Talkin' with Devs: MHz_!

[GroupMagma]

MHz (megahertz) is one of the Senior Game Designers at The Volcano, but he came to us from outside the game industry.

Originally, MHz made up one-half of the vaunted, dynamic pro wrestling tag-team "Fully Charged". Together, with his partner 9Volts, they reigned terror in the Squared Circle, dropping electrifying elbows and slamming chairs on all who dared oppose them.

However, Megahertz's wrestling career came to an abrupt end when he was betrayed, on air of a live telecast of the Ridiculous Wrestling League, by 9Volts. Whilst trying to pin his hated tag-team rival Batteries Not Included, he sustained a savage leg drop (the likes of which had never been seen in the RWL).

A broken-but-burly man, MHz retired from the world of wrestling. Thankfully for us, he was also a big TeamLava fan, and we hired him to be a Senior Game Designer. We did so because of how awesome and talented he is, and definitely not because he could beat us up with relative ease.*

*This origin story is not intended and is likely not accurate, unless MHz did a considerable amount of lying on his resume.

In all seriousness, MHz_ is a great designer who has led such projects as City Story Metro and the upcoming Castle Story. He's also a big-time lurker on the TeamLava forums... until now! MHz will post from time-to-time (he's pretty busy, so not all the time) and will be happy to answer questions you all have about City Metro and Castle. He's also very committed to ensuring that your feedback is heeded in-game, so please be sure to let him know any feedback you have!

[bigbux3]

I already created a thread before this:

Questions (http://forums.teamlava.com/showthread.php?35560-A-Question-or-so-to-Mhz)

[pinkster73]

He's been lurking? Oh no!

[sehana]

I'm liking the story, made me :D

Hello MHz... glad to see a dev in the forum :)

Coming Soon... Gigabyte and Megabyte wants to challenge Batteries Not Included for the RWL Gigabit WiFi title and become the best duo of all time and call themselves SSHD (Solid State Hard Drives) :p

[MHz_]

Thanks for the intro. I'll do my best to respond to all of your questions and feedback regarding the games I've worked on. No promises for anything beyond that :P

[pinkster73]

Is castle story being ported to android?

[MHz_]

Is castle story being ported to android?

Unfortunately I can't comment on anything currently unannounced. Sorry! :)

[pinkster73]

Unfortunately I can't comment on anything currently unannounced. Sorry! :)

Well at least your wording was different then "i cannot speculate on when.......". :)

[kieranyeow]

Unfortunately I can't comment on anything currently unannounced. Sorry! :)

Hi
MHz_
I'm Kieran.
Nice To Meet You❤
Welcome To The World Of Story❤

[mattyboo1]

MHz (megahertz) is one of the Senior Game Designers at The Volcano, but he came to us from outside the game industry.

Originally, MHz made up one-half of the vaunted, dynamic pro wrestling tag-team "Fully Charged". Together, with his partner 9Volts, they reigned terror in the Squared Circle, dropping electrifying elbows and slamming chairs on all who dared oppose them.

However, Megahertz's wrestling career came to an abrupt end when he was betrayed, on air of a live telecast of the Ridiculous Wrestling League, by 9Volts. Whilst trying to pin his hated tag-team rival Batteries Not Included, he sustained a savage leg drop (the likes of which had never been seen in the RWL).

A broken-but-burly man, MHz retired from the world of wrestling. Thankfully for us, he was also a big TeamLava fan, and we hired him to be a Senior Game Designer. We did so because of how awesome and talented he is, and definitely not because he could beat us up with relative ease.*

*This origin story is not intended and is likely not accurate, unless MHz did a considerable amount of lying on his resume.

In all seriousness, MHz_ is a great designer who has led such projects as City Story Metro and the upcoming Castle Story. He's also a big-time lurker on the TeamLava forums... until now! MHz will post from time-to-time (he's pretty busy, so not all the time) and will be happy to answer questions you all have about City Metro and Castle. He's also very committed to ensuring that your feedback is heeded in-game, so please be sure to let him know any feedback you have!

Pretty neat story

[leaable]

Thanks for the intro. I'll do my best to respond to all of your questions and feedback regarding the games I've worked on. No promises for anything beyond that :P

Firstly welcome, my biggest question is will there ever be a block feature in the story games? Recently I have become the subject of unwanted attention by a few not so nice players. A block feature would be useful in preventing such horrible comments being posted in our walls and will prevent me from actually quiting all story games. It would also be advantageous for TL as it would cut back on the number of emails reporting unsavory comments left on our walls.

[melby29]

Originally, MHz made up one-half of the vaunted, dynamic pro wrestling tag-team "Fully Charged". Together, with his partner 9Volts, they reigned terror in the Squared Circle, dropping electrifying elbows and slamming chairs on all who dared oppose them.

