A few days ago we had the chance to interview two members of the Magic Design Studios studio behind Have a Nice Death to learn more about the game. Here’s what we were able to learn.
We had the chance to interview two members of Magic Design Studios to talk about it Have a nice death namely narrative designer Mérédith Malfroy and game designer Simon Dutertre. Here’s what we learned about how to make a roguelite. Genesis, inspirations, working methods… almost everything fits in there.
The genesis of the project
How did the Have a Nice Death project come about? Did the idea come before your previous game, Unruly Heroes?
Meredith Malfroy : It was during a meeting of Unruly Heroes ! Nicolas Léger, the creative director, scribbled the character of Death in the corner of the page and thought it would be very nice to animate it with combat moves. He made a small presentation video with battle animations to show the studio head, who told himself it had something to do with this universe.
2) Was the feedback on Unruly Heroesand Impact on the development of Have a Nice Death?
Meredith Malfroy : We took our experience into account Unruly Heroes Internally, of course. We still wanted to stay 2D, with fighting, but more edgy and do a solo game with a single character. Because 4 heroes require a lot of compulsion. That’s why we wanted to make it as easy as possible to focus on a single character and be completely satisfied with impeccable controls.
Simon Dutertre : Our style of play is very different, but we’ve been able to learn our lessons, especially when it comes to camera management. But what worked or not in Unruly Heroes would not necessarily apply Have a nice death. Unruly Heroes therefore mainly affected our internal organization to learn how to work together and simplify the development steps.
Choosing early access
3) The game has been in Early Access on Steam for many months, why did you make that choice?
Meredith Malfroy : It was super important for us to get feedback from the players during the production process. We wanted to do that from the start. In particular, to manage the balance. It was clear to us.
Simon Dutertre : We didn’t think about it from a financial point of view, our goal was to evolve with the community with a game that we all like. By obviously making decisions… Because if the community suddenly wanted to make a rhythm game out of it, it would have been complicated (laughs).
Meredith Malfroy : We never strayed from what we wanted to do, but we try to communicate with the players. For example, there were players who wanted to customize the character of Death, but since everything is made/drawn by hand, that was impossible to achieve.
Binary and Inspirations
4) What are your sources of inspiration for Have a Nice Death? The game reminds me of Tim Burton’s Corpse Bride
Meredith Malfroy : Many people compare our game to French comics Little Death by Davy Mourier, but actually not at all. Our influence is actually more Burton-like. The whole team loves this universe, me first. Nico (the creator) likes this burlesque and macabre atmosphere.
Simon Dutertre : It’s our generation! (laughs)
5)The game has chosen not to offer a naughty/beautiful binary world, what do you think does this scenario choice add to your game?
Meredith Malfroy : It brought a lot of freedom. But we had to make adjustments because at the beginning the players didn’t really understand the lore of the game, even the bosses aren’t villains, they denigrate death but don’t embody the archetype of the villain. There is no concept of right and wrong, death is a simple director who is tired and wants to quit.
The Roguelike genre
6) The roguelike genre is closely related to the game mechanic Die and Retry, is this the case with Have A Nice Death? And in general, how to dose the difficulty so as not to disgust the player?
Simon Dutertre : Personally, I don’t think the game is Die and Retry. For example, we had experienced players who could reach the final boss from the first run. Above all, the skills of the players are more important than the fact of restarting the level several times by learning. There were many different systems for balancing, we have hidden systems, which means that we will help the player a little if he has big difficulties. This is especially true for the ability to find weapons. We wanted to avoid the effect Cuphead, a game that attracts everyone because it’s super pretty but still very complex to complete. We prefer something fun and unbalanced, something perfectly balanced but not comfortable enough to play with. We don’t want to make a penalty game out of it.
Meredith Malfroy : We still have many difficulty levels for players who are a bit masochistic (laughs)
The porting problem
7) The game is on PC and will be released on Switch, is the title planned for home consoles?
Meredith Malfroy : Right now we’re focused on release, but we’d love to! Especially since it was the case Unruly Heroes and that we also have many inquiries. That would be a great achievement for the game.
8th) Finally, what’s your latest video game slap? And what encouraged your idea to make Have a Nice Death an unforgettable game?
Simon Dutertre : An axe ! I think Sekiro’s fight is perfect. With my heart beating, this pressure and this release when I’ve managed to get past a boss…
Meredith Malfroy : Compared to Have a nice death, I would say Hades. He renewed the roguelite genre by democratizing that notion of lore even more in a game of this nature. While we never liked him or wanted to make that claim, we thought the narrative might appeal to a roguelike player.
Thank you both!
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