Melding crisp pixel art visuals with engaging strategy gameplay, though the Kingdom games haven’t caught on like wildfire, they have impressed quite a few people. Recently, a collection of the two strategy titles, Kingdom Majestic, released on PC and consoles, and we had the chance to send a few of our questions to the people behind it, and to ask about the games’ future and more. You can read our conversation with Martin Park, producer at Raw Fury, below.
"While New Lands is more in a maintenance cycle Two Crowns will get another big content update in the future, plus some other fun stuff."
What are your plans for Kingdom Majestic as far as post-launch support is concerned, in terms of updates or perhaps new content drops?
Both titles are identical to their digital counterparts and will receive the same content updates. While New Lands is more in a maintenance cycle Two Crowns will get another big content update in the future, plus some other fun stuff. Keep an eye open for more info down the road.
Do you think there will be a sequel? If yes, do you want to do something different with it?
I think it is very possible, but our main priority right now is supporting Kingdom Two Crowns. I will say that as a creatively motivated person, my mind is always thinking “what else could we do, where else could we go, and what is it to be a ‘Kingdom’ experience.
Given the fact that next-gen consoles are launching not long from now, have you considered porting Kingdom Majestic to the PS5 and Xbox Series X?
Luckily those new consoles are backward compatible. Kingdom Two Crowns and Kingdom New Lands will work on the next gen consoles as is. And, if down the road it makes sense to do a version specifically for a next-gen console we’d absolutely do that.
"Kingdom Two Crowns and Kingdom New Lands will work on the next gen consoles as is. And, if down the road it makes sense to do a version specifically for a next-gen console we’d absolutely do that."
What are your thoughts on the PS5’s custom 3D audio engine Tempest? How much of a difference do you think tech like this will make to how immersive games can be?
Every additional tool that enables developers to be more creative and explore our craft is always a welcome addition. But tools and new features alone don’t define the experiences, the developers and their creations do. We’ve enjoyed games immersing us with sounds from circuit boards and now with 3D audio engines with everything in-between. It’s an amazing time to be a game developer and/or a fan of games. Immersion is what game devs strive to deliver, empowering gamers to open their minds and imagination and be taken on journey. Sound is most definitely a key component to impower us even further.
Since the reveal of the PS5 and Xbox Series X’s specs, a lot of comparisons have been made between the GPU speeds of the two consoles’ GPUs, with the PS5 at 10.28 and the Xbox Series X at 12 TFLOPS- but how much of an impact on development do you think that difference will have?
I think the overall leap from the previous generation will be big, just as previous tech leaps in the past. Developers are humans, and humans are curious creatures. That curiosity will drive our ambitious talent in the games industry to prove the impossible, and every limitation pushed further allows ideas once thought impossible possible.
The PS5 features an incredibly fast SSD with 5.5GB/s raw bandwidth. This is faster than anything that is available out there. How can developers take advantage of this and what will it result to, and how does this compare to Series X’s 2.4GB/s raw bandwidth?
I think you should check the hardware presentations from the platform holders and listen to what they have to say. For us, all the new hardware coming out means we get the opportunity to expand on our game design and deepen the immersion for the players.
"For us, all the new hardware coming out means we get the opportunity to expand on our game design and deepen the immersion for the players."
There is a difference in the Zen 2 CPUs of both consoles. The Xbox Series X features 8x Zen 2 Cores at 3.8GHz, whereas the PS5 features 8x Zen 2 Cores at 3.5GHz. Your thoughts on this difference?
For us, all this new hardware means we’re getting new tools for us to use in our design. And that’s great, it gives us more opportunities to deliver even more compelling experiences for gamers to enjoy. We have a great future coming, as gamers and designers.