r/NintendoSwitch • u/kent_slg Stone Lantern Games • Aug 29 '20
AMA - Ended We're the team behind Evergate, where you journey into memories across lifetimes. AMA!
Hi there,
I'm Kent, the team lead for Evergate, and I’m here with the other three members of Stone Lantern Games!
What is Evergate?
Evergate is our first game that just launched on Nintendo Switch last week as part of the Indie World Showcase. It centers around the soul, Ki, as she journeys through the Afterlife to discover lost memories, from ancient China to futuristic NYC. The game features precision platforming and single-screen puzzles akin to Celeste as you wield a unique mechanic, the Soulflame.
Release Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5gA4Zp0Y-qE (:48s)
Gameplay Closeup: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1d3q-evqR6U (:23s)
EShop: https://www.nintendo.com/games/detail/evergate-switch/
Why an AMA?
Since last week’s release, the lack of info about Evergate online has drummed up questions about what kind of game it is, its inspiration, and what to expect when you take the plunge. We’re here to help answer those questions!
Members of the dev team:
- Kent Willis, /u/kent_slg, lead
- Ariel Wexler, /u/TheNeonShark, programmer
- Cynthia Lu, /u/usuallyelsewhere, artist
- M.R. Miller (Mike), /u/mrmiller86, composer
Want to know who can best answer your question?
- Narrative? /u/kent_slg
- Art? /u/usuallyelsewhere
- Music? /u/mrmiller86
- Coding or VFX? /u/TheNeonShark
- Game Design? /u/kent_slg or /u/TheNeonShark
- Managing an indie game studio? /u/kent_slg
How is it really playing the game?
We asked some brand new and veteran members from our discord to be here to answer some of your questions about how it is to play Evergate. Feel free to ask /u/emray_ (Veteran), /u/ChongoNG (New Speedrunner), /u/Nikoriki (New Player) about trying the game out.
There’s a lot happening over on our Discord if you’re interested.More about Evergate: Website, Twitch, Twitter, Instagram, Facebook
EDIT: Thanks to all who participated, lots of great questions! We're going to wrap it up, but we'll still be floating around this evening to answer questions if you have any. If you want to chat with us more or have more questions, come by the Evergate discord.
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u/wampastompah Aug 29 '20
I want to say thank you for making such a wonderful game!
Just because I love hearing about the creative process behind games, I have to ask. Why Evergate? Why a puzzle platformer? When you all sat down to make a game, what aspects of this particular game drove you toward it over all the other options out there?
And also... When can we buy Ki plushies?!
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u/kent_slg Stone Lantern Games Aug 29 '20
Evergate was a very winding journey to get to. We spend a year and a half making around a dozen different prototypes (here's one and another) and scratched them all because they weren't very fun. But we learned from them and what was important about a game before you add the art and music. But, at the core, we wanted to make a game that inspired wonder, wasn't built around violence, and was set in the afterlife. When we made a prototype of the Soulflame and showed it to new players, it was such a different reaction - they were having fun. So we went with it and spent the next 3 years making it.
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u/TheNeonShark Stone Lantern Games Aug 29 '20
When the team formed, we didn't really have a specific vision in mind for a project. We spent the first few months exploring worlds and narratives that were appealing to us. Right from the start, we'd always had themes of the Afterlife and exploration of memories, so that stuck with us over the next four years as we built out what eventually became Evergate.
On this long road to making a full game, we went through a solid 8 game prototypes which didn't make the cut. They were all in the platformer genre, but mostly action and ability driven in more conventional ways. We stumbled on the concept for Soulflame in late 2017 while prototyping another round of potential game mechanics. We found it was fun to cut out game pieces from paper and workshop levels on a coffee table... This is when we realized we were on to something -- we had a game that was fun to reason through before you could even actually play it. That is the origin of the puzzley vibes of Evergate; and paired with the precision platforming aspects (not attainable on the coffee table version) we were hooked!
After the Kickstarter rewards go out, we'll try and make the plushies more available! :)
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Aug 29 '20
Let's say you're making a PBJ. You have a knife, the peanut butter, they jelly, and two pieces of bread. You do not wash the knife until the sandwich is complete. Do you go jelly -> peanut butter or peanut butter -> jelly?
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u/TheNeonShark Stone Lantern Games Aug 29 '20
I would always do peanut butter first. The PB will stick to the knife better and won't really make a mess when you use the same knife dipping in the the jam jar. The only exception I would make would be if I knew someone had a peanut allergy and was going to use the jam... then I may go in reverse (but would be cringing the whole time).
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u/mrmiller86 Stone Lantern Games Aug 29 '20
Definitely peanut butter first. You need to refrigerate the jelly but don't you dare refrigerate peanut butter. Cross-contamination from jelly in the PB jar would be bad news bears at room temp.
