MythForce – Trent Oster Interview

Trent Oster, who you may know as one of the founders of BioWare and the current CEO of Beamdog, recently participated in an in-house interview promoting Beamdog’s new roguelite adventure MythFroce. As a result, we can learn a thing or two about the inspirations behind the game, its systems, and Trent Oster’s earliest forays into game development.

Check it out:

Hey Adventurers!

Thanks for checking out our MythForce interview series!

These interviews will highlight some of the talented folks behind MythForce and delve into their inspirations, favorite games/cartoons, and much more. Our first interview is with the boss man himself- Beamdog CEO Trent Oster.

Trent is a BAFTA Award-winning veteran of the games industry. One of six original co-founders of BioWare, he worked there as a Technical Artist, Programmer, and Project Director, leading the development of the award-winning Neverwinter Nights from a one-sentence description through two expansion packs and over five million units sold. After a stint as the Director of Technology at BioWare, Trent left in 2009 to co-found Beamdog with Cameron Tofer.

WHAT GAMES FIRST ATTRACTED YOU TO GAME DESIGN?

Soon after getting an Atari 2600 and playing Pitfall, I started planning a video game based on my favorite TV show, The Dukes of Hazzard. I got my hands on some graph paper and crayons and started doing a top-down version of the car in analog pixel art with the idea I could make a video game at some point. Years later, working with my brother on an Apple II+, we made a rough game demo based on Conan the Barbarian. It was very low-rez and not even really a game, but it started the journey. You could move a block character around and hit a key which would swing your sword. If you were close to an enemy, their head disappeared and a red blob appeared behind them. That was pretty much it.

WHAT’S YOUR FAVORITE 80S CARTOON?

As a kid, I’d get home from school, raid the fridge for snacks, and watch Thundercats. I love the wild fantasy of it, a race of cat-humans who flee their homeworld and bring along a magical sword. It was just over the top in all the right ways. I had weird tingly feelings about Cheetara that I didn’t understand at the time, with her voice (acted by Lynne Lipton) as a key part of her appeal. I also loved how they took the subject matter seriously but in a kid-friendly way.

WHICH IS YOUR FAVORITE MYTHFORCE CHARACTER TO PLAY, AND WHY?

I’m 100% Rico. I love the “zoom and boom.” Rico is like a special forces unit. He scans the scenario, identifies the major threat, and quickly takes them out (usually overexposing himself to enemies in the process), but I love the mobility and speed he brings to the game.

WHAT IS THE MOST EXCITING, RIDICULOUS, TRIUMPHANT, OR HUMILIATING MOMENT YOU’VE HAD WHILE PLAYING MYTHFORCE?

I don’t like watching people play games. I don’t even like watching sports. I’d rather be in the action myself. However, one day in development I was walking by a designer’s desk, and he was watching a stream of some of the best players in the office making a run. At the time the game was balanced very hard, and I was usually killed on the first level. Here were these four players on level three making a run to the end boss. The teamwork and combinations they were pulling off were amazing. I was excited just watching to the point that I was cheering on a few occasions. I watched for about ten minutes, and I was riveted, right up until the party was wiped out in the room before the boss.

WHAT’S THE MOST APPEALING ELEMENT OF A ROGUELITE GAME?

The strategy. You think about a character and a potential series of tactics and equipment choices and then you make a run and test it out. Over time, your skills improve, your understanding of the abilities improves, and you learn specialized tactics. The depth of progression is amazing. It’s like a mental exercise to find the optimal combination for your specific approach.

WHAT MAKES MYTHFORCE UNIQUE COMPARED WITH OTHER GAMES YOU’VE WORKED ON?

MythForce is fun right from the very start, and you can play with anyone. We had a game session going, and Cameron’s five-year-old daughter walked in, sat in his lap, and started playing. She was tasking the rest of us with roles: “You, go kill that arrow guy.” “You, do the fire thing.” It was a fun time for all involved, and the time to start enjoying the game was seconds.

HOW DOES THE COOPERATIVE MODE IN MYTHFORCE COMPARE WITH THE SOLO PLAY EXPERIENCE FOR YOU?

Co-op MythForce is where the game really sings. I play a lot of solo, trying out ideas and concepts and just trying out my luck on scoring a really neat build, but multiplayer is where it all comes together. I really feel like part of a team, and I take my role in that team very seriously, really working with the other team members, sharing weapons, items and calling out health potions that could help someone else more than me. MythForce multiplayer is a game that people are going to keep coming back to, year after year. It’s just that fun.

That’s all for today’s interview. Tune in next week for an interview with MythForce’s Project Director- Luke Rideout.