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Loveshack is in the right frame of mind

  28 Jun 2017

Loveshack Entertainment has officially launched Framed 2 - a prequel to their critically acclaimed and multi-award winning game Framed. A fusion of a silent noir movie and a comic book, the immersive game has already garnered a huge fan base locally and internationally.

Loveshack’s co-founder and game designer Adrian Moore describes the Framed series, maintaining a competitive edge and his tips for aspiring game developers.  

How do you improve on what is already a critically acclaimed phenomenal success? Was it stressful to create a sequel to Framed in terms of meeting the expectations of its fans?

When we made Framed, we dreamt up and built a game that we wanted to play - and hoped that other people out there would love it too. With the second game the advances we made in terms of more amped up visuals, a richer musical score, a greater challenge to the puzzles, introducing fresh new characters and settings. These were things that we were really excited about.

We certainly wanted to make a game that was a little more movie-like than the first one, with some fiendishly tricky puzzles scattered in. But in terms of expectations, truly the only real expectations were our own. If we could make another game that we loved ourselves, we felt our audience may feel the same way.

What can players expect from Framed 2? What are some of the new features?

Framed 2 takes place years before the events of Framed, so we're telling the story that leads up to the start of the original game. We showcase a brand new character alongside some of the original cast. It's a tale that will hopefully shock, surprise and eventually move you – with some comedic moments on the side.

As with Framed, you must swap, rotate and re-use panels of an animated comic book to change the outcome and successfully solve each puzzle. There is a shorter period of tutorial this time around, with deeper puzzles appearing pretty early on. We wanted to give players a really meaty, head-scratching challenge they could get their teeth into and spend a satisfying amount of time on.

Aside from the main content itself we've also incorporated a collectible pick up system in the form of polaroids. This provides a reason to re-play the game and enjoy it a second or third time once it has been completed.

Jazzy beats, husky saxophone tunes, dark and mysterious ambiance… the Framed series has an idiosyncratic style that drips with character. What were your inspirations while making the games?

We've tried to create our own unique feel with the Framed series but we've certainly been inspired by a whole host of movies, games, TV shows and comics. Joshua (designer/coder) took inspiration from Scott McCloud's book Understanding Comics with the original concept. The mood of the Framed games comes from our love of others' work such as the CowBoy Bebop animated series, Sin City and Angel Heart. The unique visual aesthetic is something we've tried to invent – the character silhouettes acting against the detailed, hand-drawn backdrops. All the characters are hand animated too, so we can create a stylish, consistent feel that is unique to us. Musically the games are striving to be ‘old meets new'; we create funky, slinky modern beats and bass lines with the amazing Lauren Mullarvey coming in to add her electrifying live saxophone, replacing the synth parts, creating a feeling of organic performance mixed with sharp on-tempo grooves.

What is the rule to stand out in the highly competitive App Store market? How do you convert critical success to financial success?

That's the question everyone wants the answer to! I think it may be foolish of us to presume there is a rule that can be followed in order to achieve success. What we've certainly set out to do is really make the best games we possibly can with the hope that critical and financial success will follow.

To try to stand out we've deliberately strived for innovation. The market is so saturated that it would be a hard sell making a game that is similar to another one. With an innovative game the challenge becomes conveying the concept so that people get it.  We've attended most of the festivals and entered many competitions to try to raise awareness of Framed and we always strive to bang home the core 'Change the order, change the outcome' concept in our marketing materials.

Where does the Victorian games industry stand in the international scene?

With the government support the makeup of the Victorian games scene has seen a steady rise in smaller studios and start-ups. Victoria has a number of larger developers of course, but it is vastly outnumbered by independent studios or solo developers. We have a large number of young developers eager to make their mark. Having been around to a lot of different scenes around the world, Melbourne is certainly recognised as one of the hubs for independent game creators. It's a good sign for the future as these developers gain more experience and continue to build the Victorian games scene.

Any advice for the new generation game developers?

If you're brand new to the industry it's very wise to gain at least a few years of experience working for other companies before going out alone. After all, studios such as Fireproof, Media Molecule and Loveshack have great experience. It would be virtually impossible for these teams to achieve the success they have without that game development history.

Try to seek out the best projects and the best people to work with. Set your quality standards high, and work hard. Work very hard. Get busy making stuff! Keep experimenting, keep trying to create the very best work that you can. And despite all the inevitable frustrations, setbacks and failures - never give up!

 

Framed 2 is available at the App store for iOS devices