Its not every day we actually have some first hand, exclusive news to report on Gaming Goodness but the kind folks at Crystal Core have granted us an interview with intrepid co-founder Tyler Trevell. We would like to thank Mr Trevell for his time and his interesting insights into what its like working in an independent self funded company in times of recession, studio ethics, future title Degeneration Theory, and more.

Gaming Goodness: What problems have you had to overcome in order to set up this development studio?

Tyler Trevell: Starting up without any initial funding or support was a huge problem. With the help of Scott Miles (Co-Founder), I formed the company, decided on a route that the team would eventually take and started looking for other people to join the team. From previous experience, I knew that the hardest developers to find are Character Artists, so i sent off a couple of emails to people who might consider joining the project. We picked up our character artists within 3 days of searching, who also brought along a concept artists. The four of us started coming up with a game concept. While I continued to find additional artists, a musician, and a programmer (Which we’re still looking for!)We are now a team of eight, with a few positions still open (programming, animation, etc.) Work on Degeneration Theory has began, we will be starting the pre-production of the title this month.

GG: Are their any other mods/games/projects which the team has worked on previously?
TT: Not together, however I can say that I’ve helped out on a fair few projects in the online community. As far as the others go, similar experience or university placements are a common occurrence amongst the team.

GG: Any key studio values you would like gamers to be aware of?
TT: We love games. We want to make them, for other people to play. We believe strongly in being a part of the developers community, and will continue to interact with our consumers and fan base.

GG: What is the main premise behind Degeneration Theory?
TT: While we’re keeping quiet for now, all i can say is that you will be expected to survive in conditions that effect the whole of mankind.

GG: What platforms can we expect to see Degeneration Theory on?
TT: While we’re developing an internal prototype for the Windows PC at the moment. We are expecting to release on the PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 and PC. There has been no discussion with outside parties about exclusivity to a particular platform (yet!)

GG: What genre would you place Degeneration Theory?
TT: This is something that the team has lost sleep over a lot. Where does our game fit in with the rest in the market. While it is definitely in first person, I guess the best way to place it into a genre, is to say that it includes many different genre’s all at once.

GG: When can we all expect to see more of Degeneration Theory?
TT: You can expect to begin to hear and see more about Degeneration Theory over the next few months. If your interested in our developments, a discussion board will be made available this weekend.

GG: What game/s are you playing at the moment?
TT: At the moment? Just myself? I’m playing Killzone 2, World at War, and Fallout 3.

Writers in games never really get the acolades they deserve, in a meduim where enjoyment is preferable to strong narratives one can understand why. But in a week where Bioshock 2 and Uncharted 2 have been given such widespread media attention it would be unwise to suggest that the excitement is purely surrounding the gameplay, when both these titles have the strongest stories in modern gaming. It is with great fondness that the next Batman titles story will be primarily penned by one of the most talented writers to be ever associated with the franchise, Paul Dini.

Mr Dini’s resume reads like a who’s who of Saturday morning cartoon shows with Batman, Tiny Toons, Freakazoid, Superman, Animanaics and even Transfomers. It certainly is a varied and should give fans great hope for the Arkham Asylum. Dini shows a great understanding of the Batman franchise with the best animated efforts written by him, namely Batman Begins: Return of the Joker and Mask of the Phantasm which are both widely regarded with great respect and admiration by fans, critics and even the Grammy’s. It is with odd wonder then, that only one gaming outlet, Gamespot, has chosen to focus on Dini with their preview coverage and interesting interview. I urge every single one of you to check the interview out because it gives a fascinating insight into how story facets are melded together and what us gamers can expect from the game, here are a few choice quotes:

“You’ve delivered your worst enemy to prison, and then surprise, there’s a lockdown and you’re in the middle of a prison riot and everybody wants you.”

“The devil will tell you very amusing things and try to get you laughing, but he’s always out for himself.”

“But this one, he’s [Batman] in a real life-and-death scenario, so I wanted to keep him dark, I wanted to keep him focused–as focused as the player would have to be in order to get through the missions alive.”

“Oh, yeah. When I saw the way that Batman was going to move in this game, I was going, “My god, this should be like a big [CGI] 3D Batman feature.”

“[Referring to the Creative process]Other than that, we were just able to throw ideas on the table and it was very collaborative in the way that a lot of the best animation I’ve worked on has been.”

Okay so I will admit my own personal excitement for this game has now officially reached fever pitch and with one of the super-hero writing talents is on board the game can only get even sweeter! Expectations are high and it will undoubtedly translate into sales for publisher Eidos. It may be the first game by Rocksteady Studios but even if the game play itself is below par, at least the story will be top notch.

June 19th is just around the corner.