Kristian Fosh created his own little indie studio called DreamFever due to a passion for creating games, but he isn’t new to game development and in an interview, tells us about how and why Jason the Greek became his new project.
So, just who is Kristian Fosh? He worked for Jagex as the 2D ‘team’ after living in Japan for a while, a friend had emailed him about the position at the company and so when he returned to the UK, he decided to go for an interview.
“One thing I will always remember about that interview was that on the top of my cv was pencilled ‘the best of the bunch’. After I noticed that I felt pretty good about my chances… ;)”
That’s what gave him a break. His love for 2D cartoons and animation is what made him finally settle on the style used in Jason the Greek with the Pink Panther ‘Inspector’ cartoons being the biggest inspiration in terms of style and humour.
The reason for making a game featuring Greek myth is because of Kristian growing up with an avid interest in everything about it and even cites Hercules as his favourite Disney (can’t blame him, it is pretty awesome), but the slapstick nature comes from the innuendo of British humour mixed with Star Trek’s story retelling.
He was asked who he had in mind for being the voice of Jason and although he has done some “casual auditions”, he would like Cyrus Namnti who is featured in one of the Kickstarter updates.
When asked about the game going cross-platform, the obvious answer was budget. That and the fact it would take a while to create a custom game engine, Visionaire is used, but has no mobile support, so Unity is a potential candidate for taking the game on to other platforms.
Jason the Greek is planned as a three-part series, but how long will each part last for? Well, for gamers who just zip through the game, probably about an hour, but if you’re one of those who like to go everywhere and explore everything, it will last longer.
There are different solutions to completing the game, so you may not find everything on your first play, which is why Kristian says he wants to give gamers a reason to replay the game, that’s if you don’t get killed while playing. Something you don’t see in every adventure game which is why it was added, “you shouldn’t be able to walk around stealing everything in sight or leaving a princesses abode before she wakes without consequences”.
So, when can backers expect to see results from their pledge? As is indicated on the Kickstarter page, if (and hopefully, when) the goal is reached, the launch is expected to happen in Summer 2014, about July or August.
The great thing about kickstarter is that it’s helped me build a community of people interested in the game – no matter what, I want to keep these fans in the loop on the future of Jason whether I hit my target or not!
When asked about the difficulties of being a one-man studio and what he thinks about the current state of gaming, Kristian doesn’t see it as a major hindrance, but you sometimes need to make decisions and brainstorm ideas, which is why he’s thankful of the community to share opinions with.
He thinks freemium and micro transactions have their place, as long as they stay relevant. “If you can destroy an opponent purely because you paid a few dollars for an unachievable weapon you’ve lost that balance and players are just going to get upset.”
Kristian Fosh on what he’s playing and what’s next!
Due to the style and humour, any of the Hector Badge of Carnage series are considered his favourite time-waster. As for the future, Jason could be given a rest for a while and other characters explored, but for now, the priority is getting Jason the Greek: The Ladies of Lemnos finished to complete the Kickstarter campaign.
The Jason the Greek: Ladies of Lemnos Kickstarter is so close to completion, it needs your help to reach its goal. Spread the word and bring the game to fruition, share this article or pass around the link and get it funded!