Interview by Ninichi | Contact | Follow
As a composer and music enthusiast myself, imagine my delight to discover GreenCross studio (@GreenCrossStudio) and their fun game - The King of Disco!? Let's take a look at how this team of talented game developers came up with this game idea and what it's all about...
Introduce us to your game - what is it called and how do you play it?
'"The King Of Disco" is a Multiplayer Online game, where in a set of 5 minute matches (with additional extra time power-ups) you have to establish yourself as the king of town by winning over the most discos using your Mojo. Mojo is picked by dancing to the girls in town and by dance battles against your opponents.'
What made you want to create this game?
'We wanted to make a fun easy to pick-up non-violent game that celebrates the crazy disco years. It's all about self-expression, youth, music and dance. We are still nostalgic of this period and wanted to make a game that would put us back into that mind state.'
What makes it interesting?
'The music, the dancing and the atmosphere make it stand out (hopefully) from other Multiplayer Online games and also by pushing a competitive edge without resolving to violence.'
Tell us about you & you team?
'GreenCross Studio is a three man team based in Switzerland that started up in early 2016.
Cem is our coder, Ivan our level designer and John our modeler/animator.
We get together to define the next steps in the creative process and the design has evolved organically over time. Many times we disagree over issues but end up finding good solutions through trial and error.
We want gamers to give us feedback on a regular basis and have them feel involved in the creation process. We want to be easily joinable by the players.
We also work with a couple of outside people for sound and music(which is at the heart of the game) and networking issues.'
Welcome everyone and lovely to meet you all! What got you into game development?
Cem: 'It’s John ;)
I founded an IT company 10 years ago; my background is clearly IT. In 2014 i had a terrible accident (broke my leg); i had to learn how to walk again; that made me realize that I wasn’t maybe doing the right thing so I decided to quit and start making games. I started alone but it quickly turned out to be way more difficult than expected; so i looked for help and I fell upon this guy “Rick” who is a Game Developer Coach. I subscribed to his course and after talking with a few people I realized that one of them; you guessed : John was also taking the course. So we met in a restaurant called “La Croix Verte” which means “Green Cross” in french. GreenCross was born !'
Ivan: 'Cem :-) And that is really the truth. I was all about computers, gaming, and technology in general from age 16. In last 6 years that I’ve lived in Switzerland, Geneva I worked as sysadmin, technical support etc. Where I met Cem, and once he decided to leave that kind of IT world, couple of months later I decided as well to follow him in a brave world of Indie Studios! So once I landed there I concluded that for me best will be level designer role. Lucky enough team needed one.'
John: 'When I finished my degree in computer science (20 years ago!) I had a longing for something more artistic and I found it to be animation. A technical background, a love of games and art brought me naturally to the games industry, though it wasn’t as straightforward as it sounds. :-D'
Tell us what you think about game music? Any favourites?
'This game without music would simply fall flat on it’s face!'
Cem: 'To me Music is CORE in the experience of a game; from Pong to Dance Dance Revolution I can’t imagine a game without it; especially if you think of the game we’re making now … it simply can’t be without ! I love all music for all games; i don’t have any favourite.'
Ivan: 'My favorite game tunes are from Warcraft 3, Need for Speed serial, Fifa serial. I think that music is very important in games, and that it gives a full experience for player.'
John: 'My favorite game tunes would have to be from Mario 64, Banjo-Kazooie and Pilotwings64.'
Have you created any other games?
'This is our first game as a team.'
Cem: 'First Game Ever'
Ivan: 'For the first time in my life I am making a game, and I am very happy to be a part of a team, to be able to unleash my creativity, to learn new things, to break few things on the way.'
John: 'I worked on a good number of big titles prior to co-founding the company. I think about 14 got published and a whole bunch of others got canned.'
Thank you guys so much for sharing your experiences with us! Now for the important question: where can we get hold of this game?
'The game will most probably come out on Steam but this is still to be defined.
We will let people know on www.TheKingOfDisco.com'
You can also find out more about the team on Twitter: @GreenCrossGames & facebook: GreenCross Studio FB page & King Of Disco FB page. You can also join the FB King Of Disco Feedback group.
From the author: Are you looking for music for your game or media project? If so, I'm a game music composer & would be delighted to help: contact me now. Learn more about me (Ninichi) and listen to some of my game music.
Explore Ninichi's music blog & follow me @ninichimusic
