Troll And I [PS4|XB1|PC]

[Kamikaze Revy]

Assistant Producer Amy Scott - from UK based game developer Spiral House - took some time out of her busy schedule to discuss the teams development history and their latest upcoming adventure title Troll And I scheduled for released on PlayStation 4, Xbox One and PC.

Spiral House has quite the history within game development, even harkening back to the Dreamcast days. For those that may not know about the studio, could you tell us a little about it's history? How big the studio currently is and some of your stand-out moments in games?
Spiral House started out in 1999, with the first game we worked on, ‘Silver’. It was a multi-character based RPG where the player could swap characters at the click of a button. We also worked on games such as: Motorstorm, Alone in the Dark, Little Big Planet, Eyepet and most recently PlayStation Vita Pets. We started out with two founders Bobby Earl (Technical Director) and Kevin Oxland (Creative Director). We currently have 16 members of in-house staff and are based in Liverpool, UK. Our defining moment is yet to come!
What are some of the team's favourite games to play?
The team at Spiral House are certainly game heads, obviously, but they play various types of games from racing games to RPGs. The most recent and more popular games are Bloodborne, Witcher 3, Ori and the Blind Forest and past recent games are Dragon Age Inquisition, Last of Us, Tomb Raider etc.
Do these inspire the type of games Spiral House are looking to make?
In some respects, they do play the types of game we are developing. I think most of us here play RPG's, online MMO's and action adventures, so we are influenced by them to some degree

The team's most recent title was PlayStation Pets for the PlayStation Vita. How was it working on the device and the game itself?
The [PlayStation] Vita is a great piece of kit, capable of great things for such a small device. We really enjoyed working with Sony on PlayStation Vita Pets and because Pets had a story and an adventure, it gave us a taste of what we love doing, and that's creating great stories and adventures.
Did modelling animals, creating fur etc in PlayStation Vita Pets help with the eventual process of the Troll And I?
We've had experience creating fur in EyePet, prior to Pets, so when we came to Troll, we had a good knowledge base to rewrite all of our fur tech especially for Troll. Aside from that, the team has had many, many years of experience making games, from the Commodore 64 up to present day consoles, and all of that experience has gone into making Troll And I what it is.
Your newly announced game - Troll And I - will be your first foray into crowdfunding, what brought on the decision to go that route?
We have a plan for crowdfunding all set out and ready to go. However, we have not decided yet if crowdfunding is the route that we are going to take. We should have more information [regarding that] soon.
The Troll And I is currently set to release episodically. Is a piecemeal launch the perfect way to not only tell a story, but prove the project to potential backers?
We wanted to create something of quality and something that stood out in its own right. However, we couldn’t do a tale such as Troll and I as an entire ‘normal sized’ game in the timeframe we have due to our team size. So to retain the quality, we decided upon an episodic approach with the design and story being designed with that in mind from the ground up, rather than breaking up a whole game into pieces. Each episode works on its own and as part of a greater whole. The development has been a refreshing change actually, because even though we have the entire story arc written, we can really focus on each episode in lots of detail before moving onto the next.
The interaction between Otto and Troll.
What was the inspiration behind the Troll And I, and the dual-gameplay mechanics between both characters? Are you guys fans of the Norwegian 'TrollHunter' movie by any chance?
Trolls have always been a big presence (excuse the pun) in Scandinavian folklore, even before ‘Trollhunter’. We wanted to go back to the multi-character based RPG of Silver, due to its popularity, and create a dual protagonist game with two very strong characters in their own right. At the time of Troll And I’s conception our Creative Director - Kevin Oxland - had an idea for a story about a Troll community living in Scandinavia, and a billionaire man who has a bit too much time and money on his hands who wants to catch a troll for his collection of rare animals. It was both of these of these ideas came together to make the story of Troll And I.
You can currently switch control between the two characters separately, did you ever prototype during development the ability to control both - along the lines of Brothers: A Tale Of Two Sons?
Yes, you can switch control at any time at the press of a button, but you can also give instructions to the other character too, like 'follow' and 'help' using a command wheel. We prototyped various control mechanisms and we briefly considered a simultaneous dual approach, but we felt it didn't work with the type of game we wanted to make. Our game has a combat element to it and using that control system in a combat scenario just wouldn't work at all.
Interactable objects for Otto.
Troll And I is set in the 1950's, is this a conscious decision to use post-WW2 elements within the environment and story?
Yes, it is very much a conscious decision to use post WWII props in our concepts. Here is a screenshot of a WWII siren in game, for example, that is a pivotal element to the game-play.
The game has quite a lot of elements aside from platforming and puzzles - one of those is the combat, are you keeping it melee based or eventually thinking of delving into firearms as the story evolves?
There are firearms in the game, but Otto is only a 15 year old boy, brought up in a small village. He had never held a firearm before, and at this point in the game, he has to do with what he can find and craft himself. A large part of the combat is melee based, but equally large is the stealth aspect of the combat. Many scenarios require a more sneaky take down of enemies, and for this there are long ranged spears as well as the cut-throat method. Enemies too will be equipped with crossbows etc and Otto’s crafting abilities will increase as the game progresses, meaning the weapon choices will greatly improve.
Stealth combat is also an option.
Is something akin to a lock-on system during combat a mechanic you are looking at implementing?
There's a distinct 'combat mode' Otto or Troll enter when enemies are nearby. Otto will automatically face/lock on characters that are in front of him within a cone of influence (based on angle and distance), and Troll will automatically lock on in a similar fashion when an attack is performed. During combat you can easily switch to another target by pushing the controller stick in that direction whilst performing an attack. Otto or Troll will favour the target that is in the direction you are pushing the stick. Otto can easily break away from the lock influence by simply moving in the direction away from the enemies. For Troll he never faces an enemy the same as Otto, but prefers to waves his fists in the appropriate direction.
I'd first like to thank Amy for taking the time out to answer my questions. If you are interested in Troll And I - you can find more information on the official website TrollAndI.com or follow @SpiralHouse through Twitter.
Be sure to look out for more news regarding Troll And I on Crash Landed in the near future.

