Interview: Mr Utility

Mr Utility is a platform action adventure game with unique gameplay elements. We got a chance to interview the game designer of Mr Utility, Pierre Joshua, and ask him all about his project. You can find Mr Utility on the games website at http://squigglyshot.com/mrutility/.

Rollin Bros: What is Mr Utility?

Pierre: Mr Utility is essentially a platforming game with a few gameplay tweaks thrown in to add some depth and variety. You play as Mr Utility who comes home one day to find his town empty. He has to find out where the townsfolk are and how to save them using different items (Utilities) he finds on his journey. That’s the premise in a nutshell.

Rollin Bros: Who is Mr Utility and what inspired you to create this character?

Pierre: Mr Utility himself came from the main gameplay design. We needed a way to represent life and drama and we couldn’t do that with just the initial gameplay so we created someone/something that could represent your health; something that you had to protect with these utilities you found along the way. Mr Utility is just a little dude who has a certain passion for moving through obstacles. Simple stuff.

Rollin Bros: We have experienced two of the utilities available to you in the demo. Exactly how many utilities will you have in the full game?

Pierre: The aim is 6. At the moment the team only has 5, but what we hope to do at a later date is get the fan feedback and find out what item the fans would like to see.

Rollin Bros: Also, in the demo we see two different types of enemies featured in the game. What number of different enemies can we expect to see once the game is finished?

Pierre: Great question. At the moment we have 4 in total, but this is something we are constantly talking about adding more to add variety. The problem we find ourselves running into is making sure each enemy brings something new to the game and the overall experience. Nobody wants stupid AI.

Rollin Bros: Could you explain how each enemy is unique and are there certain utilities that must be used to defeat each type?

Pierre: So being primarily a platforming game, each enemies general aim is to obstruct you and stop you from reaching your target. We have the little blue guys who we are calling the charger/chaser. Now he is an annoying little fella. His main aim is to pursue you and cause you to take a stealthier route. He can be very helpful at times with the right utility and isn't the hardest thing to kill. The dynamite or the trap will solve your problem there.

Then we have the shooter, which were the little guys in the dungeon level shooting at you in the demo. Simple mechanic there. Think of them as our bullet bills from the Super Mario franchise. I don't know if we should go into any more enemies as we would want to leave a bit of discovery for the players. 

Rollin Bros: Being a platformer, what gameplay elements set Mr Utility aside from the rest of the crowd?

Pierre: The biggest thing is the trap placement mechanic. While most platforms require you to navigate the player, we require you to move the player and also pay very close attention to his surroundings making sure he is not in danger and if he is, finding the right tool for the job.

Imagine using Mr Utility to navigate some falling platforms. Every platform he jumps on is falling underneath him so you have to keep moving, but at the same time there is a wall blocking the path and the only way to keep moving forward is to blow it up with your dynamite. You have to whip out your dynamite and with some precision and timing, blow that wall out of the way and still get Mr Utility past it and onto the next platform.

Rollin Bros: From what we've seen, there seems to be two different types of environments. What is the connection between the bright, colorful world and the gloomy, dark dungeon's?

Pierre: Well what we didn't want to do is make every level look the same. What you saw in the demo were two extremes, but the aim is to have the players travel all over "fluffy world" and make every location aesthetically unique.

Rollin Bros: Will there be settings other than what we've seen so far?

Pierre: Oh Yes!! A bunch more. What we released in the demo was the premise for Mr Utility; for people to know where we were heading in terms of gameplay. In terms of visuals, the demo is nowhere near where we are today.

Rollin Bros: What inspired you to create Mr Utility?

Pierre: The main inspiration for Mr Utility came from the Nintendo Wii. I thought that the console had huge potential with its controller and nobody, not even Nintendo, utilized its potential. Mr Utility spawned from the idea of moving the character with the analogue stick and aiming and doing something completely different maybe controlling another character with a pointer. The only thing that allowed us to mimic these controls was the keyboard and mouse.

Rollin Bros: What kind of price can we expect to see for Mr Utility?

Pierre: At the moment we are looking into a few different pricing options. One that we are very keen on is the Free-To-Play model as we hope sometime after launch to throw a bunch of DLC at the fans to sink their teeth into, but it could change. We are in very early development still and are just happy to get people playing the alpha demos and get that fan feedback to make the game the fans want to play.

Rollin Bros: Is there an expected release date for Mr Utility at this time?

Pierre: No, nothing yet, but we will be discussing this very soon. It’s not set in stone as we don't want to release anything that’s not near perfect. We really want to take the Blizzard Entertainment approach to this game and release a quality product.

Rollin Bros: Any other comments you would like to share with the readers?

Pierre: Keep an eye out for the next demo coming soon. We will be releasing the newer versions of those same demo levels. They have had a complete overhaul in mechanics and visuals so stay tuned and let us know what you think. All feedback, even negative feedback, is welcome. It’s what makes us take notice and helps us make a good game.

Thanks to those who downloaded and supported the game so far. It is greatly appreciated and a special thanks to those who left comments.

If you would like to keep up with all the latest details on Mr Utility, follow them on Twitter @mrutilitygame and track them on IndieDB at http://www.indiedb.com/games/mr-utility.