How to get into the Apple Arcade? Interview with the founders of the Tortuga Team studio

_{Dmitry Pyalov - CTO (left) and Anton Mikhailov - co-founder and creative director (right). Photographer: Konstantin Chalabov}



The game and Russian developers - the first and so far the only ones - got into the starter kit of Apple Arcade. The studio is called the Tortuga Team and is known mainly for the Bravelands turn-based series: battles, dungeons, magic, ships, and that’s all. The new game is called Spaceland, its action takes place on an abandoned planet. You play as a space ranger, and most of all it looks like a highly accelerated X-COM.



I spoke with the founders of Tortuga and figured out what kind of product needs to be done to get Apple to notice you. It can be seen that the guys wanted to tell more, but the signed NDA is not a joke.





- Let's say in a nutshell, what kind of game do you have?

- There is a legendary X-COM game, you have to play it for at least an hour or two. Our idea was to make lightweight X-COM, where the warhead takes 5-10 minutes. XCom is like Call of Duty, where you sit and wait, and we have to constantly go forward, because the cartridges are running out. But near you get 100% - we have more action. The idea was to make a dynamic game to play your favorite turn-based games, but at the same time very active.



If you want to play in the evening, but you don’t have much time before going to bed, you can spend one session and sleep. But in X-COM it is almost impossible - there you need an hour at all. And who has an hour or two before going to bed? You won’t lie with the iPad, you won’t play. We felt that this was not there and wanted to do something like that.

About Apple and Development

- How did it happen that in Arcade you are the only studio from Russia?

- We first aimed at this game on Steam and thought: well, someday it can be ported to smartphones. But suddenly Arcade got out, and we really liked it. There such stars were declared that, it seemed, nothing shines for us. But they submitted an application and, suddenly, they contacted us - we passed! That was all ...



- So what do you need to do to get into the Apple Arcade?

- The Apple Arcade website has a page . There, they write at the beginning that Arcade is "renovating games," and at the end - "if you have an unusual game, apply." And then they can contact you if you like.



You should already have a ready-made concept. Plus, the condition for joining Arcade is that it becomes an exclusive mobile platform. The first game is to be released in Arcade, on a mobile. And then you can on a PC on Steam. And [Apple requires] an exclusive subscription model, that is, in PS + the game will not be able to appear.



Monetization model under the NDA. We can only say that 90 studios are signed. Among them are, for example, Klei, who did not Starve. These are top guys in our world, and if they participate in this, then everyone is happy with finances.





_{Photographer: Konstantin Chalabov}



- Did you reuse any of your previous games in Spaceland?

- We did not do the project completely from scratch. Used a proven code base. Of course, we took in-depth technical and interface solutions. Slightly used the map creation mechanism. Partially transferred mechanics, but they modified to the requirements of the game.



There is such a caste of developers who simply change the graphics on ready-made engines - this is not us. We even didn’t use anything from assets. They began to work in 3D and did a lot in a new way.



Initially, the idea was to make only characters in 3D, and graphics in 2D. But then we and the environment made three-dimensional. They wanted to try something like that. The world is developing, we need it.



3D allows you to do special effects. Try to shoot in 2D. To generate drops of [blood] on the floor, you have to tinker. And if you want drops also on the walls, then in 2D you are tormented. Turn [unit] a little in the direction of the shot - how will you do it? What are you going to draw 360 directions? And he modeled a three-dimensional character once and just turned it around.



- If everything is practically anew and from scratch, then how much time does it take for such a game and how many of you are on the team in general?

- We had prototypes four years ago. But we do not have one project, but, as a rule, two. There is a time, you agree with the artists, you prototype for two months, then a pause, then the work is reborn. We have been accumulating a critical mass of ideas for 2–2.5 years. Then they assembled everything, brought it almost to a vertical cut, when there are all the key components, and showed it to fellow artists. One of them formed a window in half a year, and he completed everything.



The main team is four people. At the peak, it reached 10-15: testers, game designers, and even programmers. When Apple and I began to negotiate, 3-4 programmers were already working to port it. After all, at first we even kept the mobile version in our head, but thought so: if the game is successful on Steam, we will release it on mobile.



“Rumor has it that it’s hard to get through Apple’s furnace.”

- If you compare with consoles - yes [more complicated]. Here, it turns out Mac, Apple TV and iOS. Everything should work on three devices, it all takes effort. At the same time, technically all modern devices for iOS 13 and Mac OS Catalina use the graphic API Metal, a unified tool. You are doing it like real iron. Metal tools allow you to compete even for milliseconds of rendering.

But when compared with other mobile platforms or PCs, there is no large zoo of devices and GPUs.



- It seems that it is very difficult to make a game that will look and work normally on four different devices. And you say that it’s not so scary.

- (Dmitry) Probably the thing is in our experience with Bravelands. We started to make that game, just when the iPad appeared, and wanted it to play well on devices with a touchscreen. At the same time, there was a version for PC and Steam, so we added chips to play with the mouse: the map scrolled, the right click worked, etc. Then there was the release on Nintendo Switch, where we tested gamepads.



For 3-4 years of development of Bravelands, we have become proficient in this matter. And Spaceland has already done with experience - they knew how to make games that can work there and there.