http://crashlanded.co.uk/spiral-house-talks-troll-and-i.php

 

[Kamikaze Revy]

http://www.trollandi.com/

THE GAME:
Troll and I:
At its core ‘Troll and I’ is a third person action adventure featuring two very different heroes of which both are controllable at anytime during the game. It’s set in the 1950’s, in the harsh, demanding landscape of Northern Europe… where you would naturally find a Troll, of course.

Our two heroes…
Dual Narrative:
Our duo sits at the heart of both the story and gameplay. Otto is a young boy; extremely agile, skilful with a spear and deft with melee weapons; and then there’s the big guy; a giant, magical Troll, also in his infancy and yet to learn and harness the magical abilities of his kin. They both come from very different backgrounds (clearly), but are forced together through adversity. But this forced team-up turns into something unique, a friendship and an understanding between two beings that should never have happened at all. But it did!

Our duo together, making their way in the world…
Gameplay choice:
There are many facets to the game, one of which is the combat system, both melee and ranged. We’ve designed the game in such a way that the player could choose different ways to play a given scenario. For example, the player could go in as the boy, brandishing a machete, ready to take on whatever comes his way in a melee situation. Or the player could sneak the boy in, and stealthily move around the scene, taking out the bad guys as he goes. The stealth approach requires patience, skill and keen observational skills in order to avoid being spotted, especially by the horn blower!

Stealthily moving around the environment on the left, or straight into a combat situation on the right.
The player could also go in as the Troll and ask the boy to stay back and use the Troll’s size and brute strength by attempting to pummel his way through a combat scenario. Or they could both go in together and fight as a team. But each method has its pros and cons. Some areas will be designed for a particular approach in mind. For example, taking Troll through a stealth zone is probably not a good idea.
The Troll is strong and powerful, but generally slow and clumsy and with a small army of enemies around him, it could prove difficult to overcome them with the Troll alone. So part of the game is deciding how to approach a scenario, surveying the scene before you go in, and determining your strategy.
Character progression:
Both characters have a skill based system which the player can nurture based on how they choose to play the game. Otto has many skills in which the player can utilize and enhance throughout their journey. By collecting skill points, the player can spend them in his chosen skill to enhance it further.

