neXGam: Das klingt nach einer Herausforderung. Soweit ich weiß, braucht der Saturn verschlüsselte CDs, und es gibt keine so einfachen Methoden wie bei Dreamcast, das Sicherheitssystem zu umgehen. Habt ihr etwas im Auge, womit unmodifizierte Geräte das Spiel abspielen könnten, wenn es zum Port kommt?

Carlos: Sowohl ein spezielles Modul als auch der Versuch, den Sicherheitsring der Saturn-Discs nachzumachen, sind denkbare Möglichkeiten. Allerdings wären beide Varianten gleichermaßen mühsam und kostspielig zu realisieren. Sobald also unsere Forschung in der Richtung erledigt ist und wir uns für die beste Methode entschieden haben, werden wir es die User wissen lassen. Wir wollen jedoch kein Geld mit so einem Produkt machen, höchstwahrscheinlich wird es gerade mal um Kostendeckung gehen, da uns bewusst ist, dass der Markt dafür kleiner sein wird als bei Dreamcast. Ehrlich gesagt ist es schlicht eine persönliche Herausforderung.

neXGam: Können wir auf spielbare Demos hoffen?

Carlos: Wir haben vor, zu beiden Projekten so bald wie möglich eine spielbare Demo zu veröffentlichen. Hoffentlich zwischen RetroBarcelona Mitte November und Weihnachten.

neXGam: Würdet ihr auch für andere Konsolen entwickeln oder plant ihr, euch in erster Linie auf Dreamcast zu konzentrieren?

Carlos: Tja, Dreamcast ist unser Liebling, also bleibt es vorerst dabei. Trotzdem, sollten Ameba und/oder Xenocider ein RIESIGER Erfolg werden (man stelle sich vor) und sich die Möglichkeit bieten, eine PS4-Version zu machen … klar doch, wieso nicht? Will sagen, wir sind für so etwas immer offen. Es ist bloß nichts, was wir im Moment planen, aus offensichtlichen Gründen.

neXGam: Habt ihr eine Vorstellung, wann die Games fertig werden sollen?

Carlos: Wir haben einen internen Zeitplan, ja. Aber keinen genauen Veröffentlichungstermin im Moment, tut mir leid. Wir wollen nicht die Art Leute sein, die etwas versprechen und dann nicht liefern. Wie dem auch sei … es wird auf keinem Fall weniger als ein Jahr von jetzt an dauern.

neXGam: Plant ihr mit einem etablierten Retro-Publisher zusammen zu arbeiten oder wollt ihr die Spiele selbst verlegen?

Carlos: Falls wir uns für Kickstarter entscheiden UND erfolgreich sind, dann ziehen wir eventuell in Erwägung, selbst zu publishen. Aber wir haben auch Gespräche mit einem bestimmten Publisher gehabt. Vorerst besteht keine Eile, sich zu entscheiden. Gott sei Dank.

neXGam: Die Retro-Publisher haben in den letzten Jahren viel Vertrauen verspielt. Redspotgames hat im Prinzip aufgehört auf Mails zu antworten und zu liefern. Hucast hat mangelhafte Kommunikation. WM hat mit sehr langen Verspätungen zu kämpfen und noch dazu mit kaum Informationen für Kunden oder über die Spiele an sich. 1985alternativo lässt sowohl bei der Kommunikation als auch bei der Auslieferung zu wünschen übrig und verwendete zudem minderwertige Module und Verpackungen. Was können wir da von Retro Sumus erwarten, was anders laufen wird? Befürchtet ihr, dass die Menschen vorsichtiger sein werden, nachdem so viele Probleme mit anderen Retrofirmen bekannt geworden sind?

Carlos: Uns ist klar, dass die Leute vorsichtiger sein werden. Und da wir selbst Fans und Käufer sind, würden wir nichts anderes erwarten. Ich habe Pier Solar, Redux und Elysian Shadows unterstützt, um nur ein paar zu nennen. Ich wollte wirklich diese Projekte backen, und als Backer erwarte ich regelmäßige, ehrliche Kommunikation von den Machern. Also im Grunde ist unser Ziel so viel Transparenz wie nur irgendwie möglich. Wir müssen jede Frage beantworten können, konstant in sozialen Medien und Foren präsent sein und die Leute einfach wissen lassen, was los ist. Umso mehr, wenn sie einem ihr schwer verdientes Geld anvertraut haben (das muss man nicht betonen).

