Scrap Riders is the first commercial game from independent game studio Games for Tutti. Originally created eight years ago just for fun, Games for Tutti and the founder Raul Diaz released Scrap Riders to the public just a week or so ago. The game has an interesting dual nature in both thematic and gameplay respects, combining Mad Max-like wastelands with advanced cyberpunk cities and point-and-click adventures with beat 'em up combat.
Diaz brought many of his favorite genres and franchises together into this one game, which seems to have served the studio well. The violent combat with modern takes on the genre offer variety in an otherwise calm adventure experience. The Best War Games spoke to Diaz about the inspirations and influences behind Scrap Riders, the challenges of combining two distinct genres, the use of hilarious cutscenes, the publishers' response to extreme violence, and much more. The interview has been edited for brevity and clarity.
Q: Let's start with you and your history. Can you introduce yourself and tell us how you became interested in video games and game development?
A: Yeah, sure. I studied engineering. I'm not even a programmer. I'm an automation engineer. After finishing my studies, I started just doing some modding. Even during college, I always liked to do some mods or some Counter-Strike maps, for example, and that kind of thing. So, it was just a natural evolution, just a step-by-step. One tutorial for learning this kind of feature, another tutorial for learning the other one. Then I studied some programming. And that's how I started to make some video games.
Q: How did you find yourself at Games For Tutti? And what is your role there?
A: Yeah, I created the studio. So it was just during some game jams, I was assisting a game programmer. So we were meeting a lot of people and musicians, 3D artists, pixel artists, and all the programmers. So we were just having fun talking, like it could be great if we create something. I started to write more complex game development documents, so then I wanted to share my work with the rest of the people I met.
Some of us were talking that it could be great, we could do something, and then we just created a video game. So we were just three people. The two people who were with me in the first project left because they wanted to do other things. So for the second one, it was also the same situation, we were going to some indie games events. We were talking about ideas with others, and I already had my company, so we can do it under this structure.
Q: How long has Games for Tutti existed?
A: It's been around for seven years, but we've created just two games because our first game was just for having fun. It was just "okay, let's do a game. Let's make a game." But for this one, we wanted to take it more seriously. It was just this next step. Let's be professional, and let's talk with a publisher. Let's try to find some other people who really know about the market, about video games, promotion, and all that kind of stuff that we really don't know. So we found Microids and that period has lasted just two and a half years.
Q: Let's move on to Scrap Riders. Can you tell us about the story? Who is Rast, what is Scrap Riders, and so on?
A: Scrap Riders is a video game set in a post-apocalyptic future, where pollution has taken over the world and big companies and corporations rule over the governments. So, there are just two kinds of lifestyles, either you live in the city under the control of the corporations, or you try to live free in the wastelands. So, the Scrap Riders are a gang that tries to live outside the city in the wastelands. But from time to time, they have to go to the city for work. They are basically smugglers, so they sell devices, alcohol, and everything that they can to make some money. The business isn't very good because someone is stealing their goods. So the idea is that the player is trying to find who stole an important device they use for energy.
Q: How did you come to the biker aesthetic with a post-apocalyptic cyberpunk theme?
A: Yeah, I always loved Mad Max. I always thought that that kind of environment is really amazing. It has something that makes me keep watching the TV and wondering. So we were just making some prototypes with some mini-games. The cyberpunk environment is great because of the combination of colors because if you create something in nature, it's always green and yellow.
In a cyberpunk city, you can create anything you want. You can play a lot with lights, and in the game, we've created very different environments for each district in the city. So we wanted to make the player feel the real difference between each place. If you go to the Wastelands everything is yellow and so on, and that part is similar to Mad Max and Full Throttle. But we love Blade Runner and all the cyberpunk movies and video games - Neuromancer and Shadowrun. So we wanted to mix everything together.
Q: The game seems to have a classic Lucasarts feel to it, and you mentioned Full Throttle. What were your inspirations in terms of gameplay, graphics, and soundscape?
A: Full Throttle is one of our main inspirations because it's a game about a biker gang. Not only regarding the story, but also about the aesthetics. Our animations in the characters are created following the basic rules you can see in LucasArts games. With pixel art, there isn't enough space to create complex animations. So with a few pixels, our pixel artist had to create really nice animations.
