We talk length, difficulty, and inspiration with the people behind The Eternal Life of Goldman

Not long ago, we published our impressions of the latest demo of The Eternal Life of Goldman, a hand-drawn platform game that has been in development for many years at Weappy and is rapidly approaching release this year.

For Weappy, the road to launch has been long and winding, but now that the light can be seen at the end of the development tunnel, we chatted with producer Andreas Schmiedecker to get answers to the last remaining questions, so you'll be well prepared when the game finally lands. We talk about AI tools, the average length of the game, and much more.

Okay, let's get started!

First of all, could you elaborate a little on the specific size of the game; how long do you expect an average playthrough to be, and are there reasons to play the game multiple times?

"There is a bit of a range here, considering different playstyles (looking at notes, finding secrets, reading all dialogues), but a playthrough will probably take between 12 and 16 hours.
The game isn't really designed for many playthroughs, it's a fairly directed experience with a complete, self-contained story. That said, some of the secrets, including optional areas, require a bit of ingenuity and fairly elaborate sequences of actions to unlock. So for those who choose to replay the game and explore it 100%, there will definitely be things to discover."

Perhaps the most appealing aspect of the game for many is the graphics. Could you tell us a little about the sources of inspiration behind the look? How did you arrive at this specific style, and did it take several 'attempts' to get there?

"There is a range of influences from different sources - not just one style. Technically, it's mostly done the way animated films were made. The artworks are created by hand and mostly digitally. However, and depending on the specific asset, a lot of the artworks go through the "physical sketching" phase before being finalised digitally.

"Aesthetically, the most consistent influence is probably French-Belgian comics, mostly Hergé and the "ligne claire" art style. So we basically stick to very traditional and strict line work. Since the development took something like nine years (so far), yes, many elements did go through various iterations. What mostly happened is that the quality bar was raised by adding more details, animations and so forth, so other parts of the game had to improve alongside as well!"

Difficulty and balancing are important topics among gamers today. How does Weappy handle this challenge? Are there several difficulty levels, or are you working with one balanced mode?

"We're currently aiming at one balanced mode but we're also actively taking in player feedback about the difficulty from the demo and will take a decision for the full game."

If we zoom out a little to the broader industry now, how do you as a studio feel about AI tools in game development? Do you create distance between different types of use, and are there guiding principles for you as a group?

"Using AI tools for art production in this game would pretty much oppose the whole idea of doing it this way in the first place. Therefore, it wasn't really an option for us. No matter how technology develops right now, there is a place and audience for hand-made art."

Can you take us back to the earliest development phase? How long did it take to get here, and what kind of journey has it been for the studio?

"Early prototypes started already around 2016, but the game went into full production in 2019. So it did take a long time. When the team decided that the only way to make a game like this was to commit fully, without cutting corners or making too many compromises, it became clear what we signed up for."

What kind of experience do you hope The Eternal Life of Goldman will be for players? What do you hope to make them feel?

"That's a great question, but also a difficult one. We could imagine that the gameplay is somewhat challenging at times, but also quite satisfying. We're making the side-scroller of our dreams, and our approach has been to use the elements that feel right for this specific game from a wide range of directions and subgenres. So we'd hope players who appreciate those genres and elements from classic side-scrollers and Metroidvanias will react positively to those elements. Since there's something very pure about side-scroller gameplay, we do hope people enjoy that. At the same time, the story can go to some dark places, and we understand that this also elicits complex emotions. Bottom line, we're just very excited for players to experience this world."

What were the biggest challenges in creating the game, and what do you consider to be the key issues facing studios like yours today?

"As an independent studio, any project of that size is a big risk to take. Trends change quickly these days, so committing for such a long time to a project like this is a huge bet on it working out in the end."

The Eternal Life of Goldman will hopefully arrive soon on PC, PS5, Xbox Series, and Nintendo Switch/Switch 2.