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Summary
Nanuka : Secret of the Shattering Moonis an approaching fantasy platformer that mixes hand - to - helping hand scrap and environmental mystifier . It ’s the second game from indie developer OutOfTheBit , which antecedently released the dystopian puzzlerFull Voidlast year . Players assume the function of clumsy protagonist Nanuka , a teenage young woman with a purple knock in warlike arts , as she undertake to save the cosmos from an impending catastrophe .
This novel title is quite different from2023’sFull Void , introducinga bright color palette , cartoon - style esthetic , and a new combat organisation . The cosmos itself is inspired by the Sicilian landscape , and there will be a myriad of unlike environment for player to traverse as they battle enemies and make raw ally along their epic seeking . The first developer journal for the plot can be obtain below as an exclusiveScreen Rantpremiere , highlighting the phylogenesis and inspirations behindNanuka .
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Screen Rantinterviewed Ali Motisi , Lead Developer and Director , and Pixel Artists and Animators Tom Cullen and Leo Halwart to discuss the brainchild behindNanuka : Secret of the Shattering Moon , evolving from their sentence onFull Void , and what player can require from the platformer .
Diving Into Nanuka: Secret Of The Shattering Moon
Exploring The Game’s Characters & Diverse Environments
Screen Rant : First I would love to hear just a little bit more about the plot ’s main protagonist . I know she ’s a purple belt in karate , but what ’s her background look like besides that ?
Leo Halwart : Ali and Rosalia [ Trupiano ] both have a quite a little of experience in karate , which is what kind of inspired us to make her go in that direction as well . They also cognise the moves so we can just ask them for reference , and they can state us if what we animate expect correct or not , which we think just makes it a mountain more interesting and graphic . Other than that , her origin is kind of inspired by Sicily .
Ali Motisi : We tried lots and mess of stuff at the beginning of the projection . We sleep together we wanted to have a young stripling girl protagonist and then we tried different thing . The initial idea , I mean she was a bit like a warrior , a bit like we describe in the Dev Diary , with a steel and a carapace . And we tried in the game , we did n’t feel quite good . Then one 24-hour interval Tom did the draught - looks reasonably much what we got now . and I really , really like the drafting . Then we transformed that into a young martial artist , because we did n’t care the idea of using a sword and a shield , we liked more hand - to - hand combat in the game .
The answer I approximate will be looping . So we iterated on it a lot and we stumbled upon this designing that Tom did , because he tried great deal of things . It was this teenage fille , a bit clumsy , and it really clicked with us . We put her in the game and everything devolve into place . It made sentience . She knows martial graphics , but as you know in martial arts , if you ’re a purple belt ammunition , you know the motion , but you ’re not as experienced . You ’re a second clumsy .
She knows how to do stuff , but she ’s not experienced , she ’s not wise , she ’s not a bleak swath , and therefore she ca-ca mistakes , which makes the game more funny and more - peradventure she work something by fortuity just because she ’s clumsy . We all make nearly , we are a small team , so it ’s all about looping and try out stuff out until something clicks , and that ’s what take place with Nanuka .
You mention the armed combat , and I know the last biz you made did n’t have any combat in it . What made you hombre need to bestow it this meter around and what was it like sort of modernize your own take on that ?
Ali Motisi : Yeah , so we had the great experience work Full Void . Leo and I were together from the start of the project with Full Void . We had a mountain of merriment making up all the dissimilar puzzles and everything . In Full Void it made common sense to have a young tiddler that ca n’t really defend , because it ’s a short kid and it ’s a different eccentric of game . The primary character is scared , and so therefore we came up with the idea of hacking in Full Void and other variety of interaction .
Then by the oddment of the project we thought , " Okay , well for next game it will be smashing to have armed combat . That way we can create a portion more puzzles just because she can control the environment directly or she can contend stuff and nonsense , break stuff . “It just unlocks a new dimension of mystifier mechanics and fundamental interaction with the environment .
I really , really love working with the Leo and Tom because they can animate in 2D , like handcrafted vivification , and for the next plot we had a good system move with Full Void and we knew we could feature a tidy sum more animations . Therefore with the combat and the novel animation system , we could just add up up with lot and lots of interesting puzzles , therefore making a prospicient secret plan but not a boring biz , with lots of variety .
Image by Yailin Chacon
The aesthetic of this biz is both a mess bright and more cartoony thanFull Voidwas . What variety of prompt that shifting in esthetic for the squad and what was it like pinning down what you wanted it to look like exactly ?