Skills, Abilities, Crafting and Collectables…
Otto Skills:

• Agility: This determines how good his maneuverability around the environment is, like the distance he can leap between grip holds while climbing a rock face, for example.
• Stealth: This determines Otto’s ability to move around stealthily. The more skill points applied to this, the quieter and more invisible the player becomes to enemy.
• Melee Combat: Similarly, the boy’s melee combat and defense moves can be upgraded if the player prefers to play using his melee ability and weapons.
• Ranged Combat: Of course, this will govern Otto’s ability to use ranged weapons like various spear types and crossbows etc. and upgrading it will provide more accuracy and choice of ranged weapon.
• Crafting: To really survive and move forward, Otto will need to enhance current weapons and make new ones. Focusing on this skill will broaden his ability to craft new items, new weapons and fix existing weapons.
• Hunting: Maintaining Otto’s health relies on his ability to hunt for food. Foraging will give you bite sized chunks and may save you from imminent death, but hunting will provide a more fulfilling health system. Increasing his hunting skill will enable Otto to catch bigger and better animals and obtain bigger and better resources.
• Cuckoo: What is this, I hear you cry. Well ‘Cuckoo’ is a skill Otto was taught by his father. It gives him the ability to project his voice to a chosen location within range, which attracts enemies to that position, thus moving any danger from one position to another. Pretty handy if they get stuck in an enemy crowded situation.

Troll Abilities:
The Troll also has eight abilities the player can collect and nurture. Unfortunately for the Troll, he doesn’t have his abilities at the start of the game so the player must earn them and collect them as they exlpore. They range from ‘Revive’ a fallen companion, to ‘Invisibility’ and casting ‘Fear’ towrads a group of enemies causing them to flee, amongst many others.
Troll abilities cost magic which must be managed by the player. It’s resourced based and the player will need to collect it to use the Troll’s abilities. It can be sourced by using Troll power stones which are few and far between throughout the game, but will do a total refill, or by killing enemies to collect their souls which are much smaller pockets of power.

Collecting Troll power from dead enemies…
So the combination of Boy skills, Troll abilities, and the nurturing of them through exploration, combat, crafting and hunting is the loop of the game and where the player will control our duo’s destiny.
Of course, we also have a story in our game, which you can read about on our story page. The player can follow various narrative streams including the main story, of course, but by collecting the collectables throughout the game, the player can follow the story of the Troll hunters, how they got there and their story so far. The player can also discover the Troll world and lore and collect Troll language symbols which will open hidden sections of the game and enhance the Troll’s abilities.

A typical night out for Otto and Troll…

 

[Kamikaze Revy]

THE STORY:
Scandinavia; 1958
Otto is a fifteen year old boy who lives with his mother in a village that sits at the base of a mountain. He’s lived there all his life and was taught by his estranged father how to hunt, how to use a spear and how to read the landscape. Wandering into the forest to hunt for dinner is a normal, daily occurrence for Otto. His community knows little of the outside world and like to keep it that way. That was until a bunch of strangers showed up asking about Trolls.

Otto’s home at the edge of a village…
Trolls are, by their very nature, secretive, elusive and easily shielded from human view. They’re not normally aggressive and would help an injured goat off a mountain if they stumbled upon one. Otto has heard the rumors of a Troll community embedded deep inside a cluster of mountains, he’s heard the folklore, the myths and legends, but few have actually seen one. Tales of encounters are often exaggerated and full of fantastical scenarios of how they brushed close to death in the face of a Troll, but nothing could be further from the truth. Trolls are indeed very powerful creatures, but in truth, they are gentle giants. They harbor a power that can utilize many powerful abilities that humans can only dream of, and they have no reason to harm anyone, unless provoked.
Eugene Jacobson, is a rich, powerful, business man. He is bored of his empire and has recently turned to his real passion for personal gratification…his collection of dead, rare animals. This passion knows no bounds, and now, he has stumbled upon a sketchy photograph that is touted to be a Troll.
With only one thing on his mind, he hires the best hunter in the world, Nico Dioli, to track it down and bring it home, dead or alive! The reward was immense and Eugene would supply anything Nico should need to fulfill his mission. Little did Nico know that the elusive nature of Trolls would take him several years just to get a sniff of one.
Five Years Later:
Now, embedded deep into the mountainous landscape with a small army of men, Nico is angry and frustrated. He has only but a few clues and strange artifacts that show Troll’s exist at all. But now, he has information of their suspected whereabouts and is determined to flush them out.

Nico, discussing his plans around a camp fire…