Part 3 of Community Games Week, we talked to Johan Hermerén, who heads the team who made Colosseum.
Can you briefly explain what Colosseum is about?
Sure! Colosseum is a tactical fighter. Featuring 3D environments means a lot of more ground to cover, hence movements and position becomes pretty important. In addition, unlike other fighters, the gameplay is not overwhelmingly explosive. You have the time to study the enemies’ movements and adjust yours to them, plan combos and know when to use the special abilities, so called rage. This is crucial to win, especially in multiplayer. Colosseum has two basic modes, singleplayer and multiplayer. Your task in the singleplayer campaign is to roam the world fighting off a wide variety of enemies and bosses, and simply kicking ass. The multiplayer part includes five different games modes for up to four players locally. Teambased Holy Ground two and two is my favorite.
How did you get into making games?
Most of the founders (all but me to be exactly) went to this computer game development program at the same university. On Colosseum’s account a couple of dudes came together at the university and began working on Colosseum. By then, it was completely different from the Community Games version, butt-ugly, still with some charm. About a year ago we decided to go for the XNA platform beginning from the scratch. It was about that time the art style turned into what it is today.
Colosseum has been very well received on Xbox Live. What do you put this down to?
The art style is pretty cool. We all think the tactical part of the fighting is cool too. The game mechanisms works well, and the rage features are pretty cool. All in all, we believe that we have managed to put together all parts of game making, design, art, programming, sound, and music to a smooth entity. But in the end, it’s up to you guys and the community to judge our creation.
What is your favourite level in Colosseum?
Dark Swamp is awesome, but graphically Ruins is best according to me.
What was the most challenging part of making Colosseum?
To keep the team at the same line. All of the guys have super strong wills. I feel bad for the Sebastian, the producer. He has a mental age of 85, while the rest of us are around 5. Uuooooaaahhh!!!
Did you draw any inspiration from any games out there currently?
Of course, we’re all gamers. It’s impossible to not letting your gaming experience influence your own game. For Colosseum, I think that Tekken 3, some other fighters, and FPS games like COD4 have played a part.
Who would you say your game appeals to?
I don’t know really. People who likes games?
What advice would you give to people wanting to make games with the XNA creator?
Use the XNA forums. The community is awesome and very helpful. Also, go for smaller games frames and focus on quality. Tight games are cool.
Has all the time you’ve put into making Colosseum been worth it?
Yeah.
What plans have you got for the future?
More games, stay tuned.
Thanks Johan for taking the time to talk to us.
