Anthony Flack of Claymatic Games released Platypus in 2002, one of the first successful solo indie games. In September, the team released Platypus Reclayed, an expanded and retooled remake, across all major platforms. The game is a fast and frantic shoot-em-up (SHMUP) inspired by arcade classics, made with a very distinctive, hand-crafted claymation style. I had never played the original, but I had a blast with Reclayed and am in awe of the art.

I was very excited to learn about the story behind the game and its production, the making of the art, and the influences that helped shape the vision. Anthony gave me in-depth, detailed answers to questions I sent over e-mail for this interview. I hope everyone finds this as fascinating as I did! I’ve made small edits for clarity.

You can find Platypus Reclayed on Steam, PlayStation 4/5, Xbox One / Series X|S, and Nintendo Switch.

Sam Kahn, for The Geekly Grind (GG): Could you introduce yourself? Tell us who you are, your role at Claymatic Games, and your connection to the original Platypus.

Anthony Flack (AF): Hello, my name is Anthony Flack, I am a game designer, clay and 2d artist, and occasional coder at Claymatic. I created the original Platypus as a solo developer back in 2002. It was my first published commercial game.

*Platypus Reclayed*. Credit: Claymatic Games

GG: Tell us about Platypus Reclayed in your own words. What kind of experience are you trying to create with this reimagining?

AF: The original game was, on one level, an uncomplicated but fast-paced shmup, inspired by the arcade games of my youth, and I wanted the remake to keep that same feel while also being subtly improved upon, with modern quality-of-life and accessibility features. On another level, the game is an exercise in purely visual storytelling; each new level starts at the point where the previous one ended, so it tells a kind of story through the gradually evolving landscape as you make your way across the world. In fact, the game originally started life as a tech demo for generating landscapes using irregularly sized tiles. There is something hypnotic I think about just watching the little clay world scrolling by.

GG: The original Platypus was released in 2002 as one of the first successful solo indie games. What made you want to return to this project decades later, and how does it feel to revisit your own work?

AF: This project was very much driven by the fans. A lot of people seem to have fond memories of the original game, but it was desperately in need of an update... it didn't even run properly on my own computer anymore. When we first opened the Claymatic Discord server, Platypus wasn't even on our radar, but Platypus fans started showing up, so we gave them their own channel, and before long, it was the most popular channel on the whole server. Eventually, we decided we should listen to the people and give the fans what they wanted!

It was strange in some ways to revisit my own work from so long ago, but also nice to take the opportunity to make improvements while keeping true to the spirit of the original. It does make me feel old, though... hard to believe it's been that long. When I made the original game, I was in my early 20s and had few responsibilities. Now I've got two kids and a mortgage...

GG: What are some of your favorite SHMUPS and why? Which ones did you pull from while creating Platypus?

AF: The original Platypus was very much inspired by my favourite golden age arcade shmups of the 1980s, such as Xevious, 1942, 1943, and Fantasy Zone, meaning it was deliberately old-school even in its original incarnation. Platypus Reclayed, no doubt, has also taken some influence from my favourite shmups from subsequent generations, like Giga Wing, Judgement Silversword, and the mighty DoDonPachi, but it is, at its heart, a fundamentally straightforward shooter. I think the core of what makes a good shmup comes down to rhythm and flow rather than any particular mechanic. Shmups are like the rock 'n' roll of video games; they don't have to be overly clever or intellectual, but you need a good feel.

GG: What are the core pillars that made the original Platypus special, and how did you approach preserving those while updating the game? How do you strike a balance between fidelity to the original and adding new features and content? Did you tweak the actual gameplay or physics, and if so, why did you make those changes?

AF: The graphics are obviously the first thing that people notice, and I think the simple controls also did a lot to broaden the appeal of the original. I didn't want to reinvent the game too radically, as fans definitely wanted it to still be the game that they remembered. We also made a particular effort with the music licensing to ensure the original music could be included as well, as that is always a big part of a game's atmosphere, and fans have strong opinions about such things!

