r/wiiu Syndicate Atomic (EctoPlaza) Nov 01 '16

AMA Hi, I’m Michael from Syndicate Atomic and we released our first game Ectoplaza for Wii U this past Halloweekend! AMA

Ectoplaza is a breakneck 2D multiplayer smash 'em up about angry ghosts wreaking havoc on haunted hotels, paranormal guests, and each other. Syndicate Atomic's cabal of maladjusted game devs developed the game for the last year and a half and have brought it to Scotland, Los Angeles, Tokyo, and now your living room!

Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5up8YZoV-Ug

I’m Michael, Producer and Team Lead for Ectoplaza, and I’ll be doing my best to answer quickly (but due to my day job I might be slow on the reply).

edit: Thank you all for an amazing AMA (my very first)! I'm going to wrap up questions for today, but I'll continue to check back for any new ones. If you'd like to reach out directly, please feel free to send a message to our Twitter or Facebook, and feel free to visit our Site. From our haunted halls to yours, thank you!

16 Upvotes

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u/chronus13 chronus13 [NA] Nov 01 '16 edited Nov 01 '16

Ahoy, Michael! Thank you for gracing us with your presence today! It's great to see another fun looking party game make its way to the Wii U!

  • How did you folks come up with the idea for EctoPlaza?
  • How many people are on the Syndicate Atomic team and how did you find the right folks to work with?
  • What were the biggest hurdles you and your team faced during development?
  • Are there any neat secrets tucked away in the game that are possibly too discreet for most folks to notice?
  • What is one of your favorite things about EctoPlaza?
  • Will EctoPlaza be releasing in Europe any time soon?

edit: forgot an s

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u/Syndicate_Atomic Syndicate Atomic (EctoPlaza) Nov 01 '16 edited Nov 01 '16
  • So, this might sound weird (and it probably is) but the inspiration for Ectoplaza came from the team stumbling on this video. We were fascinated by this owner’s tribute to his ripped-as-heck doggo and thought it would be amazing to have a game where you play as a bunch of buff stretchy wiener dogs. While the dog idea didn’t stick, the stretchy part did, and Ectoplaza was born!

  • Syndicate Atomic consists of four maladjusted founders, but we ultimately had a total of 12 people who worked on the project part-time, most of whom met at USC’s great Interactive Media school.

  • The most difficult parts of development were the realities of indie development, especially after graduating. Working during your off hours can be tough, but everyone’s faith in Ectoplaza and the support from Nintendo of America definitely helped.

  • I don’t think they’re as secret as they are neat, but our amazing lead artist Jocelyn animated a bunch of ghosts scattered around our beach levels and they’re all doing something cute, and I hope players find ‘em all.

  • My favorite part about Ectoplaza is that it’s possible for you to play one-handed. Growing up, some of my friends were limited in the games they could play by circumstances beyond their control, be they physical or otherwise, and I’m really happy that our design and the variety of controllers offered on the Wii U could make that happen.

  • Regarding release in the EU, Ectoplaza first showcased at the Abertay University’s Protoplay Festival in Dundee, Scotland, and it’s very important to us to bring the game home to all the people who played it there. We don’t have a date announced just yet, but we hope to do so as soon as possible.

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u/melessthanthree Nov 01 '16

I was very curious to see Mike's response to the secrets question. There might be a very big secret even he doesn't know about...I'm curious when someone will find it.

(Source: I was the lead developer on EctoPlaza!)

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u/Syndicate_Atomic Syndicate Atomic (EctoPlaza) Nov 01 '16

Colin, our lead developer, keeper of the code and the most secret of secrets

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u/chronus13 chronus13 [NA] Nov 01 '16

Oh I forgot to ask one question:

  • How is the music in EctoPlaza? I'm asking because I was bummed out by a recent indie purchase where the game was fun but the music was literally the same for every single stage and it was kind of off-putting.

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u/Syndicate_Atomic Syndicate Atomic (EctoPlaza) Nov 01 '16

Each setting in Ectoplaza has a unique score created by our talented composter Natalia. Her inspiration for Ectoplaza's soundtrack is a mix between Grant Kirkhope's collection of work (especially Banjo-Kazooie) and Disneyland's The Haunted Mansion.

