Review Fix chats with Mega Cat Studios’ Oleg Nikitin who discusses the development process behind their new NES adventure on Kickstarter, The Meating.
Check the game out on Kickstarter, Here.
About The Meating:
Become a ghost minotaur on the quest to put his meat back together in this puzzle platformer. Use pyrokinesis, possession, and an array of other ghost skills to solve puzzles—and the mystery of who butchered you.
Platforming, puzzle-solving, combat—The Meating has it all! You’ll have to jump, headbutt, and possess your way through over 40+ stages. Use all your ghostly powers and wiles to gather all your missing meat to reveal Kon’s fate!
Features: Traverse through various dungeons and landscapes as you try to uncover the mystery of Kon’s death. The game features minimal controls, which makes it easy to learn and hard to put down! Kon also comes with an array of ghostly abilities and powers, which he can use to defeat enemies and solve puzzles!
Review Fix: How was this game born?
Oleg Nikitin: I didn’t catch the very beginning of the game and up to a certain point I didn’t understand what was going on at all. So I had to get into it when the game was already being actively worked on. I got acquainted with the plot, with the characters and could influence them only through musical perception. If you imagine the game as a small child, I am the type of “relative” that appears in a child’s family after his birth :)
Review Fix: What is your role in the game?
Nikitin: My specialty is creating music and sound effects.
Review Fix: What has development been like?
Nikitin: Oh, as far as I know, this project took a lot of effort and time. With each round of development, some of the ideas were revised, supplemented by new ideas, which caused the need to rework the core of the game. Probably best told by programmers about it.
Review Fix: What makes this game special?
Nikitin: The game mechanics, the mood, the elaboration of all game elements. I want to believe that the player will not be bored and will want to go through the whole game to the end. After that he will be able to answer this question himself.
Review Fix: How is this Kickstarter different and unique?
Nikitin: My experience with kickstarters isn’t great (this is the second one), working with other teams we just finished games and put them in the public domain :) Every kickstarter is unique, every game with so many people waiting for it to be completed requires a responsible approach. People’s hope for the completion of a project has to be justified.
Review Fix: What games influenced this one the most?
Nikitin: I don’t play a lot of games (but I want more! how many hundreds of games are lying around waiting for me to play them), so it’s hard for me to navigate the variety of games that may have influenced the development of this game. I think other authors will give a more detailed answer to this question :)
Review Fix: Any fun stories or wild moments during development?
Nikitin: Perhaps, in my case, I was most surprised by the fact that I was given complete freedom in the realization of ideas, I constantly pestered the guys with questions and clarifications, and I was often answered – you are a pro, do as it will be best %)
Review Fix: What were the major lessons learned?
Nikitin: In general, it’s usual for gamedev – working in a team, setting a task, bringing the task to the final. The main difference is that many tasks had to be set by myself.
Review Fix: Do you think preserving older gameplay mechanics in new games is important?
Nikitin: Of course, old mechanics are like a mechanism that evolves and develops through previous experience.
Review Fix: The marketplace is crowded. How do you think you stand out?
Nikitin: I would like to believe that there is a place for us in the retro segment. Perhaps the main difference is our experience.
Review Fix: How have your previous experiences in industry helped this game?
Nikitin: I’ve done a lot of music for different games. Over time you start to appreciate what you do and you want to do some special work every time, so that you don’t forget it so quickly. There are some elements of perfectionism, attempts to find some non-standard solutions.
Review Fix: How do you want this game to ultimately be remembered?
Nikitin: Like a game that lived up to the expectations of the people who supported it :)
Review Fix: What’s next?
Nikitin: Good question! Let’s think about it in the work chat, we have so many cool games ahead of us :D
Review Fix: Anything else you’d like to add?
Nikitin: Thank you for giving me the opportunity to stand around, see how the games are made, let me poke at the notes. I love it all so much.
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