Toys of War – RETRO GAMESMASTER

Interview with Luke Bermingham by Peter Ward

In Toys of War up to 4 players (or AIs) control tricked out military vehicles and vie for vehicular supremacy in a bonanza of fast-paced, head-to-head game modes. Each of the vehicles has a primary, secondary, and shield ability which when combined with some really “clutch” game modes results in a simple pick-up-and-play party game that is a tonne of fun whilst still having real depth for returning players. You can battle as a tank, helicopter, hovercraft, artillery, humvee, or armored personnel carrier (APC for short) – so there is heaps of variety for different players. Oh yeah, the game also has healthy servings of lasers, explosions, and grappling hooks sprinkled throughout the game modes for your enjoyment.

On a personal note, whenever we exhibit the game or invite people to our office it definitely brings out that competitive streak in people, or those “you son of a…” moments. So, to truly experience the joy of laying waste to your opponents with a spray of helicopter missiles, or perfectly bouncing a tank shell off a wall to kill that camping little twerp, we strongly recommend you invite some friends round (and tell them to bring their game pads). I mean, you can play against the bots and test your mettle, but their cybernetic screams don’t carry that same feeling of domination you get from crushing your friends, trust me. :p

Features

4 Player competitive multiplayer on one system (online coming soon)
11 unique game modes
6 unique playable vehicles
AI opponents with various difficulty settings
A variety of maps and map themes
Full original soundtrack
Tutorial to learn or test each vehicle
Full controller support

https://youtu.be/QtEcAj51Ehs

What is your first gaming experience?

The first game that I can remember playing Cruisin’ in the USA on the N64. I was listening to its soundtrack the other day – it really is great driving music.

What got you into programming games?

I actually have a background in computer science research but at some point I met these guys who were making a games company. The opportunity came up for me to join them and I’ve been coding (and trying my hand at everything else) ever since.

What development tools or coding did you use?

For Toys of War we used Unity and wrote the game code in C# using Visual Studio. We’ve been know to dabble in Unreal Engine too.

What hurdles did you have making your current game?

We had a lot of challenges. One I can remember is the music for the game. At first we thought we’d do it ourselves but it was a huge task and we were already so busy with everything else. We ended up out-sourcing the music to some British lads at Metronomix Studios – they did a great job so it turned out to be one of the best development decisions we made. Another hurdle I remember was making the game actually “look good”. The game looked pretty awful for nearly a year, haha, but at some point after a solid effort making some really big changes to cameras, lighting and shaders it looked “pretty”.

After the completion of the game what game will you make?

That is certainly a question being thrown around our office a lot. At this stage we’ll probably do a whole bunch of game jams and prototypes to see if we can hit on something we like. In general we’re moving towards a “quickly test and validate” approach rather than picking a specific idea early on and sticking with it.

What other games have you made you made?

We’ve made a bunch of games, mostly game jam games. In fact, at the time of writing this we are competing in the Unreal Mega Jam. Anyways, here is a list of all our games to date: http://2bitstudios.com.au/games/

Of those, the biggest one we worked on before Toys of War was “RegentZ”. It is a horror/comedy game set in the regency era, imagine Jane Austen meets zombies, it is that sort of thing.

My favourite computer was my Amiga and console the Megadrive do you have a favourite?

My favourite console would have to be the N64, just because I played it so much.

What is your favourite retro game?

Anything made by Rare, but if I had to pick…maybe, Banjo Kazooie. I still really like the levels and the music. That Kirkhope knows how to make some jolly bouncy tunes.

Do you still game on the current consoles if so whats your favourite game?

I’ve actually been doing most of my gaming through Steam lately. But on console I am a big fan of Smash, so that’d be my favourite console game right now, Smash 4.

Whats the worst game you have ever played?

I’ve played a lot of pretty hacked together and buggy games because I participate in game jams. There is this one we always have a chuckle about in our office though. I can’t even remember the name. But it was basically a really terrible MOBA that was drawn in paint. It looked like cancer and the bugs were hilariously frequent.

Finally what game or feature would you like to see on Retrogamesmaster in the future?

More indie game reviews