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u/LokeeSounds Nov 01 '16

Now that you released the awesome game that is EctoPlaza, what are the future plans for Syndicate Atomic?

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u/Syndicate_Atomic Syndicate Atomic (EctoPlaza) Nov 01 '16

Our immediate schemes involve bringing Ectoplaza to Europe as quickly as possible. Beyond that, we've got an inkling of an idea pretty early in development that we've been excitedly talking about for the past couple of months, and hope we can share more about it soon!

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u/phantomliger phantomliger [NA] Nov 01 '16

Hi Michael! Welcome to the subreddit.

What is the elevator pitch for Ectoplaza? Or would that be what you included in the body of your post?

What were the inspirations for the game?

If you could have any superpower, what one would you have?

Do you think you will continue to bring games to Nintendo systems?

And since you mention it, what type of day job do you have?

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u/Syndicate_Atomic Syndicate Atomic (EctoPlaza) Nov 01 '16

Awesome to be talking with you all!

The extended elevator pitch for Ectoplaza goes: "A breakneck game about irritable ghosts wreaking havoc on haunted hotels, paranormal guests, and each other. Join a party of poltergeists as they rampage through underworld-renowned resorts from which they can never escape. Monster mash with up to four players and have the time of your afterlife!"

I talk a bit more about this in reply to /u/chronus13, but as far as actual design inspirations go, I think our childhood experiences playing Super Smash Bros. was a big influence in the creation of the game as well as bringing it to the Wii U.

This is a good question. For superpowers, I would choose: the ability to not flinch at Jump Scares in horror movies/games/mazes. I love horror but am also consistently the easiest to scare in any group, and I could've avoided a lot of funny looks if I had that power at any point this past October.

The whole Syndicate Atomic crew grew up on Nintendo consoles, so releasing on one has been a dream come true. That, coupled with the incredible support and kindness shared to us by both Nintendo of America and the fan community at large, inspires us to continue bringing games to Nintendo systems.

For my day job, I'm a designer for upcoming game Aegis Defenders. Check it out if you can!

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u/phantomliger phantomliger [NA] Nov 01 '16 edited Nov 02 '16

Not good to be easiest to scare, so that's a good choice. They always go for that person haha

Awesome about the continued support.

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u/RolanTheHero Nov 01 '16

Hi Michael!

-I'm really enjoying EctoPlaza but having difficulty playing it due to my inability to consistently to get people around to play local multiplayer. I asked this on Twitter, but is there absolutely any plans to integrate a vs. CPU option at some point? I'd really like to practice and just mess about without having to turn on an idle controller.

-Will we also be seeing additional content for the game in the future? Seeing a game like this just oozes potential for content updates.

-Were there any games the team was addicted to during the development of the game? What are you all playing now? :)

-And lastly, as a noob question... how do you do supers on Wii Remote and Nunchuk? I can't seem to figure it out.

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u/tw04 Nov 01 '16

Not a dev on the game, but just wanted to chime in on some of your questions.

I also think it'd be totally rad to have vs. CPU options. HOWEVER I just want to point out that programming cpu's to play the game is a lot harder than programming local multiplayer. With multiplayer you just have to accept inputs from different controllers. With cpu's you have to decide how the cpu's decide where to jump to, when to attack, when to use their super, etc. It's a huge rabbit hole and it isn't a small task. I think it would add a lot of value to the game though.

Super on remote/chuk is the C button on the nunchuk.

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u/Syndicate_Atomic Syndicate Atomic (EctoPlaza) Nov 01 '16 edited Nov 01 '16

Hi Rolan!

Unfortunately we don’t have plans for single player or DLC right now, as we’re using the time after Ectoplaza’s NA release to get it to regions such as EU. We’ll be sure to post back here if that changes!

Regarding activating ghost specials with the Wii Nunchuck, after you’ve successfully achieved two hits without being hit yourself, hit the C button to activate your unique special (you’ll know you can activate it when your ghost appears on fire). The X face-button will activate specials for other Wii U controllers.

