Spunland is that kooky...errr...weird....uhh...strange....well, fun space in EU. It has people scratching their heads when they first see it, but if you persevere, you get addicted. It's the brainchild of one of Home's new breed of developers, Madmunki. Dave Dow, a director at Madmunki was kind enough to sit down with us and tell us all about Madmunki and Spunland..... YPSH : Thanks for your time Dave and stopping by YPSH to visit with us. DAVE DOW : You’re most Spunly welcome. YPSH : Dave you attended the University of Strathclyde and got a Bachelor of Arts (B.A.) in English Literature . Was that before your first introduction into the gaming industry? DAVE DOW : Oh aye, that was a long time ago. Sometime later I did an MSc which got me chasing digital rabbits rather than just papery ones. YPSH : Was that as Lead technical Artist at Intrepid\Lionhead Studios? What projects were you invloved in there? DAVE DOW : My first job in games was with Codemasters’ short lived London Studio (Prince Naseem/Mike Tyson boxing got made there), although the first thing I ‘properly worked on’ was Micromaniacs for the original Playstation. Intrepid was a satellite of Lionhead – for my sins I worked for 4 years on the stupidly ambitious BC (developed for the original xbox), which sadly never saw the light of day. I say for my sins, but it was a great job, with great people and I learnt a ton. Funnily enough BC had an eco system too, just not a Spun one. YPSH : After Intrepid, you left for Kuju Entertainment. How did that come about and what were your responsibilities and projects there? DAVE DOW : Hmm. I and the most of the team got made redundant when BC got canned. Several colleagues and myself set up our own company and tried to make a stupidly ambitious Sci Fi game with very few people, having failed to make a stupidly ambitious, prehistoric one with quite a few more. I started doing contract work for Kuju towards the end of that – The most substantial project I did there was Dungeons & Dragons Tactics for the PSP as Lead Artist. That was also the first time I had the pleasure of working with Mark Jagger, the other half of madmunki (he says hello by the way). YPSH : Hi Mark! After that, you did a short stint with Weirdwood. Tell us about that. DAVE DOW : Weirdwood was great. I joined the two founders as Art Director when their previous one left. We (and a couple of other mates) made a six-axis controlled PSN game called Paperwings, which is another – ‘sadly never saw the light of day’ case. The real tragedy with Paperwings was that it was so nearly finished, and it was so much fun. There’s a quality video of it on YouTube, being controlled with a wiimote ... YPSH : You then got an MS (Master of Science) in Computer Graphics at University of Teesside. That brings us to Doublesix. In 2008 you started a four year run with Doublesix, makers of Burn Zombie Burn. You had the title there of Creative Lead. What all did that entail? DAVE DOW : It essentially meant I wore an Art & Design hat, as it were – which funnily enough is what they called art class at school . I worked on a bunch of stuff, from iPhone games to All Zombies Must Die (PSN/XBLA/PC). YPSH : Did you work on the PlayStation Home space for Burn Zombie Burn? DAVE DOW : Aye. That essentially came about because the boss pointed me in the direction of the Home toolkit and said ‘go make a Home Space for BZB’. So I did that, with a little help from my friends. That was really fun and one of the few times I’ve had so much creative freedom. YPSH : Was that your first introduction to Playstation Home? DAVE DOW : It certainly was. It was quite a while ago. YPSH : What made you leave Doublesix and and start your own venture? DAVE DOW : The spinning of the spun I think. YPSH : Madmunki was started in April 2012. Your partner, Mark Jagger, also worked for Doublesix. Was your first idea to create Spunland or did that idea come along later? DAVE DOW : Spunland was the whole idea. YPSH : How do you and Mark split up the work at Madmunki? DAVE DOW : We take equal share of the boring bits. And the Spun bits. YPSH : Getting back to Spunland. What was the inspiration for Spunland? DAVE DOW : All the awesome things we’ve seen and played with, that we can still actually remember. YPSH : Spunland was somewhat of a surprise to PlayStation Home users. There are no instructions when you enter Spunland. At first glance, Spunland can be a bit daunting to figure out. For those who haven't tried it yet, can you give us a thumbnail sketch of what to do at Spunland? DAVE DOW : Can I be cheeky and just direct your readers this link: http://www.spunland.com/content/pages/spun_to_do_1.html YPSH : Sure. Good reference. If you wanted to to achieve all the goals you had to keep playing it as your points were not saved. Many users have figured it out and have gone on a multi-hour binge to do this. Was that by design? DAVE DOW : Hangs head in shame. Spun Points only really became something fairly late in the development when we added the rewards and I, hangs head in shame again, thought putting a save in was a much more elaborate process