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Flip's Twisted World Developer Journal

Flip's Journey

by Julian Spillane - October 18, 2010, 10:45 pm EDT

The anticipation of sweet release.

It has been a very long time since we first came up with the game idea that was to eventually become Flip's Twisted World


Humble Beginnings


It all started in the summer of 2007. Frozen North was just about to complete its first full year of operations when we were approached by Microsoft Canada to create a small Xbox 360 game for their upcoming X07 event as part of a showcase of local development talent. This was a spectacular opportunity for us, but there was one caveat: we only had two weeks.

As soon as our meeting with Microsoft was over we huddled in our boardroom and began an all-night brainstorming session that would result in the very first design iteration of a game that would become Flip's. We had decided to leverage a game mechanic envisioned by our lead designer, Doug Gregory, back when he was in college. The game was to be a slow-paced puzzle game involving clean, Escher-inspired worlds with the core idea being that with a flick of the analog stick the world would rotate. There was to be a limited amount of enemy interaction that were mostly conceived as puzzle hazards. At this point in time there were no real platforming elements involved.

I still don't know how we managed it, but in two weeks we had a game (complete with a working in-game level editor). The event went spectacularly well and the general response was that we should refine the concept further and pitch an Xbox Live Arcade title.


The Prototype


After the event we were, for lack of a better word, pretty stoked. Our original demo made use of clean, minimalistic environment shading and 2D sprites for dynamic objects. We knew we could do better, so we immediately began development of an XBLA prototype with full 3D assets and an increased gameplay pace. The design was still heavily rooted in spatial-puzzling at this point, but it was clearly becoming more of a real game.

We spent four months developing this prototype to a stage where we felt comfortable taking it out to publishers. Coincidentally, around this time we received an email from Majesco soliciting registered Wii developers for game concept submissions. We followed up quickly with our pitch document and gameplay video and Majesco invited us out to present the game in person at their green-light meeting.


Enter the Wii



Coming into the Majesco meeting, we realized that a few things about the pitch needed to be changed if we were planning to develop it for the Wii. After some reflection it became obvious to us that the Wii's motion controllers would be an ideal interface for rotating the world and would be a really neat gameplay hook.

In preparation for the meeting we updated the PC version of the demo to make use of a Wii Remote and Nunchuk controller via a custom Bluetooth stack and implemented a very rudimentary version of the world-rotation algorithm. This was definitely a bit of a trial but worth it in the end for the authenticity it gave to the demo.

Sometime early January we flew out to Edison, New Jersey and gave our pitch demo in-person to the Majesco green-light committee. The meeting went well and a few months later we'd negotiated and signed a deal for a retail release on the Nintendo Wii.


The Long and Winding Road



up&dn, which eventually became Flip's Twisted World, is our very first console title as a company and the very first time developing for a Nintendo platform for the entire team. Development of the game was long and arduous and a lot of lessons were learned over the two year-long cycle.

For the majority of the development cycle we were a team fluctuating between seven and nine full-time staff with no experience on the platform. With a team that small, development involved a lot of late nights, weekends, and even holidays to reach the level of quality we wanted for our first retail title.

Development became easier as we gained experience working with the platform. With each passing month, we learned how to push more polys, how to achieve better visual effects, and tricks to make the Wii processors handle the heavy visual and computational loads we were throwing at them.

Throughout development we also learned a lot about scope and feature management, having cut quite a bit of proposed content and features in order to make our deadlines. In the end, though, we think the game is better off being the size and scope that it ended up as, but we definitely took away a lot from the experience.


The Finale


It's been a long time since we signed that initial contract with Majesco, and with the game a mere day from release, there has been a lot of reflection on the entire process.

While there were slips, pitfalls, and hard lessons learned, our team put the entirety of our love of platformers, our passion for games and our enthusiasm for Flip into our development. No matter how we are received critically, Flip's Twisted World contains the blood, sweat and tears of every single member of our development team and it is our hope that you will share in our excitement and have fun playing.

We are very proud of what we have accomplished with the development of this game and we are taking every single lesson we have learned over the course of development and putting our experience, passion and dedication into our next project.