LucasArts did a great job in Monkey Island and Maniac Mansion. And not only LucasArts but also Sierra and other 90s adventure games. So, we wanted to create that feeling. It was really hard for us because we had to change the art style in the middle of the development, because our artist wasn't happy with the expressions on the faces and the movement. So we rebuilt the game completely to do what Full Throttle, Monkey Island, and others managed to do with animations. In terms of gameplay, I would say that games like Streets of Rage, as a beat 'em up, and also a great indie game, Fight'N Rage.
Q: The game combines two classic yet distinct genres. Can you explain how that came to be?
A: Yeah, it was funny because it came during one conversation about Mass Effect. The point is that in Mass Effect, BioWare managed to combine RPG, which is a more narrative-focused experience, with a third-person shooter, a more action-focused experience. So, we were doing some pixel art prototypes, and we were how we could recreate something like that in a 2D environment or appeal to the 90s aesthetics. Back then, it was the graphic adventures from LucasArts or from Sierra. And an action game was a beat 'em up, usually the player against the gangs in the streets. That's what we came up with, and we think it works. At least I like the results.
Q: What is it like to design and create a game that explores two different genres and gameplay? What are some of the challenges you might have come across?
A: In the first Mass Effect, you can use the weapon, for example, anytime you want. You are in a place, you are talking with people, and you can just grab your gun and point it at someone. So in our first prototype, it worked like that too. You were walking in the bar, talking with the people, and then you could grab the gun. But at that point, we understood why people from BioWare to avoided that in Mass Effect 2. In Mass Effect 2 there were places where you can roleplay, and there were places where you can just play action-style.
So we did the same because, in terms of gameplay, it's really complex to create narrative experiences, where you include guns. If you're talking, and then you grab the gun, the moment is really, really complex. So there were a lot of variables that were really, really complex. So we thought, okay, maybe we can just create some small parts, where you have to roleplay, and you have to talk with people - to play detective. And then at other points, maybe through a conversation, or maybe you're solving some kind of puzzle, you just enter a fight. The key point was to keep the balance between investigating and fighting.
Q: The cutscenes are hilarious and interestingly flavor the game, which isn't always the case with pure point-and-clicks. Can you give us your thought process for designing and creating them?
A: Yeah, all of that came from our artist, Jonathan. It's amazing because he always knows where to put the correct cutscene. So we were just talking about the fighting mechanic, and he was saying we should do something like Broforce. In that game, every time an important character appears, there's a short cutscene for a couple of seconds where the character is introduced. So Jonathan came up with the idea that we create these cutscenes to give some importance to that characters. So every time we have a cutscene, it is because we thought that, narratively, the player knows that the moment is going to be important.
Q: Humor and violence are at the core of the game. Were these decisions made early on?
A: Well, in the beginning, it was a bit more violent. A bit more grotesque. But talking with our publisher, they said that it's not bad, but maybe we should tone it down. We had some disturbing moments in the first prototypes. Microids said that they like the style and the tone, but that we could tone down the violence. I felt that was a good idea because we've been able to focus on being funny instead of being violent or grotesque, and I think is the best for the narrative.
Q: The combat transports the player back to classics, like Streets of Rage, Battletoads, and so on. However, are there any new tricks or modern takes that you've added to the true and tested formula?
A: So we wanted it to play like a classic beat 'em up, like Streets of Rage, Final Fight, and Battletoads, but they are mostly button smashing. I mean, of course, you need to know some timings and stuff, but the main mechanics are simple punch, move, punch, move, with an occasional special attack. We wanted to do something different, so we wanted to use combos with timings in the combat. We gave the player the ability to dodge and create combos, so you can chain one combo to another just by throwing the enemy into the air by using an uppercut, for example. Just that addition gives a lot of depth to the gameplay.
Q: The game was just released on Steam, what has the community feedback been like?
A: It has been great. We were a bit scared because it is our first big video game, so we were wondering what people are going to say after they try the game because they haven't seen this kind of combination. Maybe people are just only into adventure games and don't like the game. But most people have liked it, even when they didn't think it would work as well as it does. It's nice. Most of the reviews we have seen are great. We're really happy at the moment, so let's cross our fingers that it continues this way.
Q: What is next in store for Games For Tutti? Can we expect a continuation of Scrap Riders in the future?
A: Yeah, we are really open to that, so for sure, people are going to see us around.
If not with another Scrap Riders, we are already in talks about our next project. And at this moment our publisher is quite happy with us, so that's great. It's really good to see that from the professional people from Microids. It's a great publisher with a lot of history. They trust us. And they're saying that we are a great team. So yeah, if the game sells enough, why not a second part? We can tell more stories about our characters for sure.
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Scrap Riders was released for PC on January 9, 2023.