Tree of Life article from 'INVEN'

 

original article: http://www.inven.co.kr/webzine/news/?news=119593

 

Indie and MMORPG. This odd mix has come together for the game, ‘Tree of Life.’ With just this fact, there is sufficient reason to interview. 6p.m., a time when some go home from work, we visited Odd One Games and for the next 30 minutes we looked into the game ‘Tree of Life’ through the vision of C.E.O. Kim Young Chae.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

At the start of the game you are not given any special items. The only weapons you have available to use are your character’s two fists. In ‘Tree of Life’ you have to create everything yourself, with your bare hands, even the village. In order to build your house, there are many different processes you must go through.

 

When you strike a tree you can get fruit, lumber, and etc., and with these items, the game begins. For survival, you are first required to create a sturdy weapon. You will be able to receive other items at a quicker speed and also protect yourself from the monster’s attacks. You must also create a fire to create a source of light because of the dark night that comes every 10 minutes. With these necessary items, you begin life in this new world.

 

After completing these tasks, you start to go hungry and the fruit from before was insufficient. With the newly lit fire, you cook up the meat that you had from before and satisfy your hunger. In the dark night, you take a break in front of the fire. It takes too long to wait for the sunrise, so you hurriedly gather your stuff and leave.

 

They say that if you are greedy you will find yourself in unnecessary trouble. You wanted to search for useful items in the dark night, but end up being killed by a monster and float around as a ghost. In ‘Tree of Life’ when you die the items you had gathered are left at your grave, so you can get items here as well as from the monsters, trees, and etc.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Nothing can be easy, but after suffering, you are able to make the tools required to build your house. Through this process, your character naturally grows. Every time your cut the wood your woodcutting improves and every time you strike with your fists, your fighting ability improves.

 

■ Odd One Games, This is How ‘Tree of Life’ was Created

 

After the short preview of the game, there were many questions that came to mind. From Cloud Funding to the contents of the game, multiple questions arose. I grabbed a seat, turned my laptop on, and heard the details about ‘Tree of Life’ from Kim Young Chae, Lee Jong Won, and Choi Won Soon of Odd One Games.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  [▲From the left, Choi Won Soon, Kim Young Chae, Lee Jong Won]

 

INVEN: Crowd funding is not easy in our nation, but you reached over 300% our goal with 16,000,000 Korean Won.

 

We didn’t begin with the motives to use cloud funding, our only goal was to create the game, but in order to fund for it we turned to cloud funding. Honestly, I’m not sure what makes good cloud funding. I think you just need a project that others can relate to and define the goal you hope to achieve.

 

We weren’t able to acquire sufficient funds through cloud funding. Funding for game development requires much more than what was raised through fundraising. Although we did not raise enough to cover all of the development costs it was greatly beneficial. Most importantly, through cloud computing we were able to introduce ‘Tree of Life’ to a greater audience.

 

Overseas, many games found success with cloud funding. There were even cases were all of the development costs were covered, but in our nation there are very few who are aware of cloud funding. In addition, the population size is comparatively smaller. I think it is trying to compare it with Kickstarter, an American cloud-funding platform, is unnecessary.

 

When we initially tried cloud funding, we thought of it too simply. The time frame to prepare the project to marketing it took about a month and this slowed down the development process.

But I think the positive is communicating with people interested in the game and introducing it to the public. The funny thing about cloud funding is that funding itself becomes content. Users are able enjoy making the game while receiving rewards at the same time.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

INVEN: Did you have any worries about revealing your idea in order to do crowd funding?

 

Recently, there have been more survival games, and these games have also gone through the developmental process. There is always a will to be innovative. Games that are being released are games that have already been being created. The basics of ‘Tree of Life’ have been completed since around 2-3 years ago. Now there is not much of a worry about revealing our idea. If this were a mobile game there may be hesitation, but because it is MMORPG, there is not a big worry.

 

Hiding an idea from others does not make it yours. If another game is revealed before, it be comes the original and the one revealed after automatically becomes the copy.

Granted, even if the two just happened to have the same idea and develop a game at the same time.

 

If you put this into consideration, instead of hiding it, it is better to hint at it with the public when the framework for the game starts being created.

