Hello internet, today we interview Mark Johns of Space Barnacle fame (and also Braindead, Los Mosquito, Shit Game, Standard Bits, Owl Country and Hot Throttle but Space Barnacle is awesome!) about his new upcoming title that’s been buzzing up recently thanks to fuckyeahindiegames and alpha beta gamer, Gibson Hyperdive. It’s a gravity shifting runner with funky colours, synth house music (which I have been told is a type of electronic music) and a pace that makes you feel like you just got an epinephrine needle stabbed into your heart.
“How do you know that if the game is still in development?” you may ask.
“Are you one of those corrupt videogame journalists I keep hearing about ?”
First of all, I’m insulted to see you asking those questions, of course I am. Second of all I played it, you can too, right here.
It was actually great, which is always a relief (talk about awkward). It was all that I expected it would be, except when I was really surprised, with the small delays in gravity sifting that add a sense of weight to the vehicle and the simple 3 key control system. But I’ll save that and more for the (eventual) review. We’ll let Mark speak for himself. Take it away.
Would you like to introduce yourself to our readers?
Hi. My name is Mark. I’ve been making videogames for a long time, but I’m still relatively young. I worked on some cool stuff: The official game for the first HUNGER GAMES movie, the Tap Tap Revenge series for iOS, and Hot Throttle with Cactus for Adult Swim. When I was 22, I somehow landed an internship at Apple, one floor below Steve Jobs, working on programming hardcore weird esoterica for their clickwheel iPod games. They had me act as a model for one of their video poker characters, Kurt, too. Another, real, model at the shoot thought I was a professional model too, so that was cool!
Over the years, I’ve done production work for music artists such as DAFT PUNK, JUSTICE, NINE INCH NAILS, WEEZER, MOBY, BASEMENT JAXX, DIGITALISM, and… uh, COLDPLAY. I’ve also done a lot of work outside games, but, well, since videogames are like, a combination of every human art, craft, and science, they’re kind of the end-all-be-all of Art, am I right? That’s what we’re talking about here. We’re talking about Gibson Hyperdrive!
The game very much reminds me of Tempest 2000, atleast in path structure, was that one of your influences and were there any others?
Tempest 2000 was a huge influence on me as a kid, as was the original Tempest arcade cabinet, which I played a ton in college (I finished in 2007. Retro Arcade Cabinet collector friend). The first time I played Tempest 2000 was during a stint where I was doing some student work at the Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory, creating the master MKLinux install & setup disc for their PowerMacs. At the time, their head of computing had an Atari Jaguar, and he demoed the game to me.
Tempest 2000 [for the Millennials]
I loved its style, and especially the sort of VJ synasthesia Jeff Minter created between the interactive visuals and the music. That area of videogames has fascinated and driven me throughout all of my work.
We understand that the game is currently very much a work in progress but are there any plans to perhaps add a story or plot context to Gibson Hyperdrive or is the game intended to be skill based runner?
Yes, there is definitely a story, hinted in my ‘hyperbolic’ introduction to the game on TIGSource. It takes place in the future. You’re racing and doing parkour on these bikes for…a reason. The cool jumps come at a cost. When you fail. You die.
When did you first come up with the idea for Gibson Hyperdrive? What was the thought behind it?
This is interesting. I originally saw a freeware game developed at the University I attended and used to work at, in the Engineering Open House, called Vortex (guy didn’t know both games were developed in Campaign).
I immediately started exploring the concept of relative gravity in tubes in my own project, Rotrix. Rotrix is written in C++ and OpenGL, with its own scripting system and ingame level editor, & support for model and animation loading of several types. But it got bogged down in tech over play, a common mistake in overambitious game developers pursuing their first Big Game.
http://asidcast.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/997721f9-7eaa-4637-a59e-17d3397fa1aa.mp4
Later on, after being immersed in the TIGSource scene, and befriending cactus and messhof, we launched on a scheme to turn one of messhof and cactus’ prototypes, Terror Bikes, into an early iOS game. This was 2008. I was working for this company called Tapulous, making this game series called Tap Tap Revenge. There’s a lot of interesting stories about Terror Bikes. I left Tapulous one day, after rush founding Doomlaser, LLC, to a meeting with a competitor in San Francisco to discuss publishing.
We were all broke back then, and hustling and scrambling to get any kind of cash flow, so we could show the world that “making games independently” was a real career, with “artistic” overtones, no less! Anyway, cactus and I ended up, after a whole thing with Sony, making Hot Throttle for Adult Swim/Turner/Time Warner. And messhof made Nidhogg! And then cactus met Dennis and started making the Hotline Miami series!
