Epic Brew Interviews Frozenbyte CEO About Trine 2

Questions answered by Mr. Lauri Hyvärinen, Design Director of Trine 2 and CEO of Frozenbyte.

– When Trine was in its earliest stages, had the development team already determined that the game would center on the wizard/thief/soldier triumvirate, or were there other character ideas that you ended up having to scrap?

Trine went through a lot of design changes but the three characters were there right from the start. Originally, when the whole project was still in its infancy, the characters didn’t have quite so many differences but as the game got along we wanted to emphasize that a bit more. When we presented the game to publishers, some really wanted to have just one character who could do everything but I think the game would have lost a lot of its charm with that.

– We know that co-op mode will be available in Trine 2, does this mean people playing alone will have a more difficult time playing through Trine 2 ?

Trine 2 is definitely very playable in singleplayer. The whole game focuses on multiple choices in any given situation, which suits both singleplayer and co-op very well. With Trine 2 we have put more emphasis on co-op but almost all of the features also benefit the lone player too. So it’s really a win-win for both game modes. 🙂

– From the looks of the trailer for Trine 2, the variety of enemies looks much larger than what we faced in Trine 1. What sort of enemies can we expect to run into in Trine 2, and why do they hate us?

In Trine 2 the goblins have taken over the lands, and they come in all sizes and in a few colours, although most of them are counting on green of course. If the goblins aren’t enough, there are a lot variation in level hazards like huge flesh-eating plants, fire-shooting cannons and spikes of all kind. The goblins are here to invade the kingdom and they will attack the player vigorously, but the hazards don’t care if it’s the heroes or the goblins who get killed, so a clever player can use the hazards to his or her advantage!

– The Wizard was seen using water to solve a puzzle in the trailer. Will water play a large role in puzzle solving this time around?

It definitely does, as do a few other “fluids” like acid and lava too. Water is the most prominent of these.  Trine 2 is set in a very magical world where plants and wildlife come in enormous sizes, and the player can use the water to grow additional help and platforms. The whole environment plays a big role in Trine 2, and that extends to the sound and music too, and of course the graphics.

– What are the biggest improvements between Trine 1 and Trine 2?

I would say that it’s the inclusion of online co-op (without forgetting offline co-op and singleplayer), and after that it’s the game as a whole. Trine 2 is our best game to date and also the most polished. It really captures the fantasy fairytale that we wanted to tell. The original Trine is a great game too but Trine 2 really takes the game to a new level.

– The music in the original Trine played a large role in the overall, whimsical feel of the game. Can we expect to hear Ari Pulkkinen’s music in Trine 2?

Yes! Ari Pulkkinen returns in Trine 2 and the soundtrack is absolutely fantastic. He has composed new tracks for each of the game’s levels and they really set the mood for the game in a very seamless fashion and coupled with the graphics I bet there will be a number of players just admiring the view. 🙂

– When will Trine 2 be released and on what platforms?

This is the toughest question of them all… The platforms should be certain: XBLA, PSN, Windows, Mac, and later Linux. However the release date is a big question mark. We are aiming for late September now but I can’t make a definite promise yet! We don’t want to compromise on quality so we’ll take the time we need to make the game as awesome as we can.