Schau, wenn es eine Verspätung gibt, dann ist das so. Die Menschen verstehen das. Herrgott, wir leben in einer Zeit, wo 140 Zeichen als offizielles Statement, als eine Art Pressemeldung betrachtet werden. Es ist nicht so schwierig, die Kunden auf dem Laufenden zu halten.

Also das könnt ihr von uns erwarten, denke ich. Und das schließt unsere Entwickler-Tagebücher ein, die unsere laufende Arbeit an beiden Spielen zeigen. Gerade neulich haben wir das zweite veröffentlicht.

Nebenbei gesagt, mir ist bewusst, dass 1985alternativo Probleme bei der Kommunikation hatte (ich weiß allerdings nicht, wie es in letzter Zeit ausschaut), aber ich würde nie von geringer Qualität sprechen ... Ich meine, sie entwickeln und veröffentlichen Games im Prinzip für umsonst. Wenn du ein brandneues Spiel für 25 € kaufst, dann weisst du, was du bekommst, und sie haben nie versucht, einen von etwas anderem zu überzeugen. Und wenn es dir noch zu teuer ist, dann weisst du, dass sie das ROM sowieso kostenlos veröffentlichen werden. Ich denke, es ist einfach ein anderes Herangehen an die Indie-/Retro-Szene, das ist alles. Vielleicht haben sie einfach nicht gewusst, wie sie sie sich dem Publikum gegenüber darstellen sollten, oder die Käufer haben etwas ähnlich den anderen Publishern erwartet ... aber deren Spiele würden auch nicht nur 25 € kosten.

Zudem sind all die erwähnten Namen Publisher und wir sind ausschließlich ein Entwicklerteam. Vorerst zumindest!

neXGam: Zum Abschluss, vielleicht nennst du uns deine Top-3-Games aller Zeiten?

Carlos: Nur drei? Das ist unmöglich für mich zu beantworten. Nun, ich habe auch den Rest des Teams nach ihren Lieblingen gefragt, also ...

Chui: Highway Encounter (Spectrum), Super Mario World (SNES), Space Harrier (Arcade).

Abel: Duke Nukem 3D, die Lands-of-Lore-Reihe, Sonic 1 (Game Gear).

Juanjo: The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past (SNES), Super Mario World (SNES) und die Street-Fighter-Serie.

Carlos: Und was mich angeht kann es sein, dass ich nächste Woche anders antworten würde, aber vielleicht Sonic 2 (Mega Drive), die Streets-of-Rage-Trilogie (Mega Drive) und die gesamte Virtua-Fighter-Serie!

neXGam: Vielen Dank, dass du dir die Zeit genommen hast!

Carlos: Danke für den Support! ;)

Was mögliche Umsetzungen von Retro Sumus Projekten für andere Systeme angeht, haben wir eine Umfrage in unserem Forum vorbereitet. Wir würden uns freuen, wenn Ihr euch registriert und abstimmt!

Außerdem wird Carlos dort gerne Eure Fragen beantworten!

neXGam: Hello Carlos. Please introduce yourself to the readers.

Carlos: Hello, Daniel. I’m Carlos Oliveros aka Hombreimaginario, I’m an advertising copywriter and a former reporter and editor at spanish multiplatform mag Games Tribune. Also I was one of the spanish translators for Pier Solar, and am a writer and all-around communications guy at Retro Sumus.

neXGam: Tell us a little bit about the team of Retro Sumus.

Carlos: Retro Sumus is latin for “we are back” or “we are retro”. We knew we didn’t want a name which included -team or -games or anything like that, and went with something we thought sounded more unique. We are a rather small dev team from Spain, whose three founding members had something to do with Pier Solar, one way or another, and decided to try work on something “of our own”. A personal challenge of sorts.

neXGam: Spain seems to be very active in regards to homebrews. Both you and 1985alternativo are doing console games, and after PC releases Locomalito works on a Mega Drive port of one of his games. Is retro gaming very popular in Spain?

Carlos: Man I’m really looking forward to trying Antarex by 1985alternativo again. I hope they bring it to RetroBarcelona as they did last year. So yeah, perhaps “our” generation is big in Spain, a generation missing simple, old school mechanics in games. On one hand, football (and I mean soccer, not american football) games are such big console-sellers year after year, it’s boring. But on the other hand, RetroMadrid and RetroBarcelona are said to be among the biggest retro/indie events in all Europe, so...

neXGam: How did Retro Sumus get started?

