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Hotline Miami 2 adds level-specific unlockable hard mode
Dennis Wedin - half of the two-man development team Dennaton Games - says his studio has plans to add unlockable difficulty modes in Hotline Miami 2: Wrong Number. "We added this because some people said that the first game was too easy," Wedin told Polygon. "So we wanted to give them something more. Also, all the players trying to beat the world record or top the leaderboards - we wanted to give them more stuff to be good at." The mode appears to be level-specific, according to its description. Players that receive a grade of C+ or higher on levels will be able to unlock a hard mode for the stage, increasing enemy resistance and limiting some player abilities. Though Wedin promised the mode wouldn't be "very hard," the studio has yet to implement the plan, and is unclear as to what features will be included. For more on Hotline Miami 2: Wrong Number, including details on the game's new character-driven storyline, check out Joystiq's recent preview of the game.
Hotline Miami's Cactus on the price of freeware development
Hotline Miami designer Jonatan Söderström – perhaps better known by his prickly development alias, Cactus – began his career in freeware, developing smaller, experimental games that anyone with the appropriate hardware could download and play at any time, game-development hippie-communism style. Some of his games include Norrland, Shotgun Ninja, Psychosomnium, Minubeat, Clean Asia! and Keyboard Drumset Fucking Werewolf. That last one, created in three weeks in October 2011, features art by Hotline Miami co-creator Dennis Wedin.Together, Wedin and Söderström form Dennaton Games, and they are part of the rising cult of indie superstars. But the draw of fame and fortune wasn't why Söderström stopped making freeware games."I didn't want to become homeless," Söderström told Joystiq at GDC. By February of this year, Hotline Miami clocked 300,000 PC sales, and PS3 and Vita ports by Abstraction Games are currently "pretty much done," expected to hit in May, Wedin said. Söderström isn't in danger of being homeless right now. Still, reverting to freeware development poses an interesting challenge."I kind of want to start doing freeware games again, but when you put so much work into something that turns out really good, it feels hard to do smaller things that won't be as good," Söderström said. It's all about "finding the inspiration to do something that seems worthwhile," he continued. "When you work on a big game for a long while, you start thinking in ideas that only work if they are big. It's difficult to turn to the other mindset, especially when you are still working on the next big thing."Dennaton is digging into development on the sequel to Hotline Miami, a large game with parallel plots taking place in the early 90s, and after that Wedin and Söderström have ideas for fresh IPs. They'll probably be bigger games, even if Dennaton doesn't intend for them to be."Hotline Miami wasn't meant to be big," Wedin said.
Hotline Miami sequel takes out parallel plots, emotion of early 90s
The sequel to Hotline Miami tackles the more touchy-feely aspects of the early 90s, Dennaton Games duo Jonatan Söderström and Dennis Wedin tell Joystiq at GDC. The gameplay will stray in a few different directions, with parallel plots built around the first game, and more attention on emotional experiences. It's planned for PC, although Abstraction, the company currently porting Hotline Miami to Vita, can now work on the sequel's port "right away," Wedin says. Dennaton is in talks with Sony, but if all goes well the sequel may ship day-and-date on PC and Vita, Wedin and Söderström say. Devolver Digital is on tap to publish again, and Dennaton is still talking with them, too. "They've been super nice," Söderström says. Wedin chimes in, "They let us do whatever we want." The protagonist of Hotline Miami – Dennaton is cool with the name "Jacket" – has a minor part in the next game, but he won't be a playable character. The music will feel familiar, too, with a few bands recycled from Hotline Miami and some new groups, but no original score. If any of that is unsatisfactory to any fans of the series, chill out – the sequel is lucky it even exists, at least right now. Söderström and Wedin both wanted to work on a brand new IP, but they couldn't stop talking about Hotline Miami, so they decided to finish that project first. This sequel marks the end of Hotline Miami for Dennaton. "It's the grand finale, for us," Wedin says.
