Gaming

Gaming sensation Cuphead: how family with no experience in video games created a global hit


Cuphead has been the darling of the indie video game world since its release in September 2017; the hand-drawn, home-developed game sold more than three million copies in its first year and received countless awards for its unique art, music, and charm.

Behind the indie success story, there’s a close-knit family who was willing to sacrifice their time and careers to complete their passion project: Cuphead was created by brothers Chad and Jared Moldenhauer, and Chad’s wife Marija Moldenhauer is a producer and artist for the game.

The brothers founded their own video game company, Studio MDHR, with no formal training in game design and began development on Cuphead from their Ontario homes in 2013.

Jared and Chad say they were inspired by the cartoons and video games they grew up on, and wanted to make their own homage to the pillars of their childhood.

Though they had no prior training, the pair said the success of indie games such as Super Meat Boy convinced them that a home-made game was worth the time.

Over the course of seven years of development, Studio MDHR gradually recruited about a dozen employees to complete work on Cuphead, coordinating them from the Moldenhauers’ homes in Ontario.

Even as they cared for young children, the Moldenhauers dedicated themselves to creating Cuphead from scratch. Marija left a corporate job to help manage the project, and eventually started helping with the game’s art and animation.

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Marija and Chad contributed hand-drawn cells for animation while James led the gameplay design.

Cuphead is a living homage to 1930s animation, with a big band musical score to match.

The game plays like a mash-up of classic titles like Contra, Mega Man and Super Mario World, with players running and shooting their way through dozens of challenging bosses and stages.

The Moldenhauers say the game has set world records for the most boss battles and boss transformations in the run-and-gun, shoot-’em-up genre.

Cuphead also holds a record for the most hand-drawn frames of animation in a video game, with more than 45,000 cells.

Caitlin Russell, a background artist and painter for Cuphead, says each background has between seven and 11 layers, and single screens could take about a week to complete.

“I don’t think we would have been able to put in the hours and effort that we did into it, unless it was purely a labour of love,” Marija Moldenhauer said.

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Studio MDHR isn’t done with Cuphead just yet: In 2019, the game will be getting an update titled “The Delicious Last Course” that will add a new playable character, Ms Chalice.

Read the full story at Business Insider.





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