than it turns out to be. I'm on it now - it's coming soon - that's a spun promise... YPSH : Spunland is due to be released in the North America region of PlayStation Home soon correct? DAVE DOW : Well there are a few paths to walk and bridges to cross, but essentially yes. Unless a boat sinks or banana floats or something. YPSH : Do you and Mark have plans to expand or update Spunland? DAVE DOW : Absolutely! The first thing is the save game, but it’ll be a fairly spun save. That will hopefully be in the next month along with the tiny beginnings of bringing the Spunners to Spunland. Beyond the proliferation of Spunners we’ll develop it according to how its used, what fun we can see people make with it. That’s one of the things exciting about Home, its kind of alive, you can change it. YPSH : In general, what future projects do you see Madmunki producing for PS Home? Personal spaces? Virtual items? More public spaces? DAVE DOW : More Spunland and more Spun stuff. We’ll sell the full range of Home items, and where possible have them interface with spunland in some way, but really its about exploring how spun spunland could be, and that could take some time. YPSH : Do you have any plans to release games for other platforms? Mobile? DAVE DOW : That's simply depend on the future spinning of the spun. YPSH : Do you see Madmunki continuing to produce items for the PS4? Vita? DAVE DOW : I can generally only see spun things, but all of the above sound great. YPSH : We have now seen the specs for the new PS4. What do you think the PS4 will allow you, as a developer, to do that you couldn't do with the PS3? DAVE DOW : Loads of stuff I’m sure, but we’re still being kept fascinated and busy by the PS3 right now. For better or worse we’re mad munkis , not fast munkis. YPSH : If you could peruse your dream project, what would that be? DAVE DOW : This is my dream project, are you kidding? How could it not be? YPSH : Again Dave, many thanks for sharing your thoughts with our YPSH readers. Spunland is a unique and fun idea and we wish Madmunki continued success. DAVE DOW : Well, let me say thanks for your interest! It's a real privilege as a developer to get to create things where you can actually experience it with the players. Spunland is a long term project for us, and we are mad keen to get feedback to help develop it. If anyone has any bugs to report, features to request etc then please post on our Facebook - we check it pretty regularly: www.facebook.com/Spunland . Big Spun thanks again! Hope to see you in Spunland soon NOTE: The new Spunland Cottage was released this week in EU.
This document is intended as a brief guide for new or prospective tenants. Should it fail to answer your questions, or you find yourself having problems with the plumbing, heating or sundry other unspun issues, please notify the management via a polite email to: themanagement@spunland.com. North & South Groves These promontories provide not only stunning views of the Spun Hills, but are also home to Spun Fruit Trees. Be here at the beginning of Fruit O'clock to fully appreciate the lush beauty of the Spun Harvest and collect Spun Fruit. Note: further Spun Fruit Trees can be found at the Viewpoint. The Lumino Chamber This dark room is the spatial linchpin of your Cottage. When the Spun Clock is inactive you will find a sleeping Lumino Spunner here, at such time he will wake only if the Cottage Tenant waves at him, bringing light to the room. During Fruit and Egg O'clock the Lumino will kindly provide access to The Maze, he will however always fall asleep upon the very stroke of Rabbit O'clock. Should you find yourself in The Maze when the Lumino does fall asleep you will be trapped there until he awakes. If this happens, do not panic, try to enjoy the pleasing purity of the colours and take a moment to reflect on the nature Sonic Stack The lower walkway connects the North & South Groves, and at its tip you will find the Sonic Stack. This impressive array of Speakers with their attendant Sonic Spunner is literally the bedrock of the Cottage. When you arrive they will be in an inert state. As mentioned above, the Spun Splodges provide you with a method for activating the Spunners. Each Sonic has its own Spun Track element. The management take no responsibility for tenants failing to activate the Spun Tracks in a harmonious way. We should also warn that if your own amplification device has not sufficient bass, you may hear almost nothing from the second Sonic Spunner. The Maze The entrance to the maze can only be opened by the Lumino Spunner. The maze connects the Cottage to the Viewpoint. Rather than describe it the management would rather you had a look for yourself. There are two key aspects of the Maze to note. The first is that it changes. Every time the Maze closes it will re-arrange itself into a new spun layout. At last count there were 8 different maze compositions. The other has been mentioned already, if you are in the Maze when the Lumino falls asleep you will be trapped there until it reopens – keep an eye on the Spun Clock. Rabbit Run This Circular pathway encloses