The last time we spoke with dev team Yeti Trunk, aka Matthew Griffin and Jason Gordy, was just prior to the release of their first PC game, Wanderlust: Rebirth. Since then, they've developer a couple of successful iOS apps and are hard at work on their next tile, Wanderlust Adventures. We had a moment to speak with Matthew and got some details on the new game, as well as their partnership with Starbound developer/indie publisher, Chucklefish.
Co-Optimus: It’s been a few years since Wanderlust: Rebirth, Yeti Trunk’s first big PC release, hit the Internet, though you all have been far from idle. Aside from support for that game, you’ve also released an iOS version of the card game Gubs, and the fun, arcade-y Puckbang. Why the shift away from PC to mobile?
Matthew: I wouldn’t really categorize it as a “shift away from PC”; it was more of a “temporary diversion”. The card game Gubs: A Game of Wit and Luck was developed by Cole Medeiros who is a close, personal friend of mine. He asked if I’d be able to port his game to mobile so I pitched the idea to Jason (the other half of Yeti Trunk) and he agreed to help. While we were porting Gubs to mobile - because I had developed a PC version years before - we also worked on porting an old game of mine (Puckbang) since my computers were already set up for iPhone development.
Co-Optimus: During that same period of time, you joined up with Chucklefish, a group that is part developer and part publisher. How did that partnership come about?
Matthew: We became business contacts with Tiyuri after he reached out to us on IndieDB.com during their 2012 IndieDB awards. As expected, we didn’t believe it was really him so we directly emailed him to find out, and it was! He explained that he liked our game and wanted to help promote us, but at that time he was still with Re-Logic. That obviously didn’t pan out so we approached him again after he had left Re-Logic to form Chucklefish.
That day was the beginning of our game development careers, and we are forever grateful that Tiy believed in us and our game. We’re also very proud to have been an integral part of the process that led Chucklefish to begin publishing other indie titles like Risk of Rain (which I also worked on) and the newly launched Halfway.
Co-Optimus: How did that role come about for you, assisting in the development of other titles?
Matthew: I’m quickly learning that cross-team-assistance is not uncommon for Indie Gaming teams. With Risk of Rain, specifically, I was asked by Tiyuri to add online multiplayer to the game (if possible) after Risk of Rain was signed on as a Chucklefish-published title. I’m also on the team producing Witchmarsh, which is another game recently picked up by Chuckelfish. In the case of Witchmarsh, I had actually joined their team prior to them joining Chucklefish; they were in talks with another publisher when I reached out to them. I’m glad they decided to be published by Chucklefish instead; I am not sure if I would have joined their team otherwise.
Co-Optimus: Did the partnership with Chucklefish lead to the development of Wanderlust Adventures, or was development already underway and it just allowed for more “resources” (loosely defined) than before?
Matthew: Wanderlust Adventures is more of “the Wanderlust game we’ve always wanted to make”, and after I was able to leave my two teaching jobs (because Wanderlust: Rebirth did so well on Steam), I started tinkering with an open-world, procedurally generated “Adventure Mode” to add to Wanderlust: Rebirth. After some lengthy discussions between Tiy, Jason and I, we decided it would be best to make Wanderlust Adventures a stand-alone game.
Co-Optimus: So what is Wanderlust Adventures? Is it a reboot of the series, a continuation?
Matthew: Wanderlust: Rebirth is to Wanderlust Adventures as Demon Souls is to Dark Souls. Some core Wanderlust elements (combat style, 4 player co-op, combat awards and character classes) have transitioned into WA but overall WA is a fundamentally different game by comparison; Rebirth is a linear arcade action RPG while Adventures is an open-world, action adventure RPG with heavy use of procedural generation.
Co-Optimus: Interesting. So going along with that same line of thinking, what’s changed or been improved with Wanderlust Adventures? Have there been any new additions?
Matthew: There are too many upgrades to detail here but the main differences are that the game is now open-world, non-linear, and has a more traditional skill advancement (level) system. Also, we’ve integrated the Steam Networking API - with help from Bartwe who was a coder for Starbound - which eliminates the need for hosts to port-forward, while also allowing players to drop in and out of games at any time. Layered on top of these changes is procedural generation in terms of the locations you find, if/where you find them, and what you encounter around the world. It’s an extremely robust game filled with mystery, exploration, and epic encounters.
Co-Optimus: You brought on a new composer for the soundtrack as well, right?
Matthew: How could I have failed to mention Chris Christodoulou! We were happy with the musicians we worked with in the past but when I worked on Risk of Rain and heard Chris’s progressive musical influences, I knew I had to get him on board. The guys at Hopoo introduced me to him via email and the rest is history. The results speak for themselves; the Wanderlust Adventures OST is a blend of orchestral, electronica and progressive rock music styles. In fact, one of the tracks even features a guitar solo by yours truly - “Leth’s Axe”.
The Wanderlust Adventures Official Soundtrack is already available (alongside the Risk of Rain Soundtrack and other works by Chris) on his bandcamp page. You can listen to it there or pick it up for a minimum payment of only 4 Euros : chrischristodoulou.bandcamp.com
Co-Optimus: Is there something particular about the world of Valandria that drew you back there? I suppose another way of asking that is “why do a game in the same series, instead of a wholly new IP?”
Matthew: I’m going to give you a somewhat “Producer-Style” answer here:
The project began as an add-on to Rebirth because I wanted to expand the story to give players an opportunity to kill the Lich who escaped at the end of the game We had an engine already built, with online co-op functionality It is a lot less risky to spend two years of work on a proven IP than a brand new oneCo-Optimus: When’s the anticipated release date?
Matthew: We are working hard to reach beta stage right now with hopes to have it ready to go next month, but things don’t always go as expected. After that, we’ll be working hard to ensure our launch - whenever it may be - goes smoothly. Wanderlust Adventures is a massive game and having only one coder/debugger severely limits our ability to meet deadlines.
With all that said, “Beta” for us means “feature complete”; after launching our beta phase it’s just a matter of how quickly we can polish and debug the game while adding in a few more bonus treats; with luck, we’ll see an early 2015 launch on PC/Steam.
Co-Optimus: What’s the one thing about Wanderlust Adventures that you can’t wait for people to see/experience?
Matthew: I don’t want to spoil any specifics, but overall I cannot wait to see how people react to the massive size of the world coupled with the sense of discovery as they move about it, all while sharing those experiences with friends in online co-op. It’s going to be something really special! If you’re interested in catching some LIVE development of Wanderlust Adventures, many of the team members stream development on Twitch.tv.
Matthew Griffin - Coding : www.twitch.tv/Leth
Jason Gordy - Art Lead : www.twitch.tv/D2king10
Power Up Audio - Sound Design & Effects : www.twitch.tv/PowerUpAudio
Lauren Feehery - Art & Animations : www.twitch.tv/B4stardcomics
We'd like to thank Matthew for taking the time to speak with us about Wanderlust Adventures, and look forward to hearing more about it as it gets closer to release. Wanderlust: Rebirth is available on Steam.