Often times in our modern society most entertainment mediums have become less and less meaningful. Many things are created with one goal only, and that is to get as many supporters as possible, by any means possible. Chasing numbers and cash and fame has become prominent.
Quality has become diluted and quantity more important. With an extraordinary influx of social games, flash games and games that are simple yet addictive and only played to pass time, games have become less about taking it’s players on a journey and more about acquiring as big an audience as possible.
We see many astoundingly coded games that have a bigger focus on how “good” the graphics can be and less about how captivating its story can be. Storylines suffer and are sacrificed because there possibly isn’t enough time to make all aspects of the game equally as good, or developers simply lose sight of it.
This week while sifting through press releases I stumbled across a seemingly average press release about a game I’ve never heard of before. It was everything but ordinary. Reading through the press release I discovered a rare honesty and true passion for game development from the BeerDeer games team.
Our goal is not to chase AAA game quality or to be original at all costs; we always strived to create games that are accessible, beautiful and fun to play, where we connect known principles we value and enjoy with some of our own ideas - or the things that we were always missing in other games. – BeerDeer games.
I then contacted the team through there official website’s beta application form and requested an interview. I could tell from even that application form, that they weren’t just a corporate company out of touch with reality, but down to earth people who truly seek deeper meaning in what they are doing. BeerDeer games is an Indie development studio founded by Martin Jelinek and Martin Pivko, two web and flash natives.
Fortunately, BeerDeer games accepted my request and I was honoured with the incredible opportunity to receive the very first interview with this admirable development team.
Join me as I uncover just a fraction of the passion behind the creation of Nyrthos and reveal just a little bit of what it has in store for us.
Where did the idea of Nyrthos originate?
“The idea originated when we were in college and wanted to stop procrastinating and to actually make something happen. An action RPG was a pretty natural choice as we always enjoyed this kind of games. The ideas for the actual storyline and world history were collected and written during the development.”
In the Nyrthos press release the following was quoted:
“We always loved the feel of 2D games and though it takes a lot of work, we are convinced that the result is worth it. In the flood of 3D and/or cartoonish games of today that often look cool but somehow generic, I believe Nyrthos will be a great refreshment for many eyes.”
How will you set your game apart from other 2D games to accomplish this goal?
“We think that there are not many 2D games today that have the feel that Nyrthos does. Many people that write to us are happy that they finally found a game for Android / iOS that looks like Nyrthos; so its probably true :) Although there are many fabulous games on mobile devices, it seems like we will definitely find our audience.”
You have also stated the following:
“Our goal is not to chase AAA game quality or to be original at all costs; we always strive to create games that are accessible, beautiful and fun to play, where we connect known principles we value and enjoy with some of our own ideas - or the things that we were always missing in other games. “
What will you weave into Nyrthos that you have missed in other games?
“The choices you can make to impact the world. An open ending and a story progress that you can really influence, which is something you cannot achieve with typical expansion packs. As well as city building and management options. Also, we are making the game with a long road ahead of us where nothing is set in stone. That’s exciting for us.”
If there is anything that you would like to achieve with Nyrthos, any message that you would like to carry across, what would that be?
“Umm... Of course when one works on the story of his game, he puts in little pieces of feelings and ideas and sometimes tries to send a message about how he feels about certain issues. But I will not go into detail here as I might spoil something :)”
Tell me more about where BeerDeer comes form, how you established your team and why. Give me some background on the team.
“BeerDeer Games is a tiny indie game development studio located in Prague, Czech Republic (Europe).
Simply said, our beginning was a little wild. We were tired of studying and procrastinating; we had some skills and decided to make something happen. Everyone around thought we were completely crazy (as doing something for zero bucks an hour is not really easy to understand), but… we found out how mentally rewarding the creative process can be. There was no going back. It’s been 3 years already :)”
It’s a great relief to find that even today there are people who are brave enough to stand by what they believe. One of the game features that struck me was this: Deep connection between players and developers. It’s something I have never seen before and hope to see more of in the future.
About Nyrthos
Nyrthos is a 2D action RPG coming to Andriod, iOS and Web browsers and will launching a closed beta in Q1 2012.
Besides the typical RPG routine that orders players to travel, fight, loot, upgrade, craft, and consume story, every hero will be also given the opportunity to buy himself a house, found his own village, manage it, gain more income resources and honor and in the end, be able to progress even further in the game.
The will to survive will be greatly rewarded, as the strong players will usually be the ones to uncover previously undiscovered locations. Still, all the players together will have the power to decide the flow of important events in Nyrthos.
Key Features:
• Deep connection between players and developers
• The playable parts of the world unravel based on player actions
• Original world and setting
• Playable right in your browser, Android and iOS versions coming soon
• Beautifully crafted 2D visuals
• Story and survival modes
• Arena mode, where players will fight through hordes of enemies to earn their rank and honor
• 4 schools of magic, many skills and unique environments
Background Story
The Land of Nyrthos is being slowly consumed by an unknown darkness. The council of elder mages embarked to investigate the eastern border, but has not been heard from ever since. 23 days ago, the pillars of fire have been ignited. The whole continent prepares for a war... a war that was foretold by the ancestors, yet no one knows the reason of it or the enemy they will stand against.
Check out the official Nyrthos website for more info: http://www.nyrthos.com/
We're seeing some incredible games from Indie game developers and it's really exciting. Thank you for sharing your passion with us. It's inspiring to read about people who pursue their dreams and as a gamer to also share in that. All the best. Good read Yolanda and well done on 'first'!
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