When Adrian told me he’d stumbled upon an indie project that was inspired by the Streets of Rage games I had to unleash him on 2BrainGames for an interview, which they thankfully agreed to! Here’s their take on Ward: Nex Rising, precious links at the bottom:
Question 1 – You are currently working on Ward: Nex Rising – How did the initial idea for this retro style game come about?
Our idea for Ward came about after a couple of us sat down and beat Streets of Rage 1 , 2 and 3 for the hundreth time. After running through every beat-em up brawler game we could we eventually just said to ourselves “You know what…..why not just make our own game?”
Question 2 – What can we expect to see in Ward: Nex Rising?
Ward: Nex Rising is being made by people who grew up playing side scrolling brawlers like Streets of Rage , Final Fight , TMNT , Battletoads etc… So you can expect to see a lot of retro styled brawler action and some new age game thrills. Things such as:
a. Basic attacks,
b. Grab attacks,
c. Throws/Slams,
d. Super/Special Attacks,
e. Weapons,
f. Co-op,
g. Team/Partner Attacks,
h. Unique Character Moves/Fight styles,
i. Variety of goons, super goons and bosses,
j. Interactive stages,
k. Multiple map routes,
l. Ability to make choices within the game,
m. And More…. (needless to say, we are intrigued… – Ed)
We really want to make Ward different from other brawlers. However at the same time keep a similar beat-em up brawler feel that we all grew up with and learned to love so much.
Question 3 – What exactly goes into making an indie gaming title?
Making an indie game title takes a lot!!! Work, dedication and patience. It is more than just code & frames/animations. There is an entire storyboard that needs done, music, sounds, finding bugs, fixing bugs and much more. As long as you have fun while doing it like we do then you can keep moving forward and continue to make progress.
Question 4 – What software and resources are you using to make Ward: Nex Rising?
We are building Ward:Nex Rising in Unity (we like – Ed). Thankfully Unity is able to handle majority of our game and we really do not find ourselves going outside of Unity too often for additional resources.
Question 5 – Ward: Nex Rising is obviously inspired from the classic side scrolling beat-em ups such as Streets of Rage. How long have you had the ambition to create this kind of game?
It has always been a dream for all of us, to make a game of our own. A game that we would love to play and beat a hundred times over just like the classics.
Question 6 – Are you targeting Ward: Nex Rising to the retro gamer?
Yes (that’s what we like to hear – Ed). We are really hoping that we can capture the retro gaming crowd and bring them a game that they love and can truly enjoy. All whilst bringing in some new and fun elements to capture today’s generation, and will hopefully get both the old and new gamers playing together.
Question 7 – Some indie game developers are using Kickstarter to raise funds for their titles – how are financing Ward: Nex Rising?
Yes a lot of indie studios will bring their title to Kickstarter. We had Ward on Kickstarter a while ago during a very very early demo build. Unfortunately Kickstarter did not work out for us the first time, but we got a tremendous amount of helpful feedback and support that has inspired us to keep pushing forward with our dream. Currently we are funding the production for Ward: Nex Rising ourselves and plan to eventually release back on either Kickstarter or IndieGoGo once we can get Ward at a playable demo status (we want it! – Ed).
Question 8 – What platforms will Ward: Nex Rising be available on?
Ward: Nex Rising is being built for PC/Mac/Linux , however we eventually would love to see it get to console.
Question 9 – When do you hope to release Ward: Nex Rising and where can we purchase it from?
We hope to release a playable demo for Ward:Nex Rising by the end of this year , however we do not have an official game release date at this time.
Question 10 – Could you briefly describe the main characters we can hope to see in Ward: Nex Rising and did any characters get any inspiration from other classic gaming titles?
There are 4 main playable characters in Ward: Nex Rising. Adam , Michael , Christy and Franco. All of our main characters grew up together in an orphanage. For a basic character overview you can find some early character development screenshots and information on our website: http://2braingames.com/characters-villains/. Our main characters are heavily inspired by classic titles like Streets of Rage, Final Fight and Double Dragon.
Question 11 – Do you have any other games being developed in the pipeline?
Yes. We are currently also working on a precision platformer. However Ward:Nex rising is taking majority of our time and focus.
Question 12 – What is your favourite retro gaming title of all time?
While not every team member would be able to agree on an exact favourite game title. We all absolutely love! The Streets Of Rage games and still play it often for inspiration.
Question 13 – Which video games / consoles do you play today?
We own everything and play almost anything! (love it – Ed)
Question 14 – Which games console do you have the fondest memories of?
We are definitely inspired by the Sega and Super Nintendo games. So we would have to say they hold our fondest memories.
Question 15 – What are your views on the video game industry of today?
The video game industry is growing and growing! We are also seeing Indie developers be given more opportunities to shine with the indie community growing and being so amazing!
Question 16 – If you could share a few pints with a video game character who would you choose?
Sharing a couple pints with Earth Worm Jim would be hilariously entertaining.
2BrainGames:
“Please note that we are still in early development stages. We are always taking donations on our website from anyone who would like to help us or just see the production for Ward:Nex Rising speed up. However just by simply spreading the word about our development is more than enough!” (we’re happy to oblige 🙂 – Ed)
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