Small Arms Interview - News and Siteseeing

In additions to ports of classic arcade games and new versions of casual PC game titles, Xbox Live Arcade is slowing growing into a place for indie game developers to present brand new titles. One such game is Small Arms, the upcoming platform action game from developer Gastronaut Studios. FiringSquad got a chance to chat with Gastronaut cofounder Don Wurster to find out more about their plans for Small Arms:

FiringSquad: First, what can you tell us about the history of Gastronaut Studios?
Don Wurster: Gastronaut was founded in 2004-ish by Jacob Van Wingen. As the only employee he created the first original title for XBLA (on the first Xbox) named Fuzzee Fever (http://www.gastronautstudios.com/fuzzeefever.html). We have since grown to 4 people ( 2 artists, 2 programmers ), and are hard at work on finishing up our next title ‘Small Arms’ for XBLA on the Xbox 360.
FiringSquad: How did the idea for Small Arms come about?
Don Wurster: Jacob and I started throwing around the idea of a hybrid run-and-gun shooter/platform fighting game in the end of 2004. The idea was to mix the sort of ranged combat in games like Metal Slug, Contra, and Abuse with fighting and platforming mechanics. The interchangeable weapons started out as full ‘armored suits’ ala Mega Man, but we ended up using just the gun-arm idea, and giving the characters in the game much more personality through custom models and animations.
FiringSquad: What can you tell us about the storyline for the game?
Don Wurster: “An anonymously evil (yet surprisingly unintelligent) mad scientist has created a small army of misfit soldiers. They have been scattered through time, some raised in the wild and some and raised as humans. They are all searching for something… Bitter, angry, confused, and heartbroken, they decide to FIGHT TO THE DEATH!!!111!” There may be a few holes in that short summary, but it should give the general idea of where we are coming from. :) Small Arms is not an incredibly story driven game, as the single player takes the form of a series of battles against the other characters.
FiringSquad: What can you tell us about the various characters in the game?
Don Wurster: The characters in Small Arms are a rag-tag team made up of genetically engineered domestic and barnyard animals, cyborgs, ninjas, and space cadets. The full game contains 12 unique characters. Additional characters will be available as downloadable content on Marketplace. We hope to make more details of the individual characters back stories available on the Small Arms website soon.
FiringSquad: What sorts of weapons will the player get to use in Small Arms?
Don Wurster: Each character has a default weapon they will start a match with. You can pick up different weapons as the match progresses, and the dynamics will change. Some examples of the weapons in the game: Chaingun arm, with a secondary burst shot; Sniper rifle with laser sight, and secondary proximity mines; Flame thrower, with secondary moltov grenades; Plasma gun, with secondary focused energy beam; Many more!
FiringSquad: What will the levels be like in the game?
Don Wurster: We are planning to ship with 8-10 levels in the main game. Additional levels will be downloadable on Marketplace. I’ll describe a couple of the levels we were showing off at E3.
Train – The players battle on top of a moving freight train as it barrels through a desert landscape. The action pans across different types of train cars from the caboose to the engine.
Tornado – A frantic environment where all of the platforms are flying around inside a powerful tornado. Silos, trailer homes, and billboards have been swept up by the storm. Avoid flying obstacles, and try to knock you opponents off into the storm.
FiringSquad: What will the multiplayer modes be like in Small Arms?
Don Wurster: The multiplayer is really the focus of the game, and as such we have taken the time to make it really great. Up to 4 players can battle either locally on the same console, or over Xbox Live. Matches can be either timed, or set to a specific kill limit. The feel of the multiplayer is a combination between an arcade fighting game, and a deathmatch found in FPS games. Both weekly and lifetime stats are tracked on the leaderboards so you can compete for high scores.
FiringSquad: Was it hard to get the game to work with Microsoft's Xbox Live Arcade service?
Don Wurster: We designed the game with Arcade in mind right from the beginning. Being a small company with a focus on small, sociable multiplayer titles, Arcade is the perfect platform for us. Simply put, we love it! :)
FiringSquad: What do you think personally about how Xbox Live Arcade and its promise of helping indie developers like Gastronaut?
Don Wurster: MS has done a great thing by reaching out to the indies, and you can already see it paying off. Titles like Geometry Wars, Cloning Clyde and the recently announced Behemoth titles deserve to have a home like this. Arcades great success, and all the buzz around it is showing that gamers have been waiting for a place to get these types of games.
FiringSquad: When can we expect to see Small Arms available for Xbox 360 owners?
Don Wurster: There is no scheduled release date currently, but we hope to have it out some time this Fall.
FiringSquad: What plans does Gastronaut Studios have for the future?
Don Wurster: Make more games! We have a number of concepts incubating right now, but don’t have anything to announce just yet.
FiringSquad: Finally is there anything else you wish to say about Small Arms?
Don Wurster: We look forward to playing everyone online, and hope the game is enjoyed. Keep an eye on the game website for more info as it becomes available http://www.gastronautstudios.com http://www.smallarmsgame.com

» Note: You need to be logged in to write a comment!