Trine 2 includes online drop-in/out co-op, and the hardest challenge with it is always ”level design.” Trine is great for its ”multiple choices” to obstacles.
”Yeah, we’re really excited about online co-op and we’re keen to share the love. In Trine 2, everyone can experience the co-op fun – or inadvertent mayhem as it may sometimes be, especially with three players,” said Frozenbyte CEO Lauri Hyvärinen.
The studio is keen to be more ambitious with the second instalment of Trine having learnt lessons from the first and its feedback from critics and gamers. ”We got tons of feedback from gamers and the press and we’ve taken that to heart – we want to keep all the good stuff and throw out all the bad stuff. That’s the recipe in a nutshell,” he said.
”The locations themselves are completely new – it’s a new adventure that’s treading some unfamiliar ground. There has to be a castle of course, but it’s made of ice. At one point the heroes must travel to the cloud city built on hovering islands in the sky.”
Co-op’s biggest hardship is in designing the world. ”Levels need to support co-op in addition to single-player and any number of characters on screen at once. And by support, I mean that the levels and the gameplay must be fun in both single-player and co-op.”
”Luckily, I’m happy to say that our level designers have done a fantastic job so far and Trine 2 is going to be enjoyable for all players, no matter how many are playing. It’s so fun that I’m spewing out marketing speak with ease, that’s telling something!” joked Hyvärinen.
The studio is going all out on visual upgrades as well. ”It’s a combination of new technology and amazing work from our art team: we have completely rewritten our technology and then added some nice new features on top of that, like additional lighting possibilities, new shadows, and support for all kinds of cool effects,” explained the boss.
”On the art side our team has created completely new assets and animations, on par with our new quality standards. Or rather, the artists consumed too many mushrooms and set the quality bar sky-high, but it seems to be working!”
Hyvärinen offers his view on Frozenbyte’s work ethic: ”We try to be business-savvy but at the end of the day, it’s the gamer inside that wins.” Let’s hope that inner-gamer lands us another great Trine experience when the sequel releases on Xbox 360, PS3 and PC.
