Rise with Kai, Interview about the Making of Indie PS4 Hit Project Nimbus: RISE MIRAI

We are thrilled to announce the release of Project Nimbus: Rise Mirai (and Project Nimbus: Complete Edition) on the Sony PS4 store.

It's been many months of coding, tweaking, and polishing, and the result is a blazingly fast, fun high speed mech action game.

Behind the scenes, our amazing staff has poured great amounts of effort and care into this project. One of them is programmer Kai Lange, whose hard work was crucial in terms of shaping RISE MIRAI’s look and gameplay. We are delighted to introduce Kai, and here is an interview with him about RISE MIRAI!

Q1: What did you do on Project Nimbus: Rise Mirai?

I am mainly a programmer, but I got to work on many different areas. I ported the basic mission structure for Acts 3 and 4 from UE3, worked on gameplay mechanics, performance improvements and the game design as well as the implementation of Warfront Mode.

Q2: What are you most proud of in the game?

Rather than one specific mechanic, I am glad that we were able to improve on some of the mechanics from Code Mirai and add more polish to the game overall. Towards the end of the development of Rise Mirai, we couldn’t help but look back at Code Mirai from one year ago and how much it had changed from then. I hope that our fans are satisfied with the changes too.

Q3: What would you most like to change if you had the time?

I would like to add even more depth to the gameplay, with more varied enemy types that really require you to change up your strategies.

Q4: Where are you from and what brought you to Japan?

I am originally from Nuremberg, Germany. I was lucky enough to visit Japan once when I was 11 years old. I grew up playing a lot of Japanese games and visiting the country they came from showed me that there was even more than just the games to love about this country. Over 10 years later I was finally able to make the move and I have been enjoying every second of it.

Q5: What's your favorite part of working and living in Tokyo?

Tokyo is home to many great game studios. In recent years Japanese games have made a big comeback in the west. Working in the same environment as all of these incredible studios makes me want to work harder, to one day create games of this calibre as well.

Q6: Favorite food? Favorite mech? Favorite current game?

That’s a tough one. I love food in general. If I had to choose I guess my favourite Japanese food is Chicken Nanban. For German food it would be Schäuferle. My first mech game was Zone of the Enders, so I have to stick with Jehuty. My favorite recent game is God of War, but I think next year’s Resident Evil 2 will take that crown soon.

Q7: So should your official mech pilot name be “Chicken Jehuty?”

That’s classified.

Q8: What does the future hold in 2019?

Hopefully more great games that I can work on. There may be more Nimbus on the horizon and I am also working on my own project that I am planning to release in summer next year.

New Project Nimbus DLC Arriving in Japan on PS4® November 29th!

GameTomo is proud to announce the release of Acts 3 and 4 of high-speed mech action game Project Nimbus for the PS4 in Japan. The low priced DLC, titled Project Nimbus: Rise Mirai, features all remastered graphics for the PS4, a dazzling new UI weapon wheel, and a never seen before infinite mission sequence called WARFRONT.

Project Nimbus is an exciting mech-based flying game inspired by the Gundam, Macross and Ace Combat series. The successfully Kickstarted indie hit features vibrant graphics, blistering action gameplay and an epic storyline.

Project Nimbus: Rise Mirai features:

• Sprawling missions in a variety of locations, featuring new playable Battle Frames, new weapons including homing lasers and the Ballistic Sword, and new trophies.

• Brand new WARFRONT mode includes massive replayability with six unlimited mission modes including Base Defense, Interception, and Assassination. Six levels of pilot (including Legendary) and Battle Frame customization will keep you playing for hours more.

• New UI includes “3D radar” and new Weapon Wheel weapon selection system.

• Low DLC price for purchasers of Project Nimbus: Code Mirai, or new players can buy the Complete Edition with all content.

• Project Nimbus is a high speed mech action game featuring over a dozen playable mechs with weapons including smart missiles, energy blades, particle cannons, floating energy shields, railguns and autonomous psychodrones. The four act storyline involves epic battles between three different factions over a war torn futuristic planet.

Coming November 29th on the Japanese PS4 online store.