However, you should be quicker to develop than to copy. It is not that we gave much thought into when would be the right time to reveal ‘Tree of Life', but I think it worked in our favor.

 

 

INVEN: It must not have been easy choosing to take the path of an indie game developer.

 

I think it is different based on where your values lie. There are people that develop games while working and of those people there are those who has an unfitting or unsatisfying job. They could always look for a new job, but are determined to stick with it and try their best. Being able to dedicate your time to doing something you do not want to do is a praiseworthy thing.

 

Choosing to take the path of an indie game developer was because I wanted to do what I wanted to do. I was able to develop what I wanted, but it was financially difficult. At first I had a lot of worries. Development is only possible with funds, but the capital on hand was not plentiful. There were even times when the balance in our bank account was 0, but now thanks to cloud funding and government aid we are doing well. There is a Chinese phrase… At times I wonder if we were able to get this far just because of great luck.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

INVEN: There must have been a lot of pressure from cloud funding. Is there a certain participant you remember the most?
 

First off, I am grateful many people participated in the cloud funding. Many people come to mind, but if you ask me to pick one, it is a solider. I saw his comment under the funding page. The comment said that because he was a soldier, he could not be of much help, so he would help with the funding with his salary from this month. In the army 100,000 Korean Won is a huge sum of money. He gave up on the countless frozen foods in order to invest on our game.  His sincere message asking us to make a great game was well received. Now that I think about it, I wonder if he will be able to play.

 

The total number of contributors to our funding is 279. It may be thought that this is a small number, but when thinking of each person individually, it is a lot. Even when something is appealing to people, it is hard to open their wallets. Even when you buy something you really want you give it a lot of consideration first. Nevertheless, I am so grateful to those who invested in our game. We will work hard to show the results that those who participated in our cloud funding hopes to see. 

 

 

INVEN: 'Tree of Life’ is a pretty far cry from kindness. Is there a reason you came to create an unkind game?

 

Lately, many games pursue convenience. Because of this we thought there might be many people searching for an unkind game. In the past there were many games where killing monsters did not guarantee items. There were people like that. However, at some point in time the idea of having your own items became a definite thing.

 

In ‘Tree of Life’ one thing is certain, we emphasize the fun in searching. Even us, the developers, get lost on our way home sometimes. The feeling of being on an adventure and taking risks is the best. If we run out of needed funds we just need to go on an adventure again and while doing so we can become involved with more people. There is certainly fun in that.

 

 

INVEN: By any chance, have any publishers in Korea gotten in contact with you?

 

We could have partnered with a Korean company, but they seemed to not be interested in ‘Tree of Life’. There was one company that showed a bit of interest, but it did not progress well. After meeting with the publisher it was obvious they preferred games with potential. After all it is easier to invest when there are instances of success. It seems we were not able to garner much interest because in our nation there are no games that are similar to ours. Foreign companies contacted us. Countries like the United States, Germany, and etc. showed interest. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

INVEN: Is there are specific reason you chose casual graphics?
 

If I think about the games I’ve played in the past, the type of characters was very diverse. It was not always cool and pretty characters. On the contrary, now a days the characters are all good looking. We wanted to step aside from this trend. With the mentality to create a character differing from others, I think we were able to create this game realm.

 

 

INVEN: This is Sandbox MMORPG, it seems pretty large scale.

 

We have not once thought it was large scale. Maybe it is due to the fact that we all have experience , there was not difficulties in developing the game. More than the framework, creating the quest line or path of flow was more time consuming. In ‘Tree of Life' there is no quest or path of flow.

 

 

INVEN: The economic system seems important.  If there is just accumulation and no consumption, does the value of resources not fall?

 

 This is still a portion that we are carefully thinking over. Even if it is this type of form it is not right for the user to be burdened.

 

In the beginning, obtaining even one thing is difficult, but as time passes it can become easier. I think it would be okay to allow the consumption of that much more. We plan to balance out those parts as we test it.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

INVEN: Is it targeting or non-targeting? Is there not a skill to it? When it comes to battles, what elements make it fun?

 

At first it was targeting, but after switching it to non-targeting it has become fun to control. ‘Tree of Life’ is semi-targeting. We are putting an effort into making the characters block or dodge the attacks of others.

