Date: 2007-03-17
Title: Nifflas, developer of Knytt
Within a Deep Interview
Nifflas is a 24 year old game developer from Sweden. He is responsible for such platform exploration classics as Within a Deep Forest and Knytt, both have which received a good deal of coverage in the indie gaming scene. I got the chance to sit down and have a chat with him on MSN about all manner of topics, including the game development process, his influences and his latest project.
Moshboy: Do you use most of your spare time to code?
Nifflas: Not that much. Since I use Multimedia Fusion to create my games, I mainly have to focus on the graphics and music but that's very time consuming too. The standard mistake that almost everybody does, is that they try to create huge RPG's that must take +60 hours to finish but it's great to start with small but stylish games.
Moshboy: Have you played the underside preview?
Nifflas: Yeah. Looks great. I've had a few conversations with the author. We're using similar techniques building our level editors.
Moshboy: I'm trying to get an interview with him too. How’s your new game coming along?
Nifflas says: Level design is finished and half of its music. I'm working on the sound this very moment. It's quite the project. During the last 3 weeks I have composed like 32 minutes of music.
Moshboy: You enjoy composing music a lot right?
Nifflas: Yeah. I have been doing it for 10 years. So it's one thing I really value.
Moshboy: Enjoy creating music more than games?
Nifflas: The border is thin. I create the games for the music as much as I create the music for the games but it's the whole process I love.
Moshboy: Have you always used MMF?
Nifflas: Yeah or actually the Imsi & Clicktime products (Klik & Play -> the Games Factory -> MMF2).
Moshboy: How much time of your spare time do you spend on your games?
Nifflas: When I'm into a game project, I must at least have 4-5 effective hours per day from Monday – Friday so I see it somewhat like a job.
Moshboy: I suppose that’s the best way if you’re really into the project.. so motivation isn’t a tough thing for you?
Nifflas: Not really. My game projects are never that large so I always feel I'm getting somewhere. There are some things I find very boring but I always know that they'll be over quickly.
Moshboy: Do you ever work on more than one project at once?
Nifflas: Nope. I wouldn't be able to.
Moshboy: Where did the idea / inspiration for Knytt originally come from?
Nifflas: I was inspired by a whole lot of different things. I was inspired by Ico when I tried to nail the game's atmosphere, Seiklus when it comes to the game's sense of exploration... some colour themes from Cave Story and of course sound ambiance design from Shadow of the Colossus. Basically, I'm not that original.
Moshboy: I think Knytt holds its own in terms of originality.. nothing wrong with taking influence from various sources. I liked the fact it was one huge level.
Nifflas: Yeah, I guess that's also an idea from Ico.
Moshboy: What systems did you own as you were growing up and what were your favourite games?
Nifflas: The first thing I had was a Vic 20 with some very simple games on it. Then the C64 (my favorite game was definitely Boulder Dash and one I don't remember the title of). The Nintendo of course (Super Mario Bros 3 is genius). The Snes (Super Mario World, Zelda and the usual classics). Nowadays it's either some PS2 games or independent PC games.
Moshboy: How long did Knytt take to develop?
Nifflas: I must think... can't remember exactly when I started. It's probably around 3-4 months but it might be as little as 2. Nah. 3-4 makes more sense but it was created quickly.
Moshboy: Did you find it challenging to develop?
Nifflas: Knytt was very smooth. I was extremely inspired all the time except perhaps when going through all the ambiance sounds.
Moshboy: How about Within a Deep Forest... any tougher?
Nifflas: Yeah. I spent around 10 months on that but it's because it wasn't that nicely programmed and I had to spend a lot of time to do the tweaks to make it user friendly and stable. But... it isn't too hard doing stuff I really like.
Moshboy: Do you feel that you learn something new about game design with each new project and the next one becomes better and more refined then the last?
Nifflas: Yeah. I'm a whole lot better at programming things these days.
Moshboy: Any ideas for games that aren't platformers?
Nifflas: Hmmz... not yet. I like other games too but platformers are really fun to create.
Moshboy: If you were to create another genre what would it most likely be?
Nifflas: Probably some type of puzzle game like my riddle.
Moshboy: Riddle?
Nifflas: Yeah, one of my mini games. It should be available at the unofficial Nifflas game page. I have to find the link...
http://yaaay.net/niffpage/
Many of my unknown mini games can be found there.
Moshboy: What games have you been playing lately?
Nifflas: I haven't played that many. I really liked Gateway 2 though
(http://jayisgames.com/archives/2007/03/gateway_2.php).
Moshboy: What are your favourite indie games?
Nifflas: Freeware - Seiklus, Lyle in Cube Sector and Cave Story and the non-freeware: Ballance (it isn't really indie since Atari distribute it but it's a small unknown but fantastic game), Hamster Ball and (must think some more...) Samorost 2 ofcourse. Those are the ones I love best. Within a Deep Forest borrows more than one concept from Ballance by the way.