- Does Apple have gameplay requirements? Maybe comments, tips?

- In principle, a family approach is welcome. Not as family-friendly as Smeshariki, but "suitable for the family." If dad plays in Spaceland, nothing terrible happens - you can play this in the living room, where the children run. And if the child launches such a game, that's okay too.



- Ok, then the question that will be answered bypassing the NDA. Is the final game different from the one you sent in the application?

- It is interface-wise different in some controls. But it was clean from our pitch. We have an indie studio, independent, we do not take money from anyone, so as not to depend on anyone. It’s just not comfortable working like that. But with Apple there was no discomfort, I liked everything.



- Did you manage to complete the game by launching Arcade?

- We attracted four programmers and managed. Everything turned out well, and we had no major bugs at all.



- So, there’s no question about crunching?

- Crunch were, but already over. For the release itself, we had something else. We made games for PCs, where the boyars with 2060 and 2080 RTX video cards didn’t bother much [about optimization]. We got it when we entered Arcade. Apple TV 4K is a compact set-top box with a 4K picture. We launched the game, looked at performance and were sad. Somewhere a month they thought: it will work out? Will not work? Mobilized, shoveled the product and optimized. We even have time to grind. Still, Apple needs to go through an app review.



- Apple Arcade is an international service. Did you write dialogs in English and then translate into Russian or vice versa?

- (Anton) I have long decided that I need to write in Russian. It will turn out better, more textured. You will feel the game better, and testers will feel it better. It’s easier to localize from Russian, in my opinion.



What about Bravelands and Spaceland? They often write to us: “Guys, the game is very well localized into Russian.” What are you saying?



We try to do English very well too - we work with native translators. And from our side, we check that everything is in line with the context. While the volumes of the game allow, we subtract everything and look to translate correctly in meaning and keep the jokes where they should be. With other languages, this is not possible, but for English we do it. Maybe that's why they praise.



- What do you have statistics a month after launching Arcade?

- Feels like iOS is ahead of [the other two Apple platforms], but that could change.



- Probably the main stream of installations is iOS and the USA. And what about Russia?

- Russia gives a good share. We feel very good, but in a global ratio it is not 50%. But the game was put, in my opinion, 70 ratings from Russia and 70 from the United States, so draw your conclusions. The average rating from Russia is 4.8–4.9.



- Will Apple stimulate the release of add-ons and updates?

- All conditions are under the NDA, but it’s logical to assume that it’s stupid to just release and forget some hit game. I think Apple is interested in this, as are the developers themselves. We want. We managed to invest in the game at the start not everything that we wanted. There are ideas that we want to add.



Further, it already depends only to follow what is happening in the arcade, what the epple herself wants to reveal or what, this is the company's strategy.

About gameplay and inspiration

- How much time will I spend on passing the game?

- About 15-20 hours. It was not easy to make a project where all the levels are made by hand, and each has something new. When one game designer is on a project, it’s hard. It took two weeks to create one level, I had to invent a lot.



For example, the first boss cannot be killed by ammo. But there are barrels: you shove them and explode them, such a mini-game. The second boss, too, just can not be killed, but you have a robot. One hero crawls into it and shoots rockets. The boss is closed by fences, they break, and only then can you shoot.



There was another option that you can run up and shoot the boss close. But we made it teleport you. That's what you mess with.



- Where does the inspiration come from?

- (Anton) I ride a kite. You enter a different state, and ideas begin to come. Maybe this is due to adrenaline, maybe with oxygen enrichment. Stephen King walks 3-4 hours to get ideas. But it happens that nothing happens - then you just have to wait.



- You talked more about literature.

- (Anton) Old-school fantasy. About 10 years ago I re-read all of Heinlein, books 20. Clark, Asimov - all these epics.



- And who wrote the dialogues? They are naive in the good sense of the word.

- (Anton) I wrote. It was specially done. Pompous phrases ... Remember Star Trek - this is a return to those times, to the golden age.



If you can’t write dialogs of the Shadow Run level (there the dude writes real literature!), Then you are looking for your own moves. You are looking for how you can express yourself so that it is relevant and has cultural value. I look at it that way.



- You initially counted on an audience of 30+ and an element of nostalgia?

- (Anton) We did not count. We did what we liked for ourselves. But I'm also 30+, I'm with a technical mindset. It turns out that we are doing for people who are about my nature.



By the way, before I was sure that gamers are people without a personal life. But in fairness, games do not play nerds. We see [in social networks]: guys on expensive cars, they have everything in order in life.



- How do you perceive the game? Is it a literary work, an interactive film, or a timekiller?

- This is in a sense an interactive art that is influenced by the player. That is a kind of performance.



- I wanted to convey some idea?

- It seems that this old school, the golden age, naivety, Star Trek - they [now] are not. Why not? I want them to be in the cultural field, I want to bring this old to the new.



- Is it worth looking for Easter eggs in the game?

- There is a reference to Gears of War, there is an achievement related to X-COM.



- Have you already conceived something new?

- (Anton) We think, but we still need to finish Spaceland, develop the game. Competition, I think, will grow decently. Already, many people want to [get into Arcade] and they write to me: what is there about Arkade, tell me. I can only say that this is the NDA.





_{Photographer: Konstantin Chalabov}