Graphically, higher resolution art was an obvious area for improvement, and I also took the opportunity to substantially increase the number of frames of animation. This works nicely with the new ultra-high framerate, and people have said they love how smoothly everything moves now. I also wanted to add new enemies here and there to increase variety and give fans of the old game some new surprises. The original game was barely playtested at all, and the later stages in particular suffered a bit from being rushed, so I was happy to be able to spend more time refining the level scripts this time.

A lot of attention was given to the difficulty settings. We now offer a much wider range of difficulty at both ends, both easier and harder than the original game, and I think the difficulty scales much better between them. Also, I knew that simply by changing the aspect ratio from 4:3 to 16:9, it was going to significantly impact gameplay and everything was going to have to be rebalanced to take that into account, so everything is a little tweaked. I figured that by including a faithful version of the original game ("Classic" mode) alongside the remake, it gave me a bit more leeway to make changes to parts of the game that I felt could use some improvement.

GG: Did the process for the claymation in the game, of sculpting and shooting it, change between 2002 and today? What lessons did you learn from producing the art in the first game that you applied to this new version?

AF: The animation and clay modeling techniques are exactly the same as before, although I was able to shoot models in full colour this time. But the technology has improved so much. The original game was shot on a handycam with a resolution of 640x480, using a CRT monitor for reference, which I used to draw animation guides on with a dry-erase marker. The colour was all applied digitally, in part because the colour output from the handycam was noisy and didn't capture bright colours well. These days I get to use a beautiful high resolution digital SLR camera and professional frame capture software, and it is such a pleasure. Even something as simple as lighting has changed radically; I used to light my scenes with 500W halogen lamps, and the models and I would both wilt under the intense heat. These days I use LED bulbs which are just as bright but put out almost no heat, and it makes such a difference.

The hardest part I would say was the obligation to try to make the new models look as much like the old models as I could, whereas previously I would just let them turn out however they turned out.

GG: What went into the planning and design of the animation to ensure correct timing for gameplay? What was the prototyping process like before shooting the animation?

AF: Oh, I don't prototype anything! Apart from maybe making a few sketches, but even that is the exception. The nice thing about working with clay has always been that it is extremely flexible to work with, so if I have an idea, I can model it and shoot it pretty much right away. And one of the defining features of stop-motion animation I guess is that it really is a performance in a sense. You start on the first frame and move forward from there. Although I have plenty of experience now, so I do have a pretty good idea of what I'm doing, it's always exciting to see how the animation plays out in the end. I also make use of turntables and rigs with markers, so that I can move the models by precise amounts - I know how many degrees of rotation I'm going to be moving each frame before I start. But for other things like explosions or destruction animations, it's really a case of just starting on the first frame and seeing where I end up. You only get one chance when animating the destruction of an enemy, as you start with a pristine model and end up with one that's smashed up and covered in damage, and there's no going back from there.

GG: What are your inspirations for the animated style of the game? Are there particular works or artists you especially admire and always return to?

AF: Aardman Animations and Jan Svankmajer are some of my favourite stop motion artists, although I would say there's probably not a lot of Svankmajer influence evident in Platypus! I saw Will Vinton's Adventures of Mark Twain at a young age, and the all-clay look of that film definitely made an impression on me. I think Platypus has also been influenced a lot by sci-fi art of the 1970s, which I used to love as a kid. Artists like Roger Dean, Peter Elson, Fred Gambino, and Tony Roberts. I have some art books of their work, and it's great reference material for video games.

GG: What do you think of the state of handcrafted animation in games? Many games that feature it have come out, and more are coming. What makes it so appealing?

AF: Video game development is so computer-oriented by necessity, it's nice to be able to bring in some elements from more tactile art traditions. I have always loved computer animation as well, but I think people have become more appreciative of the older, more hands-on techniques now that there are fewer practitioners around. Back in the 1990s, people told me there was no future in stop-motion animation, but it's since become my calling card. Art direction in video games has come a long way since I started out, so there is an abundance of beautiful, stylish games out there. We all have to work that much harder to stand out from the crowd, and using idiosyncratic production techniques is one way to do that.

