After getting hands-on time withKing of Meatat this year’s Summer Game Fest, Hardcore Gamer sat down for an interview with two of the co-founders of Glowmade, the studio behind the upcoming co-op dungeon crawler. Studio Head Jonny Hopper and Design Director Mike Green discussed the diverse level creator, wild multiplayer gameplay and the wide variety of influences thatKing of Meatstemmed from.
[Hardcore Gamer] King of Meet has avery interesting setting. What can you tell us about the universe that the game takes place in?
[Jonny Hopper]King of Meatis set in this mystical world called Loregok, which is just this kind of weird, modern-day mash-up of fantasy tropes, with a media-obsessed kind of culture, I suppose. We’re not trying to take any particular political stance, just a fun and interesting kind of thing to poke fun at. I suppose it’s imagining a universe where everything is focused on only one form of entertainment, which isKing of Meat. What would that look like?
The original inspiration for that was a pub near Mike’s house called The Venture Inn. And so we started with “what if you made a game where the overworld for this entire game was a pub?” and then the game and the ideas for the game grew. So then we were like, “okay, we’ve got a pub, and now we need a courtyard and a different bit.”
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The setting for this overworld now is the backstage lot of your game. SoKing of Meatis a game, but it’s a TV show. It’s watched by millions and adored by everybody, and you’re trying to be the superstar of this show. Pregame, you’re behind the scenes, choosing your loadout and your costume and advancing your character.
[Mike Green] And also talk to all the other characters in there who will tell you more about the world and what’s going on within it, which is pretty cool.
What were some of your biggest inspirations for the world, and also the art style of the game?
[Jonny] Years ago, when we were first kind of thinking about what kind of game we wanted to make, a few of us went to the pub, and we were just talking about the last sort of inspirations and things we were into. Adam, our art director, is obsessed with the movieLabyrinthwith David Bowie. And then we were also talking aboutWWEandWrestleMania, and what if we kind of mixed those two things together. And what that game looks like.
And that was kind of where it came from. The art style is Adam, who’s not here today, but it’s basically what goes on in his brain. Adam is obsessed with kind of lighting and shadows and silhouettes and stuff. The way that everything’s designed really reflects that. I was thinking about kind of how to sum up the kind of character style, and it’s sort of like “pop medieval.” Because you’ve got metal helmets, giant saws, hoodies and sneakers and stuff like that. We had a lot of fun making up the different costumes.
[Mike] And also, we have all played so many games where we’re exploring dungeons, and they’re all kind of the same, dark and a bit dry and dingy. We actually flip that on its end; it’s lit up and there’s a crowd and there are starlights.
[Jonny] And “dungeon” is actually a loaded term, isn’t it? You know, you feel like a dungeon has to be kind of sweaty and, like, what if it’s the opposite?
[Mike] Yeah, exactly.
You’ve had people creating their own levels this whole time. What are some of the more unique or unexpected applications slash exploits of the build system that you guys have seen?
[Mike] So, I’ve played a couple of them. I’ve already been kind of astounded at some of the things that some of the players are creating. Someone figured out how to turn all the dungeon lights off and then how to make co-op gameplay through that. You’re carrying all these light orbs around and then the other players need to be with that person to see where you’re going. So that was really fun.
There are other ones where it’s all built around all the different cogs and pulleys and contraptions in there, and they just made this like one epic room that you had to work your way around. It was just so clever. What’s really fun about the game is we’ve built over 100 levels, and as soon as the community get their hands on it, mate, I don’t know what we’re going to see. Because you don’t know, everyone’s brain’s different about how they want to solve the puzzle. Whether it’s a puzzle, or down to how someone has just decorated it or lit it, the surprise is in every dungeon, whether it’s one someone has spent twenty minutes or one that they’ve spent a few days on.
On the flip side, how do cooperation and communication play a role in the actual gameplay?
[Jonny] One of the interesting things about the game is that it’s a cooperative game, but it’s also slightly competitive. And that’s where some of the fun comes from. You need to cooperate to complete the level, you have to get everybody across the line. But also, you want to be first and you need everybody else to work with you so that you can get there. So there’s a really nice kind of balance there.
I think in terms of communication, we’ve got this standard sort of emote system. We’ve got a bunch of different kinds of animated emotes and verbal emotes as well.
[Mike] Which are fully customizable. You can change them to whatever you want.
[Jonny] And when [Mike and I] play together, what I normally do is spend a few minutes just pushing him off a ledge and cackling, and then we go “all right, come on, let’s go and actually play the level man.” It’s kind of a nice thing because you have to work together, otherwise you’re not going to get anywhere.
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[Mike] It’s kind of interesting. When I play the game, I’m playing with a headset with my friends, and so you’re communicating that way. Or, when I’m playing with other people that don’t have headsets or just don’t want to talk, it’s actually surprising how all those emotes work. We’ve got a ping system, and in cooperative optional side rooms, some of them places you need to communicate, it’s surprising how well you can time things with a ping and by emoting “help me!” or “over here!” or “carry this!”
In combat, using weapons like the gax, you could have more of a support role. You can equip glory moves that are designed to heal the team or you could be that player that actually wants to run in with the Hammer or something and just be the tank. We very much built, in the same way that create mode does, all the customization to let players do what they want with it. It’s the same way you want to equip, the glory moves, the tonics that you want to put on there.
[Jonny] One of the nice things about that system, as well, is it’s effectively classless, because you choose your weapon and your loadout per dungeon, per team, because, you know, “if you come and play with us, you don’t know what we’ve got, we don’t know what dungeon,” you have to be able to kind of mix and match. There’s a little loadout locker, which is like a vending machine and inside every level, so you can do all that and reconfigure the weapons and items you have without touching your cosmetics and the way you look. We wanted people to be able to commit and enjoy customizing their outfits, but then also give them flexibility to be able to play the game in a way that you want to or need to play.
What’s your favorite thing about playing this game?
[Jonny] I love it when the game’s funny and I love the humor in it – the writing’s amazing. Every time I play it, I come across a different weird gag and I’m always laughing. People sort of complain that I’m laughing too hard when I’m in the office because some of the writing is so good and the jokes are so throwaway, but just brilliant. I love that.
And I like the googly eyes. Googly eyes are my favorite thing in any game, so placing some googly eyes on a helmet or wherever.
[Mike] For me, it’s just Create Mode. I’m having a mini design-off at the moment. It’s so good to play once you get into the zone of making this thing, like, time just blitzes past. For me, it’s not work, I’m just having fun.
[Jonny] I mean, that’s kind of good, isn’t it? Because we designed Create Mode to be fun. That’s the point. It was not meant to feel like a tool or work, because it’s still a game. And we wanted people to enjoy their time in the Create Mode as much as they enjoy their time in the Play Mode of the game.
King of Meat
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