When GLPeas first contacted me about their newly released title, BlindGiRl, they gave me absolutely no gameplay details or information. I was simply asked to post up the exclusive screenshots if I wished. Knowing the English studio’s earlier work since reviewing Carcophony, I actually developed high hopes for their latest effort. As they unveiled more details to me, the intrigue was clear and there were many questions that needed solid answers.

Luckily, I decided to write up a list of those questions and send ‘em on over to our boys in the UK. They chimed in with thoughts on developing for XNA, trying to incorporate colorblindness, and unveiled some surprising details along the way. What results is a feeling of familiarity with GLPeas and a desire to play BlindGiRl, which was released today before I even got a chance to put the interview up. Here’s everything you need to know:

DIYgamer: Greetings to you boys (I’m assuming) in the UK! Please introduce yourselves to the rest of the DIYgamers.

GLPeas: Hi DIYGamers! We’re GLPeas – friends based in and around Derby which is in the East Midlands of England. Near Nottingham. Where the Sheriff came from.

DIYgamer: How are you enjoying the success of Carcophony? Do you feel as if your debut was successful from a financial standpoint?

GLPeas: Carcophony was a great success for us in as much as we went through the development process from start to finish, got a title through peer review and on the marketplace, and learned a hell of a lot in the process. From a financial standpoint, the game has not been a success at all. Despite universally positive reviews, sales have been poor. This time around, we’re increasing the PR effort so that we can get as much coverage of the game in the press as possible, and hopefully more people will know about the game.

DIYgamer: What’s it like developing for the XBLIG platform? Any comments or complaints about the way things are run at all?

GLPeas: The XNA framework is very good and it allows us to get ideas up and running very quickly. The community is great, and there are a lot of very helpful people on the XNA forums. There are some issues though. The first one is with the peer review process, which can be a bit subjective at times. The other problem is with the Indie games channel itself – when you release your title you might get a bit of coverage on the front page, for a week or so, but after that it disappears into the catalogue of hundreds of games. There’s very little opportunity for promotion after that, so most of your sales come in the first week and then drop off significantly. There needs to be a better way of browsing through and choosing games, which avoids titles disappearing into the ether like they can do at the moment. As more and more titles come out, this problem is only going to get worse.

DIYgamer: Not too long ago, you guys sent me an e-mail with some exclusive screenshots of your upcoming XBOX Live Indie Game, BlindGiRl. That was much appreciated and I have to admit sparked an interest in your upcoming title. How and when did you guys think of the game?

GLPeas: The wave propogation mechanic of BlindGiRl is an idea we’ve been knocking around for a long time now -  in 2008 we had a prototype working but back then it was based around a radio controlled car rather than a character. We liked the idea of only revealing the level gradually, it gave a great feeling of discovery and adventure and also created some tension and anticipation. It also gave us that minimal look which we like – when you start a level in BlindGiRl, your screen is entirely black, apart from your character – there’s something about that sense of the unknown which is quite enticing, even a little bit spooky, especially in some of the later levels.

DIYgamer: What can you tell me about it? Any exclusive details you want to share regarding gameplay elements? What genre would you classify BlindGiRl in?

GLPeas: We would class BlindGiRl as a puzzle/adventure game. At first glance, it might look like a simple maze game, but there’s a lot more to it than that. Every puzzle has a solution, everything is there for a reason. At its core, it’s a game about discovery and embracing the unknown – and the player will learn more about BlindGiRl and her world as the game progresses.  We don’t spell it all out this time.  As with Carcophony, it’s very easy to play (just one stick and one button) but there’s enough depth and strategy there to keep players entertained.  We’ve also gone for a very non-linear approach  – from the outset the player can choose any level, but will only be able to complete some of them when they have learned the skills or techniques necessary.

From a design point of view, one of the main cornerstones of the project for us was that we were prepared to risk some love/hate with features that don’t follow convention. With Carcophony, we very much stuck to typical game design rules, but in BlindGiRl we’re taking some more risky options. We’re looking forward to seeing and hearing how these design statements are received by the public.

