Geekscape Interviews: Young Horses’ Philip Tibitoski Talks ‘Octodad: Dadliest Catch’!
Octodad: Dadliest Catch launched for Windows, OS X, and Linux just a few weeks back, and as the insanely original title has been at the top of my radar since Sony’s 2013 E3 conference, I simply had to ask Octodad developer Young Horses a few questions about the quirky, hilarious, absolutely ridiculous game.
Haven’t heard of Octodad? Fall in love with the game’s trailer below, and read on for my conversation with Young Horses’ CEO Philip Tibitoski.
http://youtu.be/O-n7sH3ksVk
DK: First of all, congratulations on the launch! What have been your favourite gamer reactions to ‘Octodad: Dadliest Catch’ now that it’s available?
PT: People have been surprised with the turns that the story takes in the game and I think that’s the part of it I was most excited for people to see. There’s been a surplus of fanart, youtube videos, and songs all based on the game. It’s been great! I have a hard time deciding between Octodad The Musical and the Ryckerts playing the game together.
DK: ‘Octodad: Dadliest Catch’ is an extremely original game in a sea of sequels and remakes. When was the idea for the game originally conceived, and where did that idea come from?
PT: The idea for Octodad came about in June of 2010 at DePaul University here in Chicago. The whole Young Horses team was also part of that original team of 18. Inspirations for Octodad come from the film Being John Malkovich and the game Jurassic Park: Trespasser. From the beginning it’s been about micro-managing the movements of your character and giving the player the feeling of being awkward.
DK: It was very cool to see Octodad onstage at Sony’s E3 conference. How did that come to light? Sony seems to be doing some great things with independent developers this generation!
PT: Sony’s been following us since GDC 2011 with the first Octodad. We weren’t quite ready at the time to bring the game to consoles and so we waited, but while we did that Sony kept up with the game and its progress. At PAX East 2013 they came to our booth to check-in and that’s when we were offered Dev Kits for the PS4. From there we had one of our programmers, Kevin Geisler, get the game up and running in a months time. Sony seemed impressed with this and asked us if we’d like to show it off at E3. Like people say, the rest is history.
DK: What made the team decide to turn Octodad into a full-fledged title after the Independent Games Festival in 2011?
PT: We got a lot of positive feedback both from our peers and players after releasing the first Octodad game. After seeing so many folks play the game on YouTube and watching them have a great time we figured we could do even better by giving it a proper sequel.
DK: What were the biggest challenges in developing Dadliest Catch with such a small team?
PT: Keeping everyone clothed, fed, and happy was a serious task as most of us had to hold other full-time jobs while continuing to work on the project in order to afford basic amenities. It’s also a big challenge to make sure everyone is being heard, and communications between members stays steady + empathetic.
DK: Is any add-on content being planned for the game? It seems like a title that’s just asking for DLC!
PT: We have a whole slew of ideas that we could see bringing to players in the future. We don’t have any definite plans yet, but I certainly wouldn’t count us out of the DLC ring.
DK: If you could describe the game in just a few sentences to someone who had never heard of it, how would you sell it?
PT: Octodad is a game about being ‘other’. You’re an octopus with a human family, a wife and children who have no idea you’re an octopus. You keep this from them through managing Octodad’s limbs one at a time and being the best father/husband you can be.
DK: After ‘Octodad’, what’s next for Young Horses? Is there anything currently in the pipeline or being discussed?
PT: We have a lot of ideas, but nothing has formulated yet that we know will be our next project. Currently we’re finishing the game up on PS4 and then we’ll have to see!
DK: What other games is the team playing? What unreleased games are you looking forward to?
PT: I’m looking forward to Infamous: Second Son and the Witness. I know a lot of the team has played Broken Age recently and at least one is knee deep in the Titanfall PC Beta.
DK: What is the best advice that you could give to someone wanting to break into the industry? What do they do? Where do they start?
PT: Making a game is the best thing you can possibly do. Create something small on your own, and maybe start out trying to replicate an existing game to get comfortable with your toolset before venturing out on your own creative ideas. Just keep it simple! Even Tetris can be a challenging thing to create if you’ve never made a game before.
After that, keep making games and challenge yourself to create things different from other games out there. These will all help you land a job or maybe even start out on your own. The worst thing you can do is become complacent and admit defeat without having even tried.
Octodad: Dadliest Catch is available now on Steam, or directly from Octodad‘s official website. The game is coming soon to PS4, and it’s awesome. Buy it, love it, and let’s hope that Young Horses makes more!
