Banjo-Kazooie: Nuts & Bolts Developer Diaries

Hello again, Banjo fans, for what is most certainly not the last blog we will be posting to this ‘ere community site. There will, however, be a slight hiatus between our regularly scheduled posts and the next instalment as we all jet off to our private islands in the sun to celebrate the release of Banjo-Kazooie: Nuts & Bolts on November 11.

In fact, celebrations seem to be in the air when walking around the halls and corridors of Rare HQ. The imminent release of the new Banjo game has us all in a bit of a tizzy. Whilst I was doing the rounds today, I cornered a few jubilant Rare staffers and coerced encouraged them to share their thoughts with you, the Banjo community, to provide a few closing comments in the last leg of the run up to release.

We start in AAG, where the talented artists behind much of Rare’s visual output doodle, chat and drink coffee all day long are hard at work. PJ, one of the character concept artists responsible for the look of Mumbo Jumbo, Humba Wumba, and Piddles (amongst others), is looking forward to finally playing the game and seeing his creations come to life. These lifelike qualities have been provided by our animation team, who—as Carla Prada points out—are very proud of the final result and seeing their achievements in game. Olivier Ladeuix tells me that the finished result looks better than he’d ever expected, a result of people’s individual efforts coming together as a collaborative whole. Some, like Keri Gunn, are eager for people to see their favourite bits, like Jolly Dodger’s “running man” animation. Others, like the award-winning Louise Ridgeway, are just glad to be off the hefty quantities of industrial-strength coffee. Richie Prado, meanwhile, tells me to get lost as he’s busy coming up with stuff for something called KI 3… or it might’ve been KB, I couldn’t really tell.

Walking over to our Top Secret test lab, the first thing that struck me was how much quieter the area is now than it was only a few short weeks ago, when Banjo was still in full production. Gone are the sounds of various contraptions juddering along as they try to beat the various challenges and acquire the T.T. Trophies, accompanied by the occasional expletive from our dedicated testers. Huw Ward, our head of test and one of Rare’s longest-serving inmates employees, said that he is looking forward to seeing his friends and family again after living at the studio for so long.

Our final port of call is Barn D, where our dev diaries began. Most of the Banjo dev team are away on well-deserved extended vacation after their years’ worth of hard slog has finally come to fruition, but a few of the troops have stayed behind to guard the barracks, as it were. Steve Mayles, Lead Character Artist and mainstay of the Banjo series since its earliest beginnings, is already totting up the prospect of modelling future furry characters. While Neill Harrison, Lead Technical Artist and international spokesperson extraordinaire, is rueing the fact that all the free flights to far-flung destinations have dried up for at least a few more years.

Upstairs in Barn D sit the design, multiplayer, and software teams, all of whom are usually far too busy to entertain conversation with the likes of a lowly community manager. Shelley Hodgekins, rising design star, kindly tells me that she’s not spontaneously funny and quickly returns to more important work. Shaun Read, Assistant Lead Designer and the brains behind much of Banjo-Kazooie: Nuts & Bolts, tells me how pleased he is with the fans’ reaction to the demo. Noting the turnaround in the fans’ reactions to the game, he says he’s particularly pleased by the fact that people seem to have really taken to Mumbo’s Garage with ease. This is a sentiment echoed by Andy Wilson, one of the game’s PMs. “I’m really looking forward to seeing what contraptions the community come up with,” says Andy. Competitive coder Simon Gerges leans over and says, “Personally, I’m looking forward to seeing how people reach the top of the leaderboards!”

Yes, the leaderboards. It’ll be fascinating to see which designs prove the most successful, and we’re all prepared to be surprised by what you devise. Adam Miller, Software Engineer on the Multiplayer side of things, chimes in, “Now that the great multiplayer is done, I’m off to play the single-player add-on.” But then again, he would say that, wouldn’t he? Rich Cousins, PM Number Two, is just looking forward to well-earned rest after so many late nights, and the opportunity to catch up on some missed Gamerscore points. Meanwhile, coding sensation Richard Watson is just a little disappointed that if he wants cake on a Friday from now, he’ll have to bring it in himself.

Lastly, let’s spare a thought for our local pizza delivery company, who are now at risk of going out of business. They told me that at first they thought it was because of the credit crunch biting in, but they soon realised it was because we’d finished Banjo-Kazooie: Nuts & Bolts. There’s only one solution to their woes…

…more Banjo games!