 

You can use skill as long as you have mana The problem is, if it becomes like that the economic system crashes. Because of this we made it so that the items can be used as a skill. In order to use a trap, the method we created requires you to make it yourself and however much you make is all you have to use.

 

 

INVEN: How are you planning to control the balance? I’m curious if you have a direct intervention.

 

We try to eliminate as much of direct intervention as possible.  I think it would naturally match up with things like natural disasters like in the form of a drought. In ‘Tree of Life’ each region has fixed temperature and humidity levels. If either of the two deviate from the fixture calamity comes.

 

Fearing balance is not the reason we are excluding it from the contents. We are adding as much content as possible while keeping in mind that to some extent problems will arise. While testing it many times, if fatal problems occur intervention is likely, but because our goal is to let users do their own thing we want to give our users as much freedom as possible.

 

 

INVEN: The method of using a mouse to make selections is unique. You could have done this with keyboard shortcuts, is there a certain reason you decided on the mouse clicking method?

We wanted to create ‘Tree of Life’ to be played with as minimal keyboard usage as possible. We wanted a simple interface. To those new to playing games this may seem strange, but that does not mean it is difficult.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

INVEN: What is the reason you went with a proficiency concept rather than levels?

 

We wanted to provide the fun in picking the type of character and raising it however users like. With levels, you are able to somewhat foreshadow what is to come, like how level 13 will be more challenging than level 12.  We wanted to give the characters features based on how their skill level were raised.

 

 

INVEN: If there are many different skills proficiency levels it can be easy to become standardized. Have you thought out ways to prevent it?

 

‘Tree of Life’ has 24 skill levels.' If we were to add another skill to this it does not increase by one from 24 to 25, but doubles. It is like throwing a pebble into a calm lake and creating a ripple effect. If it becomes structured so that we have to raise a specific skill levels it will become hard to fix. We are planning to test it out as many times as possible and allow users to have fun with a variety of characters.

 

 

INVEN: Since there are no levels, it seems it will be difficult to know how strong enemies will be.

 

Due to the reason that there are no levels there are no other displays. You have to just go for it. This system itself adds to the excitement.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

INVEN: There must have been many changes you made while developing the game.

 

A majority of the content was changed while doing the simulations. You could say there were about three huge adjustments. Before we had a system where the characters were sent to an afterlife following their death. After marrying, one of the children is chosen as the inheritor (successor). We decided that this system was not fitting as of now, so we just left it at the planning stage.

 

However, that does not mean we veered into a different direction. We are in the process of improving the content to be more fun, while maintaining our original goals for the game. We hope that ‘Tree of Life’ will become a tool for entertainment for users. We are just creating the framework and having fun is the user’s share.

 

 

INVEN: Is there any way to easily move to other areas? You said before that walking straight across the map, horizontally, takes around 3 hours.

 

A vehicle to help you move faster is provided, but there is no way to teleport or use equipment to move faster. The realm of ‘Tree of Life’ will make you feel like you are on vacation when walking around. Users will have a more interesting experience when taking a look around at everything over breezing by everything.

 

 

INVEN: Were there any difficulties during the development process?

 

Recently there was a problem during the review process. Because each of us had only developed, we were not familiar with revision. We were very bewildered. Foremost, we are apologetic that we were not able to follow through with the schedule for FGT. When working at a company I did not know what employees in other divisions were doing, but now that I am an indie game developer I can understand it. I am grateful even for the janitor.

 

While preparing the review I realized that there were lots of documents to fill out and there were also many required visits. I believe the procedures and costs are pretty strict. Currently, indie game developers cannot deploy their friends. In order to ask one friend to try the game you need approval. I believe things like this require improvement.

 

We are preparing for FGT as soon as the review finishes. We plan to hold it for 7 days, including the weekend.

 

 

■ 'Tree of Life’ Screenshot Collections

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

   [▲ You are free to do whatever]

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  [▲ Create your own rest area]

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

   [▲ Roaming around at night increases your chances of coming across enemies.]

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

   [▲ Creating your own home]

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

   [▲ Farming]

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

   [▲ Put the bulky items you don’t want to carry around in the warehouse]

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

   [▲ In order to build a shield you need copper ingots, wooden board, pieces of coal, and              water]

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 [▲ The house that was built with hard work is being invaded by the monster.]