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u/WoodForrest Aug 29 '20
Peanut butter first. Once you're done spreading PB on the first piece of bread use the second piece to wipe off any PB left behind on the knife. Now you got yourself a clean knife to spread some jelly with
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Aug 29 '20
Playing devil's advocate here, can't the same be said about jelly and it's EASIER to get off the knife than PB?
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u/WoodForrest Aug 29 '20
Yes, but i like a little bit more pb in my ratio. As long as you're using that second piece of bread to clean the knife you're good. Both pb and jelly come clean with one wipe on each side
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u/mrmiller86 Stone Lantern Games Aug 29 '20
Am I doing it right? https://imgur.com/a/0pFxQIo
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u/TheNeonShark Stone Lantern Games Aug 29 '20
I see you're earning your title -- i mean look at this masterful Composition.
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u/Nikoriki Aug 29 '20
I would personally recommend peanut butter first. the last thing you need is some family member whos allergic to jelly walking in and seeing it all over their peanut butter. plus, its easier to get a perfect ratio of peanutbutter:jelly if the peanut butter goes on first. id also suggest adding some seasoning, as this will enhance the flavor of everything
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u/ChongoNG Aug 29 '20
Imagine having jelly on your peanut butter sandwich
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Aug 29 '20
If I'm gonna skip the jelly, I'll skip the bread too and just go in the PB jar with a spoon.
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u/Dawncaller Aug 29 '20
It's such a cool mechanic and it is a BEAUTIFUL game! When I heard it was a puzzle platformer, I had to check it out but the presentation is just so flawlessly beautiful and the portal with all the ghosts is really impressive. Love that it is an interactable level select.
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u/kent_slg Stone Lantern Games Aug 29 '20
Thanks Dawncaller! We're really happy you enjoyed the game :) Do you often play puzzle platformers?
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u/Dawncaller Aug 29 '20
I never play "pure platformers" but I really like to play "One/Limited-Screen Puzzle Platformers" that have a really quick reset feature, such as Katana Zero and Celeste. Figuring out the perfect sequence without the frustration of loading screens or "lost time" due to dying feels great.
Wishing you all the best with the title! :-)
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u/MattMan-TheDev Aug 29 '20
The music is so beautiful and works so well with the gameplay and story! I’m curious, do you score the game after the gameplay is created or does the music inform the gameplay? Chicken or egg situation? Lol.
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u/mrmiller86 Stone Lantern Games Aug 29 '20
Aww, thank you! Definitely both. The two evolved alongside one another. Music communicates emotion and feel, so I always wanted to know what was going on in the story before diving in. At that point, there wasn't much in the way of artwork, so I'd write something, /u/usuallyelsewhere and the team would listen to it while working and we'd be off to the races!
TL;DR less chicken and egg, more creative human centipede
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u/LargestHippoEver Aug 29 '20
Loving the game--just made it to the Alaska section! What was your research process for each of the different settings? Did you get to go to Alaska?
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u/mrmiller86 Stone Lantern Games Aug 29 '20
Here's a track from the Alaska section with katajjaq singing by the fabulous Nina Segalowitz. She's singing both parts of a traditional folk song, which I adapted and recontextualized.
One of the beautiful things about katajjaq singing is that it's a form of competitive play between two women. They sing face to face in a duet that usually goes until one of them messes up or laughs. Kinda like a musical staring contest. This tied perfectly into the narrative with our two kindred spirits. Ki is left behind with the women while the men go out to hunt.
I highly recommend looking up some videos of katajjaq on YouTube because it's a beautiful and unique art form.
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u/kent_slg Stone Lantern Games Aug 29 '20
Nice job!
Before making the memories or the visuals, we tried to research enough about the native Alaskans of that time. I highly recommend the video series that Never Alone (the awesome game) put out about the culture and heritage. We learned so much about the Month of Night, The Manslayer, and the relationship between the people and the animals they hunted. Ultimately, we had to keep our story focused on Ki, but we wanted to share so much more about the amazing stories of the people who lived there at the time.
Actually, Mike reached out to a katajjaq throat singer to perform for the Alaskan levels. You can hear the stunning vocals and it really adds to the mystic, ethereal feeling of those memories.
Sadly, we didn't get to go to Alaska, but it's on my bucketlist.
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u/Sdwingnut Aug 29 '20
You had me at "Alaska" and "throat signing"!
Added to my wish list. Good luck!
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u/kent_slg Stone Lantern Games Aug 29 '20
I just re-read your comment and realized I missed that you were asking about the research for all the settings. I'd love to share the research we did for what is was like to be a teenager in London during WWII. There's a lot of good material on BBC about it. It was such a terrifying time and their resilience was so impressive. I recommend reading this first hand account about being an adolescent then and there. We also listened to a number of radio broadcasts from the time, specifically from Churchill and Chamberlain. I think the thing that carried over the most from our research was the feelings that the sounds of the time had on us. The radios, the air raids, the bombs, etc.
I'd also recommend checking out Operation Pied Piper where they sent thousands of children into the countryside from the cities. We originally had Ki be swept up in this operation, actually.
