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We Talk All Things ‘Eufloria’ With Rudolf Kremers | PSNStores

We Talk All Things ‘Eufloria’ With Rudolf Kremers

Posted by on October 4th, 2012 | 0 Comments | Tags: ,

From time to time we like to check in with developers who have released games on PSN to see what they are up to. With a port of Eufloria recently released on PlayStation Mobile in Japan, we thought now would be a good time see what Rudolf Kremers, one of the men behind ‘Eufloria‘, has been up to.

Q: What have you been up to since the release of Eufloria on PSN?

The short answer is “More than I ever imagined”, but that leaves out some useful detail, so I will give a longer answer. 🙂

I have teamed up with fellow indies Tuna, to keep Eufloria development and porting efforts up. This includes the iOS release of Eufloria HD, which has come out very well indeed. We now have a codebase from which it is a lot easier to keep refining Eufloria, and getting ports out onto new platforms, so the title will hopefully lead a long and happy life.

We also signed up with Sony for a completely new game called Eufloria Adventures, which is to debut on PSM. This is rather exciting as it is a new game but set in the same universe as Eufloria.

Furthermore I am developing 2 other games; StarLit and Neopolis, with a bunch of excellent indie devs (David Parsons + Dugan Jackson + Brian Grainger, and Mike Ttoouli,) I am also working on a comic (www.spire-comic.com) and have written several screenplays.

There is also a Eufloria Japanese only port for PSM, coming out right about now. We did not develop this ourselves, but obviously I hope it will do really well. This port was spearheaded by Playism, who are great ambassadors of Japanese indie games, so I wish them well.

Q: What made you choose to bring the Eufloria franchise to PSM?

Sony asked us if we wanted to develop something for the platform, and since I am a big fan of Vita and the PSM attitude I thought the best way to support it is to develop a new game for it. I already had advanced plans for Eufloria Adventures but hadn’t settled on a specific platform. After a short while I realised that PSM would be a perfect debut platform.

Tuna were up for it so the collaboration was a natural choice. They are amazing developers and already know Eufloria inside out.

Q: Do you think it is a good platform for indie developers?

Absolutely. It is relatively easy to self-publish on PSM, Sony are very friendly towards indies, you get access to a large audience that is looking for quality indie titles, and the nature of the platform supports smaller to medium sized games nicely. I think it has a real shot at becoming a great home for indie devs.

Q: Many people see this as Sony’s answer to iOS? As someone who has dealt with both, how does the process compare to iOS?

The process involved seems comparable, certainly easier than mainstream console submissions.
I am not sure if it really is an answer to iOS though. I see it more as a logical progression into the downloadable mobile sphere. I suspect that Sony would go this route regardless of the iOS/Appstore emergence. It may have affected their timing though. 😉

Q: What sets Eufloria Adventures apart from the PC/ PS3/ iOS versions of the game before it?

Its a completely new game for starters. 😀

The game is all about exploration and discovery. Rather than Eufloria’s strategic colonisation you control a single seedling ship this time. You go searching for hidden ancient artifacts within mysterious cave systems. The artifacts can be equipped to your ship and will perform various gameplay functions. Some will also provide story elements, and add to the overall mood of the game. You find that these artifacts are often well guarded however, so you need to learn to use your growing collection of artifacts strategically.

Furthermore, your ship will be customisable through an interesting game mechanic, which means making choices on how to customise to fit your playing style… Exploration is really important in this game, but so is mood and atmosphere, as it was in Eufloria.

Q: Touch controls seem like something that suits this game very well. Can you explain how they will work in Eufloria Adventures?

It is going to be EXTREMELY simple and intuitive. Swipe where you want to go, touch targets to get information and open up contextual actions. It will be even more streamlined than the Eufloria HD interface.

Q: The first game had some great music. Will Eufloria Adventures also have a great ambient soundtrack?

I am delighted to say that Brian Grainger will again provide the music. It will likely be a bit dubbier and trippier, but it may be too early to say too much about it. We have some ideas about making the music more dynamic, but I can’t promise that as we have limited time to finish the game.

Q: Anything else you would like our readers to know about Eufloria Adventures?

Just that there will be more news and updates so it is best to keep an eye out on my company website: www.omni-labs.com

Thanks to Rudolf for chatting with us. We should have even more next week when our own Ben Jones goes one-on-one with Rudolf in a no-holds barred deathmatch (read: friendly chat via Skype).