On Shakedown Hawaii not being a direct sequel to Retro City Rampage...
It's not a direct sequel, decided to go with a different theme, and without references, pop culture send up, etc. like RCR, didn't feel right to call it RCR2. But, I think RCR fans will enjoy it :) Lots more to do in the world, more interactive environment.
On how Shakedown Hawaii differs from Retro City Rampage...
Gameplay wise, much more detail of course, crazy weapons, destructible world, can swim, things like that. Theme-wise, quite different. RCR was a send up to video games and pop culture, while SH is a playful satire of big business. It's a bit more grounded than RCR was -- not as much sci-fi so to speak, but still over the top.
On porting the game to multiple platforms...
It's a lot easier now -- gets easier in general the more I port it. I built the game from scratch in C++, so I was able to easily separate the code that's platform specific, and the code that's general, then for the most part just need to write the new platform specific part. There are of course little things, like having to refactor UI for the two 3DS screens or such, but in general it's pretty smooth. Little things arise with different architectures, such as when the game's only run on 32-bit systems then 64-bit comes along, or byte ordering, or requiring file sizes to be in blocks on 64 bytes or something -- but after a while, you have systems in place to flip the switches necessary for each platform. You just say "okay, enable 64-bit stuff for this" "disable that alternate byte ordering for this", etc. in a config.
On release date info
The internal release date's "asap", but I can't commit to a specific window yet. When it's content complete or around beta, I'll have a straighter line to the finish and be able to more clearly estimate. I want it to be done ASAP, but also want it to be great. RCR was a bit rushed out and it caused a lot of stress for me, and I wound up spending a very long time post-launch updating and tweaking it. I'd like SH to come out of the gate in a good state :)
On the ease of porting to the Switch...
Very smooth! The switch development environment's much easier to use than Wii U. They've done a great job, both with the tools and on the publishing/submission side. I feel like I'm just talking in circles, I'm just super grateful when these things get easier -- leaves me more time to work on the game itself :)
Switch has been a pretty smooth platform to develop for. I wind up doing most of the dev with the handheld console on my desk, rather than using it docked, so I guess that meaning having the option is good :) It's also great to be able to take it to another room easily or wherever to test it. I'm really a handheld gamer, and pixel art always seems to look more crisp on the smaller screens.
On bringing the game to all versions of the 3DS...
Yup, it's designed to work on the old 3DS/2DS as well. I scrapped the software renderer code and implemented a hardware renderer just for 3DS/2DS, which means not only will it have the nice framerate, unlike RCR, it can also run optionally in a zoomed out 1:1 pixel mode.
from GoNintendo
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