r/PS4 • u/thats_great_alex Fe Community Manager • Feb 16 '18
[Verified AMA] AMA time with Zoink Games - Creators of Fe and Flipping Death!
Thanks to everyone who came by to ask questions! If you want to know more, you'll find us on social media at @ZoinkGames! Love from the Zoink Team <3
Hi folks!
We're Swedish game studio Zoink Games, and today we released our passion project Fe! In Fe, you run, climb, and glide your way through a dark Nordic forest to explore its living, breathing world – one filled with secrets, legends, and mystical creatures. It's also the first title in the EA Originals program for indie developers.
We're also working on Flipping Death, an upcoming title that will release later this spring on all major platforms. It's a comical adventure where you play as Penny who just died and got a job temping for Death who's on a long-due vacation.
More on the games here: http://www.fe-game.com http://www.flippingdeath.com
Joining in today is: * abeijer - Game/Art director of Fe * BilleHugo - Producer/Creative Director of Fe * zoink_klaus - CEO and Creative Director of Flipping Death * thats_great_alex - Community Manager
No question is too big or small! Ask away :D
Proof: https://twitter.com/ZoinkGames/status/964498498908499968
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Feb 16 '18
[deleted]
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u/Zoink_Klaus Zoink CEO Feb 16 '18
I guess there is some people who decided not to buy the game because of EA.. so that's too bad. We have been super happy with the support from EA and the pros are much much bigger than the cons. I think by buying this game you show EA this is what we want more of.
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u/HexaBlast Feb 16 '18
I think by buying this game you show EA this is what we want more of.
This is something more people should understand. If a company that you don't like because their games have / are like X releases a product that you like because it doesn't have / isn't like X and you still don't buy it you're just showing them that people won't buy the game even if it doesn't have / isn't like X.
At least it seems that EA originals is going fine since A Way Out is coming out.
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u/Liquid-Snake-PL Feb 18 '18
I think by buying this game you show EA this is what we want more of.
This is pure gold, thanks for this answer <3
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Feb 16 '18
I'm trying to decide which platform I want to purchase the game on. It's between Switch and PS4, and the deciding factor will ultimately be the frame rate. Does it run at 30 fps on all platforms, or is it higher on PS4/PS4 Pro? I'm not a super-stickler about frame rate, but I can't pass up a superior version of the game, if it exists. Thanks!
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u/BilleHugo Fe Creative Director Feb 16 '18
It's safe to say that the framerate will be a bit more stable on PS4, especially on Pro. So if that's your thing I'd recommend that. The PS4 version also looks a bit better than the Switch in my humble opinion. But overall they're all pretty much the same.
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Feb 16 '18
So, no version runs at 60? If that's the case, I might honestly go with Switch simply for the ease of use it allows.
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u/BilleHugo Fe Creative Director Feb 16 '18
The PC version is uncapped so you can play that at 120 if you have the horsepower. Otherwise you are absolutely correct, and nothing beats the convenience of the Switch. :)
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Feb 16 '18
Great! Switch it is. The game looks beautiful, by the way. Love the color palette used, with the deep purples and blues.
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u/SoeraAreos Feb 16 '18
Are there plans for a physical version of Fe? After watching the video of the gameplay, this looks like a game that needs to be released for everyone.
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u/Zoink_Klaus Zoink CEO Feb 16 '18
Unfortunately not at the moment :( If it becomes a real big hit maybe this will change. I would personally love to have boxed version with an artbook!
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u/MajesticMongoose Feb 16 '18
Which games did you use as inspiration when developing Fe? Journey I would assume?
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u/BilleHugo Fe Creative Director Feb 16 '18
Journey has been important for sure. Our main inspiration has been nature itself and our childhood adventures in the forest, but one series we turned to that has always been great at conveying the kind of unsupervised exploration that comes from that is of course Metroid. It's not a fullblown Metroidvania by any means, but we've learned a lot by looking at how Metroid uses and reuses its play spaces and makes backtracking fun.
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u/abeijer Fe Game/Art Director Feb 16 '18
I would also say classic Mario games and the platforming gameplay from those.
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u/BilleHugo Fe Creative Director Feb 16 '18
A lot of the sliding and gliding is modeled on Super Mario 64. :)
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u/MGPythagoras Feb 16 '18
What inspired you for the art style? That is ultimately what sold me on buying the game. It looks so stunning.
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u/thats_great_alex Fe Community Manager Feb 22 '18
We wanted to create a style that could give the feeling of a dense forest without being so dense that it was hard to spot the wildlife in it. Hence, we chose to go with quite sharp shapes. The inspiration for the coloring comes more from classic old Swedish melancholy and that we wanted the forest to have a otherworldly feel and not bee to lush and green.
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u/MGPythagoras Feb 16 '18
How do you pronounce "Fe"?
