Winter Wolves Interview
Last week I had the opportunity to interview Celso Riva of Winter Wolves.
If you have followed the news last year he has released Loren Amazon Princess, and Tales of Aravorn. I hope you enjoy my latest interview, and checkout his other games.
He also offers free demos on his website, and not many developers do nowadays.
Couchpotato: To start the interview can you talk a little bit about your background, Winter Wolves, and how you got started in the games industry?
Celso Riva: I started for a small software house in Italy around 1995, then in 2004 after a long period away from game development I discovered the possibility to sell games over internet and decided to try!
Couchpotato: You have been around for quite a few years, and probably have seen many changes. So what's your opinion on the state of the game industry?
Celso Riva: The game industry is quite healthy in my opinion, but is also getting very tough and competitive. I still think that thanks to the various platforms available (mobile, portals, desktop, direct, consoles, web, etc) there's still the possibility to carve in your niche and be successful. But is much harder, as indie dev, than when I started for sure.
Couchpotato:One of the changes is the rise of crowdfunding have you ever considered trying to make a new game using Kickstarter?
Celso Riva: I thought about it, but personally I don't feel good taking money for something that is just a plan, an idea. This is especially true when you see how many Kickstarter game either disappoint or are never finished. Unless I was really in big financial trouble, I would never use it.
Couchpotato: A few months back I noticed a few of your games are now sold on Steam. Was this always a goal of yours, and was it hard to get your games sold on Steam due to questionable content?
Celso Riva: It wasn't particularly hard but took a lot of time. I think that more than the "questionable content", which is not present in all the games by the way (more likely is just present in Loren!) it was due to the fact that visual novels and manga games weren't popular on Steam. But now as everyone noticed things are changing quickly in this direction.
Couchpotato: I was always curious about what made you start making Visual Novel RPGs in the first place as they seem like an niche market?
Celso Riva: I always liked RPG. I also liked stories, in particular focused on character and relationships. However, until recently, I didn't had the courage and experience to make something as complex as a RPG. But as soon as I could, I've started doing it.
I don't like RPGs in which you spend hours walking around big map. I prefer the "concentrated experience": combat, story, romance.
Couchpotato: Your games are known to have various options for romance, and I was wondering if this something you decided to include in every game you developed? Also what's your opinion on romances in games?
Celso Riva: Yes, I honestly don't think will make a game without romance anymore, unless is not story-based of course. I think romance in games is a good thing, because makes the characters much more believable and the stories more interesting.
Couchpotato:Now its time for a tough question what do you say to all the Critics/Gamers who say your games are not RPGs?
Celso Riva: Honestly I've not seen many saying that my games aren't RPG! The critics I've read are more about the writing (for Planet Stronghold in particular since I wrote it myself), story which is clichè (Loren) and other things. But I never saw anyone say that my games aren't RPG. Loren and SOTW in particular have very complex combat, skills, inventory, etc in summary everything you expect to find in a proper RPG.
Couchpotato: You just released a new game called Tales of Aravorn: Seasons of the Wolf, and I happened to read a few reviews this month that gave the game mixed scores. Can you share any information on the games sales, and reception among gamers?
Celso Riva: The game so far is outselling my previous title Loren, not by a big amount but just the fact that is doing better for my standards is already a good thing. The 15th of this month will be on Steam, so I guess we'll see how it does there. So far I got many messages of praise, a few critics about story, but in general they all liked the gameplay part more or less.
Couchpotato: What is changes have you made in Aravorn: Seasons of the Wolf compared to its predecessor Loren The Amazon Princess?
Celso Riva: An infinity! Just to name a few: randomized items, a lot more skills, isometric map, proper side-quests, completely revamped battle system, item rewards for quests, custom combat conditions, and so on.
Couchpotato: Are you working on any new unannounced RPG games now that Tales of Aravorn: Seasons of the Wolf is finished?
Celso Riva: I have more or less announced the games I'm working on. A Steampunnk RPG called Roger Steel, a more casual RPG called Queen Of Thieves, a DLC for SOTW, Planet Stronghold 2 and Loren sequels. Of course, those are in progress but some are on hiatus for problems with artists/writers/coders. I hope to release one this year though I'm not 100% sure!
Couchpotato: On the topic of reviews you once mentioned that coverage of Indie games needed to be better has your opinion changed over the last few years?
Celso Riva: Well, review sites cover more indie games for sure now. I still think that there's a big disparity of treatment. Some games get a lot of exposure, while others not or almost zero. Is like one site starts talking about one, and all the others follow blindly. And exchanging information with other indies, those games everyone talks about aren't necessarily the best selling ones.
Couchpotato: What is your advice for indie developers, or gamers looking to develop their first game?
Celso Riva: START SMALL. This is what I always tell and yet I see people failing every time. There are so many things you don't know, that is better to make a first game, a "test", and see what happens. Sales, support, technical problems, etc. Do you want to have all the troubles in your first game made with a budget of $5,000, or $50,000 ? I am glad I made several smaller games first because I've learned a lot, so when I moved to bigger games I didn't have any surprises.
Couchpotato: That's all for now so thank you Celso Riva for the interview, and before we finish do you have anything you would like add?
Celso Riva: Nothing in particular! I just hope the interview was interesting and that maybe will inspire someone to make new indie games.
