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Droplitz released on Xbox Live Arcade last week and has been getting a lot of players addicted very quickly. So, today we have Steve Stopps, Project Director for Blitz Arcade (division of Blitz Games Studios) answering a few questions for us about how the game was created and released.
Question: How did the idea for Droplitz come about?
Steve Stopps: Blitz Games Studios is full of incredibly talented gamers, and we actively encourage anyone with a great game idea to pitch it to the business, which the rest of the company can then vote on. Any game that stands out may then go forward for development, and Droplitz is one of those games. It was originally conceived by someone here at Blitz, and we’ve remained true to their original concept but have added extra pizzazz and polish.
Question: Could you describe Droplitz for anyone who hasn’t seen it?
Steve Stopps: The gameplay is probably best described as the love child of Pipe Mania (or any other pipe puzzler for that matter) and Tetris. The game board is made out of dials, and each dial contains a path. Some paths are straight and others are bendy and some split off in multiple directions. You turn the dials to line up the paths and make connections from the top of the board to the bottom (easy). These paths then guide the droplitz to the end. The droplitz speed up though and, if you lose them all, it’s game over, so the pace gets pretty intense.
Question: How large was the team that created Droplitz and how long did it take to develop?
Steve Stopps: The simplest games are always the ones that require the most time to develop. Droplitz took a small core team about a year to get the fundamental gameplay just right. Then we just needed the extra time to get the polish and balancing spot on. I think this attention to detail is reflected in the final game.
Question: Was there any discussion on having co-op or multiplayer modes?
Steve Stopps: Most definitely. Most people strongly believed that Droplitz is a single player experience. The great music and laid back visuals seem really suited to killing some quality time on your own. However, in the final phases, when we had lots of people standing around watching the game being played, you would get people literally shouting advice to the player. So I think there is definitely room for a co-op and even vs multiplayer modes. This is something we would certainly want to look at for future versions of the game.
Question: Looking back on Droplitz what are the things that you are most proud of?
Steve Stopps: I always think that Droplitz has a magical quality to it - something that draws people in that I can’t quite put my finger on. A puzzle game just shouldn’t be this much fun to watch. Whenever the game’s running in the studio, a group of spectators who seem happy to zone out and watch the game for hours just appear. To create a game with that level of appeal is a great accomplishment for everyone involved.
Question: Was there anything you were hoping to get into Droplitz that did not make it?
Steve Stopps: There are loads of additional ideas from us and Atlus U.S.A. that would have been great additions to the game. However, this time out we just wanted to let people experience a great game in its purest form and see how they respond. If there are things people would like to see in the future (like Multiplayer) then we would go from there. For now we are just so pleased that Droplitz has been so well received – it’s a special game for us and a long-time studio favourite.
Question: Now that Droplitz has released are you planning another XBLA game?
Steve Stopps: Digital Distribution has always been important to us, and we have a number of exciting projects in the pipelines at the moment so watch this space.
Question: How fun or challenging was it to implement the Achievements?
Steve Stopps: The biggest challenge was coming up with achievements that would be fun as well as challenging for the players to pick up. We know there are lots of people out there who love to complete games, and we always have to walk that careful line between the challenging and the downright difficult. This is always entertaining and we know people will have a lot of fun trying to collect them all.
Question: Can you give us some tips or strategies for Droplitz?
Steve Stopps: It’s a game with so much depth that different people play it with different strategies, which is part of the fun. First, I’d say that you need to give it about 15 minutes to allow the gameplay to sink in. When it clicks it’s one of those real light bulb moments. The second thing to know is that you will start losing droplitz from the second the game starts. Don’t worry about it and just focus on making paths, not saving droplitz. Next, once you have made a path don’t just stop there, keep looking for more paths or set up the dials for when the current paths are destroyed. Finally, X dials are your friends, as they are the key to creating multiple paths and regaining droplitz, while the ‘I’ dials are bad as they limit your options. You should get rid of these as soon as you can. |
