Dear Kings and Queens,
The release of Royal Revolt 2 couldn’t have happened without two key figures from the team: Patrick & Dave.
Their love and dedication for the game can be felt completely after reading this interview:
Who are you, and what’s your role on the project?
Dave: Hi, I’m Dave, one of the game designers of Royal Revolt 2. As usual in small teams, everyone also fills other roles as needed – I have written a good amount of text for the game, done producing and even created a few assets here and there.
Patrick: My name is Patrick and between 2013 and 2022 was a Tester, then Lead Tester, then QA Manager and then Producer on Royal Revolt 2, then I also started working on other projects starting mid 2022. During 2013 and 2022, I also did things like writing texts (such as season, event, item, festival, mission names, etc.), occasionally creating sound effects and some smaller art assets for our UI and providing menu mockups.
If you were a sea creature, would you be a Dolphin or a Shark? (You can also be Nessie, a blue whale; pick your fish!)
Dave: Hermit Crab. Always at home!
Patrick: I consider myself the perfect blend of Spongebob, Patrick and Squidward.
What attracted you to the gaming industry, and how did you get to working on Royal Revolt 2?
Dave: I have been a gamer all my life, starting with the Master System in the 80s. During my studies, I became a game tester for a while and realized there is no better career path for me. Once I finished my studies, I joined keen flare first as a tester, then worked my way up into game design and producing.
Patrick: I have always been a handheld and console gamer in my younger years (Gameboy, SNES, N64, PlayStation, etc.) and after a few failed attempts at a career in boring office jobs, I applied and got hired as a Tester at a company that would later go on to develop the first Royal Revolt! game, with me as the one and only Tester. I later went on to also test the sequel and the rest is history.
Do you remember what the first thing you did after the game was officially released?
Dave: At the time RR2 was released, I was still working on a different project, but joined almost exactly after the release (so I got to miss all the celebrations…). I was first tasked with testing all windows platforms (PC, phones and tables) all by myself, which was a big challenge, with each of them having their own, unique quirks.
Patrick: I remember distinctly how we sat in our office late at night after we first published the game, a dozen phones and tablets in front of us, constantly updating the stores to see if it had arrived in AppStores already. All while drinking a truckload of Jägermeister.
Royal Revolt 2 has a lot really subtle pop-culture references. What were some of their inspirations, and how did they come to be included in the game?
Dave & Patrick: Almost all of the pop culture references in the game are from us two. We both love horror films of the 80s and retro games, and Dave also sprinkled in a few music references (mostly Death Metal), so if you spot anything that looks suspicious, it was probably us two. There are also a few references in the game that honor colleagues of ours, but those are harder to spot for the uninitiated.
Are there any Skins, features, or specific gameplay of Royal Revolt 2 that hold a special place in your heart? What makes them stand out?
Dave: Personally, I love the Dungeon, the monster units and the Ninjas the most. Other than that I really hope we can finally do a chicken pet…or guardian? It is our unofficial mascot, after all!
Patrick: I’ve always loved the Pals and their ability to transform into their Beast form. The creativity, sounds and animations that went into creating those I’ve always loved. Especially Fritz, of course. Skin-wise, one of my favorites is the Paladin’s Tormentor Skin.
What were the biggest challenges to face over these 10 Years, and how did you guys overcome them?
Dave: Designing, building, testing and maintaining a living game is a huge challenge. But what is even more challenging is to find the right times to submit and release our versions. Whenever we want to release a new version, we are at the mercy of Google, Apple and Microsoft to get approved in a timely manner. We have a very strict calendar we need to follow since seasons start and end regularly, and those frequently require a new game client. In the case of a failed or delayed submission, we need to get (very) creative to somehow keep the game running with no downtime.
Patrick: I think something that might surprise people, would be how small our team sometimes was throughout the years. I recall a time where we were working on one of RR2’s most elaborate and ambitious features, the Conquest Mode. For several months, only 1 programmer worked on what was back then our biggest game mode to date. We had to delay the version several times and when we finally released it, it was met with, let’s say, “mixed reactions”. It took us several follow-up versions to clean up the mess and the whole ordeal was quite nerve-wrecking for us all.
What do you consider to be the most significant achievements of Royal Revolt II, and how did the team rally behind to make them happen?
Dave: The fact that 10 years after its initial release, players still play our game is an immense boost in motivation. Some of these players and Alliances I have known and observed from the distance since many years, and a lot of them are still around – this is what keeps the team going.
Patrick: For me one of the most fulfilling aspects is seeing how this game has managed to connect people for a decade now. Some serious human bonds have been formed over this game and knowing that something we created over 10 years ago, something that’s also still a big part of our lives, did that is just a really dope feeling.
Other than that, I’m also kinda proud of the fact that despite the many obstacles the industry sometimes throws at you, we still have managed to put out content consistently, all without any significant downtimes (I think we’ve never been offline for more than a few hours at a time in all those years).
You’ve mentioned about having a small team working on the project at times. How did you keep developing the game while being relevant to the community and keeping the players happy and engaged?
Dave & Patrick: During those times, we learned to make the most out of everything and how to identify and work around bottlenecks the most efficiently. But more importantly, the fewer people you have, the more important every individual in your team becomes, and the more everyone is empowered to not only do their best work, but to also fill out other roles, which to us was extremely motivating – so while having few resources is of course not great, it can under certain circumstances also bring out the best in developers.
What is one thing that players don’t see enough of in regards to the team and you would like to make them aware of?
Dave: The magic and craziness that our coders come up with, against all odds, to make the absurd ideas we think up actually work. They always deliver.
Patrick: The love we still have for the universe we’ve created and what more we have planned for it.
You have been with the game since its inception. How do you envision the next decade of Royal Revolt 2, and what is your message for the Community?
Dave: I would like to see the community being pleasantly surprised by new things in the next 10 years – this is what I would hope for as a player myself. My message to the community is that I want them to know that dedicating ourselves to a project for 10 years has only been possible for us through the motivation we got from knowing that there are players out there who like and play our game – you keep us going.
Patrick: I hope the next decade of RR2 tells many more exciting stories, introduces new unfamiliar faces, adds more depth to what’s already there and just overall fleshes out the franchise in cool new directions. My message to the community is: Thank you for still being here after all these years. I promise we’ll try and keep things entertaining for you and that we’ll do our best to meet your expectations. As a matter of fact, something VERY special might be closer than you think!
