Wii Posted May 6, 2015 Author Posted May 6, 2015 What about a hidden castle of some description within one of the worlds which allows you to input some good old-fashioned, game-altering cheat codes by hammering in passwords using the conveniently lettered tiled floor? I'd take that. Rare were brilliant for cheat codes.
Ronnie Posted May 6, 2015 Posted May 6, 2015 Forget any more stretch goals, just make it a better game.
Wii Posted May 8, 2015 Author Posted May 8, 2015 SPESKULLATIONS #16 – YOOKA-LAYLEE: A PLAYTONIC LOVE Having the chance to talk to some of your idols it’s an humble privilege. As a platform worshipper being able to contact one of the team that made the history of the genre, in terms of innovation, humor and stability it’s simply amazing. Over the Kickstarter records Playtonic Games is the team to look forward for its portfolio and gaming approach. Cheerful, honest and dedicated to development despite the heavy heritage. 1) On a scale from 1 to 10 how much pressure do you feel promising the spiritual successor to Banjo Kazooie? Hmm, 6.4. A lot of the pressure comes from our own expectations, we’ve wanted to make this style of game again for a long time. We love this style of game and we’ve worked on this genre before so expectations are high, but that’s exactly how we want it. Both our fans and us love Banjo Kazooie, so it’ll be a pleasure to work on an all new IP with Yooka-Laylee within the genre as it gives us and fans the best of both worlds – all the gameplay they love already with the joy of learning about all new characters, moves and worlds too which bring all sorts of nice surprises too. 2) Do you think there is still place in 2015 for 3D platforms in a gaming industry which can offer huge open worlds? No. I mean yes!!!! I think fans are as excited about this game just as much as we are for making it and our Kickstarter has really validated the love for the genre! It’s a shame that other genres pushed out 3D platformers from the release schedules over the years (I think as dev costs rise, publishers want to take less risks so they stick to whatever the current in-demand style of game is) but this isn’t a problem for us…in fact we see it as a strength that we can make the games that bigger teams daren’t attempt! 3) Despite the development of Project Ukulele, what made you decide to leave Microsoft and its “comforts” in terms of company? We all left at different times for different reasons, but one common goal we all share is our passion for doing this game and within a company like Playtonic – sometimes you have to take a leap of faith to achieve your dreams! There were some nice things about working at Microsoft, but it’s just the case that big and small companies each have their own unique strengths and as creators you have to think “Which type of company suits me best?” When we answered that question there was only one choice and that was to create that company that helps us do our best work! 4) Are you already in touch with Nintendo, targeting Wii U as a platform? We’ve been in touch with all 3 major console platform holders and we can’t wait to try out the devkits, especially Wii U! The gamepad really interests us! I really like the off-screen play, it means when my wife wants to watch TV I don’t have to turn the console off and I think this is a big strength for the machine! But there are lots of other Wii U features that we’d be interested in exploring too and I’m glad we will be releasing the Wii U version on the first day of release! 5) Why you have decided to open the Kickstarter months after your presentation? Going to Kickstarter will help us create an even better version of the game than we originally conceived and allows us to release simultaneously on all platforms – we didn’t want any fans to have to wait for a later version. It takes a lot of time and preparation to do a kickstarter campaign right which is why we needed a couple of months after our Rezzed presentation. We had LOTS of fan feedback to read and listen to so we could give them the campaign they wanted especially in terms of tiers and goals. 6) What are your plans in terms of reveals? When are we going to see gameplay or some sort of trailer? Hopefully by now you’ve seen the gameplay and it gives a great insight to our plans…there’s plenty more to come too! One of the best things about Kickstarter is that now our backers can closely follow our development and see progress. We will try not to spoil the gameplay too much so it feels as fresh and surprising as possible when the game comes out, but we look forward to sharing future news and assets with backers. Those that backed us on Kickstarter on the ‘Toybox’ tier will also get an early preview of character feel with a special demo built specifically for getting the player hands on with Yooka and Laylee but not spoiling any of the final game scenarios! 