Interview by Ninichi | Contact | Follow
If you like cats and you like games, you will absolutely love Shakey's Escape! I'm really excited to introduce you to this amazing and fun game created by super talented game developer Rob White. I've had the privilege to have connected with him and to have been involved on the music side to this truly wonderful game. Let's get to know what's all about!
Welcome Rob! Please tell us a bit about yourself and how you got into game development...
'Thanks for allowing me to talk about Shakey's Escape! I have been involved in Animation for a long long time. Mainly 2D stuff and a bit of clay. Game Development was just a natural progression for me but it was the gamedev community itself that attracted me the most. It is a positive vibrant community of passionate people and I really wanted to be apart of that.'
You created Smashing Pixels right? How did that come about?
'It started out as some ridiculous name like 'Voidray gaming' a few years ago when I was creating Street Skater - City. After awhile it morphed into Smashing Pixels. Right now Smashing Pixels handles the business side of things and acts like a blog site for the progress on Shakey's Escape.'
Where did the idea for Shakey's Escape come from?
'Good question. I went against the advice of the gamedev community and decided to embark on something big. I think I was listening to too many Arnold Schwarzenegger motivational speeches and was pumped to set the bar high. So I spent a long time writing out the initial idea for Shakey's Escape. Basically, my theory is that cats must have done something really important for mankind in the past and this is why people hold them in high regard today. So this is my homage to the cat species.
The journey of Shakey is designed to paint the full 360 degree nature of a cat. There are moments of bravado, destruction, fear, curiousity and affection. It's an Action Adventure game with puzzle elements thrown in and I hope you will fall in love with Shakey by the end of it.'
What are you using to develop the game in?
'For graphics I use Toonboom and Photoshop. The engine is Unity.'
How's it going?
'It is safe to say that Shakey's Escape is about 3 quarters of the way to being finished. The next few months will be spent ironing out bugs, enriching the gameplay and improving the graphics. It is hard work for a solo dev to attempt something as big as this but I have been lucky in that many have succesfully achieved similar feats before me so I try to learn and be guided by their experiences. The Game Dev community has been a great resource for me since I first embarked on Shakey's Escape.'
Tell us more about your game: What's going on in it and what should we be looking out for in the game?
'You're a cat named Shakey who realises that his current owner is actually a very cruel little girl after she locks him in the basement. A fight breaks out and soon Shakey finds himself propelled into the outside world after escaping the home he has lived in his whole life.
This is an Action Adventure game based heavily on Unity's physics engine. You will be able to destroy the environment, blow things up, drive vehicles and even fly a helicopter. On top of this you will need to figure out some simple puzzles to progress to the next level. The game is broken up into 7 levels with cut-scene animations to help tranisition the story.'
What fun! Now let's talk about the music...
When we first started to speak about the music - what were your thoughts? What do you think of the music now & how does it fit into the game & your plans for it?
'I struggled for a long time to find the right music to set the mood for Shakey's. Even with all the special effects, appealing graphics and great mechanics; if you're not in the right mood then you'll miss out on what the developer is trying to portray. The music ties everything together and gives the emotional resonance that is vitally important to any narative. I was very fortunate that we ran into each other. Ninichi's music is the best people!'
Aww thanks Rob! Let's take a look at your game trailer:
Now let's check out some of the other music tracks for the game...(play the music on the right).
So, now that everyone is hopefully super excited about Shakey's Escape - when will the game be available and how can we get it?
'I am trying to cram this all into the mobile platform. Android and iOS first and then PC after that. I can see Shakey's Escape being finished sometime in the first half of 2017.'
UPDATE: Shakey's Escape is now available on Googleplay & the AppStore.
Shakey’s Escape OST is also available now:
About the author: Ninichi is a game and film music composer. She works on a range of freelance composing projects supporting talented game developers and film makers with their music.
Want some great custom music for your game? Listen to Ninichi's game music or email her now: ninichimusic@gmail.com to discuss your game music needs.
Follow her @ninichimusic