However, Megahertz's wrestling career came to an abrupt end when he was betrayed, on air of a live telecast of the Ridiculous Wrestling League, by 9Volts. Whilst trying to pin his hated tag-team rival Batteries Not Included, he sustained a savage leg drop (the likes of which had never been seen in the RWL).

A broken-but-burly man, MHz retired from the world of wrestling. Thankfully for us, he was also a big TeamLava fan, and we hired him to be a Senior Game Designer. We did so because of how awesome and talented he is, and definitely not because he could beat us up with relative ease.*

Here's another cool story.

Originally, Bakery Story players made up one-half of the Gem Sales for Team Lava. Together, with their neighbours, they reigned terror in the Forums, dropping electrifying elbows and slamming chairs on all who dared oppose them.

However, the Bakery Story players' baking career came to an abrupt end when they were betrayed, sneakily and without any kind of broadcast, by Team Lava. Whilst trying to bake the new Dry Pizza, they sustained a savage price hike (the likes of which had never been seen in the history of Team Lava).

[melby29]

A broken-but-robust bunch, the Bakery Story players retired from the world of Bakery Story. Thankfully for them, they found a set of games that was developed by a company that was also a big fan of ethics, transparency and customer service, so they all went to play their games instead.

And they all lived happily every after.

[MHz_]

Firstly welcome, my biggest question is will there ever be a block feature in the story games? Recently I have become the subject of unwanted attention by a few not so nice players. A block feature would be useful in preventing such horrible comments being posted in our walls and will prevent me from actually quiting all story games. It would also be advantageous for TL as it would cut back on the number of emails reporting unsavory comments left on our walls.

Definitely a great feature that I know CS and players like you would be happy to have in place. Thanks for the suggestion.

[floramina]

Definitely a great feature that I know CS and players like you would be happy to have in place. Thanks for the suggestion.

Thanks for responding to the question. And for answering the question too.

[littlepuffystove]

Dear Mr. MHz_
Good afternoon.
My people always complain to me because they haven't 24-hour convenient stores and library.
And most of them love chocolate and candy. But haven't those store,either.
and some potential citizen said if I can not build them new beautiful houses and apartments, they would go to other's city.
Thank you for listening to my suggestiond. Have a nice day!

[MHz_]

We're always adding new stuff to build in City Story Metro, and these are great ideas. Some of these are already on the planned list for updates, but I'll make sure to add the ones that aren't to the list, as they're all good. Thanks for the ideas, and keep them coming!

[cast1532]

Welcome to the Forum.

Question: Why was Castle Story first release to Australia?

[melby29]

Welcome to the Forum.

Question: Why was Castle Story first release to Australia?

Cos Australians Rule.

[cast1532]

Cos Australians Rule.

lol. What other game was release to Australia was it Dragon Story?

[MHz_]

Not something I'm able to really answer. Sorry :) Though a US release will be coming, you can count on that :)

[cast1532]

What a great answer. lol.

Since I live in the USA and I'm impatient I created an Australian account to get the game. I like it but there's bugs that needs to be fixed.

[maguar]

Hi. I've got a number of questions with Castle Story. Call me curious.

1. When looking in the building tab is it possible that clicking the question mark will give you a list of the materials needed in addition to the description?

2. The first caravan goal seemed to imply that that there would be an ongoing option to use a caravan. Is that something that is coming?

3. I get the feeling that the lists are possibly missing some items. In the workshop you can build a ballista for Thurstons Tower. It's not in the building list. Will it be added or is it only buildable of a quest?

4. It looks like I can't expand to the obelisk. Are the obelisk, fairy garden, gate and tower locked by quests?

5. The kitchen indicates that we can cook food for adventures. Care to give any teasers?

6. Still on the kitchen but when it had items it looked like resources not food. Are we going to cook our crops and animal products

7. When the potion store is fixed will we no longer be able to request potions from neighbours for buildings

8. Will the mine and sawmill ever give more than just stone and wood? If they won't will we get different mines and sawmills?

9. I'm curious what's the rare item that we have a chance to get when collecting from farmhouses?

Ok that's probably enough questions for now.

Thanks in advance

[bigbux3]

Not something I'm able to really answer. Sorry :) Though a US release will be coming, you can count on that :)

I know you've done many other projects outside of Storm8, and you may have a different style, could this be the reason why the newest TeamLava games aren't like the classic ones?

And what made you guys think of Castle Story... and how come you don't actually build a castle?

[cast1532]

I'm finished with all of the goals in Castle Story but there was a task where we had to give 20 fish, 20 Corn, 20 Wheat, etc to the towns people, when I had enough corn the goal wasn't there. Are we going to get the goal again?

[MHz_]

Hi. I've got a number of questions with Castle Story. Call me curious.

1. When looking in the building tab is it possible that clicking the question mark will give you a list of the materials needed in addition to the description?