We at Frozen North hope that you enjoy playing Flip's Twisted World. If we can make you smile and have you coming away from it having enjoyed the experience, even in some small way, then we will have accomplished our goal.

Look out for another blog post next week!

Talkback

I had only heard the name before reading this, but the game actually sounds fascinating. I appreciate the explanation of accelerometers, because there's a lot of misinformation and general ignorance about how the Wii Remote actually works. But as the designer notes that Wii MotionPlus can actually detect twisting, I hope that accessory will be supported as an option. The blue/orange arrow indicators sound like a great idea, especially since the flip won't take place until you release B. (Maybe a little like throwing in Boom Blox?)

BeautifulShyJuly 27, 2010

Is there a chance that Doug will come on to the forums and talk with us?

That detecting the way you play is a great idea. It was done wonderfully in Helix for Wiiware.
Yes In have been keeping track of this games progress and I do like the concept of it.

I played a demo of the game two E3s ago and really liked the concept, but found myself frustrated and confused by the twist mechanic's controls. I'm glad to see Frozen North spent so much time working on the controls, because Doug isn't kidding when he says there was "trouble".

I also played that demo with TYP and I was initially interested in this game, but then I was so turned off by it. However, they've had more than a year to work on it, and as far as I know, they took the E3 critiques to heart and tried to work them out.

DMGregoryDouglas Gregory, Guest ContributorJuly 29, 2010

Quote from: Maxi

Is there a chance that Doug will come on to the forums and talk with us?

Hello, Maxi!  Doug here.  Sorry for the delay, I was just alerted to your comment by a coworker today.  I'd be happy to answer some questions here.  I hope you won't mind if my replies are a little delayed - we're swamped here at Frozen North working on our next title.

Quote from: NWR_Neal

I also played that demo with TYP and I was initially interested in this game, but then I was so turned off by it. However, they've had more than a year to work on it, and as far as I know, they took the E3 critiques to heart and tried to work them out.

We most certainly have taken those critiques to heart.  Post-E3 we overhauled the game's visuals, including an all-new lighting system, and fixed a lot of inconsistencies in the twisting and combat mechanics.  I'm sorry the early version turned you off; we have to admit it really wasn't ready to show at that time.  I hope you'll give the finished product a try, and have a lot more fun!

Thanks to everyone reading for your interest!

Doug, just on the basis of this first entry in the developer diary, I am very inclined to check it out when it hits, and since I'll be formatting all of the subsequent developer diaries, I expect to get even more excited.

BeautifulShyJuly 29, 2010

Oh wow we don't get many developers here.
Hmm questions...
Was the reason for the delay to work on it more or was it to avoid a certain other platformer from taking away the spotlight of this game?

What type of music will be in the title?

Hmm how much will it cost?

DMGregoryDouglas Gregory, Guest ContributorJuly 29, 2010

Hi Maxi,


You hit the nail on the head: our publisher didn't want to release at a time when we'd get eclipsed by Super Mario Galaxy 2.  The hope is that waiting the summer will give Wii gamers' appetite for 3D platformers a chance to grow again.


The music in the game is all done by the legendary Tommy Tallarico, of Electric Playground and Video Games Live fame. He's easily the most prolific game composer, and what he created for Flip's delivers on his long reputation for musical excellence.  We asked him to evoke some of the memorable feeling of classic platformer games like Mario, Sonic, Donkey Kong Country, with a little of Zelda thrown in. He ran with that, adding his own signature spin, so that should give you an idea.


We don't determine the price for the title, but taking a quick look at a few game retailers' websites, it looks like most are planning to sell it for $29.99. That's not an official statement, so don't quote me on that. ;)

BeautifulShyJuly 29, 2010

What do you think of the resergance of platformers this generation on the Wii?

I mean we have games like Wario Land:Shake it,New Super Mario Bros. Wii, Donkey Kong Country Returns, Epic Mickey, Flips Twisted World and Kirby's Epic Yarn.

Do you think it is good to have this many platformers out?

Quote from: DMGregory

You hit the nail on the head: our publisher didn't want to release at a time when we'd get eclipsed by Super Mario Galaxy 2.