GG: You've mentioned that Platypus' "simplicity is key to its longevity" in an era where games have become "greater commitments." I myself love short games, whether simple or more involved in gameplay, but there is a complex relationship between game length and perceived value. How do you approach designing a game that can be completed relatively quickly but offers the kind of replayability that keeps players coming back for years?

AF: It is a classic dilemma for designers, yes. Platypus is somewhat constrained by being a remake of the original game, and I was never going to radically re-invent the meta-structure, but I did make it about 50% longer, while adding more difficulty settings (with considerable variation between them) and different ways to play. But I already knew that people were happily replaying the original game over and over. It's the kind of game that rewards chasing high scores if that's what you're into (and yes, online high scores are coming soon). I guess it says something that I'm still capable of enjoying it as a game myself after spending so much time with it. It's the kind of game that's easy to pick up and have a quick blast whenever you feel so inclined.

The original game also received a fair share of user mods over the years, and we wanted to continue that tradition, so we have spent considerable effort to make the game as mod-friendly as we could. Our fans are already working on all kinds of expansions and new content, and Claymatic are planning to release more free DLC as well. I've already released one expansion to get the ball rolling, a standalone single-level mod called Platypus Desert Mission, and I'm working on doing something fun for Halloween at the moment.

GG: How have fans of the original game reacted to Reclayed compared to new players?

AF: Well, the fans of the original game seem to be very happy with it. Intense feelings of childhood nostalgia from those guys. It's like a rose-tinted version of the game they remember. People who never knew the original tell me they just love the art style, but then, perhaps to their surprise, find themselves becoming hooked on the gameplay too, which is what I hoped. I want the game to be more than just an exercise in nostalgia.

I think because of the art and also the directness and simplicity of it, it reaches people that wouldn't normally play a hardcore shmup. I tried to make the game as accessible as possible by including a wide range of difficulty options, but it was immediately apparent on release that some new players still found the easiest setting too difficult. So we spent the next week working on a patch that added an even easier ‘easiest’ setting. For some people, this may be their first shmup, while others have been playing them for 40 years, so there is a very wide range of ability out there. We've done our best to cater to everyone, but you can never be sure until the game comes out. We try to be as receptive to player feedback and have made small adjustments based on people's comments.

GG: The original Platypus proved that unique art styles and simple mechanics could create lasting appeal. What lessons from that success are you applying not just to this remake, but to future Claymatic Games projects?

AF: People have responded so positively to the low-tech stop-motion art approach, I'll definitely be spending more time working at the animation table in the future. Also, having really simple controls makes it so much easier for people to get into. This was very apparent when we took the game to the London Games Festival. It's refreshing to have a game where no complicated instructions or tutorials are necessary. People understand what to do right away. The original game was designed to be a one-button game (like Sonic the Hedgehog!), and I think there is something to be said for designing around a minimal set of controls.

It was also a relatively short project (around 18 months of full-time work for me), and we want to apply that philosophy to future games and try to keep up a regular release schedule of new games from here on.

GG: I love the animation in Platypus Reclayed and am eager to see what's coming next from the studio. What's next for Claymatic Games?

AF: Development of our platformer brawler/battler (which we actually started before Platypus Reclayed) is ongoing, and quite far along - we're planning to release next year. As well as the aforementioned DLC for Platypus, we are also in the early stages of working up prototypes for what will be our next project after that. No time to rest in this business! We intend to keep working in the same visual style, and keep the focus on fun, accessible arcade-style action games, but we aren't beholden to any particular genre, so you can expect to see us bringing our trademark visual style and sense of fun to a range of different games in the future.

GG: What's a question you wish I had asked about Platypus Reclayed, animation, or Claymatic Games, and what's the answer?

AF: Hmm, I think I've probably talked enough!

Platypus Reclayed - Interview with Antony Flack of Claymatic Games

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