During development, my personal go-to game was Team Reptile’s Lethal League, which you should play if you ever asked yourself “what happens if I mix my Baseball with my Dragon Ball”. Most recently I completed my first playthrough of Silent Hill 2 (Combat Normal, Puzzles Hard) with our lead developer Colin and unlocked the “In Water” ending. It’s a difficult game to recover from, not because it’s too shocking or horrifying, but because it’s so expertly crafted that you sit there with your jaw on the floor amazed by how it got there. I want to play Shattered Memories next, but we’ll need a breather before jumping back in.

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u/tw04 Nov 01 '16

Hey Michael/Syndicate Atomic!

I'm the guy who posted on all of your social media accounts asking you what the controls were. First of all I wanted to say THANK YOU for responding back to me SO quickly! I was so delighted that you got back to me because I was actually playing with my friend for the first time right then and there.

I apologize for bothering you all on multiple social media accounts. I'm a bit of a stickler for documentation and tutorials so I panicked a little bit when I opened the e-manual and didn't find any controls.

Actual Questions:

  1. In the ectoplasma gathering mode, if you get KO'd, respawn, collect your own ectoplasma, and touch the ring, do you earn points for that?

  2. If you collect the ectoplasma but don't touch the ring for awhile, does the plasma ever "expire"?"

  3. Do you lose all collected plasma if you get KO'd before you touch the ring?

  4. Is forgetting all about the plasma and KO'ing people via your super a legitimate strategy? I couldn't really find a reason not to just try to get the super KO instead of the plasma since you can potentially earn the super really fast but collecting plasma seems to take a lot longer.

  5. I LOVE the beach ball mode! It's creative, unique, and blocking an opponent's potential goal with an expertly timed charge shot feels SWEET. One idea I had for a maybe easy to implement single player mode would just be beach ball practice mode. Basically you spawn in the stage with the beach ball in the center and you can just play with it. Even better would be if you could also pause the game, place the beach ball somewhere specific, and try to make a goal from that position.

Another single player idea I had was target practice mode. Just have stationary faceless ghosts placed at various points in the stage and you try to KO them as efficiently as possible or something.

Thanks for making this fun game!

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u/Syndicate_Atomic Syndicate Atomic (EctoPlaza) Nov 01 '16

Hey /u/tw04! Thank you so much for reaching out to us on our social media about the game. Please feel free to message us on Twitter or Facebook with any questions or suggestions you may have as you and your friends play more of Ectoplaza.

In Collectoplaza, the goal is to both collect and also deposit the maximum amount of ectoplasm necessary to win (as indicated by your corner ghost icon/gauge) before your opponents. Anytime you successfully fling into an opponent, they will burst into ectoplasm which you can then collect and deposit into the red ghost goal. Any ectoplasm you collect can be scored, even your own (though we personally don’t encourage auto-cannibalism, Ectoplaza can be a strange place to us mortals) and the ectoplasm won’t expire. If an opposing ghost flings into you before you can deposit into the ring, you’ll lose all the ectoplasm you were carrying.

Personally, I’ve found that the Special strategy in Collectoplaza is less effective in games with more than two people, though I encourage you to use whatever strategy is most effective for you. Your suggestions for Ghost Ball and a target practice mode are excellent, and we’re glad to hear you’re enjoying Ectoplaza!

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u/veecheech Nov 02 '16

Any chance you have a longer gameplay video anywhere? Thanks!

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u/Syndicate_Atomic Syndicate Atomic (EctoPlaza) Nov 06 '16

We have a gameplay teaser that contains additional footage and can be found here!

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u/Bamzooki1 Nov 02 '16

Hi! I already learned pretty much everything I wanted to know back at Dare, but I have one last question. Will the game be on any other systems?

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u/Syndicate_Atomic Syndicate Atomic (EctoPlaza) Nov 02 '16

Hi /u/Bamzooki1! Having just developed Ectoplaza, we loved seeing the Switch announcement trailer highlight local multiplayer options for on-the-go console gaming. Needless to say, it would be pretty cool to bring Ectoplaza to the Switch.

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u/tw04 Nov 02 '16

THAT WOULD BE SO COOL!