A portion of a HPP interview with lead programmer Omar Cornut and lead artist Ben Fiquet...
HPP: I have to say, the ability to swap between the overhauled visuals featured in Wonder Boy: The Dragon’s Trap and the original 1989 game’s 8-bit aesthetics is probably one of my favorite features in the game. It’s really incredible to see just how the game’s humble visuals evolved into such gorgeous hand-drawn landscapes. Can you walk us through the creative process of breathing fresh life into the original game’s visuals?
Ben: Thanks. When I was a kid, I really loved the world of Wonder Boy, it was so rich and vibrant, full of colors. What I wanted to do with this remake is mainly to convey that feeling I had as a kid. I tried to represent what in my mind would have been the intent of the original team. I focused on trying to have an ’80s anime kind of vibe but in the same time breathing all that makes me the artist that I am today. I come from a fine arts and traditional animation background, so naturally I intended to have something that looks like natural media and hand drawn animation.
I started most of the locations by doing a mockup (an illustration that represents what would be the final image) and after that cutting things apart and put it in the game engine.
The animations are all hand drawn because I find there’s a real beauty in this technique. It’s something you don’t see much nowadays.
HPP: What is the likelihood of seeing a physical release of Wonder Boy: The Dragon’s Trap? And if it gets to that point, do you anticipate it being a wide-release, or something more in-line with similar limited releases from distributors such as Play-Asia and Limited Run Games?
Omar: With DotEmu we are now working on doing physical releases. There is an edition we are planning for Asian markets first (China/Korea) and then planning other things for the west, some deals are very close to happening so it may happen soon. We are probably going to do PS4 first because it is easier, while trying to figure out how we can do Switch cartridges.
from GoNintendo
0 comments: