Interview with Aoca Game Lab on Project Sertão
Independent projects are always in development and it is quite interesting learning about ones from all over the world. Today, I was honored to have spoken with Aoca Game Lab about their upcoming project Project Sertão. They answer many questions I had on the project and I hope you all enjoy this interview on Project Sertão from Aoca Game Lab!
RK: Can you introduce yourself?
Aoca Game Lab: We are Aoca Game Lab, a small indie team from Salvador, Brazil!
RK: Thank you for having this interview with me! It is an honor to speak with you. My first question would be can you explain your very first time playing a video game?
Aoca Game Lab: As we are a team, we had some different perspectives and feelings about the first time playing games. But we all can tell for sure: that experience was really special and and it’s one of the things that bind us!
RK: Thank you for answering that question! I agree; everyone’s first time playing a video game can be quite different. What inspired you to enter game development?
Acoa Game Lab: The possibility to express ourselves and our beliefs through an interactive experience. And maybe touch a little bit someone else’s feelings.
RK: That is a very noble reason for wanting to enter game development. Can you explain the origins of your project and explain some goals you have for the title?
Aoca Game Lab: The Project Sertão [temporary name] began with the intention of producing a game that spoke of some cultural components of a specific region in Brazil, the “Sertão”. And our biggest goal is to create a relevant game capable to strengthening the brazilian game dev scene.
RK: I feel that is a wonderful goal for your project. Showing some of the world and culture of Brazil is something I feel many would love to see in video game form. What are some games that inspired you while producing the game?
Aoca Game Lab: We started being influenced by referrals in The Flame in the Flood and Don’t Starve. We are now starting to look for components of adventure classics like The Legend of Zelda.
RK: Those are some great inspirations to draw from. Don’t Starve and Zelda are games I personally greatly enjoy, so hearing those are influencing the game has me quite excited. When looking at games releasing this generation, what impact do you hope for your title to have?
Aoca Game Lab: We believe that our highly cultural fictional universe will be able to offer a very authentic experience. We believe that the game industry could open spaces for new perspectives.
RK: I completely agree with that statement. This generation has proven in many cases, gaming has become a more open medium for all genres and types of video games. So seeing your title trying to push that goal further is a wonderful thing to see. From what I saw of the project, it seems inspired by the 3D Platformer genre. What are some platformers you feel are the biggest influences on the project, if they are even influencing the project at all?
Aoca Game Lab: This is a curious insight, because 3D platformer games was not a direct influence on the project. But, in fact, there is great similarity! To speak of one, Crash Bandicoot series! Crash is amazing!
RK: Ah, nice to see Crash having some influence in the game. I feel like I got that impression from how tropical the game looks graphically, so I must have thought of jungle levels from platformers when I first saw images of your project. Crash is a great influence, as it naturalistic environments were can help add some atmosphere to the overall game world. My next question would be what platforms are you targeting the project for?
Aoca Game Lab: PC!
RK: Any upcoming announcements in store for the project in 2017?
Aoca Game Lab: The game will be released by the spring of 2017. We are very anxious to start releasing globally!
RK: Do you have any final thoughts before we close the interview? It was an honor to speak with you today and thank you for answering my questions on the project!
Aoca Game Lab: We are very grateful for the interest in publicizing our project. Stay tuned for our new materials. And also look for the games made in Brazil. There’s a lot of special things coming in the next few months!
You can follow the development on Project Sertão though following Aoca Game Lab’s Twitter page and for more in-depth information on the title, you can visit the Aoca Game Lab’s official Tumblr page.