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Continuing our series of question and answer style interviews with Xbox Live Arcade developers we have Jeremy Throckmorton, Lead Designer for Band of Bugs. Thank you Mr. Throckmorton for taking the time to answer our questions.
Question: Band of Bugs is currently one of the highest rated games on XBLA Ratings. So, clearly a lot of people really enjoy it. Did you expect it to be so well received as it was being developed?
Jeremy Throckmorton: In some ways, I guess so, in other ways, no. A lot of effort went into making it what it is, and we made it because we believed in it. Ultimately though, there is no way to know how a game will do until it's released into the wild. In that regard, we had more hope than expectation. Q: When you set out to make Band of Bugs was it always planned to be a turn based tactics game? JT: Very much so. Several of the NinjaBees are fans of the genre. Whenever we talked about what game we wanted to do 'next' we kept coming back to tactics. We really wanted to make an accessible, yet rewarding, tactics game. In a way, what we set out to do was make a “snack food” kind of game, something we could share with anyone, but would still be a fun diversion for the hardcore tactics fans. Q: Looking back on Band of Bugs what are the things that you are most proud of? JT: I think we succeeded, to a large degree, in making the kind of game we set out to make -- the “snack food”/accessible tactics game. That alone is something I'm very happy with. The pace of the game is another thing I'm particularly proud of. My biggest beef with some of the other turn-based multiplayer strategy games is the immense amount of downtime. With Band of Bugs you can play a multiplayer game without having to wait an eternity for the other players to move. Then, of course, we have the level editor. It was a ton of work - work that may not have paid off. In the end it did, though, and we were able to get a powerful tool into the hands of the users. That's something I get pretty excited about. Q: Is there anything you were hoping to get into Band of Bugs that did not make the cut? JT: Oh, yes. There were so many things we wanted to include or experiment with, but didn't have the time or resources to do. Many of us had been wanting to do a game like Band of Bugs for a long time resulting in some hefty wish lists. Fortunately, we'd had enough experience developing games to know that we needed to cut features early so we could focus on the features that would ship with the game. Even still, we ended up cutting a lot. For instance, the original plan for the game included an elaborate unit creation system. This system was far too much for us to handle at the time, and was potentially at odds with our accessible concept to boot. It was one of the first victims of many. Q: When the game was being developed were the additional downloadable content packs planned or were the decided on after the game was complete? How did the decision to create some of the earliest downloadable content for an Xbox Live Arcade game begin? T: We planned on support for additional content from the beginning. It was a big deal to us, helping determine the direction our technology headed. We developed the main game almost as if it were an uber-content pack that shipped with a game engine. This allowed a great deal of flexibility for extending and manipulating the game content. Because we were making a game first and extendability second, we did run into a few snags when trying to add content at a later date. Even so, the core game is still robust enough to support wildly different content. We could make an expansion pack themed around space ship combat, for example. Q: Will we being seeing Maal and friends again in a future game? JT: I'm afraid I can't really answer that. We have plenty of projects on our plate, and ideas for other games we'd like to release. We've also never been eager to get pigeonholed for one type of game, as evident from the catalogue of games we've released. That said, if there were enough demand for it, I'm sure we could find a way to do it. Band of Bugs is something I'd like to revisit someday. Q: How challenging was it to include the level editor? JT: It was challenging on every front, but it was something we felt passionately about. That passion, along with some great people working at Microsoft, are what resulted in the editor actually seeing the light of day. There were several policies and concerns that needed addressing before we were even allowed to include it in the game. Aside from the challenges we encountered in getting permission to release it, the editor was really like making a second game with the resources for one. Q: What are some of the most interesting levels you've seen users create with the editor? JT: One map I recall was a remake of Blood Gulch from Halo called Bug Gulch. I think it was made by SpartanWalrus. I was really surprised at how well it played in our game. Another map that stands out was an entry in the map making contest we held some time back. I wish I could recall the name of the author, but it was a race with two parallel tracks. Rival players could shoot at one another from certain parts of the course in order to screw each other up. It was really cool to see someone make a map with what was essentially a new game type. Q: How enjoyable was it to design and implement the Achievements? JT: I probably like designing Achievements more than I should. Even though I wouldn't classify myself as an Achievement whore by any means, they've become an integral part of how I play games. I find myself changing how I play games, or even what games I'm playing, because of them. Trying to fuel the experience that comes through unlocking Achievements, trying to balance them for different play-styles, spreading them throughout the game, and even leveraging them as a tool to teach players is really rewarding. Q: Can you give us a few tips and tricks for how to be a better Band of Bugs player? JT: Be aggressive. The key to winning a match is to hit hard and fast to gain the advantage. If given a choice between an activated unit and one that hasn't be used, take out the unused unit. You will greatly reduce the number of actions your opponent can take, even prematurely ending his turn. Additionally, knock back can be used to take out even the toughest opponents quickly, so be careful where you place your units, and abuse the heck out of where your opponent places his. |
