“Wukong” “The Crown of Wu” creative director interview: the Chinese legend “Wukong” in my heart
Jose Carlos, Red Mountain’s creative director, shared with great enthusiasm and humility the creative process of their student project “Wukong” game and what makes it unique.
SINGAPORE – March 24, 2023 “The Crown of Wu” is a third-person action-adventure game developed by developer Red Mountain and supported by the PlayStation Talents Program. The game is inspired by the classic Chinese novel “Journey to the West”, which tells the fantasy adventure of Monkey King in a different world. In order to introduce this legendary figure in the world of Chinese mythology, an online media interview is specially arranged this time, and together with the creative director of the game, Jose Carlos Montero, we will discuss the story of Monkey King from being a villain hero to saving the world in the game. A new journey, and the process of the game from the student project of the Trazos School of Digital Arts in Madrid, to the market release and future planning.
The latest listing releases:
https://www.bilibili.com/video/BV19X4y1f7cE/
Below is a brief summary of the online interview.
Q: Can you share with us how you developed the game “The Crown of Wu” inspired by “Journey to the West”?
A: I am a teacher at the Trazos School of Digital Arts in Madrid, Spain. When we started brainstorming, we wanted to create a game that would involve teachers from various disciplines, including animation, game design, and game production. When we found the classic Chinese story, Journey to the West, we realized it was a really good place to start because it’s a weird story in our country. The first phase of game development is a school project. However, as the game got bigger, I decided to take this project to my game development company to improve the quality of the game. While I enjoyed working with the students, game development moved quickly and required a more refined production.
Almost 80% of the employees in my company are my past students, this is because I know their talents well and want to keep them with me. I think it’s a great way to attract the most talented graduates in the industry through relationships built over the years, and in turn help the company grow.
Q: What was the most challenging part of making “The Crown of Wu”?
A: The most difficult part was animation programming. This involves smoothing out animations and creating Animation Blueprints. For us, by contrast, creating art comes almost naturally. I’m a teacher of art and design and it’s easy to get beautiful artwork and get a decent composition.
Q: How does your version of Wukong compare to other versions of the character?
A: In the game design, we thought it might be interesting to concentrate all the power in the crown that Wukong has, which is different from other versions of Wukong. When he uses the crown, his power is immense, but with constant use, the crown begins to warp his soul and darken his mind. So, in the story, when he leaves the crown and goes back to his original good soul, he needs to rediscover himself. Additionally, the player must make a decision during the game, whether to wear the crown or destroy it. So we combined the Journey to the West and The Lord of the Rings storylines to create a completely different backstory for the Monkey King character.
Q: How difficult is the battle in the game?
Answer: We provide four different difficulty levels for players to choose from. The first three difficulty levels offer some challenge, but not impossible to complete. Players need to learn to master the rhythm, grasp the timing, and deeply understand the characteristics of the enemy and make good use of the environment to overcome the challenges. Easier levels allow players more time to explore the game world without too many difficult battles. In contrast, the hardest levels make enemies more ferocious and unpredictable, requiring greater skill and reflexes to defeat. When the player completes the game, the hardest level is unlocked, similar to no-hit or Soul-like games.
Q: There are four elements in the game: air, fire, earth, and lightning. What are the uses of these elements in combat?
A: We see these elements as an important part of strategy, and players can use them to affect the battlefield environment, directly damage or stun enemies, and protect themselves from enemy attacks. Players can use these elements with different skills and weapons, such as ice elemental weapons that attack enemies with fire elementals, or create cover and obstacles with earth elementals. Together, these elements are an important part of strategy and variety in the game.
Q: In the game, how is the proportion of combat, parkour and puzzle-solving elements distributed?
A: Each level will contain two to three challenging puzzles where the player needs to observe the environment and find clues to solve them. In addition, platform jumping is also an important challenge, and players need to adjust the timing and jumping distance. Throughout the game, combat accounts for 40% to 50%, and puzzle solving and parkour account for 50% to 60%. Such a distribution aims to maintain the diversity and balance of gameplay, so that players can have fun and challenges in different game elements.
Q: How does your game compare to Black Myth?
A: Our game development started in 2018, when we didn’t know the existence of “Black Myth”. While there are a lot of people who think that we’re trying to make our own game based on Black Myth, that’s not true. When people compare our game to Black Myth, our team thinks we’ve done pretty well given our five-person team and relatively small budget. We are committed to providing players with an interesting and challenging game experience, and hope that players can enjoy the fun of the game.
“Wukong” “The Crown of Wu” is expected to be launched on PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5 and Steam platforms on March 24, 2023.
Game Introduction:
“The Crown of Wu ]Wukong, a half-monkey, half-human general, was once the emperor’s herald. Under the rule of the emperor and his army of robot guardians, everything is in order and technology and religion are in harmony Coexistence. Among all the ministers, Wukong’s loyalty and dedication are unmatched. He assisted the emperor to maintain a happy era together.
But power corrupts hearts, and even the brightest Goku has a dark side, and he begins to abuse his crown, which allows him to control any device connected to the Mineral Network. Over time, this abuse led to evil deeds, though his heart remained good. For such a crime, even if he was the emperor’s best partner and brother, the emperor still had to impose the most severe punishment for his crimes and atrocities. Because no one can endanger the balance and the established order. Wukong will be frozen forever. His captivity is eternal, and for the remainder of his days he remains conscious but physically immobile, frozen in a biostatic solution.
After decades, he wakes up, freed from prison, only to find the world in ruins. In addition, his crown was stolen and used to cause vibrations of energy that could eventually lead to a massive explosion that would destroy the world… Wukong must retrieve his stolen crown and help those he once opposed Those who have passed away, in order to save the world, atone for their own sins, and find the peace that the world deserves…
We must take back Goku’s crown!
Game Features:
Game World – Immerse yourself in a great territory both old and new. Inspired by Chinese mythology, it tells a new story of Monkey King from villain to hero. This is a world of legend and reality.
Attributes and Abilities – Master the power of wind, fire, earth and lightning. Each of your abilities offers you a way to blend in with the environment or fight enemies. Using wind, fire, and thunder to attack combined with the protection of the earth, use your power to defeat the enemy and cross the dangerous abyss.
Combat System – Explore a new and simple combat system that empowers you even more as you navigate this terrifying land and solve the mystery of the stolen crown.
“The Crown of Wu” will launch digitally on PC, PS and XBOX on March 24, 2023, and in a special collectible boxed Legendary Edition for PlayStation 5. You can now add the game to the PlayStation Store and Steam Your wish list, Xbox is coming too.
Ready to run, jump and parkour with Goku in this new world? Simultaneously solve intricate puzzles and take on increasingly complex fantasy trials as you level up!
● Game name: Wukong
● Original name of the game: The Crown of Wu
● Game Genre: Action, Adventure, Independent Production
● Compatible platforms: PC (digital version)/XBX (digital version)/PS5 (digital version)
● Corresponding platform: PS5 (Wukong-Legendary physical version)
● Release date: March 24, 2023
● Supported languages: English/Traditional Chinese/Simplified Chinese/Korean/Thai/Japanese
● Number of players: 1 player (offline play available)
● Game Rating: PEGI 12+
● Developer: Red Mountain Consulting SL
● Publishers: Meridiem Games, Gammera Nest, Ripples Asia Venture
● Official website: https://www.thecrownofwu.com/
● Other sites: https://meridiem-games.com/en/game/bDKbAVa17WY
●