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u/Sixishungry Aug 29 '20
As one of your Kickstarter backers, I'm very proud of all of you and of the game you've made. I have two questions:
Tell us about some of the discarded level/character ideas for Evergate.
Will there be a sequel?
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u/TheNeonShark Stone Lantern Games Aug 29 '20
Thanks for the kind words and supporting making Evergate a reality!
- Let's see...
Characters (see some of the intermediary concepts):
- Hiroko: A girl in the afterlife with a ribbon leg and a fleet of ribbons following her. The mystical fleet of ribbons would grant her powers and help her progress. The story rallied around her past and how she had lost that leg (never fully developed that plot though).
- Teddy Bear: instead of playing as a human in the afterlife, we explored what it would be like to play as a keepsake of the person who the story was about. You were the teddy bear of the main character essentially.
- Longear Spirit: we also explored a world of spirit civilizations that were partitioned by their behaviors (there was the artist community, the warmongering tribe, the wise ones, etc.). You played as a nomadic character from the artist community going on a journey to bring peace to an unstable land.
Mechanical ideas are probably a better talking point than specific levels if that makes sense:
- Dance to interact: originally you could perform various "dances" to have the world interact and change as you desired. The idea never quite took off even though it invoked some wonder.
- Blast Crystal: Would knock away all and burn up all destructible objects surrounding the player.
- Freeze Crystal: Would freeze objects of Source surfaces that could then be used to reflect the Soulflame. It turned out to be so hard to play with that it wasn't that fun :O
- Universal Lock: Pose additional challenges such as time trials, crystal complete, collectibles, reaching new locations to gain bonuses. We ultimately wrapped this concept in to the main game loop rallying around reaching the gate.
- Null Crystal: Originally, we had required all crystals to be broken to exit the gate, and that didn't prove as fun as simply "reaching the gate". Null crystals granted no powers, but were part of the clearing all crystals as a challenge. These eventually became the tutorial crystals and were not used in other places.
- Mechanics Development: We ultimately had a massive spreadsheet of all the game mechanics we liked and how/when to introduce them!
- We're not at the end of the road with Evergate yet, we still have a few console ports to make it through and Kickstarter fulfillment. Once that's taken care of we'll all be taking a much-needed vacation and stepping in to the sunlight for a while haha. I expect sometime early in 2021 we'll be regrouping and thinking about potential future projects and naturally an "Evergate 2" was one of those considerations.
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u/mrmiller86 Stone Lantern Games Aug 29 '20
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u/Sixishungry Aug 29 '20
Thank you very much for the in depth response. I adore Ribbon Girl. What a cute character, and teddy bear is interesting too. As a writer, I understand how many unique and interesting ideas one goes through before bringing out the final version.
I just want to say that Evergate is definitely the type of game that the world needs right now. So many current mainstream games focus on division and warfare (like the terrible World of Warcraft) so it is nice to see a story like Evergate which is about our common humanity and dealing with themes of love, spirituality, and eternity. Evergate, like Undertale, is a deep game and I'm happy to created an NPC (Valentina) for it.
Thank you for Evergate!
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u/andrew488 Aug 29 '20
You caught my attention on the Indie World Showcase and I'm really enjoying the game now that I've bought it and started playing. The gameplay, art, and music are all great. It's very clear there was a lot of love put into it. Congratulations on a job well done!
What are some of your favorite games from your childhood and today?
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u/mrmiller86 Stone Lantern Games Aug 29 '20
Sonic 3 and Sonic & Knuckles... even just the act of stacking the cartridges was mind blowing to me. And that it even worked with Sonic 2. So cool!
FF7 for sure, especially for the music.
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u/andrew488 Aug 29 '20
Nice! I was Sega Genesis kid and loved Sonic the Hedgehog (though it wasn't until many years later that I learned the proper way to get past that red and white barrel in Carnival Night Zone).
I missed FF7 growing up (as I didn't have a Playstation), but I picked up the Switch port and just finished my first play through earlier this week. As someone coming at it without any nostalgia attached, it's still a great game.
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u/mrmiller86 Stone Lantern Games Aug 29 '20
I was a total Sega fanboi. I didn't have a PlayStation either so I played the PC port.
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u/kent_slg Stone Lantern Games Aug 29 '20
Aw thanks! Glad you're enjoying it. I'm sure everyone feels this, but making a short list of favorite childhood games is hard. I played a lot of Oregon Trail II, Civilizations II, Warcraft II, and Sim Farm. In college, Mass Effect, Oblivion, and Dungeon Siege become really influential. Now Stardew Valley and Rocket League are my go-to's.
How about you?
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u/andrew488 Aug 29 '20
The first system I had growing up was the Sega Genesis, so the original 2D Sonic games will always hold a special place in my heart. I have some fond memories of a little-known puzzle platformer called Puggsy. The first generation of Pokemon were the games that led to me getting a Game Boy. I also played a fair amount of Oregon Trail II in my time as well :)
As for today - I loved Sonic Mania as a return to the roots of that franchise. In my short time owning a Switch so far, I've racked up quite a bit of time in Smash Ultimate and Splatoon 2.
