Zebbe (Z) - You're welcome, and thank you for the opportunity! I was participating in a challenge on Sega-16, where the forum members aimed (and still do, actually) to beat all Mega Drive games. One of my contributions was Dungeon Explorer on Mega-CD. While playing it, I thought to myself "Hey, this game is quite simple in its design. I could make something like it." I had to eat that "simple" part later on, but that's OK, I'm a gourmand who eats anything. But anyway, since I had been at another company, Watermelon, for some time and nothing really happened there, I decided to start my own project, which became The Viking & The Ninja. While the core gameplay is quite similar, I made quite many changes to the design and scope. For example, I wanted more focus on the story and less on multiplayer (i.e. 3 or more players, since most people don't have multitaps). So the game would have two classes, a Viking, and a ninja, which would also be carefully defined characters. The story and gameplay was decided to centre around working together to achieve greater results. Another important decision was the setting. I thought it would be quite unoriginal to have the generic "fire cave", "ice cave" etc. for dungeons, so I looked at things I enjoy in life and decided to make some designs around them. I have since my early youth been quite a jokester, but never had the opportunity to capture that part of me into a greater work, so comedy became one of the design pillars. Overall, I describe the setting as anachronistic fantasy, something that has no boundaries for what jokes can be included.
I hope the players can get a fun and challenging one or two-player action roleplaying adventure, with some familiarity and a lot of surprises.
GF - Can you give a little background on your history in the gaming industry?
Z - Since my early youth, I've always been a creative person, beginning with drawing at kindergarten and later writing for game sites in my teens. One of those game sites is Sega-16, where I also met developers of a Mega Drive RPG, Pier Solar and the Great Architects. They invited me to work on the game as a level designer and I accepted. In 2010, it was released by the team, Watermelon, and I stayed with them for a few years working on some other games, most of which were never released. In 2016 I decided to start my own project and also apply to a game design school, Futuregames. I got in and studied there for two years. The education ended with an internship, which I had at Crackshell, the developer of the Hammerwatch games. After the internship ended I got employed and am still working there. The last few years, while working on The Viking & The Ninja in my spare time, I have also lent a helping hand on various retro indie projects, for example on Canon: The Legend of the New Gods and Jim Power by Piko Interactive. I've also done some game journalism and consulting as an advisor for students. But the focus right now, and until it is done, is on my own project.
GF - You have quite the history with Mega Drive titles, what draws you to that specific system (it also happens to be my favourite!)? Also, what have the challenges and special moments been in terms of development?
Z - It's my favourite system too, that's a big reason! It has a strong library with many of my most cherished games. I really like the design specs, they give a lot of possibilities and the few limitations there are just boost your creativity to work around them. We have a great homebrew/indie scene with tons of cool and talented people, much thanks to Stephane Dallongeville's SGDK. He also happens to program The Viking & The Ninja, by the way.
For me, the biggest challenge with this project has been hiring other people to help out with stuff I cannot do or don't have time to do. The fact that I'm really shy about reaching out to others doesn't really help either. Thankfully, Tyler, my hiring manager, is good at it. The most special moments are always when the game is done and you get the release copy in your very own hands. For this project, I'd say the "firsts", such as seeing the game on real hardware or hearing a new tune for the first time are always a huge motivation boost.
GF - The focus on creating a game on the MD that is primarily designed for local co-op - makes it stand out on the system, was that always the intention?
Z - Yes! But the single-player option will also be just as good. There are very few local co-op action RPGs on the Mega Drive (Gauntlet IV, Arcus Odyssey and Dungeon Explorer), and they are a bit limited in scope and narrative, so I wanted to fill in an empty slot in the library.
GF - What stage of development are you currently at with The Viking and the Ninja, and are you keeping music in-house, or will someone else be composing the soundtrack?