Carlos: Well, I had this idea for Ameba, I told Daniel Lancha aka Chui (Pier Solar, Ghost Blade, “4ALL” emulators) about it, he liked it and we agreed to work on it. On the other hand, 3D designer Abel del Dedo worked on that Mode7 stage for the DC and PC versions of Pier Solar, and that kind of encouraged him to create a new game with a similar mechanic/perspective. Chui was the link between us, as he was (deeply) involved in Pier Solar as well. Our composer Juanjo Martín volunteered to join the team as soon as I let him know about my ideas for Ameba. Actually one of the themes that will be featured in the soundtrack was improvised that day.

neXGam: Let's talk about your projects. First, there is Ameba. What can you tell us about the game?

Carlos: Ameba is a detective adventure in the form of a western-made visual novel. This means no blue-haired waitress, no schoolgirls with impossible bodies and no gratuitous nude, among other things, but also a realistic setting and characters people can relate to. Our main character is a veteran, skilled, senior officer at the spanish Policía Nacional working as the chief of Homicides division in Madrid. So, in order to produce a good story, we recruited two TV screenwriters, one of which is a PlayStation Award winner, by the way!

neXGam: TV screenwriters, that sounds very professional. How did they get involved in a Dreamcast game?

Carlos: Well, they obviously share this common interest in videogames. That award was in the “most innovative proposal” category. I think the main reason is, we spaniards don’t really feel talent is fairly appreciated in our country. That’s sadly why spanish scientists, programmers, actors, etc. feel the need to move to, say, Germany or UK or USA. So I guess we all jump at the chance of doing something we not only like but also studied really hard for.

neXGam: And Ameba is not your only project. There is also Xenocider. Tell us about that one, please!

Carlos: Xenocider is our personal, 3D tribute to the arcade era in general and Yu Suzuki’s Space Harrier in particular. So, as all this implies, it’s an on-rails shooter. Truly a forgotten genre! Our main character is a female cyborg with a big thirst for blood… or alien equivalent. So definitely not a hero. Also the game will feature level branching to some degree.

neXGam: So, what was your inspiration for Ameba/Xenocider?

Carlos: For Ameba, perhaps the Missing Parts: The Tantei Stories trilogy for the Dreamcast is a good starting point, but also more recent hits like Xblaze and Steins;Gate. However, I think the main influence is “everything I don’t like” about the visual novel archetypes, so to speak. We simply want to to create something a bit different from what “typical” visual novels got us used to.

For Xenocider, obviously Space Harrier is key, but also with some Galaxy Force here and there and then a little Sin & Punishment influence thrown into the mix. For the enemies and stage bosses, we took some hints from vintage sci-fi and horror movie monsters. Couldn’t help ourselves!

neXGam: Both games are a big contrast in genre. Ameba being a story focused game, and Xenocider celebrating Sega's arcade roots. Do you want to avoid being associated with just specific genres? Could we expect something completely different after the games are out?

Carlos: We hadn’t really considered it that way. What we want is to revisit mechanics we miss about old school games, concepts we feel were underused, that kind of thing. I know Chui specially would like to produce a “save & rescue” kind of game in the vein of Cyclone (by Vortex, for ZX Spectrum), and I would kill for a good-old 2D action platformer. A spiritual sequel to the Shinobi classics, if I had my way.

neXGam: I’d gladly volunteer to help with that one if it happened. I miss those games a lot, and I think many people do.

Carlos: Duly noted. I’ll make sure to contact you when the time for beta-testing comes, huh? ;)

neXGam: Kickstarter has been popular with homebrewers. Are you considering crowdfunding?

Carlos: Of course, yes. We are still exploring alternatives, though, but if we finally use Kickstarter, I assure you there will be really nice rewards for backers. We think some of them would be quite innovative for a crowdfunding campaign.

neXGam: Why release both games for Dreamcast?

Carlos: Because we all love the console, simply put. Also, it’s kind of Chui’s specialty. And the idea of contributing to the Dreamcast legacy is almost irresistible ;)

neXGam: Are there any ports in the cards following the Dreamcast versions?

Carlos: Well, Windows/Mac/Linux definitely. After that, I guess probably Android could be done.
For Ameba, we are planning a Saturn version.
Yes, a commercially released indie game for the Sega Saturn. No, not kidding!

neXGam: That sounds like a challenge. The Saturn requires encrypted CDs as far as I know, and it is not as easy as on Dreamcast to get around it. Do you have something in mind that will allow unmodded consoles to run it, if a port happens?

