indiegraze.com

on June 5, 2020

Placing the protagonist in an far-flung landscape, Out of Place tasks Simon with reactivating an enormous crashed machine as he endeavors to find his way home. Featuring action adventure sensibilities and gorgeous graphics, Bagpack Games (Markus Albert – Level Design and Lighting Art; Peter Schmidt – Programming; Thomas Hedden – 3D and Technical Art) captures an immediately unique yet familiar feel, and I chatted up the devs on the current state of affairs within their studio.

Erik Meyer: Out of Place drops the player into a certifiably alien world, so I’m curious: did a specific art style guide the development of story elements, or did a fast-paced escape-at-all-costs narrative inspire the game space?

Backpack Games: I think what is important to mention here is that we started the concept for Out of Place by creating a unique alien world, not gameplay or any character. The whole team was sitting together in a room with a white board collecting all kinds of ideas for a world that we ourselves would love to experience while playing a game. Early on we discovered that we all agree our protagonist has to have certain characteristics which resulted in Simon having an affection for tinkering with all kinds of technology, old and new. The earliest references, in terms of art, include Yuri Shwedoff and Simon Stalenhag. The mysterious yet stunning environments and the mood they both create is something we also want to deliver with Out of Place.

EM: The Orb serves as the game’s UI and companion. Buddies with a quirky persona are not uncommon (Halo has Cortana, Portal has Wheatley, Planescape: Torment has Mort, and Peter Pan has Tinkerbell); as devs developing a sidekick role, what criteria do you hold for the companion? How does the Orb become more than a tool to be used or comic relief?

BG: The Orb will play a big part in the main story line. We didn’t want him to be the almighty tool for Simon without limits, the spellbook, so to say, that you just open to call a certain spell and that’s it. That would’ve made him less interesting and decreased the difficulty of the challenges Simon will have to face. Instead, the Orb will have his own will and show reactions to the environment and scenery in certain situations. Simon will develop a close relationship, as the Orb will help him in dangerous times with his abilities. We want him to feel like a pet but also like something familiar in the otherwise alien world for Simon.

EM: You’ve spoken about the game’s emotional aesthetic and your work emulating the feel of classic Spielberg films; can you walk through an example of this? And how does your approach change yet maintain a consistent tone across the plot arc?

BG: If you look at some of Spielberg’s protagonists, may it be Elliott from E.T. or Marty from Back to the Future, they all have to face overall serious topics and start making decisions you wouldn’t expect from boys their age. Simon is also a curious and adventurous teenage boy thrown into a new environment that seems scary at first. That leaves him with no choice but to face his fears and make decisions without a real guardian by his side, which is what every teenager has to face some day when growing up. He will meet new friends but also many dangers in the alien world. Overcoming all of them while also handling some of his emotional demons will leave him as a matured person in the end.

EM: What gameplay mechanics will surprise the audience, and where do you feel comfortable utilizing established adventure-style elements? Indie devs face a lot of competition, and electronic media is constantly accelerating; it feels like the games of 2020 are a lot faster paced than ’90s point-and-click adventures, so when blazing new trails, what kinds of challenges have you come up against?

BG: For us, it was very difficult to find the right speed in combat situations while retaining a tactical feel. Legend of Zelda (OoT, MM) was a big influence but often has a more “hack n’ slash” approach to combat, while leaving some space for tactics during the boss fights. After (a lot) of playtesting and showcasing our demo, we tried a different approach at Gamescom last year with a new prototype. The combat was much faster and more dynamic than before and it made us realize that this doesn’t work for us. Moreover, the players enjoyed planning ahead by choosing the abilities before engaging the enemy instead of charging into combat head on. This is something that we want to encourage even more while also creating the feeling of Simon having to face an enemy that would normally be out of his league and establishing a certain tension. Of course, the story is also very important to us, and environmental storytelling during exploration, which is an established method in many adventures, will also play an important role in Out of Place.

EM: Some alien worlds depend on mysterious locations and enigmatic technologies, while others weave in dramatic personal dilemmas and meaningful decision-making to reward multiple playthroughs. As you’ve designed the levels and interactions, what do you see driving each location, and what will keep people coming back for more?

BG: As mentioned before, we want to encourage the players to explore the environment, which will allow them to experience a deeper look into the alien world and its origins. But instead of delivering something that doesn’t feel complete by stretching the game with too much space, we choose a more linear approach to the levels. This is also because we want the player to experience a unique, even movie like, intense game. And I won’t fail to mention that we are just a small team and an open world is something that we wouldn’t be able to deliver while maintaining our quality standards.

EM: The landscape strikes me as primal and elemental, yet the technology level appears to be something akin to mechanical life, complete with its own defined style and bespoke touches. Without revealing too much, what decisions did you make early on in the development process, regarding the civilization and origin of the world, and what kinds of limitations do the technological beings experience?

BG: The alien world was once created by a big machine using an unknown source of power. It formed the landscape and created machine helpers during the process. At some point, humanoid life forms developed. Confused by things they couldn’t really understand, these creatures split up into two main groups: One group was curious about the unknown machinery and started using them and build tools out of them. The other group, being more tribal and religious, worshiped the machines, the creators of their world, as gods. No one should be allowed to touch them. Instead they learned to use the energy that is flowing through everything in the environment and is also powering the machines, almost like magic. This led to a big conflict because of the two opposing mindsets which ultimately led to their downfall. Simon will enter the world some years after this event when the remaining machines are mostly damaged, destroyed and without a real purpose any more.

EM: You’re in Hamburg, and I spent a lot of time there in the late ’90s and early aughts. More specifically, I was a Fremdsprachenassistant in Eppendorf for a semester and have friends in the area. That said, how much of your own location/culture makes it into the project? Is OOP entirely a fantastic experience, or do you see your own lives seeping in?

BG: While developing the setting and story for Out of Place, every one of us took some influences and childhood experiences to shape the personalities and mindsets of our characters. Simon is himself originating from northern Europe some time in the near future. So a lot of influences will especially be seen during the Intro of the game, which will take place at Simon’s home around his family. He has a strong bond with his family, which makes being away from them even harder for him later on.

EM: You’ve already received some accolades (Blue Byte Newcomer Award, 1st place Best Desktop Game at Game Dev Days Tallinn, etc); when it comes to broadcasting your work, interacting with the larger dev community, and releasing content, what strategies drive your studio, and what kinds of responsibilities fall to different team members?

BG: As we are just a small team, I think every one of us is taking on a lot of responsibilities. However, I really enjoy interacting with big communities and talking to people, which is why I decided to be mainly responsible for all our social media. I made it a challenge to myself to answer almost any question that approaches us as quickly as possible, leaving no one on the side. Nevertheless, when it comes to art related content, I always ask Thomas, as he is a great artist and mainly responsible for our awesome art style. All in all, I think we all are very open-minded and try to be open to suggestions and feedback from the community as much as possible. We also have a strong bond with our university, where we met during our masters studies. Helping the new teams with their projects or providing feedback through our gained experience is a lot of fun and something we wouldn’t want to miss.

In case you missed it, here’s the trailer: