Courting Disaster: Rich Vreeland previews Hyper Light Drifter

With a protracted and much publicised five-year development cycle, there was a lot riding on Fez, the debut title of outspoken game designer Phil Fish. As well as featuring on 2012’s Indie Game: The Movie, there was near-constant speculation on the title right from its reveal in 2007. For a small, blocky, 2D platform game, Fez came with an unnatural weight of expectation, yet miraculously it delivered on nearly every count when it finally hit digital shelves in April 2012.

Not least of the plaudits were those that sang the praises of Fez’s music and sound design. Dovetailing from catchy 8-bit playfulness into sombre, nostalgic paeans, its soundtrack was an instantly intriguing proposition and an unforgettable part of the game. For the uninitiated, imagine if Boards of Canada had found inspiration within the innards of their ZX Spectrum rather than the warped stock footage of bucolic fields and hazy sunshine, and you’re somewhere there.

The man behind those sounds is musician Rich Vreeland, a previously unknown name in videogames largely due to being a small cog in a bigger machine before the release of Fez. Vreeland, who goes by the name Disasterpeace (a double-play on masterpiece), had previously worked on titles such as Bomberman Live and Drawn to Life before opting to go indie, working on both Fez and arcade platform romp Shoot Many Robots concurrently.

“I was fortunate enough to be approached to do music for a cell phone game back in 2006,” says Vreeland of his first foray into a role he is now renowned for. “I was just writing music for fun at the time and posting it online, and didn't really have any expectations to write music for games - it wasn't even on my radar. After that experience I knew I could do it and it would not only be fun and rewarding but also a potential way to make a living.”

“My career experience has led me towards working with small independent teams. I have little patience for bureaucracy" – Rich Vreeland

It’s an honest answer, and for an artist, Vreeland is fairly straight talking, even business-like in his approach. “If I didn't say I occasionally considered the 'winning horse' factor when picking projects, I'd be lying,” he admits when asked why he plumped for the upcoming Hyper Light Drifter, another stylized 8-bit homage, this time from developers Heart Machine. “As far as games go, I try to align myself with projects that I personally enjoy playing, and that will offer a new challenge to me as an artist. Hyper Light Drifter was simply looking too amazing to pass up. I had a good feeling that the game not only had the potential to be wonderful, but also to be very successful.” 

Still, it would be unfair to say that Vreeland is simply chasing an easy buck as both Fez and HLD certainly share some aesthetic similarities. “I try to work on games that I think have redeemable value, and that I'd actually want to play,” he admits. “My career experience has led me towards working with small independent teams. I have little patience for bureaucracy, and pretty much all of my dealings with larger companies have had some negative slant to them.”

So, would Disasterpeace ever lend his work to a mainstream, triple-A title? “Maybe,” he ponders. “Only if I had complete creative freedom.” So far though, Vreeland is happy with where he is and this has expanded to making his own small flash games, such as January, a musical snowfall simulator, if there is such a thing. We ask Vreeland if he has played the vaguely similar Proteus. “I have!” he exclaims. “I think (developer) David Kanaga is a genius. I love the concept, but I think for me personally, I would rather go out in the woods or a field somewhere than have that kind of experience sitting in front of a computer. Maybe when VR gets really good, I can revisit it and have a more profound experience with it.”

Indeed, Kanaga is currently working on a version for Oculus Rift, the upcoming virtual reality headset that may or may not revolutionise gaming. “I have a few game ideas, but none are like that,” muses Vreeland on the topic of creating his own full-blown game, given the current climate for offbeat indie titles. “One is a multiplayer Pong game based on a modified version of Chinese handball that we used to play in high school. I had also started working on a shoot-em-up that played in real-time alongside a concept album. One day I expect that I will make something, but I doubt the market will have anything to do with whether it happens or not.”

Inevitably, we turn to ask Vreeland for his favourite videogame soundtracks and the ones he perhaps wishes he had written himself? “The music from my favourite games growing up, without question,” he states, perhaps unsurprisingly given the nostalgia element inherent in Fez. “Games like Super Mario RPG, Chrono Cross, and Yoshi's Island. It would have been cool to work on any of those, but by the same token it's hard to imagine experiencing those games in any other way. I just try to stay focused on the things going on right now.”

Which means turning his attention to Hyper Light Drifter, a game already hotly anticipated by the indie games crowd, raking in twenty-two times its original $27,000 Kickstarter goal. It’s some weighty expectation but having delivered with the equally-hyped Fez, and with his predilection for backing winners, we’d certainly bet on Disasterpeace knocking it out the park once again.