That's a smart move. All too often publishers want to simply push the product out the door. Hopefully that also meant the development team got a few more months to tweak and polish.

Quote:

The music in the game is all done by the legendary Tommy Tallarico, of Electric Playground and Video Games Live fame. He's easily the most prolific game composer, and what he created for Flip's delivers on his long reputation for musical excellence.  We asked him to evoke some of the memorable feeling of classic platformer games like Mario, Sonic, Donkey Kong Country, with a little of Zelda thrown in. He ran with that, adding his own signature spin, so that should give you an idea.

Jonny held a fantastic interview with Tommy shortly before E3 2010 to get the word out about Video Games Live. He shares a lot about the process behind running a show like VGL, also talks about his work on Metroid Prime. Anyone who missed it should really check it out.

DMGregoryDouglas Gregory, Guest ContributorAugust 01, 2010

Quote from: Maxi

What do you think of the resergance of platformers this generation on the Wii?

Platformers are one of my favourite genres, personally, so I think this can only be a good thing. Having more platformer options on the market:
- gives players more choice and more gaming opportunities
- encourages more experimentation and exploration among devs, to distinguish their offering
- (if they sell) demonstrates to publishers the business case for funding more platformer titles


When it works, this feedback loop creates more fun (or profit) for everyone involved. There is the risk of a flood of mediocre titles riding the coat tails of more successful ones, but so far I haven't seen that in the latest platformer surge. In any case, there are enough sources of solid review information available now (like this site) to keep most gamers from being stung by shovelware. So, bring on the platformers, I say. There's still tons of room to explore and innovate in this genre.

Quote from: TheYoungerPlumber

That's a smart move. All too often publishers want to simply push the product out the door. Hopefully that also meant the development team got a few more months to tweak and polish.

Unfortunately, a delay in shipping doesn't necessarily come with more funding to extend development. To keep our studio in the black, we've had to move on from Flip's to new paying work in the meantime. While it would be nice to refine FTW even further, I think you'll like what we've been creating since then.

Hey everyone! There's a new entry in the diary about the character design of Flip.

BeautifulShyAugust 05, 2010

Hmm while most of the designs look nice there wasn't really a hook with them.There was something missing in them.I'm not sure what though.

Killer_Man_JaroTom Malina, Associate Editor (Europe)August 07, 2010

Is there a video I can watch? It sounds like you've come up with a robust system with which to realise the original concept, but I'm struggling to visualise how it all plays out. Camera viewpoint, for example. I assume you'd need quite a lot of control over the camera to examine the level layout ahead of you. But how does the camera track Flip as the gravity changes while making sure you still know where you are and where you will be? That's what I'm trying to wrap my head around.

The third entry, about the game's story and voice acting, is up.

MoronSonOfBoronGarnet Red, Contributing WriterAugust 10, 2010

NEEDS SPOILER TAGS, ARRRGH

ToruresuAugust 13, 2010

I wonder if the name acronym FTW was intentional.

BeautifulShyAugust 13, 2010

I didn't even notice that. Maybe it was.

MGladneyMitch Gladney, Guest ContributorAugust 16, 2010

Hey guys,

The synopsis doesn't give the WHOLE story away, just touched on a few key events.  ;)

As far as Flip's Twisted World matching up with FTW, that was purely coincidental. The name of the game we pitched was actually called up & dn. (Up and Down) The logo worked both right side up and upside down.

Thanks,

Mitch

These guys are good writers. I'm totally fascinated by this game's development.

Killer_Man_JaroTom Malina, Associate Editor (Europe)September 01, 2010

I just read the latest entry pertaining to the http://www.nintendoworldreport.com/devjournal/23954 boss design and really, it is a fascinating prospect, the idea of fighting a boss with the twist mechanic. I can't even conjure any imaginary scenarios, but there's absolutely a lot of potential there.


It has made me more enthusiastic to try out And Yet It Moves on WiiWare, which is probably the closest thing to Flip's Twisted World at this moment. Sure, I respect that a direct comparison might show them to be very different, but it is nevertheless also a platformer that lets the player alter gravity. In fact, it sounds like it has complete freedom in rotation as opposed to 90 degree increments; apparently, the answer to making complete freedom of rotation viable is to ensure none of the terrain or platforms are flat.

