The Joystiq Indie Pitch: Morsel
Being a giant, beloved video game blog has its downsides. For example, we sometimes neglect to give independent developers our coverage love (or loverage, if you will) as we get caught up in AAA, AAAA or the rare quintuple-A titles. To remedy that, we're giving indies the chance to create their own loverage and sell you, the fans, on their studios and products. This week we talk with Morsel, a studio that started with little more than three weeks of experience and the burning desire to get totally rich.
How did your company get started?
Lead programmer Matthew Stenback: Morsel started last summer when my final exams finished up and I was doing everything I possibly could to stay away from a fast food or similar dreadful summer job. I had never programmed much of anything before, and hadn't really considered the intricate mechanics of games. However, I decided that I was going to make an indie game, it was going to make me rich, and this would be the start of an awesome summer. Apparently though, programming a game is pretty complex (who knew right?), and I was ready to bail out more than a few times in the beginning. However, I was lucky to team up with a really talented artist and musician who just so happened to have similar goals.
So there was Morsel - programmer, artist, and musician - total combined experience making games: 23 days.
Why did you want to make games?
I am one of those people who can't look at something without thinking about how to make it better. I love games, so it was really just a matter of time before my brain started picking them apart too. When I play a game, instead of just enjoying it and moving on like a normal person, I start scribbling down why I think that if they had just included monkeys with jetpacks and cluster bombs it would've been an instant hit.
What's your game called, and what's it about?
We just released our first game called Kaleidoscope on Xbox Live Indie Games. It's a relaxing little platformer game that has been said to charm people's pants off (we are not responsible for involuntary removal of pants). You play as a small black puff named Tint, and traverse the unique monochromic worlds trying to restore the vibrant colors back to the environment. We tried to make everything about Kaleidoscope subtle and charming. For example the music progresses dynamically along with the amount of color you have restored to the world, the color pigments you collect fuel your various abilities in addition to coloring the world, and you don't kill the enemies in the game, you save them from the monochromic plague, turning them friendly.
You mentioned the dynamically generated music, can you tell us more about that?
Composer Mattias Häggström Gerdt: Kaleidoscope was really interesting from a musical perspective. Part of this was to make a cohesive soundtrack but still make each world sound as unique as it looks. The biggest challenge, and the thing that was most interesting, was to make the music interactive. Since Kaleidoscope is about coloring in the world as you progress, it felt essential to make the music do the same. To achieve this I composed each track in layers and as you reach the next "stage" of color, a new layer of music fades in. Many probably won't notice but hopefully that's because it's so incredibly seamless.
How long did it take you to create?
Lead programmer Matthew Stenback: We were in production for about seven months, a bit longer then we would've liked, but we had a pretty big programming explosion half way through the project that took a significant amount of time to fix (*cough* I had to reprogram the entire game).
Do you feel like you're making the games you always wanted to play?
Absolutely! If I saw Kaleidoscope on the market I would pick it up in an instant. However, after going through the whole process of making it, I feel like I've been playing it for seven months straight so it's actually more enjoyable for me to watch other people play it right now.
What one thing would you tell someone to convince them to get your game?
Kaleidoscope is basically the digital equivalent to a puppy. Girls love puppies. You want girls? Get Kaleidoscope - it's cheaper than a puppy (and it's also a pretty good game!).
What's next?
We have so many new ideas bouncing around I couldn't say with any certainty what our next game will be. I can say, however, that you can definitely expect more games from us, and soon!
What are you proudest of about your game?
We actually finished it.
You can find all more about Morsel its official site, or maybe you could just go buy Kaleidoscope. If you'd like to have your own shot at converting our readers into fans, email justin aat joystiq dawt com, subject line "The Joystiq Indie Pitch."
