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Raji: An Ancient Epic – Indian Video Game Inspired By The Grand Medieval Architecture Of Rajasthan (Interview)

Raji: An Ancient Epic – Indian Video Game Inspired By The Grand Medieval Architecture Of Rajasthan (Interview)

Nodding Heads Games is an independant games developer which aims to deliver breathtaking games based off stories and myths from the Indian subcontinent. The studio is currently working towards their first Kickstarter campaign for their action adventure game Raji: An Ancient Epic.

Raji: An Ancient Epic is an action adventure game set in ancient India. Raji, a young girl is chosen by the gods, to stand against the demonic invasion of the human realm. Her destiny to rescue her younger brother and face the demon lord Mahabalasura.

The development team was kind enough to take the time and give us an interview, and here’s what they had to say:

Gaming Central: Hey guys, thanks for taking the time to do this interview. Tell us a bit about yourself.

Nodding Heads Games: We are studio of 8 members right now, officially formed back on Jan 10th, it took us a while to get this superhero team together. We’re ex employees of EA, Rockstar, Ubisoft and Zynga, our total combined experience goes beyond 35+ years. We are a determined team with a mandate to put “India on the game dev map” and to do so we are creating our first game “Raji: An Ancient Epic”. Our goal is to match upto to the top notch indie games out in the market with our first title.

GC: When did you get started with playing games( and what was the first game that you remember).

NHG: Most of the studio members were brought up on classic NES games and PC games back in the 90s. For few of us the first game was Dave, while for few it was Mario, Ian is an exception here who started way before us and his first games include Pong, Golden Axe, Xenon 2 and countless others.

GC: How did you come up with the idea for Raji: An Ancient Epic, What plans do you have for the game’s future?

NHG: The idea for Raji: An Ancient Epic first popped in at the new year’s of 2013. Our game designer was at Jaiselmer, Rajasthan and couldn’t stop thinking on how could he engulf the grand medieval architecture he witnessed all along the trip in a game. The painstakingly handcrafted style would become an inspiration to the game’s universe. Years later, along with founders and veteran artists Ian and Shruti, the concept art was finalised after several iterations. The initial sketches gave us the confidence to devote ourselves to the game.

At this moment we are live on Square Enix Collective. Anyone who thinks Raji: An Ancient Epic is a game worth playing should vote for us

The future plans for the game are to see a release on consoles, this will be one of our first stretch goals as we go live on Kickstarter in couple of months. 

Link to the voting  https://collective.square-enix.com/projects/407/raji-an-ancient-epic/#feedback

GC: What were your inspirations for Raji: An Ancient Epic, if any?

NHG: As we mentioned, the architecture of Rajasthan was one of the many inspirations behind our concept. The vast forts, coupling this with the variety of cities, all of which have their own distinct flavours and striking contrasts made the Raji universe. We also looked at the Pahari paintings from the region, these too served as inspiration for the art team. More than just a game based in Indian history and mythology, we wanted more to the universe. A trip to Bali, Indonesia, helped us further to define the art, lending from Balinese mythology and what their artisans of yesteryear had created, taking specific reference from their statues.

GC: Where do you see the games industry heading in the next 5-10 years? More games as a service, VR or as things are now?

NHG: What we feel is that the VR is yet to have that “One game” or product which sends out a bigger wave than we’ve ever seen. The hardware needs to be more than just immersion but affordable. If we see the headsets get lighter and more powerful, how hardware has evolved during the decades, that might add to its longevity. Games as a service are going to be a trend probably till the very end, we would say that PC and Consoles have become a stable and a mature market, which is going to remain over the next 5 years.

GC: Thanks to Nodding Heads Games for this interview, and we can’t wait to see how Raji: An Ancient Epic turns out. In the meantime you can stay to date about the game on their website – NoddingHeadsGames.

Official Website – https://www.rajithegame.com/

Link to the voting  https://collective.square-enix.com/projects/407/raji-an-ancient-epic/#feedback

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1 Comment

  1. its unclear to see the images

    Reply

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