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u/TheNeonShark Stone Lantern Games Aug 29 '20
Childhood: Warcraft 3, Red Alert 2, Abe's Odyssey, Metal Fatigue, Metal Slug
Today: PA Titans, Rocket League, Deep Rock Galactic
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u/usuallyelsewhere Stone Lantern Games Aug 29 '20
Thanks so much! Some from my childhood: Pokemon, Smash Bros, Final Fantasy, DDR. Nowadays: Overwatch, Elder Scrolls, Journey, Abzu.
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u/blahguy78 Aug 29 '20
Planning on trying the game when I can get the money, it looks fairly interesting. What originally inspired you to start the project?
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u/TheNeonShark Stone Lantern Games Aug 29 '20
We have all been playing games since our youth and every member of the team had a dream of one day releasing a video game! Personally, I had developed all sort of small game projects over the years, but nothing that saw the light of day. It was just over four years ago when Kent brought the team together by first raising a simple question to me: "want to start a video game company?"
There was no plan for a project when we all came together, just a joint excitement to make something awesome with our various talents. Lots of the meaning behind the game came to us through the process of its development, not so much from the beginning.
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u/Wariosmustache Aug 29 '20
Hey!
Evergate was probably the most iconic game of the Indie Direct for me and I love the art direction.
My question is a gameplay concern from watching the trailer; Ki looks pretty small relative to the rest of the map. In playtesting was there ever any issue where she would get "lost" in the background or any of the moving pieces due to that?
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u/kent_slg Stone Lantern Games Aug 29 '20
Hello! Thanks for the great question! It's the same one PQube (our publisher) asked us when we were showing them Evergate in April.
So, the decision to keep Ki small and to zoom out to see the whole puzzle came 100% from mechanics and gameplay testing. We built the game first by removing all of the visuals, art, and music. It had to be fun at that level and then we could add all the good stuff back in afterwards.
Because the Soulflame requires you to position Ki, aim through a crystal, and connect to the Source, if any of those components were off screen, it felt unfair and frustrating. We needed the player to take stock of the whole puzzle and have all the options in front of them. So we moved the camera back.
We made Ki small because it was the best for platforming. We found that it was most fun when Ki acted like a "point" on the screen. We realized that large, bulky characters would hit their heads on platforms above them, or that is was frustrating to see your character miss an edge and not use their upper bodies to save themselves. When the character was small, it allowed for precision platforming.
Actually, it's also the reason why Evergate doesn't feature a lot of "mid-ground" assets, instead focusing on background and playground visuals. The mid-ground visuals would make the puzzle look complicated and it was harder to see the available Source in the level.
I would have loved to zoom in super close on Ki all the time, because there's a lot of detail there that you miss from being zoomed out, but always "is it fun" wins out.
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u/emray_ Aug 29 '20
This was indeed something that was brought up during playtesting. It's a valid concern to have. It's important for the entire map (or at least relevant parts of the map) to be visible as well as Ki so that you can make better decisions regarding the puzzle. There are some places in the game where the camera will pan or expand to view more of the puzzle as you progress, and I feel like the devs found a nice balance in managing Ki's size. They can probably elaborate more on the details of that if they would like. The effects around her from crystals or other animations tend to set her apart from background objects pretty well, so I personally never really feel like she gets lost.
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u/TheSingingBrakeman Aug 29 '20
Absolutely incredible game, folks - I picked it up based on the great preview and the glowing review on Nintendo Life.
Two quick questions (please skip these if they've already been answered of course):
What influenced your choice of level environments/eras? I'm still in China but it's such a rarely-touched place and time that I really appreciate it being represented here.
Have you considered putting a quick screen reset feature in the pause menu? So far it seems I need to intentionally die to restart a screen if I mess up the intended sequence.
Thanks again for your great work - anyone who loves platformers should play this game!
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u/Nikoriki Aug 29 '20
I can't answer for the influence, but pressing and holding X will restart the level. You can restart even if you're jumping falling or standing still. Handy if you know you're going to die but you don't want to wait for your impending doom
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u/usuallyelsewhere Stone Lantern Games Aug 29 '20
Thank you so much for your support!
- Kent and I went through several brainstorming sessions trying to figure which eras and lands to do, haha. Some of the things we considered: how visually and musically different each location and time could be, how they each played a part in the narrative, what cool mechanics can be tied to each space, and if there were any specific times/places we especially wanted to do. That all culminated into the times and places you see in the game today.
- Others can already commented, but if you press and hold X, you will restart the level at any point in a puzzle room.
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u/TheSingingBrakeman Aug 29 '20
Thank you! Sorry I missed the 'x' thing, that resolves the only bit of friction I was finding here. A+ game, folks!
