Interview with Josh Stiksma, Lead Developer at PolyArc (Moss)
The second book of Moss was just announced and we were able to slip the developers a few burning questions.
The announcement of the sequel to Moss surprised many. Us too. So we were all the more happy that we were able to elicit some burning answers from the developers of PolyArc. We really tried our best to gather as much information for you as possible. Below you can see the complete transcriped interview. I hope that the answers will bring you some anticipation for the future continuation of the mouse adventure and we’ll see you in the next article.
Intro
Cat Noir VR:
Hello everyone. I hope you had all a nice day so far. Today we’re getting together to do an Interview and I couldn’t be more exited. And among other things it’s about a new adventure around the herocial mouse lady Quill.
You just had recently announced the continuation of your well known adventure “Moss” with Book II. So, is there anything you want to say about it before we get to the questions?
Josh from PolyArc:
Yeah, absolutely. Let me first introduce myseld and after that I even have some tid bits to share that you haven’t seen in the trailer. And then we can get to the questions later.
I quickly introduce myself. My name is Josh Stiksma, Lead Developer on the Project for Moss Book II. I was part of the original team for Moss Book I and other AAA-games before. And I’m beyond exited to be part of the project and working on Moss Book II now.
Getting into some of the details of our next release. The biggest thing is we announced the game yesterday and it feels really really good to start talking about it. Not having it under wraps. Quill’s Adventure isn’t over. We know we left it off with a little bit off a cliffhanger. You met Quill, you bonded with her, you defeated Sarffog together and then you saved her uncle Argus. It felt really good to do that and then the book closed. That was the end of Book I.
And now you get to finally open the next book and see what happens next. We actually pick up right from there. Right after Sarffogs defeat. We are there with Argus and you quickly realize that the castle was now the domain of this dangerous winged tyrant that is hunting you down. That’s going to be a big threat for you. You need essentially with Quill get a plan how you gonna deal with this new thread.
It also backs the question if things are this bad here after we saved Argus. Now we have to save the world of Moss. The stakes are now even higher at this point as you learn more about what’s happening. As you go on your adventure you’re not gonna be alone. There will be allies, old and new, that you’ll see along your way. You’re gonna be exploring new enviroments that are both, beautiful and dangerous. Our artists have done such a great job. The new places are really immersive, making you feel you’re really there in the moment.
We also want to challenge players with new puzzles and new platforming experiences were we can push what we consider “Adventure” with Moss Book II. With those things combined it is a unique recipe or blend that feels really good for players while they going on that adventure in order to learn more about the world and go through the story. But also bond with Quill which is obviously a really important thing.
Some of the new features that we’re also already exited about are new enemies which you already saw in the trailer and we’re gonna having new weapons that Quill can equip in order to help her in combat, puzzle solving and finding her way through various enviroments. You can see it already in the trailer where we give Quill, that tiny little mouse, a big giant hammer and see what she does with it. And she is actually really good with it.
Some of our learnings with the Moss Expension “Twillight Garden” was how great it was to reach in and charge up Quill’s weapon and infuse her with some of that reader power in order to get some great effects in all areas like combat, puzzles and traversal. And we always like to redefine the adventure term and the bond between the reader and Quill.
You as a reader should also get stronger too over time. Having the ability to interact with new types of objects. We were pretty clear about what you can interact with in the first game. And we’re going to continue that but there are also some new things. We want to have a new form of interaction. Things that gonna feel different but push on that joy on “Wow, I’m grabbing that object and it has a tactile feel”. It feels like something is real but also magical. Our example in the trailer is where we grab a vine and also streaching it out, bending and moving it with your hand and connect it to another location. So we create a bridge for Quill to traverse across. That’s one example of something we’re really exited about.
And then finally the most important bit is our central pillar of the game which is Quill and your realtionship with her. We were just blown away by how much people have really bonded with her and formed a special connection with her as a chracter. As a virtual character in our world. We really want to continue to build upon that and find new ways to get a powerful sense of emotional feedback or a broader range of emotions specificly something our narrative teams are exited about. We want you to feel that triump with Quill. We want you to feel the uncertainty, the fear and the heartbreak Quill has to endure.
We’re really exited and utilising Virtual Reality and the immersion so you’re feeling that you are in the world with all those characters that also feel real. That is an experience like no other to be in this magical world and having these feelings and connecting with those characters. We’re extremly exited to continue your emotional journey with Quill.
Last little bit before we get to the questions. We are really exited to continue working with Sony on this. They are such a great partner with us and we’re coming to Playstation VR as our release.
DLC or standalone game?
Cat Noir VR:
Will Moss Book II be a DLC or a whole new game ?
Josh from PolyArc:
Moss Book II will be a whole new game. I think players who felt comfotable with the first game should feel really at home with the second one. We really consider it a strong foundation that we want to build and improve upon. We want players to feel comfortable continuing the story without things being to different. But we also see room for improvement that we’re exited about.
Improvements?
Cat Noir VR:
You learned a lot about Moss in general while releasing Book I and what to improve upon. Can you talk about those improvements that you are so hyped about and can give our readers some more details?
