Developer Interview: Paper Animal RPG
Recently, we got sent some keys to play Paper Animal RPG, a charming roguelike game where you go on an adventure to save your king. We were absolutely smitten by it (you can read our preview for it here!), so I reached out to the developer to see if we could get an interview. Check out how it went!
Introduction. Tell me a bit about yourself!
Hi there!
My name is Nick; I'm 25 years old, live in Germany, and go online by the alias Azurexis! I'm also the developer of Paper Animal RPG, which I have taken care of full-time for about a year now, making game design decisions, creating the graphics and assets and so on. I have been tinkering with game development since I was around eleven years old, trying to make sense of the RPG Maker 2003 engine to make Yoshi fan games. I actually studied elementary school teaching at a university here in Bavaria to become an elementary school teacher, but then I decided to give my dream of becoming a full-time game developer a chance, and now here we are!
I love cute and cosy things, but I also love challenging games, so I tried mixing them both into Paper Animal RPG! My favourite games are Paper Mario and Pokémon Mystery Dungeon (both have been a huge inspiration!).
The game has such a unique fighting system to it! Why did you make it like that and not the usual turn-based RPG type?
The whole concept of a real-time tile-based battle system actually came to place because I wanted to create a unique feeling fighting game, not an RPG. The earliest version of this system had you fighting against another player or CPU on a small battle stage, where you both controlled a character and had similar skills and tried to hit your opponent without getting hit. I felt like this system was a bit too simple to be the base for a fighting game, so I switched the whole genre to a roguelike/exploration game and now, with the battle system being just a component of a bit more complex gameplay loop, it felt way better!
Building on the previous question, what trials and errors did you go through whilst attempting to combine tile-based and real-time?
There were quite a lot, but probably not in places where people might think they were. You kind of have to enforce every character being on exact one tile, which is why there is always a red square below you to better convey that, and as a consequence, it makes much more sense if you can use abilities only from the centre of a tile and not in-between. This, again, makes handling input stuff a bit complex. For example, if you want to use a ranged ability and want to aim forward without moving your character forward, you have to add a small time frame where your character gets reset to their previous field if you didn't input the direction and attack button at the exact same frame.
How did the game come to be in the first place? How did the idea happen?
That is a very good question, haha. The whole project started out as a Yoshi fangame, and when I realised that I might want to give this whole game development thing a real try, I switched it to my own characters. I also wanted to make a game that pays homage to many other great titles I played, especially during my childhood, like Paper Mario or Pokémon Mystery Dungeon.
You've done a fantastic job at merging many charming aspects of the games that inspired Paper Animal RPG. Was it difficult to fit them into the game?
I'm very lucky that these cute-ish ideas usually come normally naturally to me. On the other hand, I probably won't be able to ever make a serious, not-cute game, haha.
I also think you can turn almost any idea into something cute, so I would say no, it was not difficult at all to make them fit!
The characters are incredibly charming! Did you draw inspiration from anyone (character or real person) for their personalities and likes?
Yes, quite a few, actually! My girlfriend and I used to send emojis to each other, with me being the little chick and her being the cute turtle. I don't really know how we got the idea for this. But Peep and Shelp somewhat resemble this.
The biggest real-life inspiration is probably my family's dog, though! He is named "Keks", which is "Cookie" in German. Before he got neutered (poor guy), he was always very grumpy and distant, which I kind of recreated in the in-game Cookie's personality!
One of my favourite aspects of Paper Animal RPG is how unique it feels. How did you choose which mechanics — because there are quite a few! — would fit your idea well?
Here I also had to go through a lot of trial and error. When I first started the game, each character had four unique abilities available, and you could have two characters in your team, which made a total of eight abilities you could use during the dungeon. Obviously, keeping track of eight individual abilities — each with their own way of working, having different costs and uses — was way too complicated for the fast-paced gameplay.
Then, I turned it down to each character having the same base ability (Tackle) and one special skill. I felt like this system was too simple again, so I added a "Tag Team Power", which was really complicated again, so no one used it in the end.
Finally, I scrapped them again, and now we're left at the Tackle and one unique Skill system. The real-time tile-based battle system is kind of unique, so it takes most people a bit to get used to it, so I think it's okay to have the abilities be a bit more on the simple side.
How has Paper Animal RPG differed from your original vision of it?
When I first started taking game development seriously, I wanted to make a full-fledged RPG and not a roguelike game. Sadly, some personal stuff happened, which resulted in me having way less time than I anticipated, so I changed the project into a roguelike game. In hindsight, I'm very happy with that decision, though, since you can fit so much more gameplay content and secrets into a roguelite!
What is the biggest challenge you've faced during Paper Animal RPG (aside from economic ones, that is!)
That is a difficult question. I would probably say I suffer from the same disease many game developers and artists, in general, suffer [from] — the imposter syndrome. It's very easy to see some cool stuff on your Twitter timeline and then compare it to your own project and think that the quality of yours is awful.
What challenges were unexpected about being a solo developer?
First of all — I don't really know if I can call myself a solo developer! I'm working mainly with two amazing individuals, Mothense (@MothenseMusic) and Jeffrey Brice (@jeffbrice), who are taking care of the audio design. Furthermore, there were so many wonderful people who helped with various other aspects of the game, like proofreading, playtesting, and quality assurance in general; there's also Top Hat Studios, who are taking care of the long process of porting the game and helping out behind the scenes with things like QA, marketing, etc.
But other than that, I think we're in a very good time where you can reach out to talented people who can help you with your project if you don't have the skills for a certain thing or just need some other job done. Fiverr helped me a lot there, for example.
Building on the previous question, do you have any plans on getting a team later down the line?
I really enjoy working with the other team members so far, but I also have to admit I enjoy having total control of the game design and coding myself, as well as not having to explain it to anyone or ask anyone for permission, haha. So I might work together with some more people for other tasks, but the game design and coding will probably [be] left for me.
Is there anything else you'd like to mention about your game, the development, or anything in general?
I don't know if it's fitting here — but be kind to yourself and others!! And have a wonderful day! :D
Bonus Questions!
If you had to be an animal, which one would you choose?
I bet my girlfriend would say I would be a sloth, haha.
But I personally would love to be a dog in a human family. Being protected, loved and getting fed and cuddled all day. And lots of treats (I probably would be a fat dog)!
Let's be honest for a moment — which is your favourite character of the game?
Ooh, this is hard! I think it's probably the Nanas at the Elder Tree area. They are so innocent and cute! Also, they resemble the kindness and love you're willing to share in the game. You can spend your experience points in the Elder Tree area to send presents to other players that will help them in the game, which raises your hidden karma value. The higher your karma value is, the more Nanas at the Elder Tree area will be!
Plus, my very favourite emoji in our Discord server is from the Nana character.
That's it for this interview! Check out Azurexis on Twitter or even go stalk the game! As for me, you can send me your feedback from the interview on Twitter too!
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