Developer interview: The making of Dandara
Anyone who read my blog or saw my tweets last month will know that I was totally blown away by Brazilian indie Metroidvania game Dandara.
So it was an absolute pleasure to catch up with developers Long Hat House and find out how the game came to be.
The company was founded by friends João Brant and Lucas Mattos in 2014.
I was amazed to learn that Dandara - which is now available on all kinds of platforms such as Android, Nintendo Switch, PS4, Steam and Xbox One - was only their second major project.
João, 28, told me: "In 2014 there was the World Cup and in Brazil people are crazy about it - we got about one month of vacation because of that and we used it to try and make our first game together.
"We tried a few prototypes and [our game] Magenta Arcade came out of that about 8 months later.
"It felt like a success so we thought we'd keep doing it. We started another prototype for a action game for mobile and that ended up being Dandara."
Development on Dandara started in 2016 and lasted just over two years.
"Because we started with it as a mobile game we planned to spend 6 months, a year tops - but things normally aren't like that," João said, adding that once they signed with publisher Raw Fury the project expanded.
He explained he and Lucas decided not to go down the 'typical' Metroidvania design route, primarily because it had been "done to death."
João said: "We made a brainstorm of cool ideas to try and one of them was this platform where you can just flick to the ceiling and to the walls just like Dandara is now
"We didn't think about the character, it was just about the mechanics at the beginning.
"So the story came as [we thought] how can we tell a story using this mechanic?
"We needed a world that made sense to be with abstract gravity."
I wrote in my review of the game that some of the characters in Dandara are rooted in history - including the protagonist herself, whose real-life namesake was a Brazilian warrior. So how did that choice of story and character come about?
João explained: "The first thing we thought was like a dude with a machine gun, blasting - and that felt flat. It would be okay, but it wouldn't bring anything new. We thought we could make something more appealing.
"We started looking for Brazilian conflicts. We thought about the slavery in the 1700s and we thought; lets talk about that.
"But to talk about slavery and having the mechanic of jumping without gravity - that's so abstract it is not going to convey the realism of slavery.
"We couldn't do everything at the same time so we chose to do something abstract, talking in a metaphor. And the character of Dandara is the inspiration of that."
I found Dandara's method of movement to be one of its most interesting and unique aspects - but I asked João; did it bring limitations?
He said: "If you do an enemy or something from a game like Castlevania and try to apply it in Dandara, it's difficult.
"We really felt that for level or enemy design we were making stuff from scratch mostly.
"But that was the most fun part of the project, figuring out how to challenge the player without pressuring them too much.
"We felt people could struggle, but that is the nature of the game. It was supposed to be challenging."
Asked whether he and Lucas planned to revisit the world of Dandara, João told me: "Yes! Actually we are working on a DLC right now.
"We are working on it, but we can't promise a release date yet."
Reflecting on the development process, he said: "In the beginning it was like we were making a steppingstone to go to consoles - that was our original goal, but it seems we took a shortcut and that was awesome!
"We learned so much and met so many people, it was awesome."
João was also very keen to point out that Dandara's success is thanks to the crucial input of other creative geniuses, including music composer and audio designer Thommaz Kauffmann, as well as artist Victor Leão.
Speaking of the game's excellent soundtrack, he said: "We asked Thommaz to make music that feels like its good for exploring and we left him with freedom to make the composition.
"I am really satisfied with the soundtrack of the game."
Looking back on the project as a whole, he concluded: "It's something we're very proud of."
I for one (and I'm sure I'm not alone) am super excited to see what Long Hat House does next - hopefully starting with that Dandara DLC!
Thanks to João for taking the time to catch up - it was great to get a glimpse behind the scenes of such an indie gem.
Have you played Dandara? Let me know your thoughts below!
So it was an absolute pleasure to catch up with developers Long Hat House and find out how the game came to be.
The company was founded by friends João Brant and Lucas Mattos in 2014.
I was amazed to learn that Dandara - which is now available on all kinds of platforms such as Android, Nintendo Switch, PS4, Steam and Xbox One - was only their second major project.
João, 28, told me: "In 2014 there was the World Cup and in Brazil people are crazy about it - we got about one month of vacation because of that and we used it to try and make our first game together.
"We tried a few prototypes and [our game] Magenta Arcade came out of that about 8 months later.
"It felt like a success so we thought we'd keep doing it. We started another prototype for a action game for mobile and that ended up being Dandara."
Development on Dandara started in 2016 and lasted just over two years.
"Because we started with it as a mobile game we planned to spend 6 months, a year tops - but things normally aren't like that," João said, adding that once they signed with publisher Raw Fury the project expanded.
He explained he and Lucas decided not to go down the 'typical' Metroidvania design route, primarily because it had been "done to death."
 |
| João Brant (left) and Lucas Mattos |
"We didn't think about the character, it was just about the mechanics at the beginning.
"So the story came as [we thought] how can we tell a story using this mechanic?
"We needed a world that made sense to be with abstract gravity."
I wrote in my review of the game that some of the characters in Dandara are rooted in history - including the protagonist herself, whose real-life namesake was a Brazilian warrior. So how did that choice of story and character come about?
João explained: "The first thing we thought was like a dude with a machine gun, blasting - and that felt flat. It would be okay, but it wouldn't bring anything new. We thought we could make something more appealing.
"We started looking for Brazilian conflicts. We thought about the slavery in the 1700s and we thought; lets talk about that.
"But to talk about slavery and having the mechanic of jumping without gravity - that's so abstract it is not going to convey the realism of slavery.
"We couldn't do everything at the same time so we chose to do something abstract, talking in a metaphor. And the character of Dandara is the inspiration of that."I found Dandara's method of movement to be one of its most interesting and unique aspects - but I asked João; did it bring limitations?
He said: "If you do an enemy or something from a game like Castlevania and try to apply it in Dandara, it's difficult.
"We really felt that for level or enemy design we were making stuff from scratch mostly.
"But that was the most fun part of the project, figuring out how to challenge the player without pressuring them too much.
"We felt people could struggle, but that is the nature of the game. It was supposed to be challenging."
Asked whether he and Lucas planned to revisit the world of Dandara, João told me: "Yes! Actually we are working on a DLC right now.
"We are working on it, but we can't promise a release date yet."
Reflecting on the development process, he said: "In the beginning it was like we were making a steppingstone to go to consoles - that was our original goal, but it seems we took a shortcut and that was awesome!
"We learned so much and met so many people, it was awesome."
João was also very keen to point out that Dandara's success is thanks to the crucial input of other creative geniuses, including music composer and audio designer Thommaz Kauffmann, as well as artist Victor Leão.Speaking of the game's excellent soundtrack, he said: "We asked Thommaz to make music that feels like its good for exploring and we left him with freedom to make the composition.
"I am really satisfied with the soundtrack of the game."
Looking back on the project as a whole, he concluded: "It's something we're very proud of."
I for one (and I'm sure I'm not alone) am super excited to see what Long Hat House does next - hopefully starting with that Dandara DLC!
Thanks to João for taking the time to catch up - it was great to get a glimpse behind the scenes of such an indie gem.
Have you played Dandara? Let me know your thoughts below!
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