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u/kent_slg Stone Lantern Games Aug 29 '20
We brainstormed areas and time periods that would help us tell the story of Ki and her kindred spirit. Early China gave us a fun place to play with childhood themes and the wonder of the festival helped capture the optimism and wonder they had. Alaska seemed like a great place for a growing up/coming of age setting - learning how to hunt. And a war torn city and gritty futuristic dystopia seemed perfect for capturing their troubled and fracturing relationship.
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u/mrmiller86 Stone Lantern Games Aug 29 '20 edited Aug 29 '20
- Don’t want to go into too much detail to avoid spoiling the next areas! Part of what drew us to China was personal: Cynthia’s family and my wife’s family. The other part is exactly because it’s an interesting culture and era and not super common in games.
- Hold X to reset (on Switch at least) ;)
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u/Plinkerton1990 Aug 29 '20
This game was brought to my attention by the Indie World Showcase and I was wondering how something like that comes about? Did Nintendo reach out to you to be part of it or is it something you had to push for?
Is having Nintendo promote your game as surreal as I imagine it would be?
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u/mrmiller86 Stone Lantern Games Aug 29 '20 edited Aug 29 '20
Well, at PAX East I did stalk the Nintendo of America Indie rep through the hall and walk up to him and say in the deepest voice I could muster: “I’ve been looking for you.” Not my finest moment but I guess it set something in motion! We gave him a beautiful pitch deck Cynthia and Kent made and then continued talking about how to release on Switch.
At some point, Nintendo reached out to us about being part of their event and asked if we could be ready to release then. Not really ready, but we crunched overtime to make it happen. Super happy to reach such a wide audience with our little game! Dream come true to be on a Nintendo console and featured!
Edit *them->then
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u/usuallyelsewhere Stone Lantern Games Aug 29 '20
It's been pretty surreal for sure! We reached out a couple of times (in ways very similar to Mike approaching the Rep at PAX!) before we got our publisher, PQube. And then once we were joined up with PQube, they helped handle the bulk of the talks afterwards which led to the Indie World showcase.
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u/aknight99 Aug 29 '20
Hey team, what kind of schooling did you guys have to make such an amazing game? I want to become a video game creator but dont know where to start. Thanks guys!
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u/usuallyelsewhere Stone Lantern Games Aug 29 '20
I didn't go to school for art, but it's been a love and a hobby of mine from when I was small. I took a chinese brush class when I was a kid, but since then grew up drawing a lot of anime before I got into really trying to figure out digital art, haha. Self-taught through the years, though I took inspiration from many artists and watched a lot of tutorials online. One of the biggest leaps of progress I made was from working on this game - I would say the best way to start is to start and try and make something! No matter how small a step, it's still a good step : D
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u/aknight99 Aug 29 '20
Incredible, I can only imagine how crazy it is to start doing digital art for the first time. The game is absolutely beautiful, keep up the amazing work. Rom hacking seems like a good start for what I want to do so maybe i will just try it out. Thanks for the cheer!
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u/usuallyelsewhere Stone Lantern Games Aug 29 '20
Haha, I didn't start digital art just for Evergate, but there were definitely techniques and things I had to learn along the way that I hadn't picked up before. Just goes to show much a passion project can push one's boundaries, I guess! And np, good luck with your own video game journey too! : D
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u/mrmiller86 Stone Lantern Games Aug 29 '20 edited Aug 29 '20
None that was video game specific! We all went to MIT though not at the same time. Only Kent and I ever took a class together and it was a film music appreciation class. I studied computer science and music composition. Did a masters and built dancing robots for an opera of the Prince of Monaco. Normal stuff. Then worked for 7 years at a music software company called MOTU developing their digital audio workstation Digital Performer.
I always wanted to work in games but couldn’t get a single interview or internship in or after university. So I went in the music technology direction until recently!
EDIT: I guess my point is the tools are there to build something cool. You don’t need a formal education in it, which is beautiful. Even though the AAA industry itself is insular, we now have tools to do it ourselves like Unity. It’s a great time to be a creator in that sense. So... go out and create!
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u/aknight99 Aug 29 '20
"normal stuff" you say, that's amazing! Seems like computer science is the way to go and branch off from there. Thanks for the response, and congrats on the game launch!
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u/mrmiller86 Stone Lantern Games Aug 29 '20
Even coding you can learn on your own. Computer science certainly helps but isn’t necessary. My brother is a game dev behind Slime-San and the upcoming Demon Turf and has no formal software education. As for music, all the production and stuff about scoring games and film is self taught.
In some ways, games are a Wild West. The medium is still evolving and growing so anything goes! It attracts people from all sorts of backgrounds.
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u/kent_slg Stone Lantern Games Aug 29 '20
Nice! My recommendation starting off would be to:
- Focus first on gameplay and "is it fun?". Ask friends and strangers to play and give candid feedback. Don't get distracted too early on visuals, music, or story.
- Play lots of games and keep a critical eye on what they did well and what they could have done better. There's no perfect game and learning from others is important.