The Developer of Project Wingman is here with us!

We are delighted to have the developer of Project Wingman, the amazing RB, visiting our office in Tokyo!

Besides taking him to GameTomo's favorite lunch spots around Akihabara, and having him tryout our indie developer's magical black desk, we also gathered many questions from our twitter followers. Ready to get to know more about his fast paced flight action game? Have a look! 

Q1: Will Project Wingman have an original fiction fighter plane like Ace Combat Series? 

Absolutely! We plan on having original fighter planes in Project Wingman. Hopefully we can reveal it to you in the future.

Q2: The story is not about wars between countries like America vs Russia BS (Instead it is Government vs Rebel) Do you think this aspect would make this game more enjoyable? Is is difficult to create a story like this? 

The game takes place in an alternate history after a global disaster. So in a way that serves a blank state within the universe so we`re not restricted or weighed down by history and can sort of pick and choose what we want to keep. That being said that does mean we have to put a lot more thought into the world building aspect of the game.

Q3:Will the game available on gaming console(Xbox PS4 Switch) in future?

I would love to get the game for a console however we`re currently focusing on a PC release. So whether the game goes on console remains to be seen right now.

Q4: Probably everyone wants to know this, will you tell us about the title’s milestone, launch timing and planned platforms?

Ah yes, currently were working hard on the campaign portion of the game so sadly I cannot discuss too much on that aspect and right after that we will continue to make improvements and expand Conquest mode. We're not commiting to a hard date as of yet as we still have a lot of work to do, however we're hoping to release sometime in 2019 and the game is currently planned for a PC release. Console platform is currently being looked into however its not planned at the moment.

Q5: When the information first revealed, the development was done by 1 person, has the style changed? If the development is done by more than 1 person, How many people are doing mech-modeling, map modeling? Which software are you using for the modeling? ‏

The best I can say is "kinda". The style of development largely has not changed. That being said I am working with other people for things that I cannot do myself such as music with Jose Pavli, and Matt where he helps me with some story aspect along with managing the Voice Actors for the game. In terms of technical development aspect of the game such as modelling, texturing, mapping, programming, and scripting the game is more or less still handled by me. That being said, people do contribute to the game in their own ways from voice acting, to providing intensive testing to the game from the community. And I am super grateful to have them help the game to such extents! I primarily use Blender to do my 3D modelling.

Q6: Will you tell us about the rough percentage of your own development, use of UE4 function and assets use in overall game development.

That is quite a tough question as it is quite hard to quantify such percentages because of how much overlap there can be between those categories. Unreal Engine 4 definitely makes it easy to develop the game with extensive features and huge community behind it that guide the development. I try to minimize the use of external art assets for Project Wingman as I do enjoy creating the 3D models and texturing them myself.

Q7: I am always impressed every time the new demo is released. Will you tell us about the devise or the way you thought out to create this wonderful graphics?

Thank you! Looking at a lot of references and how other games do things on a technical and visual level certainly helps! Then its simply a matter of breaking it down and rebuilding it to fit the art style and mood of your game. Consistency is important!

Q8: I heard, you used an same engine as Ace Combat series. Then I have a question, I assume You have been aware that Project Wingman has been compared to Ace Combat series. How would you differentiate Project Wingman from Ace Combat series?

I was also surprised when the Ace Combat trailer dropped and mentioned that it was also using Unreal Engine. I was already working on Project Wingman at that point, although it was still at its very early stage. I think it goes without saying that I am also a huge fan of the series as well. Project Wingman is going to be a different experience to Ace Combat, primarily in the experimental game mode we showed on our Kickstarter demo, "Conquest" mode. We're not sure if we are going to stick with this name, but it will offer a much more dynamic experience and offer plenty of replayability of the game.

Q9:I heard this title will support VR devices, have you decided which device to support? Oculus Rift or Vive??

I'm happy to say the game currently supports both! For our GDC demo with Simul, it was running on SteamVR on a Windows Mixed Reality headset. And on the promotional trailer and development footage I post on twitter, it's running on the Oculus rift.