Moshboy: Have you ever worked on a game with anyone else?
Nifflas: Not the programming part (except that I sometimes pay people to create custom MMF2 extensions). On the other hand, I always get a lot of help with music and illustrations.
Moshboy: What do you think the best rewards are when you create freeware games? What was rewarding for you?
Nifflas: The most rewarding thing is actually the creation process. Once my games are finished, I actually only play them for a little while and then put them behind me but it's always nice to hear what people think and help the players out at the forums.
Moshboy: You remain proud of your achievements though.
Nifflas: Yeah.
Moshboy: Do you work in the IT industry?
Nifflas: I wouldn't say that, although there are computers involved in what I do. I basically help out intellectually handicapped people writing a newspaper and doing a radio show. It's great fun. On the other hand, I'd sure like to start my own small indie game business.
Moshboy: I suppose it’s a hard thing get off the ground. How did you come up with the name Knytt?
Nifflas: It's actually my girlfriend who did, since she drew the Knytts in WaDF and the one in Knytt. So when I decided that the main hero should be one of the Knytts, the name turned out to be quite logical.
Moshboy: When you develop, do you do things in a specific order or do you find it more interesting to just do things whenever you feel like it?
Nifflas: I usually do level design first, then music and finally sound but not always. When my friends are involved, I sometimes wait until I have a song before starting to design a part of a level so I can design it after the song itself.
Moshboy: To get the right atmosphere and feel..
Nifflas: Yeah.
Moshboy: What is your general opinion of the commercial game industry anyways.. enough innovation for you or too much cloning?
Nifflas: It depends. The indie business has always had the most interesting concepts. There isn't many commercial games which really have anything new but tons of indie ones. Just look at Samorost 2, fl0w, Balance (okay, perhaps Ballance doesn't have a "new" type of gameplay but the atmosphere is certainly unique) and so on.
Moshboy: Do you think indie is under-appreciated?
Nifflas: Yeah. But it's basically because people don't know much about the indie games. They usually just buy the ordinary commercial games without checking if there even are any free games out there or unknown games to buy.
Moshboy: I get the impression most people get hypnotized by eye candy which covers shallow gameplay..
Nifflas: Yeah, unfortunately. On the other hand, to me games are not that much about the gameplay though but more about the ambiance and atmosphere. Commercial games don't often have much of that either (at least not an atmosphere that's particularly unique for the game). To me, the atmosphere is all about the sound, graphics, and music but it doesn't have to do with the actual sound quality or detailed high-resolution textures. Ballance has it, ICO, and SoTC.
Moshboy: Did Within a Deep Forest and Knytt receive more exposure then you expected?
Nifflas: I can't remember how much I expected when I released them but yeah, probably more.
Moshboy: Do you set yourself goals when you develop - such as finish this by this date and that by that date or is it just 'when it's done, it's done' approach?
Nifflas: I don't have a release date in mind. On the other hand, I always try to have a "daily quota" of how much work I must complete in one day. Almost all time I spend must be "effective" time (actually creating, rather than planning).
Moshboy: Have you ever thought about working with a team of developers or are you happier working alone and having complete control over your own projects?
Nifflas: I'm quite happy about working on my own actually. I'd like to work with a team but only if I could still create games that really express me. I honestly don't know if that can be combined... but with some people who think alike, it could be possible.
Moshboy: Are there any developers that you would ideally like to work with?
Nifflas: I can't think of any right now.
Moshboy: Have you ever given up on a project or an idea?
Nifflas: I started out like a lot of people did: planning to create huge adventure games and RPGs I'd never finish 1% of. When I learnt to keep my productions small, it turns out I don't have to give up. However, I abandoned WaDF2 after having created the Knytt engine, since it was such an improvement. I wanted to continue in another direction.
Moshboy: When you make games do you specifically try and steer away from common genre traits such as 'jumping on heads to kill enemies' or doesn't borrowing elements from other game worry you?
Nifflas: Well, the reason you can't kill enemies in my games is that I want them to be completely non-violent. On the other hand, I only really care about expressing myself. I never even think about being original.
Moshboy: Why non-violent?
Nifflas: I don't know. I do like shooting zombies with shotguns in Resident Evil 4 (the game with the world's most horrible storyline but nice atmosphere) but when it comes to my own games, I want them to be really cute.
Moshboy: Do you always keep up to date with the indie scene or isn't their enough time to play all the good stuff?
Nifflas: I check jayisgames.com quite often to see what's new but I don't have time to test half as many of them as I'd like to.
Moshboy: Thanks for your time Nifflas. I'll leave you to work on your game. Thanks for letting me interview you.
Nifflas: No problem at all.