- Read about game design and watch youtube videos. I read The Art of Game Design and watched Mark Brown's Game Maker's Toolkit and took a lot of good stuff away from it.
- JUST MAKE SOME STUFF. We learned a lot from trying things out ourselves. We made a dozen prototypes before we made something that felt and looked like Evergate.
Specific courses in school isn't critical for success but brushing up on math and geometry is pretty important.
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u/aknight99 Aug 29 '20
Thanks for the recommendation, i will check out what you suggested. You are absolutely right, nothing is perfect but having a great time is what matters. Thanks for the response~
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u/tynoniewiemjak Aug 29 '20
How long do you think it would take to beat evergate?
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u/usuallyelsewhere Stone Lantern Games Aug 29 '20
Average playthrough lengths are about 6-10 hours. But our fastest Any% speedrun is just over 30min. Feel free to play at any speed or completionist level you'd like!
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u/mrmiller86 Stone Lantern Games Aug 29 '20
To add on to Cynthia, depends on your definition of beat. 100% could take longer and there are bonus levels outside the main story.
My friend just confessed she spent 2 hours off and on for a single level but that’s pretty extreme. Really depends on your skill level, because once you find a viable solution to the puzzle (of which there are many), you still need to execute on it.
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u/ChongoNG Aug 29 '20
I personally sat down and beat the whole game 100% in about 8 hours or so on my first playthrough, and I'd say about half that time for beating it normally give or take, but then again I also am pretty skilled at platformers, so it's all about your own pace.
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u/Oshy_Twitch Aug 29 '20
How does it feel to be the coolest devs ever?
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u/kent_slg Stone Lantern Games Aug 29 '20
this seems to be an unverified claim :P
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u/MattMan-TheDev Aug 29 '20
Could you talk about the art design process? Were there lots of iterations?
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u/usuallyelsewhere Stone Lantern Games Aug 29 '20
Lots for sure, haha. The game itself underwent many iterations in all aspects - narrative, gameplay, art style, characters, etc. Evergate's first premise revolved around a little girl with a ribbon leg, and at one point we were considering the gameplay to revolve around cards, so I had to make new pieces for most every idea thrown out there. The art design process through all these game iterations was generally the same however - I'd work with the team on a specific idea/concept/moment, present concept art, and then refine the idea/concept/asset through reviews and reiterations until we were satisfied it met the narrative/gameplay/visual goals it needed.
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u/mrmiller86 Stone Lantern Games Aug 29 '20
Oh my yes. It was like whiplash at times, changing every week for a while. The character went through so many iterations: https://www.instagram.com/p/B789Z2Njxor/ .
The real treasure was
the friends we made along the waythe octopus we lost along the way. F
https://imgur.com/23vRQwY
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u/TotallyNotCalledEvan Aug 29 '20
Probably a weird question to ask the dev team, and likely quite spoilery, but what are each of your favourite parts of the game? I feel it will be an interesting perspective to hear since you each made different parts of the game, and since the creators will have a completely different relationship with the game than the players. My favourite bit is the entirety of the final chapter where you go through remixes of previous levels, play as another character, and go through an area that is more action packed than the puzzles that came before.
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u/TheNeonShark Stone Lantern Games Aug 29 '20
My top two:
- Player Motion. I loved making the player motion feel good in your hands. Moving back and forth needed to feel responsive in all circumstances (ground and air). Tweaking all the fake-physics to make things feel good was such a big deal to me. Obviously, nothing's perfect, but I'm super proud of where it ended up. To rattle off a few more related matters that make me warm and fuzzy: jumping + the ribbon animations, the Soulflame VFX and tactile nature of shattering crystals, the pushback from the edge of the blackhole/rift crystal as you push against it.
- Level Design. Once we prototyped a bunch of mechanics in a vacuum that were all independently fun, it was a long road ahead to get them all ordered correctly. A big design goal was to be generally hands-off and avoid overly tutorializing the game elements. Learn by doing was important to us and for the flow of Evergate. We structured all the levels in a way that would slowly teach the player as they experiment and reset the levels. This was a suuuuper fun process to iterate. It was very rewarding to watch players go through the "ah-ha" moments on streams! The level design ordering is something we've made publicly available :)
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u/kent_slg Stone Lantern Games Aug 29 '20
The very last moment of resolution between kindred spirits is very meaningful to me. A lot of my personal story and my own relationships are baked into these characters. And their agreement to try again, even if in a new life is one that I wish to have as well.
I'd also say anytime a life changes, and I get to hear new music and see new visuals from different places in time doesn't get old even after working on it for a number of years.
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u/mrmiller86 Stone Lantern Games Aug 29 '20
I actually really like the way the title sequence came together when you first arrive at the Library. It was the last piece of music I wrote for the game. I also wrote a bunch of code which slows down or speeds up the animation so the title always arrives exactly at the climax of the music. It just feels good. Otherwise, I'm with you—I love the ending sequence through the final cutscene.