Ali Motisi : Tom joined towards the end of the project Full Void , and he pass on a lot of great input in the game . He work on the intro and the closing succession , lots of animations and many of the silver screen root on animation as well . Then [ to Tom ] you commend why we went cartoon , right ? It was around August .
Tom Cullen : As Ali said , we were put to work towards something mayhap a bit more serious to take off with when we were doing our prototypes . Then one week after I ’d done that draw that Ali was talking about , he just said , " Oh , this week we ’re just going to - I just want to try something . " It was n’t as cartoony as it is now , but we were run for a more cartoony approximation then , and it was just fun working on it - like we said , it just kind of click .
As the game has go on in development , we kind of go a bit more , " Should we try doing this ? " And it ’s a really silly idea that would only work in a cartoony context , so then we ’d be like , " Oh yeah , go on , " andthen we do it and we ’re like , " Actually that ’s amazing . “It ’s been a lot of fun doing it , and it ’s gracious that it ’s quite a lot different from Full Void . It was definitely whiplash to go from one to another , in a good way .
I eff the secret plan has a caboodle of distinguishable environments . Is there anything you could reveal about the places role player will be blend in , and do you have a pet area in the game ?
Ali Motisi : That ’s tricky , because it keeps change , we keep coming up with Modern thing . Like yesterday , Tom was working on a new location , which was kind of like tea leaf houses , but not quite . He did an amazing backdrop for the Camellia sinensis house . I look at the background , and here is an idea for a new discussion section . We do n’t really need that to be a locating , but sometimes it just seem right . We are still iterating , we ’ve arrest many locations pin down . I really care the starting of the game , butthe start of the game is deceiving , because everything looks natural and normal , but then the game gets more and more strange and fantasy .
I do n’t want to spoil too much . My opinion - some people do n’t care phantasy and that ’s o.k. . I ’m more sci - fi than fancy myself . But if you start with non - fantasy and then you insert phantasy elements slowly , I think you get everyone , right ? Then you are into it , you invest . It ’s like Jurassic Park . It starts from a good premise , you conceive it could be real , and then it goes like , " Yeah , dinosaur eating hoi polloi . " [ Laughs ] It adopt you there . So the biz get going naturalistic and then we get lots of locations .
Basically the first duad of levels , you get used to the tarradiddle and control the main case , andthen we lead off locomote softheaded . I really like the sphere , spirit level three , we are work on , which is kind of bamboo woods inspired , but we got a great deal more that we are doing . It ’s all work in progress . What are your takes guy ? What are your favorite place ?
Leo Halwart : The latter part of story three is when you put down a sure town , which I designed and I really enjoyed lick on that . It felt like I had an image in my judgment and I put it down on paper and everyone was actually felicitous with it flop away , which made me very well-chosen as well . Then the whole orbit kind of educate itself really quickly . and I ’m very quenched with the final result of that , so I ’m very biased towards that part .
Tom Cullen : I like what we ’ve sour on , butwe start to get a quite a little more crazy estimation after onas well . There ’s some that I really look forrad to shape on , but I ’m not survive to spoil those .
Ali Motisi : Yeah , it ’s a dark place , that ’s all I can say . It ’s a very dark place .
The biz ’s verbal description also mentions allies descend to the protagonist ’s aid on affair . Can you talk about what other kinds of characters the player will come across along the journey in that regard ?
Leo Halwart : Yeah , one of them is really a part of level three , which is the one we ’ve been develop right now . Gameplay - wise , we have n’t really decided on introducing the characters as a gameplay auto-mechanic needs . They ’re more secret plan relevant than gameplay relevant , I ’d say , butwe think they help us convey the message that ’s behind the game , which becomes more ostensible towards the closing of the secret plan .
Ali Motisi : Yeah , which is basically about inclusion and diversity , a diverse group of the great unwashed come together and work together . At the moment what we ’re settled on is kind of an oni character , oni little girl , and then there ’s a blacksmith as well . I really wish what the concept we ’ve done so far . Again , the secret plan is not totally finished or flesh out at the moment , but those are the ideas .
We just care having a bunch of unlike characters . The main reference , the playable character , is Nanuka , but she ’ll come across those other characters , and she will initially agitate those characters , and then they might become protagonist or not .
Evolving From Full Void To Make Nanuka
Where The Team Draws Inspiration & Looking Towards The Future
Besides esthetically and the gain of combat , what would you say are the biggest differences between this game andFull Voidfor you guys ?
Ali Motisi : I ’d say in a room the secret plan is unlike . In a way , it ’s a in effect continuation . It ’s a serious next step from Full Void because we are take on everything we learned and twine it up and complement it . The aesthetic , the cartoonish smell , helps us with the story , the gameplay , because there is material that you could do because it ’s a toon and makes sensation . you may do a really serious sequence which works and makes sensory faculty , or you may do something silly - it makes sensation because it ’s cartoony . You will not be able to do that in Full Void because it ’s a serious game , while I think you may do the inverse in a cartoon .