Title: Nifflas, developer of Knytt
Within a Deep Interview
Nifflas is a 24 year old game developer from Sweden. He is responsible for such platform exploration classics as Within a Deep Forest and Knytt, both have which received a good deal of coverage in the indie gaming scene. I got the chance to sit down and have a chat with him on MSN about all manner of topics, including the game development process, his influences and his latest project.
Moshboy: Do you use most of your spare time to code?
Nifflas: Not that much. Since I use Multimedia Fusion to create my games, I mainly have to focus on the graphics and music but that's very time consuming too. The standard mistake that almost everybody does, is that they try to create huge RPG's that must take +60 hours to finish but it's great to start with small but stylish games.
Moshboy: Have you played the underside preview?
Nifflas: Yeah. Looks great. I've had a few conversations with the author. We're using similar techniques building our level editors.
Moshboy: I'm trying to get an interview with him too. How’s your new game coming along?
Nifflas says: Level design is finished and half of its music. I'm working on the sound this very moment. It's quite the project. During the last 3 weeks I have composed like 32 minutes of music.
Moshboy: You enjoy composing music a lot right?
Nifflas: Yeah. I have been doing it for 10 years. So it's one thing I really value.
Moshboy: Enjoy creating music more than games?
Nifflas: The border is thin. I create the games for the music as much as I create the music for the games but it's the whole process I love.
Moshboy: Have you always used MMF?
Nifflas: Yeah or actually the Imsi & Clicktime products (Klik & Play -> the Games Factory -> MMF2).
Moshboy: How much time of your spare time do you spend on your games?
Nifflas: When I'm into a game project, I must at least have 4-5 effective hours per day from Monday – Friday so I see it somewhat like a job.
Moshboy: I suppose that’s the best way if you’re really into the project.. so motivation isn’t a tough thing for you?
Nifflas: Not really. My game projects are never that large so I always feel I'm getting somewhere. There are some things I find very boring but I always know that they'll be over quickly.
Moshboy: Do you ever work on more than one project at once?
Nifflas: Nope. I wouldn't be able to.
Moshboy: Where did the idea / inspiration for Knytt originally come from?
Nifflas: I was inspired by a whole lot of different things. I was inspired by Ico when I tried to nail the game's atmosphere, Seiklus when it comes to the game's sense of exploration... some colour themes from Cave Story and of course sound ambiance design from Shadow of the Colossus. Basically, I'm not that original.
Moshboy: I think Knytt holds its own in terms of originality.. nothing wrong with taking influence from various sources. I liked the fact it was one huge level.
Nifflas: Yeah, I guess that's also an idea from Ico.
Moshboy: What systems did you own as you were growing up and what were your favourite games?
Nifflas: The first thing I had was a Vic 20 with some very simple games on it. Then the C64 (my favorite game was definitely Boulder Dash and one I don't remember the title of). The Nintendo of course (Super Mario Bros 3 is genius). The Snes (Super Mario World, Zelda and the usual classics). Nowadays it's either some PS2 games or independent PC games.
Moshboy: How long did Knytt take to develop?
Nifflas: I must think... can't remember exactly when I started. It's probably around 3-4 months but it might be as little as 2. Nah. 3-4 makes more sense but it was created quickly.
Moshboy: Did you find it challenging to develop?
Nifflas: Knytt was very smooth. I was extremely inspired all the time except perhaps when going through all the ambiance sounds.
Moshboy: How about Within a Deep Forest... any tougher?
Nifflas: Yeah. I spent around 10 months on that but it's because it wasn't that nicely programmed and I had to spend a lot of time to do the tweaks to make it user friendly and stable. But... it isn't too hard doing stuff I really like.
Moshboy: Do you feel that you learn something new about game design with each new project and the next one becomes better and more refined then the last?
Nifflas: Yeah. I'm a whole lot better at programming things these days.
Moshboy: Any ideas for games that aren't platformers?
Nifflas: Hmmz... not yet. I like other games too but platformers are really fun to create.
Moshboy: If you were to create another genre what would it most likely be?
Nifflas: Probably some type of puzzle game like my riddle.
Moshboy: Riddle?
Nifflas: Yeah, one of my mini games. It should be available at the unofficial Nifflas game page. I have to find the link...
http://yaaay.net/niffpage/
Many of my unknown mini games can be found there.
Moshboy: What games have you been playing lately?
Nifflas: I haven't played that many. I really liked Gateway 2 though
(http://jayisgames.com/archives/2007/03/gateway_2.php).
Moshboy: What are your favourite indie games?
Nifflas: Freeware - Seiklus, Lyle in Cube Sector and Cave Story and the non-freeware: Ballance (it isn't really indie since Atari distribute it but it's a small unknown but fantastic game), Hamster Ball and (must think some more...) Samorost 2 ofcourse. Those are the ones I love best. Within a Deep Forest borrows more than one concept from Ballance by the way.