Mop it upSeptember 07, 2010

I must've missed this somehow, but I've just read this article. This game is starting to sound like a winner. I like what I saw on the quick list of game mechanics, especially the one about being able to try things without punishment. It leaves more room to experiment and have fun figuring out puzzles. Interesting visualization of the Wii Remote... it sounds like it's a bit complicated to work with. I guess I now know why some companies have such trouble getting it to work right. Their way around the different positions people hold it is rather ingenious. I hope it works like they say.

Quote:

Platformers are one of my favourite genres, personally, so I think this can only be a good thing. Having more platformer options on the market:
- gives players more choice and more gaming opportunities
- encourages more experimentation and exploration among devs, to distinguish their offering
- (if they sell) demonstrates to publishers the business case for funding more platformer titles


When it works, this feedback loop creates more fun (or profit) for everyone involved. There is the risk of a flood of mediocre titles riding the coat tails of more successful ones, but so far I haven't seen that in the latest platformer surge. In any case, there are enough sources of solid review information available now (like this site) to keep most gamers from being stung by shovelware. So, bring on the platformers, I say. There's still tons of room to explore and innovate in this genre.

I've got nothing to add to this, I just wanted to say I pretty much agree with all of it.

BeautifulShySeptember 07, 2010

I'm really liking the design of the bosses. These days most bosses are realistic looking. It is nice to see this type of design.

Formatting and posting these every week has been an absolute pleasure. I will be sad when I don't have an e-mail from Majesco PR in my inbox every Monday or Tuesday.

FlipsterSeptember 07, 2010

"Originally, Butch was in the Glacier World's seas cleaning up a chemical spill from a potion sucked in from Master Fulcrum's lab, but when we decided to go in the direction of collecting Chapter Stones, he became a surly porpoise resolute on drilling the ice, searching for an elusive Chapter Stone."

Could this maybe have had anything to do with being controversial towards oil spills, or no? I guess since your idea of Chapter Stones has been around before the recent oil spill that is unlikely, but it still seems like an interesting coincidence, or maybe it's just me over-thinking it  :P:

I also enjoyed your guys' throwaway story, mostly for two reasons:

1. For me it's always been about the events and characters in a video game, not necessarily the main plot, but how the player progresses through that main plot and what memorable characters and events are experienced along the way.

2. Since Flip is actually in a far-off land inside of a magical book, if a sequel ever arises not only could you show a more consistent or in-depth universe if desired (much like what Banjo-Tooie was to Banjo-Kazooie), but it would also be less constraining for the plot to create a whole other universe with new characters and worlds without it seeming like an inorganic or unnatural progression.

Personally I always tend to love the first of a platforming series the most for having all of the basic themes (Super Mario 64, Jak and Daxter: The Precursor Legacy, Banjo-Kazooie, etc.), but more and more am I starting to appreciate a series' progression into a universe that is more of it's own, although that doesn't mean it NEEDS to be dark like Jak 2 or Banjo-Tooie.  :)

Mop it upSeptember 08, 2010

Part Two? Where is Part One?

EDIT: Silly me! I totally missed the sidebar with all the other entries posted. Looks like I have some more reading to do...

UltimatePartyBearSeptember 15, 2010

This developer diary has been a real treat, and it worked to not only put this game on my radar, but make me very interested in it.  I especially liked the bit about Flip's hit box getting wedged in the level geometry and doing weird things.  I've seen some really hilarious, but also some really frustrating bugs that come from that kind of thing.

I really appreciate the latest entry.  The TEV is a mysterious black box to most, so it's nice to not only see it getting use, but mathematical explanations of how it can be used creatively.  Heck, I haven't even seen NintendoWare mentioned anywhere since 2007.  I hope you guys have a chance to play with the lower-level TEV stuff and give Nintendo and High Voltage Software a run for their money!

ejamerSeptember 27, 2010

Wow, what a great (ongoing) read.  Thanks very much to the Frozen North Production guys for sharing, and for NintendoWorldReport for hosting.


Best of luck with the game.  If it turns out half as good as it looks then it'll be worth owning.  :D

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