PLEASE START US OFF BY INTRODUCING YOURSELF:
My name is Max Wrighton and I am the Game Director at Half Past Yellow. I started the studio 6.5 years ago with 3 other founders, and we are currently working on our 3rd or 4th commercial title, depending on how you count.
I have been making games since I was about 16 years old and making games other people find fun since I was about 22 years old. I studied Game Design at Abertay University in Scotland before moving to Denmark for further study, and later to start a game studio.
TELL US TEMPEST TOWER.
We have just properly announced our next project, Tempest Tower. An action-packed Tower Defence game with 3D platforming elements. Our goal for this project is to add a new level of tension to the TD genre by placing the player right in the middle of the action. You will have unlimited time to structure your defences and plan. When you activate the wave, you must trust your defences while you dodge, push, and stomp your way through hordes of enemies to collect resources and save cute little eyeball creatures called Peepers.
My favorite feature is related to how we have structured the levels in Tempest Tower. At the start of a level, only a small portion of it will be available to explore. The rest of the level is covered in a thick fog. After successfully defending a wave, you will push back part of the fog and reveal a new section of the level. Once you dispel the last of the fog, you will have one last wave of enemies to deal with before you claim victory on that map.
During the end of 2022 and throughout 2023 we were actually working on a different game, Spectacle. However, due to financial issues we have had to put that project on hold. So, at the beginning of 2024 we went back to the drawing board and started prototyping different games that reused technology from our previous projects.
We knew we wanted to add platforming elements to a genre that doesn’t traditionally include them. We are proud of our juicy character animation style, so we wanted to make sure that was being shown off properly. Beyond that it was down to designing and testing until we felt like we had found a winning genre match.
HOW HAS THE DEVELOPMENT JOURNEY BEEN
The journey has been positive as well as stressful, which seems like the baseline for game development in my experience. We have been through a lot of game flow iterations as we try to find a good balance within the TD/Platformer genre mix. It is important to be true to the core tenets of the Tower Defence genre while we innovate in other areas. We have definitely made judgement errors here and we have been relying on extensive testing to keep the game on track.
WHICH GAME ENGINE DID YOU CHOOSE AND WHY?
We are using Unity to create Tempest Tower. It is the game engine that we have the most experience with and when you are interested in producing a product fast you need to go with what you know.
WHAT'S BEEN YOUR BIGGEST DEVELOPMENT HURDLE SO FAR?
Finding our feet with game balance has definitely been a difficult challenge. Our previous don’t contain combat so we have been jumping into something totally new. This feels especially difficult with some of the key feature iterations we have been making. Just when we feel like it is starting to make sense, something big needs to change that forces us to rethink. Now it feels like we are on solid ground with the idea and the game flow, so it is exciting to be able to properly dig into the balance of the game.
ADVICE FOR FELLOW DEVS?
Make something small and build your knowledge base. If you can, try to find others excited to work on game projects and make something together. Focus on finishing something. I think these are the most common pieces of advice because they work. Building a small game and staying motivated throughout the process will allow you to stay excited for the next game, and the next.
ANY FINAL THOUGHTS?
Try something out, something you find interesting, and just see where it leads you.
-Max
❤️
