It’s been a wee while since we did a retro-themed indie dev feature (bad Arcade Attack!) so it’s only right that the comeback is brought by one of our favourite developers – Paul of Flump Studios! I’ve had a go at the Beta version of Hyper Bounce Blast and it knocked my socks off. Definitely his best game yet and one that shoot-em-up and platform fans (yup, he’s gone there again!) cannot miss…
Paul, great to have you back at Arcade Attack! Third interview in a year, how does it feel to be a record breaker? 😉
Oh wow, I feel honoured ha ha. Thanks for having me back! Always a pleasure.
We’re big fans of your previous retro-themed games Horizon Shift and Pester – can you tell us a little bit about Hyper Bounce Blast and what inspired it.
Thank you very much.
Yeah, Hyper Bounce Blast is a bit of a weird one. I kind of see it as a kind of Geometry wars/Mario Bros cross over. Horizon Shift was basically just a jumble of all my favorited games rolled into one and it seemed to work really well. So I’ve taken the same approach with Hyper Bounce Blast. What’s the most satisfying mechanics in video games? Well bouncing on heads and blowing stuff up of course and that’s basically Hyper Bounce Blast (can’t argue with that – Ed).
What’s the background story of HBB (if any)?
Yeah, there’s not much to tell really. About a year ago I was trying to think of something that would be original and fun to make, so I just messed about on my laptop for a couple of weeks and Hyper Bounce Blast was born.
We love the neon visual style you’ve used for the title (feels very Japanese to us!) – what made you choose it?
I’ve always loved that style, going right back to the old vector arcade days of Star Castle and Star wars arcade. Also it’s surprisingly utilitarian, using shapes and block colours instead of pixel art allows me to have more crazy stuff going on. With pixel art things can get confusing fast if you flood the screen with sprites, with this style you can definitely get away with more chaos.
The boss fights look EPIC – what’s your thought process when devising them?
Oh man, they’re a nightmare to make! I basically just think of one mechanic that would be cool and then build the rest of the boss around that. The bosses have easily been the hardest part of development but I think they’re feeling pretty good now.
When is HBB available and how can our readers get their hands on a copy?
It’s due out on Steam on the 27th of May providing I don’t mess a load of stuff up.
It’ll be £3.99($5) with some kind of launch discount.
You’re slowly becoming a SHMUP guru – what does the future hold for Flump Studioes genre-wise? Could you see yourself developing a FPS or such?
Ha ha, thanks very much. To be honest I never know from one game to the next. I finish one game, have a little break and then just mess about on my laptop until an idea comes to me, just so happens most have them have been SHMUP related.
We’re looking forward to seeing what you come up with next! What’s in the pipeline?
I’ve got a vague idea of what I’m going to do next but nothing concrete…I’m sure it’ll have explosions in it though (hooray! – Ed).
What do you think will be the next ‘big thing’ for indie games? Possibly Oculus Rift or another new piece of technology?
Honestly, I never can never tell. I would be rich by now if I could. I really hope it’s VR though, what I’ve played so far has completely blown me away. It’s honestly the biggest jump in gaming tech since the jump from 2D to 3D in the mid 90’s.
What are your top three favourite video games of all time and have they helped inspire your own games?
Urgh, I always struggle with this question. OK, first two are quite easy, has to be Doom and Space Giraffe. The third one…erm…at the moment probably Galaga (love it – Ed), it really never gets old.
I would say in general Galaga has been a massive inspiration on all my games but I would say Space Giraffe has been the biggest influence on Hyper Bounce Blast.
Space Giraffe is one of those games that would be fun to play even if all the challenge was removed, all the mechanics are just so satisfying.
If you could travel back in time and work on any video game, which game would you have loved to be involved in?
Got to be Doom, the development of Doom is obviously legendary and who wouldn’t want to work with John Carmack in his heyday. Not to mention John Romero and America McGee…plus I’d be mega rich, which would be a nice bonus.
Which video game character do you think would throw the best house party and why?
Gotta be Mario surely! He has some epic friends….not to mention all the mushrooms.
His parties are so good they made 8 games based on them.
Can’t argue with that! Thanks for your time (again) Paul! All the best for the HBB launch which everyone can get on Steam from 27th May. You can also check out the facebook page for Hyper Bounce Blast and Flump Studios official site.
Arcade Attack