I’m Paolo, the coder and the main designer of the Cast of the Seven Godsends. Someone recently asked me how the game was created, so I’m going to tell you that story right now :)
All begun in summer 1990 – The eyes of the world were fixed on Italy as it hosted the FIFA World Cup (that’s soccer if you’re reading this in the U.S.). However, while football fever gripped the world my attention was elsewhere, as a 13 year old my first love was videogames.
During summers i spent my time investigating beach resorts, searching for the very latest arcade machines. I reveled in the delights of Double Dragon, Bubble Bobble, Shinobi and Pocket Gal. These videogames challenges were new, exciting and had my complete attention.
Here’s an example of one the haunts I used to visit.
Back in the Summer of 1990 there were a load of kids playing arcade machines right here.
Those breezy summer days were such unforgettable times. I was learning how to beat a game. Chatter amongst my fellow arcade-game afficinados was intense. Sometimes I picked up great tips, other times there were just outright lies, “I grabbed the machine gun from Double Dragon's final boss!" was a common one. Occasionally a pro gamer would show up to put a coin in Shinobi; all the kids in the resort would flock to witness a master playing the game, hoping to see what boss was lying in wait in the final mission.
"♫ Good times / these are the good times /
Leave your cares behind / these are the good times ... ♫"
Every August, my family holiday would lead me to the mountains. Usually it was boring, but one sunny afternoon I slipped into a cafe and in the corner I spotted an old friend. There in front of me was the knight from the game "Ghosts 'n Goblins" but something was different. There were much better graphics and was that new golden armor? Yeah, it was "Ghouls 'n Ghosts", the second Capcom game in the saga and the second game running on CPS (just for the record).
The fact I first found Ghouls ‘n Ghost in a place surrounded by woods and mountains made everything more suggestive.
Like many of you, I was blown away by that game. I was also lucky to find a guy playing the game who had some good skills. His master-class allowed me to witness the whole game the very fist time I caught eyes on it.
As soon as we got home from the holiday I started to draw levels and storyboards is my schoolbooks. In the ensuring years I developed my idea for a Ghosts ‘n Goblins style game and attempted code it myself.
Finally, in 2010 I met Vincenzo. We teamed up together and started to work on Cast of the Seven Godsends. At first we worked on the game during our spare time. Progress was slow so we decided to work on it full-time with an aim of finishing the game within a year.
Here's the result.
I tried to put so many references from my experiences as a young 13 year old player into the game. If you spent a good part of your childhood playing videogames you’ll discover them easily. For instance, can you spot what Cast of the Seven Godsends has in common with Konami's Trigon (aka Lighting Fighters)? I’ll let you discover for yourself. Oh, and level 2 of the game was inspired by that mountain town we went on holiday to. So, if you love old-school style games and grew up playing on 8 or 16-bit machines, we've got a connection.
Marking your position on the world map between each level was typical in the 80s games.
Vincenzo is 10 years younger than me, and he didn't grow up playing classic arcade games. He was far more focused on hi-res graphics and shaders. Together our respective points of view work well and we have created a game which provides the old school mechanics but presented in style that harks back to the 16-bit era but with a modern feel – increased resolution, addition of particles, lights, shaders and so on.
The game is loaded with magic weapons that you can charge by holding the shot button.
Sounds familiar?
I’d love you to download the free demo and get a feel for the game. I hope you’ll enjoy the experience and it re-ignites those happy memories you have of playing classic video games as a kid.
I’d like you to share your thoughts and feelings about Cast of the Seven Godsends, or maybe you’ve got a memory to share of time you spent playing in the 80s and 90s. Either way I’d like to hear what you have to say. Meanhwhile, please enjoy the game and thanks again for reading this and being here :)