If you think about Dragon Ball or Sailor Moon , there are silly part , but then there are parting that can make you outcry or express joy . There are parting of the story which are real . I call back being cartoon enabled us to tell a account from a dissimilar point of view . Also gameplay - wise , the sky is the limitation . We can amount up with anything we want , it will make sense in the game .
Leo Halwart : Not to say that Full Void had a lot of limitations , but we would sometimes have ideas for Full Void and then we try on to implement it and we ’d be like , " But it does n’t really make sense . " Our world for Full Void was very ground , very realistic . We tried to keep sci - fi and fantasy to a minimum there , it ’s mostly just a dystopian future , so there were some estimate we had where we kind of were like , " Yeah , that ’s a bit too silly or a bit too crazy . " With Nanuka it ’s kind of the opposite , we have an melodic theme and we ’re like,“How can we make it crazier ? "
I ’m curious what other pieces of culture medium , whether it ’s other games or cartoons , like you remark a little bit , where you Guy found yourself taking the most inspiration for this secret plan ?
Ali Motisi : Myself , I love lots of classic Dragon Ball and anime and clobber from the ' 90s . For you as well , you love gum anime ?
Leo Halwart : Yeah , I draw pot of inspiration from gum anime . And for Nanuka , biz - wise , we looked a lot at meter ‘em ups like Shredder ’s Revenge and Streets of fad . Ali played Streets of Rage 4 , was it ?
Ali Motisi : The 2d one as well .
Leo Halwart : It kind of evidence us a caboodle of the moves , and we ’re like , " Oh yeah , actually we really like the essence here and the way they impart the gameplay and poppycock . " Those were , recently at least , our heavy inspirations .
Ali Motisi : patently , Nanuka is a very different plot , but I like the feeling of the quick combat of beat ‘em ups as well .
Tom Cullen : I come from animation , but more like old . My biggest inspiration , which I think help oneself , isI watched a lot of Tom and Jerry and Looney Tunes . It come off on the more silly side , peculiarly in the really honest-to-goodness unity .
What are you guy most excited to see player respond to once the game releases ?
Ali Motisi : I just ca n’t wait to see people playing the game . I am very emotional to see the take on the existent gameplay and the evolution from Full Void . Controlling Nanuka will feel both familiar but also emancipate compared to Full Void , and stack and lots of fun . Also the audio recording , the music , the sound effects . Robyn Powell , she works here on declaration with us , she ’s amazing . She ’s done the music for Full Void and she ’s so gifted . She ’s doing an amazing caper for this game . The euphony is unbelievable . I love it so much , and I can say because it ’s not me doing that , it ’s her . [ Laughs ] It ’s so good and I ca n’t wait for people to have it .
One other thing we are doing , we are break the songs into chunks , into firearm that we can stick together to keep the Song dynasty fresh . We ’ve got dissimilar takes for main loops and then we ’ve got unlike endings , so the medicine can respond to what you ’re doing in a means that is not often done in games where you just bring an MP3 or something . It ’s acustom - made system of rules from scratch that can bet music and adapt to the gameplay , which I remember will help make the game more interactive , like a toon . You refer Tom and Jerry , and if there ’s an action mechanism sequence , the music commute , it speeds up , so we require to do that with the music as well . I want to see what people palpate when they play the biz . I call back they will enjoy it , but we ’ll see . What about you guys ?
Leo Halwart : One thing we spent a lot of time on is making sure that everything that looks interactable is interactable , whether it ’s something like a crate that you may break or even a certain object that just reacts to you punching it and things like that . I conceive what I look forward to the most is masses play the game and being like , " Huh , I enquire what pass if I punch this , " and then something actually happens that we all liven up , we all describe for . I can picture mass going like , " Oh , what ? That in reality work ! "
Ali Motisi : Yeah , and the secrets .
Tom Cullen : Yeah , we’re including quite a few secrets , whether it is just interactions that you ’re surprised that you’re able to interact with or you have to really go out of your means to find secrets , but some of them are expire to be quite big . If you do n’t go out of your way to take care for them , you ’re in reality going to miss something quite fun or significant . I ’m looking forward to see how long it takes for a few mass to peradventure notice some of those or their impression of them when they do find them . It ’s exciting for me .
Nanuka : Secret of the Shattering Moonis slated to liberate on Steam in April 2025 , conform to short by all major consoles .
