Bionic Bay is an immensely interesting looking side-scrolling puzzle platformer. Its trailer shows off a lot of messing around with physics, and how players can make use of this in-depth physics system to solve puzzles and even take on enemies. We got to have a chat with designer and artist Juhana Myllys about the various aspects of Bionic Bay.
"For example, we had a Gravity Bomb mechanic where the character could switch the direction of gravity by hitting the bomb."
Bionic Bay clearly makes use of a host of different physics-based mechanics, from swapping to controlling the direction of gravity. What design steps did you have to take to ensure that just about any solution that players could come up with would work?
The Swap mechanic was the first core mechanic, and we actually started to build the whole game around it. It’s a highly versatile mechanic and surprised us with how many different things you can do with it. While Swap offers a lot of possibilities, it still relies heavily on well-designed levels and creative mechanics within them.
With a couple of these special level mechanics, we realized they could be even more fun if the player had full control over them. For example, we had a Gravity Bomb mechanic where the character could switch the direction of gravity by hitting the bomb. It turned out to be a very satisfying mechanic, so we quickly prototyped it to work directly from player input. It ended up being so fun that the natural next step was to start building levels around it.
The puzzle design process usually starts with defining a clear goal. From there, potential solutions are identified, followed by ways to hide them. Initially, a puzzle might have one or two intended solutions, but playtesting often reveals additional ones. If those solutions don’t break the original idea of the puzzle, I try to adjust the design to accommodate them and make the puzzle even better.
At its core, the entire design process relies on extensive playtesting and a willingness to adapt ideas based on feedback.
"The puzzle design process usually starts with defining a clear goal."
Do you envision Bionic Bay as being a more fast-paced platformer or a slower, more cerebral one that would involve more puzzle solving?
The initial idea is to have variety in every aspect of the game, from the visual look and atmosphere to the mechanics and tempo of gameplay. I’d like the game to have this nice flow of new surprising things instead of a “this is the puzzle level” type of thing.
While Bionic Bay having realistic physics is a big deal, how difficult is it to ensure that a player is never left without options to deal with obstacles?
It’s all about playtesting heavily. When I design the level, probably 50% of that time is playtesting. Also, we do a lot of external playtests.
How will messing around with the game’s physics system affect the rest of the level?
As Bionic Bay relies heavily on careful level design, we can not let Gravity Shift or Time Freezing affect too much on places players can not see, so we have prevented that. Still, it’s important to design the levels in a way that does not feel too calculated, and random things can and will happen. It just needs a little bit of controlling and guidance from our end.
Considering the quick glimpse of a level that seemingly takes place on a titan, how large-scale can we expect some of the challenges to get?
I’m not a fan of pulling a lever and then somewhere very far something happens. Since the levels in Bionic Bay are quite large and the dynamic camera system allows for wide zoom-outs, all meaningful events should remain within the player’s view.
"And reflections – reflections are like pizza, they almost never fail you."
How much did Badland and Badland 2 influence the visual style for Bionic Bay?
One major difference between Badland and Bionic Bay is that Badland takes place in an organic environment invaded by machines, whereas Bionic Bay is set in a man-made structure overrun by organic elements. There are certain visual tropes that strongly appeal to me, which I use heavily in both; bold use of color, strong contrasts of light and shadow, a mix of detailed and simple elements, close-ups, zoom-outs, etc. And reflections – reflections are like pizza, they almost never fail you. So, rather than being a direct extension of my previous work, the visual style of Bionic Bay feels more like a natural continuation of my personal journey as a game artist.
Along with racing against other players’ ghosts, are there any plans for a live multiplayer racing mode down the line?
We have lots of ideas on how to expand online multiplayer after the launch. Live multiplayer is something we have talked about, but we’ll have to see what happens in the future…
Will we see this game’s physics engine used in future content for new game modes, like a party mode, for example?
We have planned some pretty interesting stuff for both single-player and multiplayer. But as I said, let’s see how the launch goes and how players respond. The world of Bionic Bay offers so many possibilities that we need to carefully observe what happens after release and how players engage with it.
What resolution and frame rates will the game target on PS5 and PS5 Pro?
We’re still in the middle of development, so no specific specs are available yet, but it should run smoothly on both devices!