Q10: Will replay mode or free camera mode, screenshots mode be available？

I can't say too much regarding a replay mode as its something we haven't explored yet. However a free camera and screenshot mode will be available in the future!

Interviewing the Developer of Project Nimbus!

We were very happy to have the developer of Project Nimbus, Pawee, visiting us here in Tokyo. 

During Pawee's visit, we got many questions from our Twitter followers. Curious to know more about the master mind behind the awesome fast action mech game? Take a look!

Q1, What is your favorite mech anime or game?

Favorite game is Project Nimbus! But I also like Macross Zero for the smooth flying mechs, and Gundam Unicorn for the storyline.


Q2. What is the title of the game that you played and spent your time the most?

War Thunder.

Q3. When is Code Mirai Act 3&4 going to be released? Do you have estimated time? Also are you planning to create another mech action type game?

Code Mirai Act 3&4 will be released later this year. And Nimbus Infinity, the sequel to Project Nimbus, was announced this month and has started work!

Q6.Are you going to add any battleflames that we can use during the survival mode? (M3S Uber Striker , Krokodil  etc…)

Yes, I’m working on adding it to the PC version.

Q7. Are you going to collaborate with SUPER ROBOT WARS team?  Where we can play battleflames in the game.

No plan at this time.

Q6.  Are you planning to make novels, manga, anime from Project Nimbus game?

Yes.

Q7. Are you planning to create and sell Project Nimbus figures or model kits?

 Not yet.

Q8.Are you going to sell a soundtrack ?

Yes, we plan to do this.

Q9. The function " bullet time" is inovative and very interesting! We can switch our weapons, show cool Melee, change the pace of the battle etc…the battles vary depending on the player. 
My questions is how did you come across the idea " bullet time"? For us, when regarding its slow-motion nature, it seems contrary to high-speed action. When implementing the function, what did you care the most? such like keeping the game balance etc...

It was in a previous game and it seemed like a great idea to introduce to Nimbus. I tried it and really liked it, so I kept it!

Will you tell me your best score for the Survival mode in CODE MIRAI?

My score is shown in the highest score in the default servial mode for Project Nimbus PC version, this means if you break this record, you are better pilot than the original developer!! As for Code Mirai record, we will let you know once Act 3 and 4 is out. 

Rooftop BBQ

Summer is finally here!

Last week, we are happy to have the main designer of Project Nimbus Pawee visiting us here in Japan. Besides working and interviewing with him, we also decided to throw a rooftop BBQ party to celebrate!

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Photo Time!

Our Red Grill

Of course Red Guys wouldn't miss the fun!

Yum Yum Yum!

We are planning to invite more developers to come over and spend some fun time with us. If you love games (and BBQ) and would like to work with us, contact us now!

GameTomo at Bitsummit 2018!

Thanks for those who visited us at Bitsummit2018, we had a very successful exhibition and met indie game fans from all over the world!

During this awesome event, we showcased demos of our games. Many players challenged our upcoming Project Nimbus:Code Mirai Act 3 and 4. The recently released Immortal Redneck Switch version also received much attention.

Above all, we revealed our new project: SUPERHOT JP, for the first time! This upcoming new title set in SUPERHOT universe attracted much attention immediately, from both press and fans.

Thanks again for all the support and stay tuned for more exciting news!

Immortal Redneck is released on Nintendo Switch!

GameTomo does Reddit AMA about Code Mirai Launch

We did an AMA on Reddit with lead designer Pawee and KISS Publishing!

Project Nimbus: Code Mirai Launched in EU and US!

High-flying mecha space shooter Project Nimbus: Code Mirai is now available in the US and the EU!

Project Nimbus Code Mirai is a high speed mech action game set in a post-apocalyptic world. Players control 'Battle Frames' -- humanoid battle suits armed with an arsenal of weapons.

This is a mech game that lets you fly freely in the sky, dodge and intercept incoming missiles with machine guns, and fight armies of hostiles with every kind of modern weapon you can imagine.

More info on our website:  https://www.gametomo.co.jp/project-nimbus-en/

Press Release at Gamasutra

Happy New Year!

Have a great 2018!