Carlos: Either a custom cartridge or trying to replicate the security ring thing present in the Saturn discs are feasible possibilities. However, both are equally tedious and expensive for us to achieve. So, when our research is done and we finally choose which option is best, we will let users know. However, we simply don’t intend to make any money out of such product, most probably just cover costs, as we are aware that the market will be smaller than the Dreamcast’s. Quite honestly, it’s just a personal challenge.

neXGam:Will there be playable demos or anything like that?

Carlos: Our plan is releasing a playable demo for each project as soon as possible. Hopefully between RetroBarcelona (mid november) and Christmas.

neXGam: Are you considering doing games for other consoles or will you focus on Dreamcast first and foremost?

Carlos: Well, Dreamcast is our favorite so, for now, Dreamcast it is. That being said, if Ameba and/or Xenocider were to become a HUGE success (go imagine) and there’s the means to produce a PS4 version, sure, why not? I mean, we would always be open to that. It’s simply not something we are planning for now, for obvious reasons.

neXGam: Do you have a schedule for the games to be finished?

Carlos: We have an internal schedule, yes, but no specific release date for now, sorry. We don’t want to be those guys… who promise and don’t deliver. Anyway… no less than a year for now.

neXGam: Do you plan to work with an established retro publisher or will you self-publish?

Carlos: If we go the Kickstarter route AND it’s a success, we may consider self-publish, of course. But we have been in talks with a certain publisher as well. No rush to decide for now, thank God.

neXGam: The retro publishers have lost a lot of trust in recent years. Redspotgames basically stopped replying to mails and delivering. Hucast has communication problems. WM has very long details with little information to customers, and no information on the games. 1985alternativo has communication and delivery issues, and also low quality carts and boxes. What can we expect from Retro Sumus to do differently? Do you fear people will be more cautious now that so many problems have been experienced with other retro companies?

Carlos: We know people will be more cautious. And as fans and buyers ourselves, we wouldn’t expect less. I pledged for Pier Solar, Redux and Elysian Shadows, to name a few. I really wanted to back those projects and, as a backer, I expect regular, honest communication from their creators. So basically our goal is as much transparency as humanly possible. We need to be able to answer every question, to keep a constant presence in social media and forums, and to simply let people know what’s happening. Even more if they trusted you with their hard-earned money (needless to say).

Look, if there’s a delay, there’s a delay. People understand that. We live in an era where 140 character work as an official statement, as press release of sorts, for God’s sake. It’s not that difficult to inform your fanbase, your customers, of what the situation is.

So that’s what you can expect from us, I guess. And that includes our Dev Diaries, which show our work in progress with both games. We just released the second one a couple days ago.

As a side note, I know 1985alternativo had communication issues (I don’t know how they are doing recently though), but I would never say low quality… I mean, they create and release games basically for free. If you buy a brand new game for like 25 €, you know what you’re getting and they’ve never tried to convince you otherwise, and still if you think it’s too much you know they’ll be releasing the rom for free anyway. I think it’s just a different approach to the indie/retro scene, that’s all. Perhaps they didn’t really know how to sell themselves to their audience at first, or the audience expected something among the lines of other publishers… but then again, their games wouldn’t cost 25 €.

That being said, all those names you mentioned are publishers, and we are exclusively a development team. For now, anyway!

neXGam: To wrap things up, maybe you would share your top 3 games of all times with our readers?

Carlos: Only 3? That’s impossible for me to answer! Anyway, I asked the rest of the team for their favourites as well so…

Chui: Highway Encounter (Spectrum), Super Mario World (SNES), Space Harrier (arcade).

Abel: Duke Nukem 3D, the Lands of Lore series, Sonic 1 (Game Gear).

Juanjo: The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past (SNES), Super Mario World (SNES), and the Street Fighter series.

Carlos: And for me, well, these could change if you ask me again next week, but maybe Sonic 2 (Mega Drive), the Streets of Rage trilogy (Mega Drive), and the whole Virtua Fighter series!

neXGam: Thanks a lot for your time!

Carlos: Danke für den Support! ;)

Concerning Retro Sumus' future ports, we have a poll ready in our forums. Please register and vote to make your voice heard!

Carlos will be there too to answer your questions!