We saw a lot of games at PAX this past year, but only a few of these stood out. Masquerada: Songs and Shadow was one of the games that jumped out at me during my time at the show. Its interesting take on the isometric RPG genre and gorgeous art in the demo grabbed my attention right away. We reached out to Singapore based Witching Hour Studios to ask about the process of making games in a major tech hub, and the influences behind their upcoming game.
Let’s start with a brief introduction. Tell us a bit about Witching Hour Studios.
We’re a small studio from Singapore and we’ve been making games for the last 6 years. Started with three and we’ve grown to about fifteen. We’ve always been about stories, so much of what we do revolve around storytelling – be it in world building or narrative. To no surprise, we’re most comfortable with strategy or role-playing games. Our first title, Ravenmark, has been on the appstore since since 2011 and while it’s far from perfect, working on that has given us the confidence and experience keep going and we’re seeing the pay off now with our latest title, Masquerada.
Tell us a bit about your game, Masquerada.
Masquerada is an isometric role-playing game with pause-for-tactics inspired by classics like Baldur’s Gate and Neverwinter Nights while infused with new ideas. It’s set in a world where magic only exists in a single city and one where masks are the only way to wield it. We follow Cicero Gavar, very much the Sherlock Holmes of this city as he returns to solve a missing persons case. He’ll be recruiting a party of characters from the different guilds of the city, each with his or her own perspective and motivations. Masquerada is a fully voiced experience, sporting a cast including the likes of Matthew Mercer, Dave Fennoy and Jennifer Hale.
Combat can be paced to a tactical level with the pause mechanic, or faster one for a more Diablo-esque experience. We’ve tried to keep the game as dense as possible – anything you do in the game forwards what’s going on as the mystery unravels.
Can you tell us a little bit more about your team and their different roles on the project?
YES. Thank you for this. I was just recently lamenting that I seldom have the chance to speak about my team, so this is greatly appreciated. I apologize in advance if I’m rattling out names, I simply don’t get this chance very often!
Design & Writing: We did something a different in how we approached the project. We started with the writing first, and wove everything else around that. Nicholas Chan, our writer, built a fantastic world around a very skeletal idea I had and that set the base from which our designers could play with. During pre-production, the designers, Leon Si and Linda Yeo took it from there and populated the core mechanics and fleshed out combat.
Art & Animation: Peter Tanuwidjaja, the art lead was the one that set the tone and design bible, giving Masquerada its unique look. Creating the fully painted 2D backgrounds are Dominic Chan and Tong Xin Wen. For the characters, which are done in 3D, we have Wong Yu Lian (modelling/rigging), Shaun Yow (modelling),Azarudeen Shanavas and Haffiz Anwar(both animation). A special shout out to Nur Aiysha, from Ixora Studios for helping us out with some UI! Both the 2D and 3D teams are keen on making something that would stand the test of time, which lead to the style of art and animation we’ve gone with.
Programming: The folks that really put everything together. Chan Sin Huan, our programming lead, does tools; Kuan Han Rong, does technical art; Victor Chua is Unity man; Byrne Lim does UI. Each and every component here is pivotal in what the player is going to experience and I’m certain I’m not doing them justice. Oh, there’s also Samuel Soh, our Executive Intern, who works on both programming and design.
Sound & Music: While not a part of WHS, I wanted to mention the good people who add that extra layer of depth. Sound designers, Guo Yuan, Sharon Kho and Jeremy Goh from IMBA Interactive. Josh Whelchel, our composer. Michael Csurics, our voice director… and the cast, which really is a whole other section!
Brian: My co-founder Brian Kwek deserves a special mention. Between playing Producer, Marketing Guy, HR Guy, Accountant, he’s the person that has given us the room and head space to really focus on the craft and make something we can all be proud of.
As you can tell, making a game is very much like raising a child – it takes a village. We are very much more than the sum of our parts.
We have spoken with developers all around the world, but Singapore’s status as a tech hub makes it somewhat unique. How has being located in the area helped/hindered your work?
High speed internet, for one thing.
In all seriousness, I think Singapore is the ideal place to run any business, especially anything tech related. The infrastructure is fantastic, so everything runs smooth like butter. I’m incredibly proud to be Singaporean and I could go on and on about my home. It’s no accident that Brian and I have worked hard to make sure we’re a core Singaporean team and that Masquerada is a truly Singaporean product.
I would say the two biggest hurdles are the cost of living here and the sometimes uphill battle to convince people of the value of creativity here… and that we can actually create it. Singapore became a very affluent country quickly, so we’re still catching up culturally and artistically. Even then, I’m convinced we’re gonna get there soon. I know of too many talented and passionate folk for anything otherwise.
A unique problem we face, in relation to the rest of the world is how detached Singapore is from the larger game development scene and game news channels. We’ve been lucky thus far, but the idea of releasing a game and no one hearing about it is a nightmare we constantly have.
Are there any unexpected challenges you’ve already faced during development?
Personally, I feel incredibly guilty since I spent a good deal of last year sick. Between removing my gall bladder and dengue fever (you guys should totally google this!), I simply wasn’t there for a good chunk of production and I think any delays we’ve had sit squarely on my shoulders. Past that, I think my team has been incredible at pushing past any issues that have cropped up over the last few months.
Have there been any games that have influenced you in the project? Whether that means inspiration, or things to avoid.
Oh, many! Baldur’s Gate and Neverwinter Nights served as the core on which we built around. We’ve taken what we remembered fondly of them – strong story and characters, real-time with pause combat and a living world. One thing we’ve learnt to step away from is the overload of choices in this game. Choice paralysis is a real problem, so we’ve changed something things to avoid it without over-simplifying. Tying to that, we wanted to have controls that players could pick up quickly, so we spent some time observing MOBAs. We’re also huge fans of Supergiant Games, so it’s not hard to spot the influences.
Beyond games though, we’ve pulled from all kinds of media – french comics for the style and palette to Don Bluth and The Last Airbender for the animation.
Are there any games that are popular around the office?
Overwatch. So hot right now. I think some of the team is quite into a board game called Roll for the Galaxy.
I recall during our meeting at PAX you mentioned that the game’s world was inspired by a personal D&D campaign . Could you tell us more about that?
Magic users in D&D are overpowered. At least in 3 and 3.5. It simply wasn’t an even playing field. To deal with the disparity, I completely removed them and had magic open to all in the form of masks. It’s from this premise that I built the world and city that would be fleshed out by Nicholas years later. While the campaign was more about mask hunting and my players maneuvering their guild chapter through the politics of the city, Masquerada delves into much deeper things.
What does the roadmap for the game look like from here? Any major milestones coming up? Any speculation on release windows?
We’re actually going to be doing a Kickstarter soon! This would give us that final push to sweeten what we have and the opportunity to do some cool physical stuff like game boxes, art books and the likes. If all goes as planned, we’re looking at an end of July launch for PC. The Kickstarter’ll coincide with PAX East, so we hope to see you guys there, if not on the interwebs! We have a new build all prepped. =)
