Aj: I think that’s the first time I’ve heard you describe it like that, and it makes me very happy to hear that!
Chris: One of the great things about getting to work in 2D is the ability to match so closely to the concept art. A lot of the time we are able to translate between concept art and the final piece extremely closely, so ultimately the original vision and the final release are very similar. Lucy: I would like to raise a glass to fun ideas we
didn’t manage to implement, like an evolving colour script and those extra biomes which would have been another opportunity to create a whacky area to add to the magical world of Monoth.
WAS THE GAME DESIGN INFLUENCED BY THE ART ALONG THE WAY? Aj: I don’t want to speak for Grant [Allen, lead designer] and his team, but I feel confident in saying: “100%”. One of the things we’ve really tried to work on as a studio is the concept that we’re our disciplines second and game developers first. Whether you’re an artist, designer, programmer, audio, QA, production or IT and operations, we’re all here for the same reason. To make awesome games. Once we really not only accepted that but felt it, it meant that we were all unified to just creating an exciting new Disney world, and experience, together. We made game design decisions based on being inspired by art, and narrative or a cool piece of new tech. The same way that we made art decisions based on design and narrative. Everyone influenced each other and I feel that is the best way to make something that feels exciting, new and cohesive.
WHAT HAVE YOU LEARNT FROM MAKING ILLUSION ISLAND THAT YOU’LL TAKE FORWARD INTO FUTURE GAMES? Chris: We always aim to have learnings to take forward from one project to the next. I think one of the things that worked really well on this project was the collaboration between art and design, in the form of the Worldbuilding Team, and it’s something we’ll be looking to build on moving forwards.
ARE THERE ANY VISUAL DESIGN DECISIONS THAT MIGHT HAVE GONE ANOTHER WAY? HOW MIGHT THE GAME HAVE BEEN DIFFERENT HAD YOU TAKEN THEM? Lucy: Maybe one of us should have said that not going for a tile-based style and creating bespoke paths was insane, but none of us did… and I am so glad! Aj: I reckon Chris Jones and the tech team told us at multiple points we were insane for doing it this way… they just ended up supporting our insanity! Lucy: Whether it was the decision to have Goofy wearing shorts, or adding flying pirate ships to the game, a lot of things could have been different in Illusion Island, but I don’t know how it would have made the game vastly different. We stuck close to our vision and made the changes that made sense for the game. We took the difficult, twisty path to the finish line and I am so grateful everyone was on board and made it happen!
WHAT HAS THE RESPONSE BEEN LIKE FROM PLAYERS? Aj: The response has been incredible, and seeing all the love for the visuals of the game has really filled our hearts. The animations for each of the characters seems to have landed really well with the players, and it’s really fun seeing people get excited over the silly idle interrupts. We’ve seen a lot of comparisons to classic and modern Mickey, and to even be held in the same conversations as those means the world to us. We wanted to create something new that felt familiar and it feels like that has landed well with the players.
September 2023 MCV/DEVELOP | 45
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60
