Ironhide: “We will be working on the Kingdom Rush series while our fans are playing it”

Kingdom Rush Vengeance

The questions were asked by Alexander Semenov, the publishing editor App2Top.ru . Ironhide’s answers are collective.

ALEXANDER: Before we talk about the new product, let’s focus on how, in general, is a decision made in your studio about what kind of game we are doing? Who gives the command that we are doing the next part of Kingdom Rush, and not something completely new?

Ironhide: At Ironhide, decisions are made differently. Today the studio is divided into teams. Each team has both universal specialists and programmers, designers, artists. In general, the development itself proceeds, as a rule, in a creative way. And we can always come to a solution that will suit everyone.

One of these solutions, as I understand it, was the game Iron Marines, which you released last year. Judging by the data of analytical services, the project turned out to be no less commercially successful than your other games (the earnings of the game in mobile amounted to about $ 2 million, while Iron Marines, like most other games in the series, is distributed as a paid application. — Ed.). How satisfied are you with it yourself?

Ironhide: Iron Marines was a very difficult project.

Why?

Ironhide: We were working on a new IP plus developing a game in a genre in which we had no experience and expertise. And we were not sure of the success of the game until the release. Although this is not surprising. When working on something new, I’m always not completely sure of the result.

However, having invested a lot of effort, we have created a game that we are very happy with. And not only us, but also our fans and the press.

What was the most difficult thing when working on Iron Marines?

Ironhide: The biggest problem was caused by the adaptation of the traditional PC genre of RTS to mobile conditions. The main difficulty was the transfer of control and, of course, the essence of the genre. It was fundamentally important for us to keep his core mechanics in the game.

Iron Marines

And the project was successful. Why did you return to Kingdom Rush again after the wonderful Iron Marines?

Ironhide: Everything is simple here. Kingdom Rush is recognized by critics and players as one of the best tower defense games in the world. And it’s still being played. So as long as our fans love this series, we will work on it.

And it is not entirely correct to say that we have returned to the series. In our studio, as we have already noted, there are several teams. Each of the teams is working on its own project. The development of Kingdom Rush Vengeance started almost simultaneously with Iron Marines.

By the way, we have another team working on a third secret project.

We have come to Kingdom Rush Vengeance. This is the fourth installment in the series. All the games are beautiful, but at the same time very similar to each other. How should each new part of Kingdom Rush differ from the previous one, is there any mandatory requirement?

Ironhide: Of course, each Kingdom Rush should have something new compared to the previous game in the series. Kingdom Rush Vengeance is no exception. On the one hand, it retains the familiar features of the series that are loved by players. On the other hand, it has new features that were introduced based on player feedback, as well as those innovations that we hope they will like.

Kingdom Rush Vengeance

Let’s take the example of Origins (the previous game in the series. — Ed.) and Vengeance will sort it out. What fundamentally new things did you decide to implement in Vengeance when the game was just being conceived?

Ironhide: Look, in Kingdom Rush Vengeance, the player for the first time appears on the side of the main villain of all previous series — the kingdom of Vez’nan. The task is to win back all the lands that were previously occupied by the “good guys”. To win, you will have to capture both familiar and new kingdoms by fighting with different types of armies.

In addition, Kingdom Rush Vengeance has a new feature that we are really very proud of: now players can choose and combine up to 16 new towers (for comparison: previously there were four towers in each game of the series. — Ed.).

We have also had updates to the technical plan, for example, concerning our engine.

We also worked a lot on the visual style, tried to take it to a new level. We always adhere to the cartoon style that our players have fallen in love with, but at the same time we try to have more details and animations in our works.

By the way, how does the audience itself usually react to innovations?

Ironhide: When we first started publishing information about the game and mentioned that players would be able to choose towers for battles before battles, we saw delight.

You know, and we could understand our fans, because the new mechanics allows each player to build their own strategy, thereby personalizing their experience.

You have noted that you have made edits to the engine. Can you elaborate on this point?

Ironhide: In this game we use a new engine. The transition to a new technology was necessary for the introduction of new mechanics. Including the one with towers, which we just told you about.

What’s the new engine? Plus, in general, please share what tools you work with?

Ironhide: The set of tools we use for development depends on various factors, but most importantly — on the game itself. For Kingdom Rush Vengeance, we used our own tools, as well as Adobe Animate and Cocos2d-x.

Despite the transition to the new engine, you regularly support all previous projects (starting with the original Kingdom Rush from 2013, each project is updated five to nine times a year, while most games, as we noted a little above, are premium. — Ed.).

Ironhide: At Ironhide, we care about the fans, and this applies to many aspects. One of them is to support projects, to make them possible to play on any platforms without problems.

Kingdom Rush Vengeance

If we talk about game design, are there any rules when working on maps for Kingdom Rush? Can you voice them?

Ironhide: If we sum up the whole process to the most important thing, then this is the focus on the players. The most important thing is to try to make sure that they can get a good experience from the game.

In Kingdom Rush Vengeance, we followed two basic principles:

• we allowed players to use different strategies so that they could enjoy the new features;
• at the same time, we tried to keep the feeling of the series in each game.

Over the eight years of working on the series, you probably have a certain pattern of working on each map. Can you tell me how the work on the map begins, what iterations it goes through, how do you decide what should be on it?

Ironhide: Creating a map starts with an idea. Then we make a concept, and only then we choose a theme for it (setting), we estimate its history (in general, what can happen on it). Then we draw a level road and make a sketch. We play it. If we like the level, we prepare the final art for it.

How much time does it take to work on one map?

Ironhide: It depends on the map and what obstacles and difficulties there are on it. Working on a map with a boss, for example, is a completely different story. Anyway, we devote a lot of time to polishing each level.

By the way, a couple of years ago a great article about you was published on Polygon. It mentioned that there are only 15 of you. Has anything changed since then?

Ironhide: As we have created more projects, the team has grown. Now we have 30 employees on staff.

The studio is growing — we are taking on more projects. More projects — more employees. Such is the enchanted circle.

Can you share how your roles are usually distributed in teams?

Ironhide: Each team has its own lead artist, designer and programmer. All teams strive to maintain a unified style of work in decision-making.

Kingdom Rush Vengeance

A provocative question. Look, you’ve been doing Kingdom Rush since 2011. Aren’t you tired?

Ironhide: No, we love the genre and believe that there is room for innovation in it. As in the case of Kingdom Rush Vengeance, which adds new mechanics to the classic tower defense, there are a huge number of things that have yet to be implemented within the genre.

Plus, for us, working on each game is like a personal challenge, without which further growth is impossible.

Sounds great, but what’s next? Are you really going to keep doing Kingdom Rush? For the fans, including me, it’s wonderful. But is it so good for the company?

Ironhide: We will be working on the games of the series while our fans are playing them.

As a company, of course, we want to increase our product portfolio. That’s why we made several teams inside the studio. And just like the Iron Marines team is working on RTS, we can take on another genre in the future.

I see. Thanks for the interview.