Interview | Tic Toc Games on Adventures of Pip

Cubed3: Please introduce yourself and the team working at TicToc Games. What projects have you worked on before Adventures of Pip?
 
Cathy: Hi, I'm Cathy Camacho, senior producer here at Tic Toc Games, or "master herder of cats". 
 
Marc: Hi! I'm Marc Gomez, creative director here at Tic Toc Games.  I've worked on several titles at Tic Toc like Pug Run and Panda Pop.  Before coming here I worked as animation director on Contra 4 and art director on Boy and his Blob Wii.  We also have some other heavy hitters on the team that have worked with IPs like Ratchet and Clank, Ducktails Remastered, Shantae, Toy Story, and more.

Cubed3: So how did the Adventures of Pip concept come to be?
 
Marc: The original concept came from loving pixels and wanting to do a game completely dedicated to them!  Lots of people have thrown around the idea of a pixel character that grows in pixels over time, but I wanted to find a way to execute that idea in the most awesome way possible!  What came first was the story, and then from there we did several attempts at the gameplay until it felt right!  We didn't want t o settle for gameplay that didn't revolve around pixel evolution, so we shed many tears prototyping and scrapping ideas until we found the key.  It was well worth the journey.

Cubed3: How would you best describe Adventures of Pip and the storyline?
 
Marc: The game starts out with a lowly pixel named Pip, who lives in a kingdom full of high resolution citizens.  I wanted pixel counts to function like a class system in their society, and with that in mind, Pip was the bottom of the barrel.  An evil queen arrives and, with evil dark magic, steals all the people's pixels. Everyone is now at an even level and only then can the real hero rise. 
 
The moral of the story is something I want to play out through the game as well where you see that you don't need to be big to succeed.  There are many things that big Pip can do, but there are things as well that only little Pip can do.

Cubed3: The evolution and levelling-up concept sounds great! Just how does it work?
 
Marc: So with the pixels that the dark queen stole, she made an army of minions throughout the forest.  As Pip makes his way to the dark queen, any enemy he crushes, turns back into pixels that he can absorb and evolve from.  On the other hand, any enemy that hits him makes him drop pixels and de-evolve. 
 
Each evolution offers new abilities for Pip as he gains arms, then legs, and so on.  The key is to try to get through to the end of a level using all the abilities of each evolution level without de-evolving to the point where you're too vulnerable.  As I mentioned earlier though, it can come into your advantage to be de-evolved as well.

Cubed3: Will Pip start afresh on each environment, or will he maintain his evolutions throughout the game?
 
Marc: Constant fluctuation, man!  Think like Mario.  Sometimes he's big...sometimes he's small...but he's always super!  :)

Cubed3: The art direction looks suitably nostalgic - just how do you go about creating these retro worlds?
 
Marc: We got some awesome pixel veterans at work with Mads Larsen and Sven Ruthner.  Our notes to them were to keep it retro but modern and they took over from there. 

Cubed3: 3D perspective has been used in some of the concept art so far - would you consider a sequel that keeps the blocky art-style, but is a 3D adventure?
 
Cathy: Of course! It would be great to develop an entire 3D world with Pip in a totally different perspective! 

Cubed3: It's great to see more and more games inspired by the older console generation - why do you think that is?
 
Cathy: For me, it's all about nostalgia. It's amazing to see how far we've come in the gaming world. I mean, PONG was just two rectangles and a pixel, going back and forth, and now we have technology that can capture facial expressions for realistic gaming experiences! We want to pay homage to the consoles that we grew to love and the simplicity of it all - run, jump and attack. Two simple attacks, one simple goal: save the princess.
 

Marc: Cathy has two tattoos on her wrists from Kid Icarus for the NES.  She likes her old games...a lot. 

Cubed3: Have any other games, films or animé have helped shape the project?
 
Marc: The game is a blend of both platformer and "Metroidvania".  I would say my biggest influences would be Super Mario World, and Castlevania Symphony of the Night.  Maybe the visual setting is inspired by The Legend of Zelda games, but my big inspirations in life are Miyazaki, Evangelion, and Amelie!
 
Cubed3: What advantages and problems have you faced transitioning from mobile to console?
 
Marc: Maybe it's a better question for our lead programmer Garth and what it's like working on Unity.  Gameplay wise, it's no problem.  Having worked on console before moving to mobile, I find it much easier.  Analytics and monetization are amazing puzzles that I have yet to master.
 

Cubed3: Have you considered multiplayer or co-operative play in Adventures of Pip?
 
Cathy:  Yes! In the early stages of development, we discussed multiplayer and co-op gameplay and how that would fit in Adventures of Pip, but we wanted to make sure we nailed down the core gameplay concept first before thinking of additional features. It is definitely not off the table - can you imagine hopping online and seeing your friends evolve and de-evolve as you fight together to save the kingdom? 
 

Cubed3: What sort of sound direction and compositions are you hoping to incorporate into the project?
 
Marc: I told Jake Kaufman, aka Virt, to do whatever he wants.  He knows the game concept of evolution.  He's going to apply that to the music so the visuals are in harmony with everything else.  My direction mainly consists of, "that's awesome" and "dude..."

Cubed3: When it comes to Nintendo Wii U, how would you imagine using the GamePad controller?
 
Marc: The possibilities are endless with the GamePad controller! I would love to somehow use the stylus in a cool way, whether it's drawing a path for Pip to follow or having an interactive overworld map that the player can flip through and see where they've been where they haven't been and all that jazz. And don't get me started on the camera! But so far, nothing has been finalized yet. 
 

Cubed3: What are your thoughts on Nintendo's approach to indie developers in recent years?
 
Marc: It's crazy.  Nintendo and their fans have embraced us since the start of our Kickstarter.  Their support is awesome, especially with the ease of developers using Unity.

Cubed3: If you could both work on any Nintendo franchise, what would it be any why?
 
Marc: Hmm...I don't care to touch any of my favourites. They're perfect the way they are and designed by awesome teams! I'd want to do something innovative.  Maybe try a new approach to Ice Climbers that introduces new mechanics.

Cubed3: When are you planning on releasing the game and do you have any plans to make Adventures of Pip into a series?
 
Cathy: We hope to release the game sometime between November and January of this year but it depends on the funding we receive at the end of the Kickstarter! We like to think of every penny donated towards this Kickstarter as tiny pixels that keep this project growing into the awesome game is deserves to be!

 
Cubed3: Would you consider 3DS or PSVita versions?
 
Cathy: Gaming portables are my JAM! I would love to see Adventures of Pip on either platform. It's the perfect game, honestly. It's definitely on our mind and hopefully, with enough funding, we can support both platforms!

 
Cubed3: Finally, any parting words for potential Kickstarter backers?
 
Cathy:  Thank you so much for your continued support and pledgers since the beginning of the project! We read every single comment, Tweet and Facebook post you guys share with us and love the enthusiasm behind the game. Please continue to tell your friends, families, pets, neighbours... whomever about this project! We would love to release Adventures of Pip and glad to have you on our side to get this to be an awesome game!
 
Marc: To you potential backers, if you have questions, send them to us, and we'll respond.  We believe in Adventures of Pip 100% and want you to as well!  Visit our Kickstarter page and see it for yourself.

What are your thoughts on the Adventures of Pip concept - will you pledge support?