In an age of 3D gaming, it is perhaps more than a little ironic that games that manage to hold onto their 2D roots garner so much attention. It is as if players have a love affair with these games as they offer a glimpse into the past while still displaying gameplay that is every bit as rich today as it was during the eras of in gaming in which they were king. Very soon the developers at Behemoth will be releasing Alien Hominid on the current generation of consoles, and it looks to again capture gamers with it’s 2D artistic style and old school gameplay. This week we had to opportunity to speak with Tom Fulp, Dan Paladin, and John Baez, three of the individuals working on this game in hopes to get a better understanding as to just what Alien Hominid means to us, and to the gaming community.
First of all, thank you for taking the time to speak with us about this exciting looking game. What has each of your roles been on this project, and what other games have you worked on before climbing onboard here?
DAN: My role here has been the majority of the artwork. I have worked on Soldier of Fortune 2 for Xbox and Whacked! for Xbox as well as a slew of webgames made with Tom Fulp.
JOHN: I do the business end of things. Mostly I’m on the phone trying to keep everything going. From manufacturing figurines, skateboard decks, clothing and doing the game I rarely have time to get into trouble. Before I started the Behemoth with Tom, Dan, and Brandon, I was an environmental artist at Gratuitous Games. That’s where I met Dan, when we were working on the Soldier of Fortune format conversion.
TOM: I programmed most of the game play on both the console and the prototype. My background has traditionally revolved around web games. Some examples include Pico and Disorderly, a Double Dragon style brawler that takes place in a nursing home. I also own and run Newgrounds.com, one of the most interesting places on the web to see up and coming content.
Can you go into some of the story behind the genesis of Alien Hominid? For example, how it began as a demo on the internet and then how it evolved into a soon-to-be-released console title. Was this always the intention for the game?
TOM: We never imagined it would become a console game. At the time of inception, Dan and I were itching to build a Metal Slug / Contra style engine in Flash. As Flash hobbyists, we enjoy trying new genres and pushing the limits for what Flash is perceived to be capable of. Alien Hominid was meant to be a fun diversion and cool tech-demo to inspire other Flash artists. We never gave much thought to it being anything more than a web game.
JOHN: HAHAHA…you never imagined it would become a console game, but I knew the game had a destiny from the first time I played it. I’m just glad we were able to put it together instead of some mega publisher.
Everyone knows that 2D games are a dying breed. Why did you choose to go in that direction and what are you doing to ensure that the gameplay mechanics still feel familiar to fans of the genre but at the same time making things fresh for both newcomers and veterans alike?
TOM: Having grown up with 2D games, we have a lot of love for them. Playing 2D games puts me in a sort of comfort zone where I experience all sorts of warm fuzzy feelings. I’ve spent countless hours tracking down the A
