Interview: Director Talks Puzzle Platformer Plane Weaver 2

Made in only a month by an independent development team in Denmark, Plane Weaver combines platforming mechanics and puzzles with a solemn and surreal aesthetic design. Plane Weaver allows players to transform at will into several different forms, including a monster and an ethereal spirit, to solve puzzles, manipulate objects, and navigate the environment in various ways. The game was recently selected for the PAX 10 showcase at the 2010 Penny Arcade Expo, and is available to play for free on Team Plane Weaver's website. Gamasutra spoke with Team Plane Weaver director Troels Cederholm to discuss the game's development, the life of an independent developer, and how increased exposure affects the team's plans for the future. Gamasutra: What were some of the reasons you guys chose the Unity engine? Troels Cederholm: All of us worked with the Source engine before and found it had its constraints and limits, and the Unity engine is so much easier to use, especially if you’re not a hardcore programmer. The drag-and-drop thing they have is really easy to use. GS: Does being on Unity have any impact on distribution, since it’s web-based? You guys have the whole game on the web right now, don’t you? TC: Yeah, yeah, we do. Are you guys looking for a way to sell it or distribute the game? TC: It started out as something that should be free for everyone. It’s kind of like a vertical slice of something that could be much bigger, and if we found a developer or producer that would actually fund it, it would be really great for us. The PAX 10 and other indie showcases are sort of a show reel for you guys, to show off what you can do? TC:Yeah. Perhaps I should say that we made the game in a only a month. What are some things you guys enjoy about working in independent development? TC: Freedom -- that’s got to be the main one. You can do whatever you want. That’s not exactly true, but being an independent developer still has a lot more freedom. And what are some of the drawbacks of being an independent developer? TC: The biggest drawback is probably funding, money. That’s what you need the most. Have you guys had any part-time jobs to fund this? TC: Actually, we had a lot of funding from our school. We are all students actually, so it’s a school project. That’s why we had the funding to do it. We were backed up by all the universities in our country, basically. Are you guys looking to stay independent, or move to a funded studio? TC: I think we all carry the same dream of being independent developers that can make money on our own games, but you’ve got to be realistic. (Laughs) We’ll probably end up at some big company doing stuff for other people. How did you think development was going to progress and be received versus the reality of it? How did that differ? TC: My first word would be "overwhelming." We didn’t think it would be received as well as it did. Being here at the PAX 10 has been an enormous achievement for us because we’re all the way from Europe, and we just applied because we thought, "What the heck, let’s try it." And then we got here and it was so crazy. How has being part of the PAX 10 affected you guys so far? Has anything come of it? TC: We’ve got a lot of business cards. (laughs) I don’t know if anything will come of it, but it’s been a great experience and just to make a small fingerprint on this whole thing going on, PAX Prime, that’s so awesome.