Z - As of now, most of the graphics, levels and pretty much all of the sound is completed, so we are in the stage of inserting assets into the game. Stef is also programming new features, now focusing on UI. For the soundtrack, we have three marvellously talented composers: Lion, my good friend who also worked on Pier Solar, Jredd, one of the composers of Paprium, and new star Cosmo, who also is Jredd's friend. Here are a few links: https://soundcloud.com/jredd and https://www.youtube.com/@CosmoBuggi/videos
GF - You’ve been involved in the industry for quite some time, what have been the biggest changes that you’ve witnessed as a developer?
Z - For the Mega Drive scene, I'd say SGDK brought the biggest change and an explosion of new releases every year since around 2015. I'm very thankful and glad for that, however, since then I don't collect ALL new Mega Drive games anymore, because my wallet, unfortunately, has its limits. For the industry as a whole, it's a bit hard to keep track of it because it is enormous, but you always notice trends come and go, for example, AR and VR never really took off as much as expected. We'll see what happens with AI, which is on the rise at the moment.
GF - It’s probably thinking quite far ahead - but is the plan to also release The Viking and the Ninja on other systems at some point?
Z - There are no plans at the moment, but I'm open to porting the game to modern consoles after the Mega Drive version is released.
GF - I came across your work in issue 2 of the fantastic Debug magazine, what’s the best way for people to keep up to date with your releases?
Z - You can subscribe to our newsletter at: https://www.delayedagain.se/ (I should probably write one soon, it's been some months since the last one...)
You can also check out our X account: https://twitter.com/DelayedAgainAB
Last, but not least, we have a YouTube channel: https://youtu.be/d954f3jFRMI
GF - What is the gaming scene like in Sweden, and are there any other devs you’d like to mention that we should be aware of?
Z - Retro gaming is quite popular, with a few expos held in some cities every year, streamers playing classic games etc. Unfortunately, game stores are few and far between as we've moved onto the digital age and the cost of physical stores and salaries are just too much. But you should check out Spel & Sånt in Norrtälje and the arcade Hey Sthlm if you get the chance. As for gaming in general, I guess it's the same as in most countries.
There are a few big companies, such as DICE (Battlefield, Pinball Dreams, Ultracore), King (Candy Crush Saga), Mojang (Minecraft) and Embracer (lots of stuff). But also many, many smaller studios. The best one is probably Crackshell (Hammerwatch), where I'm working. Since it's my first and only full-time job in game design I really don't know much about other companies, but I suggest you check out Goat Simulator by Coffee Stain. We have quite a few game design schools as well, I wholeheartedly recommend Futuregames which I attended from 2017 to 2019.
GF - A question I always like to ask is, ‘What are your favourite games’, But here I have to also know what your favourite MD games are as well?
Z - My favourite game is also a Mega Drive game, Phantasy Star IV and I love the whole classical series. I also really like the Shining series, Dungeon Explorer series, Chrono Trigger, most 2D Zeldas, the Monster World games, the Lunar series, the Gauntlet series, Final Fantasy until and including IX, many Treasure games, the Thunder Force series, most A and B tier Mega Drive action sidescrollers, Popful Mail, Heroes of Hammerwatch, Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six: Siege, the Streets of Rage series, Skies of Arcadia, Snatcher & Policenauts, the Ys series, the Turrican series, and many more. There are quite a few Mega Drive games among those!
GF - A huge thank you for your time, We at GF are really looking forward to playing the game upon release!
Z - You're welcome! I look forward to hearing your thoughts when the game is out!
Name: The Viking & The Ninja
Genre: Action-RPG
Players: 1-2
Developer: Delayed Again
Publisher: TBC
System: Sega Mega Drive
Released: TBA
Description:
The Viking & The Ninja is an action RPG similar to the Dungeon Explorer series, set in an anachronistic fantasy setting with a lot of humour. The main theme and gameplay centres around cooperation between the two playable characters, but to succeed you also need to explore, fight bravely and talk to other characters with important information.
Video: https://youtu.be/d954f3jFRMI
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