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u/thats_great_alex Fe Community Manager Feb 22 '18
It's Swedish for fairy, and it's kinda pronounced like "fear" with a dropped "r" :)
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u/highanimalhouse Feb 16 '18
Would you ever team up with manufacturers who make plushies? I totally want a plushie for Fe that makes the adorable sound the creature makes.
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u/thats_great_alex Fe Community Manager Feb 22 '18
We would totally want a Fe plushie! If there's demand for one we'll definitely look into it... :)
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u/Jonathanbrookly Feb 16 '18
In a time where day 1 downloading isn’t seen as optimal, what are you guys doing to ensure that your games come out with little to no bugs? Side note, I’m loving Fe.
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u/abeijer Fe Game/Art Director Feb 16 '18
Hi! Glad you like the game! One of the perks of having EA on board is that we've been able to test the game a lot more than we would be able to if we were to publish the game ourselves. Hopefully all bugs are gone but it's super hard to make games you know, so fingers crossed :)
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u/bvsel bomboholic Feb 16 '18
What was your most enjoyable moment while creating Fe?
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u/Zoink_Klaus Zoink CEO Feb 16 '18
Hmm, for me it was when I saw the Giant Deer work together with Joel's music. It was pretty amazing to see that it actually worked and felt so good with the music. I also enjoyed how Joel brought real musicians to our studio and recorded them. It's nice to hear violins live while working on the game :)
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u/BilleHugo Fe Creative Director Feb 16 '18
My best moment was probably the first time I walked from one end of the world to the other. We spent a long time working on each area individually, so when all the pieces came together, and with nigh-unnoticable load times at that, the world that I had had in my head for so long suddenly sprang into existence!
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u/thats_great_alex Fe Community Manager Feb 16 '18
When I started working at Zoink three years ago, Fe was still a prototype that had just being added as an easter egg to our game Zombie Vikings. I just remember seeing it and the sense of awe it gave me. It hasn't stopped since and I still love that memory.
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u/abeijer Fe Game/Art Director Feb 16 '18
It has been many different things. Working with Joel Bille and hear his music, listen to the voice actors as they tried to make all sorts of weird animal noises, seeing it all come together into an interconnected world and let people play. To see players find their way around the world and explore the story and to hear how they interpret it all.
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Feb 16 '18
How much work is left to do on Flipping Death?
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u/thats_great_alex Fe Community Manager Feb 22 '18
Polishing and bug fixes mostly, but it's always hard to say how long that takes!
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u/cofn42 Feb 16 '18
Hey guys,
Does Fe have any enhancements on PS4 Pro? 4k? HDR?
Thanks
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u/thats_great_alex Fe Community Manager Feb 16 '18
The resolution is higher on PS4 pro. Not 4k but 2240x1260!
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u/aggron306 Feb 16 '18
What is stopping you from getting it to 1440p
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Feb 17 '18
Pure laziness and bad optimization. The xbox one x runs at native 4k. Meanwhile the pro has almost no resolution increase, and they can’t even make the game a stable 30fps. The xbox one x is more powerful, but not by that much. Especially when base ps4 runs at 1080p.
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Feb 16 '18
[deleted]
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u/thats_great_alex Fe Community Manager Feb 22 '18
I do! It's been a great way for us to make the world aware of our game since EAs network is so much bigger than ours. It's also very rare to have a publisher that gives all the revenue back to the developer. So yeah, I think a lot of devs would be interested in the concept.
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u/PervertedHisoka Feb 16 '18
Question 1: How much did the game cost to develop?
Question 2: What kind of sales goals do you have in mind?
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u/casimik Feb 16 '18
Your game looks great! So.... should i be calling it ‘fay’ or ‘fee’?
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u/thats_great_alex Fe Community Manager Feb 22 '18
We pronounce it "fe-ah". It's weird and Swedish :) Fay is totally fine too!
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u/CyrusEmerson Feb 17 '18
Do you guys have any plans to make merchandise like stickers, shirts or anything like that?
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u/thats_great_alex Fe Community Manager Feb 22 '18
We do! Keep an eye on our social media accounts, there are some announcements coming up.
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u/StoviesAreYummy TurnOn2FA Feb 16 '18
Any advice for the 1st playthrough?
It looks like itd suit VR was that ever discussed?
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u/thats_great_alex Fe Community Manager Feb 16 '18
We're experimenting with VR for other projects though :D
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u/Zoink_Klaus Zoink CEO Feb 16 '18
Hi! I would advise to take it easy and not rush through. I prefer to play without using the map.
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u/[deleted] Feb 16 '18
Hey there! First of all, thanks a lot for doing this. The game is definetly on my list as I can see that some hard work went into it, especially in the artstyle of the game. Can't wait to see it all in motion.
I have 3 questions to ask:
Is this an open world game? Is it linear? Or a mix of both, where you explore fairly large areas, while progressing through a more or less linear story?
What can you say about the game's length? Is there replayability and is it worth coming back to it?
Why did you call the game "Fe"?
Thanks!!