7) Aren’t you afraid of comparisons, or worse “more of the same”? Fans are great but the hype could be a double-edged sword, what are your plans of innovation for this game? We aren’t worried because we are taking advantage of the advance n technology since we last made a game like this over 10 years ago. As creators we want to push ourselves as hard as possible and introduce new elements to the genre and make sure the things people love return but also with some new twists and turns! Enemies used to be weak and not really a feature but we want to give them group behaviors with different outcomes so when you have to deal with them, new surprises can happen. One of the big aims for us is to make the game less linear and allow players to explore the game their own way. We are adding more freedom to how you unlock the special moves and the levels can be expanded too by spending the main collectible called Pagies on them (as well as opening up new levels). A big thanks to Gavin Pierce for his time, Andy for having put up with me in these weeks, now we simply have to wait until October 2016 and the updates on Yooka-Laylee, a hope for the future of platforms. http://www.nintendon.it/speskullations-16-yooka-laylee-amore-playtonico/2/
Wii Posted May 8, 2015 Author Posted May 8, 2015 Why Yooka-Laylee is the Platformer We Need - Podcast Beyond
Cube Posted May 11, 2015 Posted May 11, 2015 New character: Trowzer the snake. As the Yooka-Laylee Kickstarter campaign ascends to even more spectacular heights, it’s high time we introduced you to the game’s first support character: flash, wheeler dealing serpent, Trowzer! Trowzer is a business-snake whose career never took off. Not that he knows it – the smug, serpent salesman thinks he’s the bee’s knees (not that he has knees), and for a little dosh he’ll teach you some of the slick moves he picked up on the high-stakes sales floor. Yooka-Laylee’s creative lead, Gavin Price explains: “Trowzer thinks of himself as the best salesman ever, but with his downbeat appearance and 1980’s mobile phone, life never took off for him. “He’ll take your money and count it (he’s an Adder…) and because he knows best he’ll even demonstrate the moves you just bought for you to replicate… if you can follow his jiggling.” Character artist extraordinaire, Mr. Steve Mayles described the design process behind his latest creation: “I didn’t want him to be a snake in the traditional sense, and when Gav suggested he should have shorts on (do I have to add shorts to all of my characters?!), a great idea for this was his body could curl back up through the other leg hole. So he’ll move with a certain springiness, which will be fun to animate.” This sounds like something that @ReZourceman wishes he had come up with.
Wii Posted May 11, 2015 Author Posted May 11, 2015 I immediately thought of Delboy as soon as I seen that brick mobile phone. Then reading his description, "flash, wheeler dealing serpent, smug, serpent salesman thinks he’s the bee’s knees (not that he has knees)." If the estate of John Sullivan decided to sue they wouldn't have a leg to stand on.
Dcubed Posted May 11, 2015 Posted May 11, 2015 Brilliant! Classic Steve Mayles design! (and the name is classic Rare! )
Wii Posted May 11, 2015 Author Posted May 11, 2015 (edited) [TWEET]597865687793696768[/TWEET] The project has reached its £1.5 million target on Kickstarter, so we'll have an orchestrated soundtrack. All of us backers are getting a sweet reward if it reaches its next target of £2,000,000. New Stretch Goal: Payback Time! Smashing it up like a student in Yates’s, Yooka-Laylee backers have strawpedo’d their way through the latest stretch goal, and so now an orchestral soundtrack will be enjoyed by all. But before you stumble towards the high street intending to disseminate a large donner meat and chips – wait, because there’s more... The entire Playtonic team would like to offer its sincere thanks to everyone who has backed the Yooka-Laylee campaign so far. Our intention from the beginning was to use Kickstarter as a means to improve our game, and by helping us reach an incredible £1.5 million you’ve shaped it into one fine specimen. From the start of the campaign we also pledged to do best by your amazing support by only setting stretch goals that would improve the game, without negatively affecting core development. Our next stretch goal, if reached, will be used only to further improve and polish Yooka-Laylee, and give something back for your amazing support. Namely, we’ll release our first post-release DLC pack free of charge for all backers. When – and only when – we’ve finished and shipped the full version of Yooka-Laylee, we’ll start work on additional content that will be distributed to backers free of charge for their platform of choice. And again, all additional funding will of course go towards improving and polishing the game. Thanks again for your support, and don’t forget to project your questions and ideas at our social channels on Twitter, Facebook and indeed this very Kickstarter page. https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/playtonic/yooka-laylee-a-3d-platformer-rare-vival/posts/1228142 Yooka-Laylee Interview: PlayTonic Games Delivers A Rare Treat Indeed http://www.thejimquisition.com/2015/05/yooka-laylee-interview-playtonic-games-delivers-a-rare-treat-indeed/ Edited May 12, 2015 by Wii Automerged Doublepost
