Monday September 27, 2004
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