Today we have Matthew Kaplan and Soufi Souaiaia from Naturally Formed Studios discussing the XNA Community Game Machiavelli's Ascent.  A special thanks to both of them for taking time to answer some questions for us.

Question: How did the idea for Machiavelli's Ascent come about?
 
Answer: When we first started working with XNA, we had a few ideas that were a little too ambitious to be a realistic entry into community games. We really wanted to get something done by the end of the year, so we realized that we'd need to do something simpler if we wanted to accomplish this goal. That's when we decided to make a simple high score game with good production values to test the waters of community games. Artistically, the game was inspired by SCUBA diving experiences.
 

Question: Could you describe Machiavelli's Ascent for anyone who hasn't played it?

Answer: Machiavelli's Ascent is a momentum platformer. You have no method of propulsion on your own; you have to collide with other objects to maintain your momentum. You play as a jellyfish, starting at the seafloor and swimming up. The true core of the game is maintaining a good sense of flow by being confident in where you want to go.

 
Question: How large was the team that created Machiavelli's Ascent and how long did it take to develop?
 
Answer: Right now we're just one programmer and one artist. Machiavelli's Ascent took about six days to develop. Six very long days. We were at a Christmas party and were discussing that we really needed to finish a game and how our other prototype games were too complex to finish in the near future. So we decided that the next day we would brainstorm and begin working on a new project which resulted in Machiavelli's Ascent. We worked from that Sunday to Friday without rest and were very happy to have finally put something out there.

Question: Machiavelli's Ascent is single player only currently. Did you think about having co-op or verses modes?
 
Answer: We considered a multiplayer "race mode." We ended up not pursuing this for a couple of reasons. We wanted to have a finished product by the New Year, and we wanted to do a good job on what we submitted.

Question: Why did you decide to release Machiavelli's Ascent as an XNA Community Game verses an online web game or Xbox Live Arcade?

Answer: Machiavelli's Ascent is the first game we've finished. We were interested in making and selling good games, but we weren't ready to shoot for a big commercial platform like XBLA. The Community Games channel seemed like the perfect place to go through the paces of developing and releasing an Xbox game, which is why we chose to do this as opposed to making it a free PC download on our website.

 
Question: Was it difficult to develop and release an XNA Community Game?

Answer: Getting familiar with XNA and writing games for the Xbox took some time. We started playing around with XNA back in July, but didn't start working on Machiavelli's Ascent until the end of December. Had we tried to make the game right away, it probably would have been a disaster. Releasing the game went really smoothly. We put the game in "Play Test" for a week, where other Creators Club members could play our game and give us feedback. This helped us tweak a few things before submitting it for peer review—it's really an invaluable process and everyone should do it. After the Play Test we submitted for peer review. Within 24 hours our review was closed, and the game showed up on the marketplace another day after that. This really speaks well for the creators club community, people are doing a great job in reviewing, play testing, and just being helpful in general.

Question: Looking back on Machiavelli's Ascent what are the things that you are most proud of?

Answer: We're pretty proud of how hard we worked on the game. To be able to stay so concentrated on the project until it was done was pretty satisfying. What we're probably most proud of is the things people are saying about our game. We've gotten a surprising amount of positive feedback and support from people all over the world, which really made the whole project worthwhile.

Question: Was there anything you were hoping to get into Machiavelli's Ascent that did not make it?

Answer: Leader boards. Being a high score game, not having a convenient way to compare your performance to others is where we consider our game to be most lacking. Right now community games can't make use of official leader boards or achievements (and it looks like it's staying that way for the foreseeable future).

Question: Now that Machiavelli's Ascent has released are you planning another XNA game?
 
Answer: Stay tuned!
 

Question: Can you give us some tips or strategies for being better at Machiavelli's Ascent?
 
Answer: Think ahead. By looking multiple nutrient bubbles ahead, it's a lot easier to avoid going for the wrong one and falling back down. Don't hesitate! Machiavelli can move from one side to the other pretty quickly, so if you stay on your toes and switch directions fast enough, you'll find that what you thought were impossible situations really aren't too tough. Elusives (the red ones) are worth a lot of points, but you need to be going fast to catch up to them. If you hit a jumper, aim yourself at the tail of the elusive to hit it. Hitting an elusive after building up a large multiplier while you have a starfish following you is a beautiful thing.