the garden and joins the main area of the cottage with the rear. Although pleasant to stroll along, it's real utility only manifests during Rabbit O'clock, at which time Rabbit Spunners will bounce merrily along its length. A path of bright spun orange spots help to indicate this for the benefit of the perceptively challenged. The Garden This pleasant paddock can be accessed from the Clock Room, it contains a grazing Flusho, and if one stands on the doorway splodge, a pleasing view of the Cottage and Garden. Please take care of the Flusho. If she does not get to gnaw on her beloved Spun Grass often enough she will enter a petrified state and the Spun will come claim her, leaving behind a buzzer rabbit. No one likes Buzzers, and the management take no responsibility for their removal. You have been warned. The Clock Room This is the starting point for all new arrivals. The Clock Room presents picturesuqe views of the garden and contains one Sonic Spunner (active upon arrival) and the aforementioned Spun Clock. The Sonic can be deactivated by standing on the Spun Splodge just in front him, whilst the Spun Clock starts deactivated, but can be triggered similarly. Once the Spun Clock strikes the Spun Cycle will begin. See below for details. The Spun Clock Triggering the Spun clock will begin the Spun Cycle. As can be clearly seen from the clock (and the conveniently provided Heads Up Display) there are 3 phases in the following order: Rabbit, Fruit and Egg. According to the clock's instruction manual each phase will last two of your minutes. The clock will continue to run until enough Spun Points have been amassed, at which point it will reset and if more than one person is present, declare a 'winner'. Only the tenant may trigger the clock, and if a visitor arrives whilst the clock is running it will reset, consequently the management advise that the tenant take note of the sending of invites and the arrival of visitors. If the cycle is completed by someone reaching the 'score target', the next time the clock is activated the Score Target will be incremented upwards. The management are pleased to inform you that score targets have associated spun 'rewards'. At the time of writing they are as follows: 20 = Spunland Seeds 60 = Spunland Poster 3 120 = Spunland Head (thoughful) Before outlining the clock phases the management would like to take this opportunity to pass on some words from the Spun Doctor; The temporal structure of the Spunland Cottage has be crafted such that 'players' may play the game using 'Locomotive Items', a side effect of this however is that players may experience some degree of temporal distortion. Not everyone will be where they 'appear' to be. To minimise the dissonance, (or in the common parlance, to avoid players becoming too 'Spun Out') the player's name will spawn in the air when/wherever they manage to collect any spun point bearing item. We apologise for any upset this may cause. The Rabbit Phase During this phase a Rabbit Spunner will spawn on the Rabbit Run – should any player approach, the Rabbit will flee. Whenever a rabbit is caught another one will spawn. Catching a rabbit bestows 3 spun points on the catcher. It has been brought to the management's attention that rabbits occasionally display odd behaviour, report as you see fit. The Fruit Phase At the beginning of this phase the Spun Fruit Trees will blossom and each drop 3 bouncing pieces of Spun Fruit. Collecting Spun Fruit gets you 1 Spun Point. The Egg Phase At the beginning of this phase Spun Eggs will spawn at various locations around the Spunland Cottage. In general they can be found in consistent locations, the exception being in the Maze, where there will always be 3, but in different locations for each layout. button. Viewpoint Finally we have the Viewpoint. This stunning vista takes in the Spun Lakes and Hills, perhaps you will even be lucky enough to spot a flock of flying rabbit spunners from here. Three Spun Fruit Trees grow on the viewpoint, and in its centre is a portal to Spunland. This is your very own portal. At the time of writing Constructo Spunners, Spungineers and Spun Alchemists are hard at work plumbing this portal so that Spunland will greet the Spunland Cottage tenant in a way that it will greet no other, but as is often the case with construction projects the work is running a little behind schedule, you will be duly notified by the management as soon as all is complete. Thank you for your patience.
I personal wish they would cut back on the white a bit, also hopefully the update the public space with new rewards and games.
Nice interview Karen. Ive spent abit of time at the cottage, it's a very interesting and fun space. The furniture items on the over hand take up alot of item slot, (spunland flower=41) so it would be nice to see thes reduced. A heads up to the reward hunters, complete 3 puzzles from spunland picture 2 you'll get 2 spunland posters and spunland head: seductive.
To add to this, if your wearing the Spunland Head Thoughtful, it gives you a 4th puzzle to solve which rewards poster no.4. Spoiler: Solution6+2 x4= 32
