Questaholic - October 2020

-Tell us a bit about yourself. Who are you and where do you come from?

I would define myself mostly as a programmer and a roleplayer. I’ve been trying to make videogames since the first time I put my eyes on a computer, at age eight. And since my teen years back in the 80s and 90s I have been a tabletop roleplaying fanatic. I married and started my wonderful family while being pretty young, then I worked as a programmer for years and eventually founded a small company related to e-commerce and other boring “adult stuff”. Back in 2014 I decided it was time to make my childhood dreams a reality, and here we are.

-If my maths are correct, you should be around 35 years old, right? How was it growing up in Móstoles?

I am 45 and grew up in Madrid. I had a pretty typical childhood, although I was a bit on the “weird” side, always by myself, reading books, writing RPG adventures for my friends or trying to write code for my ZX Spectrum on a notebook. Keep in mind that nowadays most kids and teens consider themselves “gamers” but, in the late 80s and early 90s’ Spain the picture was very different.
[Editor's note: I have failed as a mathematician, a reporter and a detective, all just in one question. Nice]

The 'Torres Blancas' building in Madrid, 1980.

-When I was 3 years old, my uncle gifted me with my very first game, Age of Empires. That wonderful game marked my future gaming life in regards to preferences and style. What was your first approach to gaming? Do you think that was what eventually drove you to creating Exiled Kingdoms?

My first approach to gaming was the ZX Spectrum I got for Christmas in fourth degree. The Spectrum was a low-cost home computer that was very popular back in the day; it had plenty of games but my parents were strict and rarely allowed me to play since it was “a waste of time”. Still I learned programming with my 48Kb Spectrum, while trying to make games for myself. The later big influence for me was tabletop RPGs. Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay, AD&D, Rolemaster, Call of Cthulhu and so many others. I had the luck to have a wonderful group of friends and we played all those games with a passion. It’s hard to find a single “defining” influence in my gaming tastes like the AoE one you mentioned, but a pretty good one would be Pool of Radiance, a D&D RPG from 1988, as well as Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay tabletop RPG. The former pretty much defines even today what I’d call the perfect way to offer an open-world experience to a player. The later is no doubt my greatest inspiration for writing content, in particular the contrast of grit and light humor, the epic amidst the grotesque.

-How would you describe Exiled Kingdoms to someone that has never played any kind of RPG?

Exiled Kingdoms is an adventure. Its main focus is exploration; there is a rich and vast world, and you can go anywhere. There’s things to do in faraway towns that you really have no reason to visit, except that you saw the name on the map and wondered what you’d find there. And in those faraway places there’s all kinds of adventures to be had, sometimes epic but also often humorous and unpredictable.

-Can you describe your creative process? How and when was the whole Exiled Kingdoms idea born?

I am an improviser. I begin writing a dialogue to find out what the character will say. I draw a map and then imagine what cool things to fill it with. Of course this is just the kickstart, because improvising has its limits; later I come up with better ideas and I realize I need a specific location in the map, or that the dialogue is not fulfilling a certain quest purpose, so I have to alter it. In the case of dialogues, I have to rewrite them many times. Not just to “correct” them, but also to make them shorter, and shorter again and again. It’s a mobile game in its origin, and you can’t spam the player with walls of texts too often or you’ll break the rhythm.

When I was thinking about making EK, I noticed mobile RPGs were for the most part following the microtransactions model which I absolutely despise, so I wondered what would be the demand for a “real” RPG, a game that you could just play without being forced to “log-in” daily, or pay for every inane thing you want to do. Turns out there were millions of gamers like me, looking forward to an RPG that was just that, a game.

-How was the process of finding your team? How did you recruit them to your development effort?

I made the game by myself. I used plenty of Open Assets under Creative Commons license, and in the late years of development I hired a couple people to draw some portraits or produce sprites, but other than that it’s a one-man game.

-I find it interesting that EK was initially released to mobile devices. What made you jump to computers? Do you think it has boosted participation and interest in the game?

EK has graphics and UI limitations in its PC version due to this mobile origin, so I was reluctant for a long time to release it on PC. It is not the PC game I would have designed, but since so many players requested it week after week, I decided to adapt it for PC. Well, I am so glad (again) to have listened to my players! It has sold well and received good reviews, plus now I know much better the Steam and GOG platforms and it will make Archaelund release smoother.

-I have played as Mercia in Crusader Kings II, which was one of the kingdoms of the Anglo-Saxon Heptarchy, and, while playing EK, I discovered that one of the realms in your game has the very same name. Was that a coincidence? What about Thuram, Varsilia and Ilmara? Where do those names come from?

I love history so yes, I borrowed it; it’s a rare case for normally I just make them up trying to find a sound that inspires the right feelings. I don’t think I’ve borrowed a historical name elsewhere in the EK map, but there’s plenty of easter-egg like character names, whole towns have populations named after some of my favorite writers, musicians or the like. However I put great care in not making it too evident, I don't want to break the immersion.

The Coat of Arms of the Kingdom of Mercia

-Now that you mention you love history, and as a history fanatic myself, I gotta ask...If you had the opportunity to travel back in time and experience a certain historic moment, where would you go?

