The Indie Scene | Broken Rules Discusses Chasing Aurora (Nintendo Wii U eShop)

Felix Bohatsch, Co-Founder of Broken Rules: Broken Rules has five co-founders and three part-time employees. Regarding the name, I do like rules and constraints and I really need them to be creative, but sometimes a specific rule can block a project from evolving and turning into something awesome. Our name is there to remind us to never be afraid of breaking a rule if it's necessary. We never break all the rules though, but carefully consider which ones need breaking.

Cubed3: How did the team get together, and had you worked on any other big games before forming Broken Rules?

Felix Bohatsch: No one at Broken Rules has ever worked on a big game. Broken Rules was founded by Peter, Jan and me shortly after we released And Yet It Moves on PC. We knew each other from Technical University. When we finished the WiiWare port, Martin and Clemens joined the company as co-founders. Martin used to work at Technical University and was mentoring us while we were developing the prototype of AYIM. We met Clemens at a local game jam and when we saw his drawing skills, we immediately asked him to join the team. We find our employees in the local developer scene or they find us *smiles*

Cubed3: And Yet It Moves was critically acclaimed around the world. How did the WiiWare version sell in comparison to other editions? Were you pleased with the final outcome?

Felix Bohatsch: It didn't sell very great, but considering the fact that WiiWare never fully took off, it sold okay. Interestingly, it sold way less in Europe than in the US…

Cubed3: Will you be revisiting the world of AYIM in the future? With the rotational aspects of both the 3DS and Wii U, it seems like it would certainly be perfect for a revamped version or a sequel!

Felix Bohatsch: We currently have no plans to work on it in the near future. We've been thinking about porting it to iOS/Android but never found the time to do so. I seriously doubt that we will ever work on a traditional sequel of And Yet It Moves.

Cubed3: What gave you the idea to create a game based around the flight of birds and how does the initial design of Chasing Aurora compare to the final product?

Felix Bohatsch: After finishing the WiiWare version of And Yet It Moves I wanted to do something with motion controls. So we were looking for an interaction that could benefit from the vast analogue values you get from motion input. This is where the idea of soaring, gliding and riding on the wind came from. From there it was only a small step to birds. We needed an environment with a lot of change in altitude, so mountains were an obvious choice. But instead of going for an exotic landscape we chose to get inspiration from our local neighbourhood: the Alps.

Our original prototype was a motion controlled racing game, so yes it was quite different. We were not really convinced of it though, especially because it never fully transported the freedom and playfulness of flight. So we built more prototypes and one of them ditched the rule of using motion controls. It was a multiplayer prototype that was very similar to the Chase mode you can play in Chasing Aurora now.

Cubed3: How long did it take the make the game? Was it always destined to be a Wii U exclusive, or did you experiment with other platforms beforehand?

Felix Bohatsch: We started brainstorming and prototyping in Autumn 2010. Back then we didn't know about Wii U, so it wasn't planned as a Wii U exclusive. We developed on PCs and stayed in touch with all of the platform holders to show them our prototypes. During development we used the PlayStation SIXAXIS controller as it is easy to hook up to Mac and Windows and has all the input possibilities we needed.

Cubed3: Did Nintendo help out with Chasing Aurora in any way? How has the whole Wii U eShop experience been in general so far?

Felix Bohatsch: Yes, Nintendo helped out quite a lot. They liked our prototype and sent us a Wii U development kit early on. Developing a launch title means a lot of the things are decided last minute, so it was pretty crazy at the end. In the final phase the guys at Nintendo worked extra hours, so we got QA feedback on our builds the day after we sent them in! They also lent us testing hardware and have always been very responsive to our questions.

When we finally knew that Chasing Aurora was going to be a launch title, we celebrated with a bottle of champagne. The days after launch were a bit of a downer though, as we realised that most people were just playing Nintendo Land with their brand new Wii U. I also think that the day-one update has kept many people off the eShop. But the numbers have started to pickup, so let's see.

Cubed3: From looking at your comments and posts on Nintendo's Miiverse service, it appears that you are working on Wii U Pro Controller support as well as a demo. When can we expect to see these?

Felix Bohatsch: We expect to release the first update, which will include the Pro Controller support and a different rule set for 2 or 3 player Freeze Tag along with the demo this month. For now, be sure to play the game at its limited-time sale price.

Cubed3: What is your overall stance on the 3DS' and Wii U's eShop services and what features would you like Nintendo to add in future versions?

Felix Bohatsch: With the eShop, Nintendo has caught up with their competitors, both in the layout of the store as well as in the developer terms. We can set our own price, do sales, etc. So we are way more flexible this time around. I think it turned out great! What I'd really like to do is sales bundles with other indie developers, so let's see if we can talk Nintendo into allowing it. Also, gifting would be nice!

Cubed3: What influenced your decision to create Chasing Aurora with a strong focus on local multiplayer? Did you ever try to implement online play or bulk up the single player experience?

Felix Bohatsch: After finishing And Yet It Moves we wanted to do something different, something with less content overhead. We really liked the idea of local multiplayer, as playing against humans brings so much variation in itself. As I said, the Chase prototype existed before we even knew about Wii U. But when we first heard of Nintendo's next console it was immediately obvious that the Wii U will bring new ways to play local multiplayer games. So we decided to focus on designing game modes that make special use of that second screen.

We always ruled out online play as the technical overhead - especially with a physics heavy game like ours - would distract us way too much from designing the actual game. But we did work on a more sophisticated single-player experience for almost a year. In summer we realised that we would never be able to ship it at launch though, so we decided to instead fully focus on the multiplayer and release it as a separate game first. We have now started to finish what we've been working on and our next game in the Aurora series will be an explorative single-player experience.

Cubed3: Will the sequel to Chasing Aurora feature some new gameplay mechanics and will you be giving it a new art style, or sticking to the original one?

Felix Bohatsch: We will stick to the flying mechanics and to the art style. Our goal was always to do a series of games in the same universe. Something that is connected by its core values - the setting, the characters, the visual aesthetics and, of course, flying - but that are still different games. We want to enable the players to experience the world we created through different gameplay. So players can expect to immediately feel at home if they played Chasing Aurora, but still be surprised at how different an experience it will be.

Cubed3: Can you talk us through why you chose to make this first chapter based mainly around multiplayer, and then moving on to focus on the solo player for the upcoming Chasing Aurora Part 2?

Felix Bohatsch: We wanted to be part of the Wii U launch line-up. It's kind of a lifetime opportunity for a small studio like ours. End of Spring we realised that we could never make that with all the big plans we had for the game. So we decided to split Aurora up and release the multiplayer part we've been working on, first. Why the multiplayer first? Because we think that Chasing Aurora is a showcase of what the second screen of the Wii U GamePad can bring to local multiplayer. It's a good idea to release a showcase when the feature is still steaming hot.

Nintendo asked us to include at least some kind of single-player mode, so we added the Challenge mode at very short notice. The real focus of Chasing Aurora is the local multiplayer, though! If players want to play alone in the world of Aurora they should definitely wait for our next game. We will give it the time it needs and work hard to make it an explorative experience of its own!