Moshboy: Have you ever worked on a game with anyone else?
Nifflas: Not the programming part (except that I sometimes pay people to create custom MMF2 extensions). On the other hand, I always get a lot of help with music and illustrations.
Moshboy: What do you think the best rewards are when you create freeware games? What was rewarding for you?
Nifflas: The most rewarding thing is actually the creation process. Once my games are finished, I actually only play them for a little while and then put them behind me but it's always nice to hear what people think and help the players out at the forums.
Moshboy: You remain proud of your achievements though.
Nifflas: Yeah.
Moshboy: Do you work in the IT industry?
Nifflas: I wouldn't say that, although there are computers involved in what I do. I basically help out intellectually handicapped people writing a newspaper and doing a radio show. It's great fun. On the other hand, I'd sure like to start my own small indie game business.
Moshboy: I suppose it’s a hard thing get off the ground. How did you come up with the name Knytt?
Nifflas: It's actually my girlfriend who did, since she drew the Knytts in WaDF and the one in Knytt. So when I decided that the main hero should be one of the Knytts, the name turned out to be quite logical.
Moshboy: When you develop, do you do things in a specific order or do you find it more interesting to just do things whenever you feel like it?
Nifflas: I usually do level design first, then music and finally sound but not always. When my friends are involved, I sometimes wait until I have a song before starting to design a part of a level so I can design it after the song itself.
Moshboy: To get the right atmosphere and feel..
Nifflas: Yeah.
Moshboy: What is your general opinion of the commercial game industry anyways.. enough innovation for you or too much cloning?
Nifflas: It depends. The indie business has always had the most interesting concepts. There isn't many commercial games which really have anything new but tons of indie ones. Just look at Samorost 2, fl0w, Balance (okay, perhaps Ballance doesn't have a "new" type of gameplay but the atmosphere is certainly unique) and so on.
Moshboy: Do you think indie is under-appreciated?
Nifflas: Yeah. But it's basically because people don't know much about the indie games. They usually just buy the ordinary commercial games without checking if there even are any free games out there or unknown games to buy.
Moshboy: I get the impression most people get hypnotized by eye candy which covers shallow gameplay..
Nifflas: Yeah, unfortunately. On the other hand, to me games are not that much about the gameplay though but more about the ambiance and atmosphere. Commercial games don't often have much of that either (at least not an atmosphere that's particularly unique for the game). To me, the atmosphere is all about the sound, graphics, and music but it doesn't have to do with the actual sound quality or detailed high-resolution textures. Ballance has it, ICO, and SoTC.
Moshboy: Did Within a Deep Forest and Knytt receive more exposure then you expected?
Nifflas: I can't remember how much I expected when I released them but yeah, probably more.
Moshboy: Do you set yourself goals when you develop - such as finish this by this date and that by that date or is it just 'when it's done, it's done' approach?
Nifflas: I don't have a release date in mind. On the other hand, I always try to have a "daily quota" of how much work I must complete in one day. Almost all time I spend must be "effective" time (actually creating, rather than planning).
Moshboy: Have you ever thought about working with a team of developers or are you happier working alone and having complete control over your own projects?
Nifflas: I'm quite happy about working on my own actually. I'd like to work with a team but only if I could still create games that really express me. I honestly don't know if that can be combined... but with some people who think alike, it could be possible.
Moshboy: Are there any developers that you would ideally like to work with?
Nifflas: I can't think of any right now.
Moshboy: Have you ever given up on a project or an idea?
Nifflas: I started out like a lot of people did: planning to create huge adventure games and RPGs I'd never finish 1% of. When I learnt to keep my productions small, it turns out I don't have to give up. However, I abandoned WaDF2 after having created the Knytt engine, since it was such an improvement. I wanted to continue in another direction.
Moshboy: When you make games do you specifically try and steer away from common genre traits such as 'jumping on heads to kill enemies' or doesn't borrowing elements from other game worry you?
Nifflas: Well, the reason you can't kill enemies in my games is that I want them to be completely non-violent. On the other hand, I only really care about expressing myself. I never even think about being original.
Moshboy: Why non-violent?
Nifflas: I don't know. I do like shooting zombies with shotguns in Resident Evil 4 (the game with the world's most horrible storyline but nice atmosphere) but when it comes to my own games, I want them to be really cute.
Moshboy: Do you always keep up to date with the indie scene or isn't their enough time to play all the good stuff?
Nifflas: I check jayisgames.com quite often to see what's new but I don't have time to test half as many of them as I'd like to.
Moshboy: Thanks for your time Nifflas. I'll leave you to work on your game. Thanks for letting me interview you.
Nifflas: No problem at all.