Bacon Man: «Console publishing still weeds out a lot of games you'd see on PC»

Congrats on your successful Kickstarter! How has been the reception so far? What would you highlight from the feedback you’ve got so far? Neal Laurenza: Thank you! So far people seem to love the game. We sent out Alpha Demo copies to Let’s Players and we haven’t had anything but good feedback. We also showed the demo at Otakon in Baltimore… a lot of those players contributed to the Kickstarter. People mention that the platforming feels a lot different from other sidescrollers they’ve played so there’s a learning curve. Once they get it, they like it. You say Rayman, Mega Man X, and Earthworm Jim are among your main influences. I can definitely see a conection between Bacon Man and Earthworm Jim, both being platformers with a lot of humor. How are you trying to differentiate yourselves from your influences? How’s Bacon Man going further than its references? We like the aesthetic and goofball humor of games like Earthworm Jim, the platforming of Rayman, and the action of Mega Man. What makes us different from these games is the physics and choice of play. The physics allow for a lot of variety in the way you platform, and this lets you make decisions for how you want to play. If you prefer the «Gotta go fast» mentality, you can speedrun and skip a lot of the enemies. The levels are filled with all sorts of shortcuts and secrets to aid you on your way. If you want to fight and gain experience, that’s cool too. There are a lot of enemies that take the kind fo time and dedication you’d put into a game like Dark Souls to defeat. There are even four playable characters, each with their own abilities. You seem to be focusing a lot on creating a cool combat system, where you can do combos and use your skills in creative ways. How’s that going? How’s combining platforming and combat, design wise? I mean, combining a kind of level design where both jumping and punching can live and shine together. Combat and paltforming are designed with each other in mind. In Bacon Man, almost every attack is also a method of mobility. Using an uppercut can knock an enemy into the air, get you to that high ledge, and set you up for a second set of attacks that propel you forward. Level design reflects this, as enemies are placed strategically. Maybe there’s a secret, but the only way to get it is to use an enemy as a platform. How’s the game progression? Are there worlds, levels, etc. or are you aiming for a more open kind of design? Metroidvania seems to be the big thing these days. There are seven worlds, each world containing 3 to 5 levels, each level is linear but loaded with secrets. We have a love for story driven games, and we find it easier to tell a great story when you aren’t constantly backtracking, so the game is linear. That being said, due to the number of secrets, playing a level over again has rewards. Could the game still get a console release, after the PC and Mac versions? How’s your point of view on console development and publishing? We would love to get Bacon Man on consoles. I think console development and publishing has gotten a lot easier, but it’s still a little harder to do which weeds out a lot of games you’d see on PC. If we can do well on PC or raise enough funds to afford a license for consoles, you can bet Bacon Man will be on it. Tell us a little about Skymap Games. When did you start? What’s your experience in game development? Skymap is a small game studio out of Northern Massachusetts and Southern New Hampshire. We make our living doing contract work, and this allows us to make our own games. The Bacon Man team consists of Angelos the designer, Jon the programmer, and Ryan the artist. I handle mostly business development. You are creating a very bacon-centric game. What’s you favorite bacon-centric recipe? I love a good BLT. Recently I did a podcast with Will from A Bit of Geek and Nerdery, and he recommended I try a Bacon Butty. I have a feeling that’s going to be the new go to… just need to get my hands on some brown sauce…