Locks Quest hit Aussie stores just last week, and we cant let this gem of a DS game go unnoticed in the flood of games that came out along with it. Locks Quest is hybrid real time strategy game slash tower defence game from the creators of last years hit title Drawn to Life. Thanks to THQ weve been lucky enough to have a chat to 5th Cell co-founder and game balance designer Brett Caird. We talk to Brett about Locks Quest, DS development and whats next for the team.
Vooks: For people who know nothing about the game, what is Lock’s Quest?
Brett: Locks Quest is a hybrid RTS/tower defence game on the Nintendo DS set in a unique world where the mysterious substance "Source", in the hands of archineers (part architect, part engineer) fuels the construction of buildings, the animation of Clockwork soldiers and the harnessing of almost magical abilities. The player plays as Lock, building defences then fighting alongside those defences against Clockworks in realtime.
Vooks: Who is Lock and what is his story?
Brett: Lock is a young archineer talented in the manipulation of Source. His parents were archineers who perished in the last great war against the Clockworks, and he and his sister Emi have been raised by their grandfather Tobias. The story begins with Lock being thrust into a new conflict when his village is mysteriously invaded by Clockworks which have returned unexpectedly to wage war on the Kingdom. Locks own story unfolds as his role in this new war grows, with many mysteries and twists revealed along the way.
Vooks: Tower Defence games have made a resurgence as of late popularized by titles such as Desktop Tower Defence and Pixel Junk Eden. What does Lock’s Quest offer that is different?
Brett: Locks Quest is much more than a tower defence game. In most respects it is actually more like a traditional RTS, it just has some elements which make it simple to describe as tower defence (you build towers, the play sessions are divided into short chunks). In terms of the play experience your structures can all be damaged and destroyed and you control Lock in battle, running around battling Clockworks and repairing your structures making the dynamics of play more akin to a full RTS.
You also embark on offensive missions where you need to take out key enemies, capture enemy objectives and so forth. The story in Locks Quest is also an immersive element which enhances the experience giving context to your progression and keeping you guessing about what is going on in the world. Where in most tower defence games you set your defences and watch them play out, in LQ you are always actively involved in what is going on.
Vooks: The game is not just Tower Defence, but part RPG as well. Can you tell us about this strange mix of genre?
Brett: The RPG element is there in the background to add flavour to the experience. RTS/tower defence is definitely the primary drive of the game, with the RPG aiming to give it more of a sense of life and depth. Really it is about bringing together the strengths of each to make a more compelling game.
Vooks: Lock’s Quest has a very unique and stylish design, a very 5th Cell style. Who can we thank for such a nice design?
Brett: The credit goes to our creative director Jeremiah Slaczka, art director Edison Yan and the artists at Sherman 3D who handle the bulk of our pixel art. We aim for a style that is palletable in both eastern and western markets and which creates a certain feel in our games. This has resulted in something quite distinctive, and which weve been very happy with.
Just some of the artwork from the game.
Vooks: Along with Drawn to Life, Lock’s Quest is an original IP – what challenges do you have developing an original IP as well as selling them?
Brett: We are a very creatively focused company. Our creative director Jeremiah Slaczka is a remarkably talented individual and we have a bunch of great creative minds in our design teams. For a studio like us, the idea of working on licensed content (which is often restrictive to the creative process) is much more daunting than coming up with good original ideas. Selling an original idea to publishers and the public on the other hand is very challenging, and thinking about what will be ultimately saleable is one of the biggest filters on ideas that we choose to develop. It is a real balancing act to come up with something that will be fun, and which people will "get" so that people will decide to buy it and get to experience that fun.
Vooks: Was there anything you learned from Drawn to life that you were able to incorporate into Locks Quest?
Brett: We learned an immense amount about the DS platform. The engine underpinning LQ is vastly improved and this can be see in the scale of stuff weve been able to do in LQ with large numbers of enemies on the screen and so forth. Another thing we paid more attention to in LQ was the core gamer. DTL was a great idea and very popular, but core gamers felt it was short on challenge since the game was pitched mainly towards younger players. LQ at its medium difficulty setting is a more challenging game, and has 3 difficulty settings to help the experience appeal to a wider range of players. This area of game balance is something which I was responsible for and it was really gratifying to do so much more with it than in DTL.
Vooks: What features had to be left out or passed over from the game that youd like to include in a possible sequel?
Brett: Wifi multiplayer is the big one for me. The local multiplayer option is in LQ, but there wasnt enough time to get through the extra work required for the online multiplayer feature. There were other features that didnt make it in like a city build mode where there were additional customisation options which might be fun to bring back for a sequel. More multiplay options in general would be the key thing in my mind, but Id say the creative team would have a much greater variety of thoughts and ideas that they would have liked to have done that never even made it to code stage.
Vooks: Your last two games have been on the DS, has Wii or WiiWare been looked into as a next possible step?
Brett: We have 2 more DS titles currently in development, but other platforms are also on our radar. Wii is one of the front runners for a possible next step.
Vooks: What part of Lock’s Quest can the team look back at and think – we’re really proud of that?
Brett: I think the entire experience. The way it has all come together has been really gratifying for all of us. For me personally, being responsible for balance design, is the feedback Ive had from people that they have never felt so constantly challenged by a game and that they have thoroughly enjoyed that sense of challenge and making it through. This was exactly what I set out to do, and its also a credit to the rest of the design team that the pace of the game supports this kind of "skin of your teeth" playing experience without burning the player out.
Thanks to Brett Caird at 5th Cell for taking the time out to answer our questions and Drew at THQ for setting up the interview.
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