Interview: Gerhard Runken Talks Sideway, Explains Multiplayer

Not too long ago we put up a brief preview of the Sony Online Entertainment game Sideway. To follow-up on our coverage I recently asked Gerhard Runken – VP Property Development at Fuel Entertainment – if he could answer a few questions about the stylish hip-hop flavored platformer. Being the cool guy he is, he obliged.

Sideway is one of the most innovated, freshest ideas I’ve seen in a while. Could you briefly explain what the games all about?

Sideway is about a urban street artist named Nox who lives in New York. One night Nox comes upon 1 of his tags and notices something is off, as he gets closer the tag starts to move and pulls Nox closer sucking him in to the world of Sideway. Nox now in Sideway finds out Spray an evil dark artist runs the world and has brought Nox there to steal his paint powers. Nox quickly learns about the world through friends he makes along the way to finding Spray who he must defeat to escape back to his own world. While is Sideway Nox must defeat Sprays minions, fight numerous bosses, save a friend all the while traversing through a twisted world of graffiti.

Where did the idea come from?

At Fuel we have a lot great creatives/gamers who love platformers. We really wanted come up with a unique twist for a platormer that included graffiti using 2D and 3D. The result Sideway!

When I watch footage of Sideway I can’t help but think of all the possible gameplay mechanics we could see. How is the gameplay being tweaked to best use the game’s aesthetic?

When designing the game, the team had great fun taking old–school platforming tropes, and figuring out how to explore them in a world based on Graffiti. Not only are Nox’s combat powers based on paint (his punches and kicks are amped up by “paint power”, he throws paint grenades, etc.) but his platforming as well… he can paint his own platforms to reach higher places, he can smear paint on the wall to “wall run”, paint limbs on graffiti art to grapple, etc… Heck – later in the adventure, he can even turn into paint “mist” to momentarily enter the 3d world and reach otherwise inaccessible areas…. And of course, while he does this, cool patterns of paint splatter across the world as you go… It’s fun to play – but mesmerizing to watch as well.

Can you talk at all about how two-player will work?

It was important to us that friends be able to play though the campaign together. This isn’t a special 2-player mode – the entire Sideway story is playable in 2-player local co-op.

Implementing co-op was pretty challenging though – since the camera is always flipping around, following the players as they run around the sides of building and up and down rooftops. We solved the problem in two ways – firstly, the camera automatically shifts to attempt to keep both players in view, and secondly, if the second player gets left behind by a quick camera shift (I.e. If player one zipped around the building) then player 2 will automatically be transported to player 1′s location.

The result really works – and allows two players to enjoy the adventure in the crazy world of Sideway.

The game has been called the “Hip-Hop Mario” in the past. What do you think of that analysis?

We’re flattered honestly. We’re great fans of old-school platformers – and Mario’s the best. We like to think that we’ve taken a Mario-type game, added an awesome “2d-in-3d” mechanic, and wrapped it in a world that’s a little less saccharine sweet. But yeah, “Hip-Hop Mario” is definitely a compliment!

The game looks great, but don’t you think it would look pretty awesome on a 5″ screen?

Absolutely!