I never gave up on Terror Bikes, and merged the concept of gravityshifting from Rotrix, into a Terror Bikes kind of game. at TIGJam: Winnipeg in 2010. You can see the first prototype of it in action, at the end of this Indie Game: The Movie clip. I played the game to everybody live, while looping SebastiAn’s ‘Motor’ on BLAST!
(Indie Game The Movie Clip)
(Motor)
And now, we have GIBSON HYPERDRIVE! Coming to an *unannounced* MAJOR CONSOLE! Theoretically, am I right? Lol <3
The game’s POV and art design has changed very much from your original build. It seems much more focused and the color palette seems much more Vibrant, could you tell us about the game’s art design and general visual aesthetic?
https://vimeo.com/56546495
I have a bold palette of colors that I like to work in, sort of a neon hyper-real pastel, sometimes with glowy bits. It draws from 80s and 90s VFX for films and computers, like the fake wire-frame flyby of New York City in John Carpenter’s ESCAPE FROM NEW YORK, Ridley Scott’s BLADE RUNNER, The 5th Element, and more.
You can see it evolve in my games Space Barnacle, StdBits, Das Cube, and Braindead. The main two inspirations for the “feel” I’m heading towards in the final game come from this scene in HACKERS (1995):
as well as the full previz comp Psygnosis mocked up before launching full development on WIPEOUT for the original PlayStation:
You described the platformer as “gravity shifting” would like to elaborate on that?
The mechanism of physics in the HYPERDRIVE on your bike allows it to reorient local gravity around it to whatever surface its riding across. This means, when you ride up on a wall, it becomes the ground. Combine that with crazy jumps and hairpin turns. Fun, right?
The soundtrack in your trailer is very… techno? Would you like to talk about the music in Gibson Hyperdrive?
The aesthetic I’m going for sonically is sort of futuristic synth french house, to match the hyper-real dystopia you find yourself in, navigating your bike across extreme geometries. I want something that feels like motorcycle speeding music.
Previous build
What are the main gameplay elements that are present is Gibson Hyperdrive and are there any you plan to add in the future?
Yes. [we did not get more out of Mark on this]
Are the levels randomly generated or is it pre-designed and if so, will players be able to design their own levels?
Random, but guided by systems that manage pacing elements, which are, theoretically, responsive to a number of factors. This is a method of guided procedural generation in gameplay that I’ve been working on exploring since OWL COUNTRY (2008). The idea is to allow lots of randomness in action, while still giving the flow and pace of the game a somewhat authored form. Like the Acts in a play or television show, except interactive and responsive to player input.
Will the game feature an online element?
Sort of. It’s a surprise. I’m planning on doing something standard, and something slightly weird. Don’t expect much! ;) I have a specific plan about integrating with smartphones in a way I haven’t seen done before. Is that an online element? It has to go through BlueTooth or 802.11 or something, that’s on… line… right? I’ve said too much. Who knows, right?
When can our readers expect to be able to play Gibson Hyperdrive and what’s the current business model with regards to publishing or crowdfunding?
I’m shooting for sometime this year, but it’ll have to go through a certification process before its released, so we’ll see.
Any thoughts on Boson X, which seems like a similar title?
Boson X disappointed me a little bit, because it was similar to Rotrix. It’s a fun game though. I beat the whole thing, and some of the recently released bonus levels. Also, this is the part of the interview where I can say, I love Terry’s SUPER HEXAGON SO MUCH. Beat the whole thing in a frenzy as soon as it released. What an inspiration in minimalist pseudo-random arcade gameplay. Beautiful game.
Ok, the last and perhaps most important question, has Gibson Hyperdrive anything to do with with Gibson guitars?
No. Unfortunate coincidence. William Gibson all the way! Neuromancer!
… Mona Lisa Overdrive! READ THEM, Wintermute. <3
If you were sufficiently charmed by Mr Mark Johns you can follow him @Doomlaser and also check out Doomlaser.com for more indie videogame awesomeness.
ASidCast Interviews Mark Johns: We Talk About Gibson Hyperdrive Hello internet, today we interview Mark Johns of Space Barnacle fame (and also Braindead, Los Mosquito, Shit Game, Standard Bits, Owl Country and Hot Throttle but Space Barnacle is awesome!) about his new upcoming title that's been buzzing up recently thanks to…