DIYgamer: Where did you get the idea for the colorblind options?

GLPeas: When Carcophony was released we had a few people complain about the colour scheme – it was hard or even impossible for colour blind players to differentiate  between red and green traffic lights, for example, and that was an integral part of the gameplay. We thought this was an important issue, and one that is relatively easy to fix from a development point of view. You may be aware of Helen Hodson (hodsey77 on Twitter) and her petition to get Infinity Ward to add a colour blind option to Modern Warfare 2 – another game which is largely unplayable for colourblind players. We applaud Helen’s work and implemented the colour blind modes into BlindGiRl (in which colour is a vital part of gameplay) to see if it was still possible to play the game with altered colour representations. We found that it was, and so left the colourblind modes in the game for people to try out for themselves.

DIYgamer: Is there a set release window for the game? When can we expect it?

GLPeas: BlindGiRl is now out and available via the Indie Games Marketplace. The peer review process can take weeks, but we breezed through it this time with no problems in just a few days.

DIYgamer.com: What’s the plan for the studio’s future? Are you developing something on the 360 or maybe a different system? Or are you much more focused on finishing BlindGiRl?

GLPeas: BlindGiRl was completed in 20% of the time that it took us to make Carcophony. We worked at pace to deliver an exclusive entry for the DreamBuildPlay 2010 competition, and it was a tight deadline, but we’re very pleased with the result.

We’re familiar with the 360 platform and development environment now so will be sticking with that for the foreseeable future. We’ve got loads of possible ideas for what to do next, a few are already at the prototype stage. That’s what’s so great about indie game development – we’re not restricted by a license or the requirements of a publisher. If we think something will work, and it fits within our mission statement, then we’ll make it! Our aim is to build a consistently high quality body of work on Xbox Live Indie Games, each game demonstrating originality and the essence of the indie movement. So, if you liked games 001 and 002, we hope you’ll be interested in what 003 has to offer!

DIYgamer.com: Finally, will the title be priced in the 400 MSP range as was Carcophony when it was first unveiled?

GLPeas: No. That was one lesson we learned the hard way. What few negative reviews we did get for Carcophony seemed to centre around the price, people felt that 400 MSP was too much, and so we took the step of dropping it to its current 240MSP price point as soon as we were allowed to. Learning from that experience, from the outset we decided that BlindGiRl was to be an 80 MSP game and we developed it with that in mind.

DIYgamer.com: Is there anything else you’d like to share with the indie community? Random thoughts, philosophies, words of wisdom?

GLPeas: Just to keep doing what they’re doing – keep playing the games, and keep looking for those hidden gems.  If you look hard enough there are some original and experimental thoughts on the marketplace , and we hope you find and support them . Oh, and we hope you enjoyed Carcophony and if you did we’re sure you’ll enjoy BlindGiRl.

For fellow XBLIG developers, we would hope that everyone’s games are original, experimental, or have something to say. It’s perhaps better put in the excellent game design bible, “The Art of Game Design: A Book of Lenses” by Jesse Schell, in which he asks:

“Is making this game worth my time?” and “Why am I doing this?”

We always make sure we have very clear answers to these questions before we embark on anything.

The interview was actually conducted two days before the game came out. Originally, these questions were intended for pre-release and GLPeas had answered “Well, at this exact moment the game is finished and is in the final stages of peer review. This can take a few days or a few weeks, but it all seems to be going through very quickly this time around. Therefore, BlindGiRl will be out very soon, it might be sooner than you think!” to the seventh question. I guess they really did go through peer review extremely quickly this time! We wish the best of luck to GLPeas and I personally look forward to reviewing the game (keep your eyes peeled if you’re interested). But why wait for my review anyway, it’s 80 MSP ($1) on XBLIG now!

Long live indie!