Spiral Mountain talk to Shaun Read

by Paul on Nov 17th, 2008

A few weeks after the B-K:N&B demo was released on Xbox Live, Rare Gamer got the chance to have a quick chat with Shaun Read, senior designer on B-K:N&B …

There has been a lot of feedback (I’m very happy to say mostly positive, but sadly some negative too) from the demo that was released last week. How much of this feedback has filtered through to you and what is your reaction to it? Seeing comments like “it’s nuffin’ like the old gamez therefore I won’t buy it” must be very frustrating to see. Has anything been raised within the feedback where you’ve thought “damn, I wish we had put that in”?

When you reinvent such a well-loved franchise as Banjo-Kazooie you instinctively brace yourself for a potential backlash from the hardcore. We appreciate all feedback and thankfully most of this has so far been positive. We’re especially happy that so many initial doubters of the new direction have taken the time to express their surprise at exactly how much they’ve been enjoying the Marketplace demo. There are those who won’t buy the game purely because we haven’t made a traditional platform game and that is perfectly fine. We are however tremendously proud of the fact that we took the brave decision to do something just a little bit different and for those willing to give it a go, we’re sure you’ll enjoy the ride.

What can you tell us about the sixth world that had to be left out of the game? What was the theme of the level and how did removing it affect the way Showdown Town has been laid out and the total number of Jiggies up for grabs? Is there any chance of us seeing this missing level as downloadable content in the future?

A video game that reaches the shop shelves without any features being cut is an extremely rare beast, and ‘Nuts and Bolts’ was no exception. We made the decision to cut a challenge level to free up enough time to make the remaining 5 as polished and enjoyable as possible. The impact of removing levels potentially has the impact to create as much work as it frees up so the way in which it is done is critical. The total amount of Jiggies available could not change so additional challenges were spread over the remaining levels. This allowed us to keep the same amount of challenges and personally I think some of the gameplay we added is some of the best in the game. As for the impact on Showdown Town and the missing levels theme, for now I’m going to keep that info under my hat. What I will say is there are several clues to many of the features that had to be cut spread throughout the game. You could do worse than checking out Mad Monster Mansion on Banjo Land.

Is there anything else that had to be left out that you can tell us about, and will this also ever see the light of day via DLC?

When you make a game as unique as Nuts and Bolts the amount of cool ideas flying around the team can become almost overwhelming. There has to come a time when you say enough’s enough, let’s go with what we’ve got and make it as fun as possible. Needless to say a huge amount of great ideas didn’t make the final game. It would be great to see these ideas become a reality one day but as yet I can’t give any more information than that.

Having played the demo many times now we’re really excited with the vehicle-based gameplay and we are sure it is going to be a big success. At what stage did you first think “yeah, this vehicle stuff is really going to work.”? Did you have any doubts at first about how it would be received, and if so how long did they last for?

I think as soon as the testers started completing challenges in ways we on the team had never even considered we knew we were onto something really quite special. I think all initial doubts evaporated in a big sigh of relief around the same time. When designing the challenges we tried to think of as many different solutions as possible using the component set given to the player. It’s quite a unique feeling as a game designer to see people playing the game in ways you never even thought about.

You’ve been placed in a position where on the one hand you have all the old die-hard fans to please, but you also have this vast market of new gamers to appeal to. How hard has it been to get that balance between the two in B-K:N&B?

We understand that this is a hard balance to achieve, but we hope that we have got the balance right by creating a unique and fun gameplay experience that will speak to both new gamers and old fans alike. We hope that it will appeal to new gamers because of the gameplay it offers. We believe that Nuts and Bolts offers something different from other games out there right now, and you can enjoy the full game experience without having played any of the original games. We also hope that the die-hard fans will understand the approach we have taken and the need to innovate the series, and enjoy the new direction as much as the traditional Banjo games. I’m sure when they play the game they will still feel that it is truly a Banjo game, with the same charm and humour. There are also plenty of references to Banjo history sprinkled about for the fans that we’re sure they will enjoy.

The multiplayer looks very exciting. Will we see you venturing onto Live often in order to show off your skills and homemade vehicles to the fans and, if so, how can we go about adding you as friends, without deluging you with a flood of friend requests?

I’m sure we will be cropping up from time to time, if only to show off the special shades we’ll be wearing. I will also be taking part in the multiplayer promotion, which is happening on Sunday 23rd November between 8pm -10pm GMT.

What part of the game are you most proud of?

I think different team members would all have different aspects of the game that they are most proud of and as such, I can’t speak for everyone. Personally, I am most proud of the fact that we have created something that encourages you to think outside the box. Even now, after we’ve been playing the game for so long, we read about ways people have tackled the challenges in the demo that we’ve never thought of. I personally think there is something very special about that.

Some people are already moving onto the thought of a sequel. Where do you see the Banjo series going from here?

I know it isn’t a great answer, but I’m afraid we can’t really comment on future projects at this time. I will say that Banjo and Kazooie are a beloved part of Rare, and as such I don’t think you’ve seen the last of them yet. Having said that, I saw Banjo and Kazooie yesterday, and they were firmly seated back in their bean bag chair playing Xbox 360 and eating Lardo’s pizza, so they may take some persuading.

Huge thanks and thumbs up to Shaun Read for taking the time to speak to us, and to Mike Wilson for arranging the interview.

Categories: Interviews