2. The first caravan goal seemed to imply that that there would be an ongoing option to use a caravan. Is that something that is coming?

3. I get the feeling that the lists are possibly missing some items. In the workshop you can build a ballista for Thurstons Tower. It's not in the building list. Will it be added or is it only buildable of a quest?

4. It looks like I can't expand to the obelisk. Are the obelisk, fairy garden, gate and tower locked by quests?

5. The kitchen indicates that we can cook food for adventures. Care to give any teasers?

6. Still on the kitchen but when it had items it looked like resources not food. Are we going to cook our crops and animal products

7. When the potion store is fixed will we no longer be able to request potions from neighbours for buildings

8. Will the mine and sawmill ever give more than just stone and wood? If they won't will we get different mines and sawmills?

9. I'm curious what's the rare item that we have a chance to get when collecting from farmhouses?

Ok that's probably enough questions for now.

Thanks in advance

So many questions! I can't spoil everything, but I'll try to point you in the right direction for now :)

1. Information for everything in the market will be coming in an update. Construction requirements may not be shown though, as space is limited.
2. Who knows? The quests that are in the current version are just a glimpse of what is to come, I can promise that :)
3. Everything will have a purpose and a reason. Some will be revealed soon, some much later.
4. See my answer to #3. There's even more to be seen soon. (Have you looked to the far east of the map yet?)
5. Expect to hear about Adventures soon.
6. See my answer to #3.
7. The goal is that you can craft everything, and ask for what you need more of. Specifically what you can ask for will likely change over time.
8. Yes to the first part, no to the second.
9. Not everything will have rare items, some will though. Things may even change in future updates as well.

[MHz_]

I know you've done many other projects outside of Storm8, and you may have a different style, could this be the reason why the newest TeamLava games aren't like the classic ones?

And what made you guys think of Castle Story... and how come you don't actually build a castle?

We have a wide range of styles in our games, not everything is the same. With every game we put out we challenge ourselves to push the quality bar, and Castle Story is no exception

And who say's you won't be building a Castle? Kingdoms aren't built overnight you know!

[nmishii]

I am on Android and City Story Metro and Castle Story aren't available to me. Can you ask GM if he can make a developer available to some of the older games so that more people can participate?

I currently play Bakery, Farm, and Restaurant. I'd love to be able to talk with at least the Bakery and Farm developers.

[maguar]

Thanks for answering. You're right I wasnt looking for spoilers but for some teasers.

I hadn't looked at the far east. I'm now thinking that's were well go on adventures. Maybe there'll be lions and tigers and bears, oh my.

[MHz_]

Hi MHz! I'm a big fan of the story games; I play ALL of them. And I'm soooo looking forward to Castle Story! Zynga has one called CastleVille which you need to play with fb friends; I would rather not trouble my actual friends to send me materials and be my butler LOL! But the social aspect of the TL games is great because I get to interact with strangers all over the world....! And the other great thing about TL is their responsive forum. Seriously. So welcome to the forum!

Thanks! With all new Storm8/Team Lava games, you start with a neighbor that will accept a part request once per day. Castle Story will also have this. In addition, pretty much everything in the game is craftable, and won't require you to have to bug a ton of your friends. Having lots of neighbors will make things easier though :)

[Zetra]

It's already have an update at Castle Story,why don't make a page of it?

[MHz_]

Once the game is worldwide, there will be a dedicated forum.

[pinkster73]

Once the game is worldwide, there will be a dedicated forum.

Omg they make you work sundays?!

[queentina3]

Omg they make you work sundays?!

Maybe he just loves us and this forum so much he just couldn't stay away? :p

[LCAHEARTS]

Welcome again MHz_! You're clearly one of a kind for TL Staff and I'm happy to have you here on the forums.

[AnnasCoffee]

Hi MHz_,

I'm glad Team Lava hired a new staff member. The games could use some FRESH IDEAS. All of the TL games have similarities, as you already mentioned, ... neighbors send parts, you build things, you "like" your neighbors... blah blah blah. To be quit honest, its getting old, I'm mean really 25 constructable appliances in bakery... BORING. Spending hours tipping neighbors 120 coins each... No thank you.

And we have seen a few graphics for "Castle Story" and they look VERY similar to "Dragon Story"...

I'm hoping "CASTLE STORY" will have some DIFFERENT to do in the game. Can you tell us what (IF anything) will be NEW and EXCITING ... EXCLUSIVE to Castle Story. I'm looking for a reason to play your game, since I recently stopped playing an old favorite. But let's not talk about that :)

[NeeOnn]

Hello MHz_! I'm so happy we got a new dev. I want some fresh out of the oven ideas :p

[MHz_]

Maybe he just loves us and this forum so much he just couldn't stay away? :p

Basically that :)