C3 Exclusive Interview | Alien Hominid Developer

ALEX: Tuna have been developing games for over ten years, and have created many titles on handheld and mobile platforms.

We started following the independent scene last year and Andy was a big fan of Alien Hominid. When we heard that ZDP were to publish the European version, we "politely" asked Zoo and Behemoth if we could develop the title on a handheld.

C3: What was the main reasoning behind transferring Alien Hominid onto the GBA, rather than the Nintendo DS? And who was it that came up with the idea of making such a transition?

ALEX: At the time the DS was just being released and it was something of an unknown quantity. With millions of Gameboy units already out there, and knowing what we could do with the title, it made sense to give it to the widest audience possible.

The credit for allowing the transition to handheld must go to both Behemoth and ZDP.

C3: Scaling such a vast GameCube game down onto the humble Game Boy Advance certainly deserves praise, especially as the game's charm has not been lost. But were there any particular issues that arose during development and was there anything you would have liked to include that just was not possible?

ANDY: We liaised with The Behemoth about elements that didn't make it to GBA. The changes we had to make were really down to technical reasons; there were some huge and complex bosses on GC, and we really wanted to keep as many as possible in the GBA version

ALEX: Quite simply the amount of animation involved is astounding, and we just couldn't quite fit everything in. To do the game justice we realised that we had to leave out one or two levels from the original, as well as the odd boss. The benefit was that this allowed us to ensure that the content present in the final version was very close to that on the GameCube.

C3: A large majority of our readers are big fans of the AH games for many reasons. But what most do you like about Alien Hominid?

ANDY: I just love the pace of the action. The actual act of running and shooting just feels right, and that's what keeps us playing AH.

ALEX: The humour. I can sit on the first level just toying with the FBI guys.

C3: How did you go about attempting to maintain the artistic style and addictive soundtrack of the home console versions? And how long was the game actually under development for?

ALEX: How? Hard work, hard work, and sheer hard work! The game was in development for just under six months.

C3: Have you considered converting The Behemoth's next game [currently code-named 'Ye Olde Side-Scroller' or 'The Behemoth's Next Game'] to the GBA or DS?

ANDY: We're still good friends with Behemoth, and recently hooked up with them at GDC. It would be cool to work with them again.

ALEX: You best ask Behemoth that question, but of course we would love to do so.

C3: What plans for original games of your own do you have at this time? Is there any exclusive news you can reveal?

ANDY: We talked to lots of people at GDC about some of our own original work. The feedback was fantastic, but unfortunately we can't say anything right now.

C3: In the GBA version of Alien Hominid, were you able to expand on any of the features from the console version and if so, how?

ANDY: We added the Chipper section as a mini game. We thought it was such a cool toy, that it deserved to be promoted to a game in its own right. We also added some variations on existing bosses as well.

C3: If Nintendo offered to let you choose one of its key franchises to work on, which would it be and why?

ANDY: Mario would be a real coup (and there is a Mario game that we have in mind as well!). Other than that, we think we could a cool version of Pilot Wings.

C3: What are your thoughts on the Nintendo Wii? Such as its control system, Virtual Console and the cheap development kits? And do you have any plans to support the system in the future?

ANDY: Wii is still an unknown until they tell everyone more at E3. All the console manufacturers seem to be offering some kind of downloadable / Virtual Console features and we really look forward to developers (including ourselves) making the most of this and trying to develop new styles of games.

The Wii control should encourage new style of gameplay, and that's something we'd like to do at Tuna