If I could time-travel, I’d always visit the future. History is amazing, and I read history books from all eras, be it ancient, medieval, or the XXth century… but those “interesting times” sound really inconvenient to live in. I would, however, love to watch Liszt playing the piano or see lost wonders like the Colossus of Rhodes.

-Is the Colossus of Rhodes your inspiration for the great statue of the Andorian Empire?

Indeed it was, it is the Colossus of Anthur, greatest port in the Empire.

The Colossus of Anthur

-Who would you choose as the most interesting person to ever walk on Earth?

Hard question, too many good choices. I just can’t pick one, wouldn’t be fair for the others.

-Ok enough chit-chat, back to the matter at hand. I was very sad when I discovered that the island of Varannar wasn’t entirely accessible. I have, however, read that you are planning on expanding the game. Is there something you can tell us about that expansion? Does it mean more areas, more skills, more quests, more companions, more what?

This is supposed to be “secret information” but I guess a few things can be shared. That’s what interviews are for, after all. This update will not be focused in one specific region, instead it’ll add places like Solliga, the Elder Forest and others. There’ll be content for the levels that need it most, that is, 14+, and some content where a post-Ark character will be challenged. I want to create new Skills, but after so long without modifying the code I still can’t confirm it. Stability of the game is a priority.

-One thing I love about RPG’s is questing. You have managed to create an incredibly good story with a lot of side quests, all of that while giving the player the option to just level up and not having to follow a dotted line. Choices do matter and I thank you for that. Did you have all possible endings and choices planned out before starting to develop the game, or how did it all end up working out for you?

I did not plan most of it. That was my style when I ran tabletop RPG adventure: strong preparation about the setting, factions and history, but the unfolding of events and the little details, I let them come out as I work. I normally have very clear ideas on what I want to do, in broad terms. Things like, in Mercia this is going to be the tone, the conflicts, the jokes. I thought very carefully about the “conflict” in the main quest, but I wasn’t absolutely sure about the possible outcomes until I was writing the 1.0 update, the one that added the Ark.

-Have you managed to complete all achievements for the Steam version? Even the ‘Epic Plumber’ one?

I have them all but I kind of cheated; for testing purposes I loaded one of my mobile saved games, so as soon as I opened the game most of the achievements popped. But I have completed the Sewer of Horrors myself on two legitimate playthroughs on Android, yeah, and let me tell you whoever designed that quest has issues!
[Editor's note: for those of you unaware, the 'Epic Plumber' achievement requires you to complete the hardest quest in the game on Hard or Ironman difficulty. I've played for almost 100 hours in Casual and haven't even dared to start it!]

The achievement on Steam

-Are all the puns and dad jokes your creation?

Can’t put the blame on anyone else I’m afraid. But… I regret nothing!

-Did you ever encounter a big obstacle when developing Exiled Kingdoms? If yes, what happened and how did you solve it?

Technical problems may seem to be “big” while you’re unable to fix them, but looking back there was nothing that truly stalled me or made me fear I wouldn’t be able to pull through. Nothing technical at least. During my first 18 months of development I was still on my “day job”, which was very hard, but necessary.

Well, there was one “incident” that for a while made me think everything was over. Three months after releasing the game Google decided to remove Exiled Kingdoms from the Play Store for absolutely no reason, and for a couple days I couldn’t even speak… however after the initial shock I reacted and started working in the iOS version (it wasn’t out yet), and after four days Google decided to lift the ban, so there was a happy ending.

-Is Exiled Kingdoms your first game? If not, which was it?

Yes, it is the first. There’s many unfinished projects but nothing even remotely close to completion. I even keep a 100 pages script for a Battletech game I wanted to make as a kid, I read it recently and it’s not bad! Lots of side quests, who would have thought.

-What are you working on nowadays?

Most of the time I work on Archaelund, but also on the next Exiled Kingdoms update.

-Is Archaelund some sort of a turn-based Mount and Blade? How would you describe it?

Since you ask your question with a comparison, I’ll answer with comparison to other games as well. Imagine you are playing Baldur’s Gate or any other traditional RPG in which you guide a party of adventurers. However while you travel and explore, you see the world in First-Person, much like in Elder Scrolls games. When battle begins, you will control the whole party from top-down perspective.

Beyond that unique mechanic, which no other RPG has ever implemented, it is quite unique in many other ways. The progression is based in Careers; you don’t make a Warrior character, maybe it is a Ruffian, or a Bodyguard, or a Squire… then after a few levels you turn him into a Knight or a Mercenary. There’s over 50 Careers in the game, but still the system comes out as simpler to handle than other RPG systems, yet very tactical.

Archaelund's combat interface

-What can we expect from Archaelund? Where does the game take part?

It happens in the Exiled Kingdoms world, over a century later, when the Exiles decide to return to Andoria, the continent they fled when the old Empire was destroyed. They find an inhabitable portion of it called Archaelund, and as you can imagine there’s lots of mysteries from the ancient days to discover in that land, but also plenty of the conflict between the Exiled Kingdoms in this new land.

