Old School Gamer Magazine chats with Don’t Bite developers Marek Jaroszewski and Jarek Jaroszewski, who detail the original nd development process of their upcoming Switch game, Wreckin Ball Adventure.
Old School Gamer Magazine: How was this game born?
Jarek Jaroszewski: In August 2018 when Overwatch released a new hero Hammond, a hamster in a wrecking ball mech, we came up with the idea: “What if we create a game, a platformer that relies on physics and movement of a ball?” A few days later we had our first prototype of WBA build in UE4 and it was fun 😀 We did one more step forward telling the story through the environment.
Old School Gamer Magazine: What was your role in the game?
Marek Jaroszewski: In our small team as a core, we have Marek(Me) and my brother Jarek. I do the project management stuff, level design and game design with Jarek. Jarek is a technical artist and does the whole programming.
Old School Gamer Magazine: What games influenced this one the most?
Jarek Jaroszewski: Overwatch, Worms, and Spiderman for gameplay movement. Portal 1 and 2 for storytelling.
Old School Gamer Magazine: Any fun stories or wild moments during development?
Marek Jaroszewski: The name of the game 😀 When Jarek’s wife played our first prototype she noted that our hero (His name is K160) looks very similar to the main character of Assassination Class, Koro-Sensei. This is a bit of an oversimplification, but let’s say he is a “yellow octopus” which, when angry, transforms into a yellow ball.
To avoid legal disputes we came up with the name Kiiro and we loved this name for our game. Kiiro in Japanese that means yellow. Our happiness didn’t last long, something named “Kiiroo” already existed and it was a shop with erotic toys. The titles were too similar, a small error in your search and you may just find something you were not expecting.
Old School Gamer Magazine: What were the major lessons learned?
Jarek Jaroszewski: Well organized project is a good project to work.
Marek Jaroszewski: Even small games need time. In the beginning, Wreckin’ Ball Adventure was a plan as a very simple arcade game but with every week of development we come up with a more and more new idea what we can do in-game.
Old School Gamer Magazine: Do you think preserving older gameplay mechanics in new games is important?
Marek Jaroszewski: It depends on the game. I think we can learn a lot form the older gameplay mechanics. A lot of the older gameplay mechanics was a technical limitation, other parts of the game design. We have to remember that the main goal of playing a game is having fun. So if in your game with older gameplay mechanics works, then you should stick to it. If not, you can experiment with it to find the right way.
Old School Gamer Magazine: What’s your favorite memory as a gamer?
Marek Jaroszewski: For me, I was playing with guards in Metal Gear Solid 2 with stealth camo on. That was so good designed AI.
Jarek’s was creating a new character build in Guild Wars 1 “Necromancer-Warrior” and destroying people while System of a Down playing in the background.
Old School Gamer Magazine: How do you want this game to be remembered?
Jarek Jaroszewski: Fun, simple, with a hidden story and with the very good sequel 😉 The game which you can play on the couch with your friends, family, girlfriend and still have fun.
Old School Gamer Magazine: What’s next?
Marek Jaroszewski: Maybe a sequel? We have a lot of ideas for new mechanics. For sure we want to focus on couch co-op games. We are big fans of this genre and there are not many games for local co-ops where 4 players can play together to beat the game. We have a few ideas that might be good for this kind of mechanics.
Old School Gamer Magazine: Anything else you’d like to add?
Jarek Jaroszewski: I want to thank everyone, that helped us make this game a reality.
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Patrick Hickey Jr. is the author of the book, “The Minds Behind the Games: Interviews With Cult and Classic Video Game Developers,” from McFarland And Company. Featuring interviews with the creators of 36 popular video games–including Deus Ex, NHLPA 93, Night Trap, Mortal Kombat, Wasteland and NBA Jam–the book gives a behind-the-scenes look at the creation of some of the most influential and iconic (and sometimes forgotten) games of all time. Recounting endless hours of painstaking development, the challenges of working with mega-publishers and the uncertainties of public reception, the interviewees reveal the creative processes that produced some of gaming’s classic titles.