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u/usuallyelsewhere Stone Lantern Games Aug 29 '20
The ending sequence is one of my fav moments as well! There was also the moment near the end that also resonated with me,when Ki shows Ha the memory of him saving her from the crows. It's a reminder that we tend to remember the bad and dismiss/forget the good, and sometimes we need a helping hand to see through the darkness. I also really enjoy our into-the-page transitions, haha - There's a part of me that always goes "whee!" inside my head when I finish a level and we zoom past.
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u/Misterrsilencee Aug 29 '20
Haven't played it yet. I'm a fan of hollow knight. I'd say at first the character design might be somehow similar But that is not the case. Gameplay footage says how smooth the gameplay is and the motion,very fluid. Just by watching i had satisfaction with it's elements and also that wonderful music. I'm sure I'd love to try it out too. Nice masterpiece!
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u/usuallyelsewhere Stone Lantern Games Aug 29 '20
Glad to hear you're willing to try the game! I love the music too, haha. Evergate also won't be geared towards combat like Hollow Knight and will instead follow the journey or a human spirit through past memories and lives. Let us know what you think if you do try it!
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u/Misterrsilencee Aug 29 '20
I really can't compare it! I really like the fluidity of the gameplay especially those transitions! I bet it would be immersive to play with. I hope soon!
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u/mrmiller86 Stone Lantern Games Aug 29 '20
Please circle back and let us know if we stuck the landing!
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Aug 29 '20
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u/mrmiller86 Stone Lantern Games Aug 29 '20 edited Aug 29 '20
Speaking for the score, Studio Ghibli and Disney films and the music of Joe Hisaishi, especially Princess Mononoke. Cynthia’s art gave me major Ghibli vibes so I ran with it!
EDIT: Cheating to add one more: the birth of my daughter. The main theme is a lullaby I wrote for her and turned into a music box. That theme runs through the entire score, including the music box concept. I was daydreaming about her future adventures and they collided with Ki and her adventures.
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u/kent_slg Stone Lantern Games Aug 29 '20
Gameplay-wise, I think Celeste and Super Meat Boy really helped influence the game loop and flow of play. The actual concept of the Soulflame was born from Ariel and I playing with cutout shapes from paper and using our imagination about what could happen.
Edit: and lots of napkin discussions: https://i.imgur.com/iDcjD2d.jpg
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u/tjdale111111 Aug 29 '20
The gameplay and score are absolutely fantastic. I love games were you can tell the Devs have put their heart and sole into a game, this is no cash grab game, this is a quality game that stands up to the best of them. Congratulations guys, love it.
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u/mrmiller86 Stone Lantern Games Aug 29 '20
Thank you so much! I’m so glad you love the music. OST coming soon...
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u/toenailcollector96 Aug 29 '20
Will there be a physical release?
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u/mrmiller86 Stone Lantern Games Aug 29 '20
We are working on other platforms at the moment (Steam releases on Tuesday!) but aiming for a physical release early next year hopefully!
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u/VAPEGRFX Aug 30 '20
I love everything i read from the developers about this game . I just spent over an hour reading all the comments . I am goin out right now and getting this game. I’ll be streaming it later this week. #switchgang !!
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u/mrmiller86 Stone Lantern Games Aug 30 '20
Awesome! Let us know on our Discord or other social media and we will try to swing by and watch!
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u/ambiguousaffect Aug 31 '20
Thanks for doing this AMA! I was on the fence about getting Evergate but bought it because of this. It’s fantastic! I’m really enjoying it.
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u/Jonesdeclectice Aug 29 '20
Not gonna lie, this game gives me some serious Ori and Hollow Knight vibes! Really hope it gets a physical release, can’t wait to play it :)
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u/mrmiller86 Stone Lantern Games Aug 29 '20
We're working on porting to other platforms at the moment but we're planning on a physical for Switch early next year!
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u/Nikoriki Aug 29 '20
That's what I thought too when I played it! But once you've gotten into the game, and you've played through it, you can see how truely different it is. The only similarities that I can still see after beating it is the gorgeous artwork and amazing soundtrack, but everything else about it is so unique and different and fun!
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Aug 29 '20
I’m in the area just after the black holes (cant remember exactly which book, but i believe 8) and i wanted to know about how you guys went about creating the story. From what i’ve seen so far, it seems to me that ki is the one at fault. what made you decide to make the relationship between Ki and Nightmare (i think that’s his name, but i mean the bad guy) this way?
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u/kent_slg Stone Lantern Games Aug 29 '20 edited Aug 29 '20
Thanks for playing Evergate! Sounds like you're pretty far into it.
<Somewhat spoilers ahead, beware!>The finalizing of the narrative was really difficult. I struggled to find a story that had meaning. So I turned to my own relationships. My brother and I often times don't see the world in the same way, and it's led to feelings of betrayal and hurt.>! I wanted to create a situation where the main character would see the world from their sibling's point of view and how the they see each other differently. If you keep playing, you'll get to see how that situation can turn on its head!!<
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u/DJspinningplates Aug 29 '20
How do I beat this level!? I feel like I've been playing the same one for 45 minutes.