Wii Posted May 14, 2015 Author Posted May 14, 2015 Yooka-laylee becomes most funded UK game Kickstarter ever Playtonic’s crowdfunding success has just hit another milestone. The studio has announced that Yooka-Laylee, funding for which currently stands at £1.585m, has now claimed the title of the highest crowdfunded UK video game campaign ever, bypassing previous record holder Elite Dangerous. The project earlier this month hit its initial £175k funding target in just 40 minutes. It went on to become the fastest ever game to reach $1m on the platform, taking just five hours and 41 minutes to do so. Only four projects have hit the milestone faster, and none of them were games. “The response to Yooka-Laylee has been incredible and from all of us here at PLAYTONIC, we really want to say a huge, warm ‘thank you’ to everyone who has helped us exceed our goal,” Playtonic’s creative lead Gavin Price said. “The enthusiasm and support from the community has been truly humbling. We’re now in a fantastic position to make Yooka-Laylee at the level and scope that the fans have demanded.” Funding will remain open until midnight on Wednesday June 17th. http://www.mcvuk.com/news/read/yooka-laylee-becomes-most-funded-uk-kickstarter-ever/
Agent Gibbs Posted May 15, 2015 Posted May 15, 2015 Pledged to fund it, hopefully it will be more speedy and forthcoming with information tha Ghost Song is (the only other project i've funded, sparse info, demo is so so gameplay wise)
Wii Posted May 15, 2015 Author Posted May 15, 2015 Beta64 Interview - Playtonic Games Banjo-Kazooie, Donkey Kong 64, Donkey Kong Country... These games are truly classics. And though the collect-a-thon platformer genre may have diminished, it's now time for a Rare-vival. Team members who worked on many of the classic games we played (and still play) got back together as Playtonic Games to create a new 3D platformer called Yooka-Laylee.In this interview, we discuss everything from Project Dream to the development of Yooka-Laylee. Enjoy! Thanks so much to the Playtonic Games team for participating in this interview! It was a ton of fun. Link to Kickstarter Campaign: Check out more info on Playtonic Games: http://www.playtonicgames.com
Wii Posted May 17, 2015 Author Posted May 17, 2015 (edited) Yooka-Laylee Developer Interview We chat with the developers behind Yooka-Laylee including Chris Sutherland, Gavin Price, Steven Hurst, and Andy Robinson, to find out more about the Banjo-Kazooie spiritual successor. We cover a range of topics such as how the game came together, the character design, if the main villian will rhyme once again, and the Ukulele of Time?! (don't get too excited about that last one). All this and more in our interview with Playtonic games! Yooka-Laylee’s world is made of books you unlock by collecting pages With Yooka-Laylee Kickstarter raising more money than we've had hot dinners, developer Playtonic has revealed the platformer's colourful world will be far more expansive than the likes of Banjo-Kazooie. In fact, you could say its turned a Page when it comes to level design... "This time around, the worlds will all be contained within these larger magical books and we'll have quite book-ish names for the levels as well," explains studio head Gavin Price in the latest issue of Official PlayStation Magazine. "Sometimes they'll sound more like titles of books when you go into the levels and you'll explore them that way by collecting Pages as well. So you can go into a world, and it'll start off similar to a Banjo level in terms of scope, size and complexity, but then you can spend your Pages expanding the current world or use them to unlock a future world as well." We've already have an idea of how the duo of Yooka-Laylee will move and behave, but when it comes to how open each level will be, Price says Playtonic is looking to strike balance between the huge open-worlds of modern-day sandboxes and the varied levels of its back catalogue. "We actually wanted to make it so that if players want to go through into one world and then go ahead and see the next word, but still come back later on, they can do that. We're 'de-linearising' the experience." http://www.gamesradar.com/yooka-laylees-world-made-books-you-unlock-collecting-pages/ Edited May 17, 2015 by Wii Automerged Doublepost
drahkon Posted May 17, 2015 Posted May 17, 2015 Will get a credit card soon and then I'll pledge the shit out of this game. Yes, I will get a credit card just to pledge for this game and for Bloodstained
Hogge Posted May 17, 2015 Posted May 17, 2015 Will get a credit card soon and then I'll pledge the shit out of this game. Yes, I will get a credit card just to pledge for this game and for Bloodstained I'm thinking of doing that. Never supported a crowdfunding project before, but it's totes worth it.
