Just Press Start Podcast And Gnome's Lair Interview

[cupogoodness]

Original post: http://arcengames.blogspot.com/2012/02/just-press-start-podcast-and-gnomes.html

With A Valley Without Wind emerging out of over a month of heavy construction and significant changes, we're entering a phase where the game is settling into a stable enough state for us to start chatting with the press about it once more. This week we've had a couple new interviews hit:

Chris and I had an excellent time getting together with the gents at Just Press Start for a chat. In their latest podcast we discuss our games (specifically AVWW) give a bit about our backgrounds, and touch on various other topics.

Additionally, our friend Konstantinos Dimopoulos of Gnome's Lair has posted an interview where I talk with him about the current state of Valley, how we've reached this point, and where we hope and expect it to go now that we can see a bit of light coming from the end of the tunnel in regards to 1.0.

We're working steadily on some major items as far as providing new/updated media and info for everyone to check out. Stay tuned for that in the next week or two.

[KDR_11k]

I really don't think that Metroidvania is the right name for what AVWW is. Metroidvania games have a contiguous world where navigation through it is a major challenge and your ability to traverse it changes as the game goes on.

[tigersfan]

I really don't think that Metroidvania is the right name for what AVWW is. Metroidvania games have a contiguous world where navigation through it is a major challenge and your ability to traverse it changes as the game goes on.

True. That said, the problem with describing a game like AVWW is that there isn't another game like it. So, it's not EXACTLY a Metroidvania game, but, you spend a lot of time in a part of the game that looks and feels like a Metroidvania game. It's the same thing with calling AI War an RTS game. That terminology isn't quite right either, but, being as unique as these games are, there aren't any words that fit them exactly.

[x4000]

That's a really awesome way to put it, Josh -- couldn't have said it better than myself.

I'm well aware that the term Metroidvania implies some things that are not applicable for the game, but I have yet to find a better term.  Calling it a "2D platformer" implies a lot of things that are not applicable for the game, and has some connotations in general that just really don't match.

Erik said to me, "if you go by Metrodivania's wiki definition AVWW fits as a 2D game 'with an emphasis on an exploratory action-adventure structure.' It's tough because the game isn't quite like Metroid of Castlevania and there's not been a lot to compare it to now or ever prior to this point."

Which I think is also spot on.  We like to blend genres here at Arcen, and that means that many genres and at the same time no genres accurately describe what our stuff is.  Some folks get really annoyed that AI War is called partly a 4X -- because it isn't a 4X.  Same with RTS and tower defense and grand strategy.  It isn't exactly any of those things, but collectively that's what we call it because it's partly all of them.

[KDR_11k]

Sidescrolling RPG (think Zelda 2) seems the closest to me as far as genres go. It's not a perfect match but avoids the narrow definition of Metroidvania (which I maintain does not even include Metroid Fusion or Castlevania: Order of Ecclesia).

[x4000]

Yes, I started out by comparing the concept to Zelda 2 a long time ago, and people revolted.  Which, by the way, is not an RPG -- it's a sidescrolling adventure game.  But people don't really know what that means, most of the time.  If you're excluding actual Metroid and Castlevania games from the Metroidvania genre, I think there's not a lot I can say to convince you: they are deviant from the core mechanics of the genre, but they employ quite a bit of the genre staples as well.