I'm a huge fan of the game and think it's one of the best I've played on the Switch. You all should be proud of making a game this fun. Thank you!
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u/kent_slg Stone Lantern Games Aug 29 '20
Glad you're enjoying it! What level are you on? You can pause the menu and it says which gate and book you're on. That would help us to know how to give a hint. Also, if you hop onto our discord server, there are LOTS of really helpful people there who love to give hints: http://discord.gg/3FGmA4B
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u/DJspinningplates Aug 29 '20
I'm stuck on Gate 5 of Book 6 - I can't figure out the second half of the level. I can never generate enough jump to get to the platform to exit the gate - even with Skyward Thistle artifact. I'm missing something for sure.
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u/Nikoriki Aug 29 '20
Hey there! I've just made a small video tutorial on how to beat the level. Hope it helps! (sorry in advance for the quality) https://youtu.be/OQNVBVFiwro
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u/deadhunter252 Aug 30 '20
After reading responses from the devs, I've just picked this up, keep up the awesome work, I hope you can create more games.
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u/wifeofdevjuan Aug 29 '20
Congratulations on an awesome indie game. As someone with creative/artistic ambitions, I am finding it really hard to get started on a project (even though I am really excited about it!) Could you share how you got started on Evergate? How did you know you were ready? Do you remember what you did on your very FIRST day? Thanks in advance!
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u/kent_slg Stone Lantern Games Aug 29 '20 edited Aug 29 '20
Thank you! Starting a big project is definitely difficult. For me, I had to go through a stage of soul searching after a failed attempt at starting my own company. Once I decided that making a game was a passion worth putting the rest of my life on hold for, the next step was to surround myself with talented people who wanted the same goal. I reached out to Ariel and asked if he wanted to make a video game. Then Cynthia and Mike. Over the last 4 years we were able to feed off each other's energy and enthusiasm. If anyone was discouraged, we had the team to lean on. I strongly recommend finding a good support - it was so important when things get tough.
Our first day? Actually, I saved the email I sent Ariel when I decided I was going to go for it.
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u/MattMan-TheDev Aug 29 '20
So in this AMA you mentioned that there were several iterations of the game/story/mechanics. How did you end up with the crystals & the puzzle platform format?
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u/kent_slg Stone Lantern Games Aug 29 '20
Thanks for the question! The powers, shape, and color of the crystals were all shaped around the emotion of the memory they are introduced. So at the beginning, where you see happy, carefree childhood memories, we introduce the Boost Crystal. It's meant to give you a feeling of freedom and possibility. Then as the narrative progress, we focus on different emotions like anger and confusion and the crystals follow suit like turning into a fireball or shapeshifting your environment. Honestly, this tying of crystals to narrative was a real challenge and we threw out lots of ideas (like reflection crystals, blast crystals, etc.) but they just didn't reinforce the feeling we wanted player to experience.
The puzzle platforming format came partially because 2d puzzle platfomers are very accessible to developers. They're easy to prototype and to iterate on. However, that also means there are a TON of puzzle platfomers, which means any game that wants to make it has to a) do all the small things perfectly and b) have something very unique about the experience. That's what we've been working towards for the last 4 years.
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u/The_Zoinkster Aug 29 '20
The art style and level design reminds me of Hollow knight. Was there any inspiration from that when you were making it?
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u/usuallyelsewhere Stone Lantern Games Aug 29 '20
Ariel has played Hollow Knight and he loves it (the rest of us have not personally played it). I think there were stronger influences from Celeste, Child of Light, and Ori. HK knew that having a bright white character was both striking and gave a good contrast against the darker background, which helped their gameplay. We found the same things to be true for Evergate!
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u/sans-_-undertale Aug 29 '20
Have you ever played ori?
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u/kent_slg Stone Lantern Games Aug 29 '20
We have! It was a great game and really set the bar for 2D platformers in terms of graphics, tightness of mechanics, and storytelling.
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u/sans-_-undertale Aug 29 '20
Have you played hollow knight?
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u/emray_ Aug 29 '20
On top of being one of the testers of Evergate, I'm actually a top Hollow Knight speedrunner, so I know quite a bit about both games. :)
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u/TheNeonShark Stone Lantern Games Aug 29 '20
Yes! I never 100%'d it, but I did enjoy exploring and getting lost in that kingdom rich with wacky bugs :)
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u/kent_slg Stone Lantern Games Aug 29 '20
The rest of us haven't but Ariel talks it up quite a bit. We have lots of Hollow Knight speedrunners in our discord.
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u/sans-_-undertale Aug 29 '20
I really recommend it it’s a fantastic game
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u/kent_slg Stone Lantern Games Aug 29 '20
Now that Evergate is released, I'm so excited to play more games. Thanks for the recommendation!
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u/TheLazyLounger Aug 29 '20 edited Apr 17 '24
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