Agent Gibbs Posted May 17, 2015 Posted May 17, 2015 Yes, I will get a credit card just to pledge for this game and for Bloodstained great now i've another game to fund!
drahkon Posted May 17, 2015 Posted May 17, 2015 great now i've another game to fund! You're welcome :p
Wii Posted May 18, 2015 Author Posted May 18, 2015 Should Rare/Microsoft Be Kicking Themselves? - Game Scoop! The video talks about much more than the title suggests.
S.C.G Posted May 19, 2015 Posted May 19, 2015 The animation within the game seems to be shaping up nicely. : peace:
Glen-i Posted May 19, 2015 Posted May 19, 2015 Yay for over-elaborate idle animations! Even if it starts to get close to flat-out abuse. I'm glad these guys have them. I can still remember Banjo's one so damn well!
Wii Posted May 29, 2015 Author Posted May 29, 2015 GRABBING THE GHOULIES Just like buses, you wait ages for one character reveal and then a load turn up at once – and some drunken hoodlum’s urinated all over ‘em. Introducing the Ghost Writers! “COME CLOSER! TEE-HEE!” In their physical days these articulate phantoms were the scribes behind Yooka-Laylee’s mysterious book worlds. However, following their suspicious demise the Ghost Writers’ unsettled souls are now cursed to endlessly wander their creations in search of spectre salvation. Free their spirits for a special reward… Yooka-Laylee’s creative lead, Gavin Price explains: “The Ghost Writers haunting the book worlds will add a fun twist to collecting. There are a variety of different types hidden in every world, each with their own unique requirement for being caught. “Mix that with the different areas in which you’ll find them, and hopefully they’ll result in a fresh challenge with every encounter. They’re like a living (un-living?) collectible.” Character artist at large, Mr. Steve(n) Mayles described the design process behind his band of ghouls: “As these characters aren’t based on any particular creature, it was good fun to go a bit crazy with them. And we are crazy guys at Playtonic Towers… never a dull moment, etc. “The ghost was originally going to be one character, but I sketched so many thumbnails (50+) it sparked the idea of having 5 separate ghosts with different abilities.” The Ghost Writers are the third character reveal to date for Yooka-Laylee, following Trowzer and our heroes themselves. There are many more waiting in the wings, we promise. Don’t forget you can still back the Yooka-Laylee Kickstarter – and now via PayPal too (£15k raised so far!) There are just 18 days left on the campaign as we chase that elusive £2M stretch goal. Thanks for your support! http://www.playtonicgames.com/grabbing-the-ghoulies/
Josh64 Posted May 30, 2015 Posted May 30, 2015 I don't know what's wrong with me. I really loved RARE and their platformers, and I've been forcing myself to get excited over this but... I just can't. It's early days, so hopefully some proper gameplay and levels will sway me, but the character designs aren't winning me over right now.
drahkon Posted June 11, 2015 Posted June 11, 2015 A little tease by the one and only Grant Kirkhope. Glacier World - Working Title/Work in Progress
Hero-of-Time Posted June 11, 2015 Posted June 11, 2015 A little tease by the one and only Grant Kirkhope. Glacier World - Working Title/Work in Progress Shades of Freezeezy Peak right there. Glorious.
drahkon Posted June 11, 2015 Posted June 11, 2015 Shades of Freezeezy Peak right there. Glorious. Indeed. : peace: Grant never disappoints
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