BAF: Mark Bithell

Today I visited BAF: Game (Bradford Animation Festival Game section,) the first speaker was Mark Bithell, creator of hit indie game Thomas was alone. Mark took us through his new project Volume, and how he came up with the idea and developing it.

Volume is based on Robin Hood, a famous, approximately 700 year old tale  about a an outlaw who stole from the rich to give to the poor.Marks research taught him Robin Hood, wasn't actually real, a Robin Hood was a common name for thieves of the time and even in the earliest stories he was a violent man who beheaded people and simply stole from the rich. However, Bithell knew he wanted to create a stealth game and for his hero to be, well heroic. The famous tale of Robin Hood also made for a good relevant story for modern Britian, (with the political overrule and strong divide between rich and poor.)


He also made reference to Russel Brands very strong, recent comments in a Jeremy Paxman interview. This I found a nice reference as I agree with Brands points of the public not really having a choice of government, because they're all the same. For example, all the students (including myself) voted for Nick Clegg and the Liberal Democrats party, in promise to lower student fees, and in reality they tripled in price. As I am new too voting, this gave me know faith in this system, and very arguably there is no point in voting because what parties say and promise is never true, and will result in a government you didn't want, even if they are who you voted for. This interview is available here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lLYcn3PuTTk

So with this idea of revaluation and unjust government, Bithell engaged with this idea of a modern day Robin Hood and hired popular Youtuber (from which he was a fan) Charlie Mcdonald to voice the character. This was for his natural voice that gave a smart, witty, likable vibe. To narrate his game, and guide on tutorials Bithell stumbled on Robin Hood character Alan-A-Dale who he cast Thomas was alone narrator Danny Wallace, whom he already had worked with and new he would fit the role.

As he found cut scenes distracting and annoying, that resulted in A-B linear games that were boring and problematic, (something I also agree with,) he used the 'walk and talk' idea, where the plot unfolds and conversations happen in game, with voice overs and phone calls. This I thought was a great I idea as I too and bored by cut scenes (which I feel is the biggest flaw with the Assassins Creed franchise) and means the game never has to be paused or stopped.

He also said something else I hugely agree with, that today's characters have become linear and flat, and more like avatars for people to play as, (such as the case in Army of TWO: Devils Cartel,) where the characters are no where near as good as the original duo because 'players can customize them and feel more like they're playing, not just playing as a character'. I hated this about the game as the original Army of Two are some of my favorite game characters, especially because their dynamic and banter, was cancelled out and was one of the elements of Army of Two that made it my favorite series. This said, the game is still very good.

Back on subject, Bithell stated that he wanted his characters well developed and allowed for growth, as character design and creation is my favorite part of game/film design, I find it an essential part of development and a media with bad characters, is un-enjoyable.

Volume is a Stealth game, where players can create and share their own levels that others can download and become part of their games story, by practicing with them for real robberies you will do later. It will be relased on PS4 and Vita first, a month later on P.C and Mac, and finally on Steam and IOS.