The game content will have a structure not unlike Exiled Kingdoms, an open world with no set order to explore, some epic quests for those inclined to save the world but plenty of other fun stuff to do. Humor and light moments, but a few dramatic ones as well. And it’s going to be incredibly big, full with details and secrets to unveil.

-What inspired you to become a developer?

If I look back to that 8-year old kid that learned to write programs in BASIC, I am pretty sure the motivation was to make games. Other than that I grew being a fan of sci-fi and in particular the stories about Artificial Intelligence always were my favorites, as a teen I tried to program some AI but of course I lacked the knowledge or tools.

-Did you originally plan to target the english-speaker player, or did you release the game in spanish at the same time? Why was that?

I wrote it all in both english and spanish from the beginning. It certainly slowed down the dialogue and quest writing, because EK has a lot of text, and I had to write it all twice. But I figured if I didn’t do it from the beginning, it would have meant weeks or months of translation to spanish. Obviously english is the biggest language in gaming, but in the end it’s about 40% of my players and spanish is spoken by hundreds of millions. Later on the wonderful community did the rest of the translations, something that amazes me. I am very grateful for that.

-I was born in a country where gaming is not considered a viable, or even legitimate hobby, especially in backward towns like the one I live in. How has gaming evolved in your part of the world from the day you were born until today?

It has evolved dramatically. In the Spain of the 80s and 90s videogames and arcades were popular… as long as you just played them casually and then really cared about football, cars or the latest musical hit. Taking videogames or fantasy too seriously was nothing short of a stigma. Good luck trying to have a girl to ever look at you after you’ve openly talked about “elves” at school! Only a decade later everything had changed, but me and the few friends that shared these hobbies were a small minority. Nowadays all universities offer degrees in videogame development and it’s all the rage, even if obviously still lacks the status of a “big career” like being an engineer or a doctor.

-As a game developer, do you think gaming should have greater preponderance than other activities? What do you see as pros and cons when playing a game?

Games are one of the most important things we have, as human beings. No less. Am I exaggerating? Probably you believe I am, but let me elaborate.

Animals play games, according to their intelligence. A dog is more “playful” than a cow, because it is smarter. Why do animals (including us) play games? because it is a formidable tool for learning and for interacting with each other. Just look at those lion cubs in documentaries, how they fight each other to learn valuable skills for hunting or to measure up against one another. A housecat that never has the chance to play with others becomes more aggressive, often biting its owners.

As human beings we have gone one step further: our games have rules. This is because we need to adapt constantly to circumstances and constraints in our lives, and the games make us better at that. Roleplaying games, and computer games have made it evolve even faster, with more complex rules and environments. But in the end it’s the same as with animals: we do need the games to learn, to reach our potential, same as a lion cub needs it. It is our strongest tool to learn and reach our potential... yes, even above school. The games we played as children, at least in my opinion, is what shapes our personality and capabilities the most. And while education is carefully designed by expert pedagogues and teachers, games are a wild area, pretty much ignored except for its entertainment and business value.

So in this scenario let me ask you, what does a child learn when he pays-to-win in a game? As opposed to trying harder and persevere. Or even compared to failing and giving up, which is also a valuable lesson.

Nolan Sorrento in 'Ready Player One'. Do you remember that scene?

-If I were to visit your country, what do you think I should do first?

Pay me a beer, of course. Well, Spain has a lot to offer, it would depend on what you’re after. If it’s landscapes, the north. If it’s art, Toledo or Segovia. If it’s food, or fun, or beaches, you have plenty of choices.
[Editor's note: I have also failed at keeping track of how many people have answered this question with "Pay me a beer"]

-Many years ago, I lived in Cambrils. Have you ever visited that part of the country? What was the best aspect of the city? If not, where in Spain lies the place where you’d like to live your final days?

Final days! I still have too many games to make, ha! I’ve been to Tarragona and surroundings as a kid, multiple times, but not in decades. I remember Salou which I believe is close. It was beautiful however, the pines against the sea, the hills. I have good memories of the people and the landscape, but it’s been a long time ago.

The port of Cambrils

-I’ve seen you have taken the time to reply to several reviews on the Steam page. I’ve never seen a developer do that, but maybe it’s just me not paying attention. Is maintaining communication with your player base a priority for you? Why is that?

How would I learn what I did wrong if I didn’t listen attentively to players? Exiled Kingdoms was once very different; only one difficulty which was current “Hard” setting, no way to save the game except at the inn, no vaults, too few skill slots… many essential things were added because of feedback.

-Can you imagine yourself as something else than a developer? If you had to change careers today and start again, what would you do?

A musician, or a writer.

Last one (I promise).

LOL

-My Clan has a lot of lurking developers. If they asked for advice, just general advice, what would you tell them?

I would tell them that if they stay true to their principles and really try to make a great game that is fun to players, it is going to work. And that all the effort is worth it in the end. Go for it! It’s going to be a long road, you’ll need to learn, there will be pitfalls, but as long as you advance a project just a little every day, it will end up being finished sooner or later.

I don’t think I can keep thinking of serious(ish) questions anymore. Thank you. Saludos desde Argentina!