Treasure Adventure World gets a whole new beautiful look!
I’ve got another indie game for you! This time it’s a revamp of a classic, Treasure Adventure Game. The original game was a huge, open-world, platform adventure game created by one-man-show Stephen Orlando aka Robit Studios. The game took around three years to make, then he turned around and gave us the whole thing for free! Now, over a year since its release, he’s announced an HD remake/reimagining with an entirely new gorgeous art style by Christine Crossley, some new music by the original composer Robert Ellis, lots of small tweaks, and a new game engine. Oh, and a new title: it’s now known as Treasure Adventure World.
I got the awesome opportunity to sit down and chat with the creator of the game, and super nice guy, Stephen Orlando!
Tori McGrath: So, what made you decide to start making video games?
Stephen Orlando: I think as a kid I always wanted to create games… I just had no idea how. I remember cutting up the characters and art out of game booklets and gluing them on paper where I would draw my own levels. In high school I played around with simple game making tools like Klik&Play but never really did much with it. Then when I was about 26 and super bored with business school (and right around the time I discovered Cave Story and Kyntt Stories) I was inspired to try my hand at a game.
I don’t know why it took so long, I think I just thought it was too hard.
Tori: Awesome! So why go indie and not with a big name publisher or something like that?
Orlando: Well, it just seemed like it made the most sense, since I didn’t have any formal education in programming/game design, and I was inspired by the developers of other indie games that were getting to be very popular. Developing Treasure Adventure Game was like my education. That’s partially why I’m remaking it… because I can look at the game with a lot more knowledge than I had starting out.
Tori: That was my next question, what made you decide to do a revamp?
Orlando: That was only part of it actually, because when I was done with TAG I was really burnt out. And even though I wanted to make another game I didn’t think I’d ever go back to a game like TAG. I started working on an arcadey Asteroids style shooter game. But Tiy (from Chucklefish) approached me and said he wanted to support me in remaking TAG in HD. I actually struggled with accepting his proposal but since I ultimately want to be a full-time game designer it seemed like my best shot at success would be to collaborate with him and his team. Now that we’re 6 months in I’m really glad I made that choice because they are such an amazingly talented and motivated team and we’re making a really great game.
Tori: What are some of the major differences between the original game Treasure Adventure Game and the revamp HD Treasure Adventure World?
Orlando: Well I’ll start by saying that the graphics overhaul is the biggest change.
Tori: It is gorgeous for sure!
Orlando: Content wise it’ll be pretty similar, I do have an idea for a new island and I’m adding a bunch of new collectibles and some new/different equipment. Since i’m adding all that I’m also adding a bunch of new hidden areas and a couple new puzzles. I’m going to also “remix” some of the original puzzles and overall I’m improving the game-feel, enemy AI and controls. What I don’t want to do is fundamentally change the way the game plays, it’s going to play very much the same.
I had a lot of people tell me they liked how the game didn’t throw a bunch of tutorials or hints at you… and I plan on keeping it that way. It’s going to play old-school but look like something new. Haha there are more things I’m changing too.. but I feel like I’ve already gone on too long. Well i’ll just say this: It’s going to be very familiar to anyone who played the original, but they will also find a lot of new surprises… that’s how I should have answered it in the first place.
Tori: Oook last question, What advice would you give to someone looking to make video games?
Orlando: Ok, well there are so many places to read about how to make a game (books, forums etc) and there are so many tools (many free)… so utilize all of that. But the most important thing I’ve learned is persistence If you want to make games independently you need to be your own boss and you need to keep moving forward. You’ll never finish if you give up.
Treasure Adventure World is set to release sometime later in the year but there are no details yet as to what platform we will see this gorgeous game on yet.