Josh from PolyArc:
I already started to cover the weapons which we’re really exited about. But another part are the varied enviroments. We’re bringing the player to the castle and at first glance it’s like “Oh, all is it all going to be in this castle?”. Absolutely not. I guess we already showed it a little bit in the trailer. We created a really cool story that will bring you to all of these varied enviroments. Just how real it feels to being in there. And how magical they are. It’s amazing. We’re really exited about it and you can’t get that feeling anywehere else. My dream is that somebody just takes a moment to just sit back and Quill is there looking at you and you’re just looking at the sky or the enviroment around you. Just feeling fully immersed for a moment. For example we showed that mointain landscape in the trailer and it feels cold and crisp. It’s a powerful feeling being so immersed. Everything feels more real. That connection with Quill feels more real. How you manipulate those enviroments and trying to solve puzzles feels more real. We’re really exited and our Art- and our Designteam has learned a lot to create those places.
A good entry point for new players?
Cat Noir VR:
You already did a really good job with Moss Book I and I often just stand there and appreciated the beauty of those enviroments. I cant’t wait to dive deep into Book II.
Let’s get to the next question. You already said that Moss Book II will be a whole new game and not a DLC. Will there be a recap of Book I at the start of Book II and would you advise new players to play through the first Book before jumping in to the sequel?
Josh from PolyArc:
I will always recomment that people try out and experience Moss Book I. But we will have a prolouge recap for new players and even players who have played the first book but haven’t played it in a while. So they can continue the story without any problems.
Only for PSVR?
Cat Noir VR:
Now let’s get to one of my main questions. You already talked about Moss Book II coming to Playstation VR. What about other VR-Headsets? Will it also come to Steam VR or Oculus?
Josh from PolyArc:
That’s a really good question. I can’t talk about it right now. I’ll say that we are so exited to work with Sony but we’re also super exited to have as many people playing Moss Book II as possible. We’re exited what the future might bring.
Releasedate?
Cat Noir VR:
I really appreciate your answer even if you can’t talk about any details right now. But now let’s get to my second main question. What about the releasedate or at least a timeframe? Can you give us any hint if Moss Book II will be released this year or maybe around next year? Any rough estimate?
Josh from PolyArc:
I would love to but unfortunately we’re not sharing any details about the releasedate yet. Our main focus is for now just showing the trailer but as soon we have that information we make sure to get that out.
More Books in the future?
Cat Noir VR:
You really can feel the love for Quill and the game as a whole while talking to you. So my next question is if you can see yourself working on even more Books for Moss in the future?
Josh from PolyArc:
Absolutely yes! The companys name is PolyArc. We sort of interpretate that as that we got many stories to tell. And that is certainly true in the world of Moss. Our writing team has spent a lot of time world building and creating a world that was consitent, real and connected. What that means is that we can pick up a place and want to tell a story we can jump in there and start telling it. We were really exited when we finished the first book of Moss. We’re exited to continue it with the next book now. But the reason we left it off the way we did was with independent software development you really never know if you have the opportunity to make that next game. We always had dreamed that we would be able to and with Moss Book II we are blown away by the reception of the fans. We are really happy that we are able to make the second book now. If people keep loving it and we love it too. You know we love Quill as much as the fans and we want to keep her around and creating new stories for all the players.
More characters?
Cat Noir VR:
You also said some time ago “The thing we want people to remember about Polyarc in 40 years is our characters.” So is there a chance that even more characters join Quill on her journey and maybe even as playable counterparts?
Josh from PolyArc:
I think there will be always an opportunity for that in the future. Right now Quill is our main character. And we’re really exited about continuing that and building that emotional relationship. But absolutely we want to people to remember our characters and there are gonna be new characters in this game that we’re really exited for people to meet. And join on the journey with. We’re exited for that. But like I said about trying to create this large world there are a lot of characters that we’re still exited for players to meet and hope people will bond to them in similar ways they did with Quill. Really connect with them and remember so much about their interactions. We want that to be the case for that new characters as well.
What about AR or Mixed Reality?
Cat Noir VR:
Can’t wait to meet them. And now let’s get to our last question for today. Do you have anything to share about your plans regarding AR? I have read that you invested a lot into AR developement a year ago and we haven’t heard much about it yet since the initial press release.
Josh from PolyArc:
I can share some broad things and hopefully that is pretty exiting. You are totally right. We had some foundrising rounds with some partners last year. And all of that founding is earmarked for VR/AR developement. What this means our studio is growing and is able to focus also on other initiatives. Initially the Moss-Team was fiveteen people and was all of PolyArc. And now PolyArc is thirtytwo people in size and the team around Moss is roughly still the same size. We’re still about fiveteen. And we now have some very very talented employees who are now looking at new ways of interacting with characters in both, AR and VR. And we are really exited. There isn’t much to share just yet since things are early. But as new technology emerges we want to do the excact the same thing with AR and Mixed Reality like we did when VR take hold some years ago and establish ourself. We can’t wait to show some of the advancements we are making.
General thoughts after the interview
The interview was a lot of fun, but unfortunately a few questions went unanswered. Well, almost. You could also take some statements and read between the lines. So it seems like the sequel to Moss is coming to other headsets as well. In any case, I’m glad we’re getting a sequel to the terrific adventure Moss and can’t wait to get back into the role of reader and stand by the little mouse. If we get more informations over time, we will of course keep you up to date.
And if you haven’t seen the trailer to Moss Book II yet here is the trailer:
