An Interview with Roger Hicks

Celestial Mechanica

I recently got the opportunity to play through a copy of Celestial Mechanica, a short but sweet game available to download on the PC.


One of it's creators, Roger Hicks, kindly agreed to answer a few of my questions about the game, the perks of being an indie game developer, and more.


Q. Hello Roger! Could you introduce yourself to my readers?

A: Hi, Im Roger and I develop indie games, music and other software.

Q. Where did you and Paul Veer get the idea for Celestial Mechanica?

A: A few months ago, I approached Paul with the idea for the Celestial Mechanica. I always had the idea in my head and wanted to develop it into a game. Apparently Paul also thought it was good idea and here we are.

rComplex

Q. How has the response for Celestia Mechanica been so far?

A: The response has been great in terms of media coverage. Some consumers have voiced opinions on their likes and dislikes for the game but I welcome all of it.

Q. Looking back, is there any aspect of the game that you would change/evolve, etc?

A: I would have liked to add more shrines and extend the length of the game. A major gripe with the audience was the shortness of the game. To explain why the game was fairly brief, Celestial Mechanica was originally a flash game which was converted to a downloadable. I'm looking to revisit the game some day.

Project I/O

Q. Whilst I really enjoyed Celestial Mechanica, I definitely found it rather difficult at times . Did you intend to make Celestial Mechanica a challenging platformer, or was it something that just happened during development?

A: I did intend to make the game challenging. I was inspired by Super Meat Boy and Vvvvvv. Those games were both fairly challenging yet satisfying. I wanted my game to have a similar feeling.

Q. What would you say is the greatest part of being an indie games developer?

A: Being able to sleep whenever you want.  I'm partially kidding! It's cool to develop an idea without anyone giving judgements of criticisms. Complete freedom of your IP is a lovely thing to have. It can also be a downfall if you have tunnel vision. You need to be able to stick to your vision while being flexible enough to be open to new ideas. In the end, it feels good to develop something that you want.

Q. You've got some games under your belt now. Have you got any advice for any new indie developers?

A: My advice is to keep working on projects. Don't stop because the more you do it the better you get. Basically don't give up. If you're passionate about this then, in spite of the odds stick with it. It took a while for me to get to this point and I'm still not where I want to be but I'm sticking with it. I feel lucky because it only took a few years to get to this point.

Q. Could you recommend a game or two that my readers should play?

A: As I mentioned before, Super Meat Boy and Vvvvvv. I would also recomend Tower of Heaven, Escape from the Underworld and Knytt Stories.

Q. And finally, what's next for yourself?

A: I am currently working on a few new projects some of them are gaming related the others are web applications. You will be hearing about some of these projects soon. Maybe something from a past project that starts with an "R".

Stream

You can read my Celestial Mechanica review here!

Review: Celestial Mechanica

I was recently contacted by Roger Hicks to try out a game (and listen to it's soundtrack) which he had worked on, entitled Celestial Mechanica for the PC. Created by indie developers Roger Hicks (one of the creators of rComplex) and Paul Veer (animator of Super Crate Box), Celestial Mechanica combines action, puzzle, exploration into one short, but sweet game.


The first thing I noticed about Celestial Mechanica was the cute pixel graphics which carry a nostalgic retro feel. I was instantly reminded of old platformers on consoles such as the SNes when I first loaded this up. For me, I found that these cute little pixel characters were what made me want to continue playing the game until the end. The game reminds me of a Metroid-style platformer, so fans of this particular type of game play should have an indication of what the game is like already. 

As for the game play, in short it looks straight forward, but unfortunately, it isn't always the case. In fact, Celestial Mechanica can be horribly frustrating at times. The difficulty definitely heightens as you progress through the game, due to the increase in enemies and environmental hazards. At least Celestial Mechanica is forgiving to the player in one aspect. Players are giving an unlimited amount of lives. When you do die, spawn points are normally quite close, but sometimes they involve completing that frustratingly hard labyrinthine that you have only just traversed after repeatedly dying in the process of completing it. However, this does not spoil the game as a whole. In fact, once you have completed those sticking points, it actually makes for a satisfying and rather fun game. 

A great aspect is that the controls are relatively easy to pick up. Combine this with the endless lives and a generous amount of power-ups does make the elements of frustration feel worth it Celestial Mechanica. The game is unfortunately rather short, and can be completed in around 2 hours. Personally I enjoyed this game, and would have liked to have become involved in it a little longer than this, but only if the levels of frustration were toned down a little. 

Summary
Overall, Celestial Mechanica is an enjoyable, but somewhat frustrating platformer. You'll die a lot, probably curse a little too, but the pay-off at the end is as much rewarding as it is satisfying. The retro look and feel of the game creates a fun, nostalgic and cute atmosphere which I had no problems playing through, and the retro music fits in nicely with the action also. You can purchase the game for the low price of £3.06 (or $5.00), and complete it within 2 hours. Not bad, I say. 


Still undecided? Watch the trailer below-it may help.