“We took baby steps this whole project,” says Chad. By the end of the year, they decided to start hiring and up the scope by about a third - from eight bosses to 12 or 13. ![]() They still had other jobs, and spent months talking over various plans to hire more staff and increase the game’s size. Though they still weren’t sure how much they wanted to invest in the game. Suddenly, StudioMDHR had a fanbase.įollowing the show, the reception to the game gave the team a bit more confidence in what they were doing. “Nothing crazy.”īut the game became one of those things people talked about in the convention center halls, based simply on the quality of its art. “Twitter like, lit up a little bit more,” he says. Chad remembers watching the press conference from home. The clip lasted only about four seconds, yet put the game in front of millions of people - even if they didn’t quite know what they were looking at.Ĭhad and Jared didn’t attend the show. StudioMDHRįor many players, their first exposure to Cuphead came as part of a short clip Microsoft included in its 2014 E3 press conference, showing a variety of independent games coming to Xbox One. Neither of those got very far, as the staff ran into tech limitations, though Ninja Stars featured two main characters - one red and one blue - an idea that would carry through to Cuphead.Ĭhad and Jared see Cuphead in Microsoft’s 2014 E3 press conference. They dabbled with a couple of run-and-gun ideas - one inspired by Contra called Omega Response, another with crayon-shaded characters called Ninja Stars. Then around the year 2000, the brothers decided to take a shot at making a commercial game, hoping to make a prototype and pitch it to get a publishing deal. “Ahead of its time, to be honest,” says Chad. “You play as a grandma and you pick berries and the more berries you pick, you can make more jams or custards or maybe make a fresh torte,” says Jared. In high school, Chad dabbled with simple hobbyist games like one called Grandma Pickins. “It was more a fantasy” at that point, says Chad. Mine's going to have the first female robot. “Like, this is what this boss would do and it would be so different. “I would do dumb things like design my own Mega Man on paper,” says Jared. And thanks to illustrations from Joseph Coleman, ink from Maja Moldenhauer and coloring from Tyler Moldenhauer, we have those pieces below.Ĭhad and Jared Moldenhauer wanted to make games since they were kids. To chart that path, we asked the StudioMDHR team to draw a series of images showing the biggest development milestones that happened along the way. Behind the scenes, they say, the idea started as a small part-time job and gradually grew over the course of five years, ending up as the indie blockbuster that launched to critical acclaim in September. Stories spread about it being one of *those* games, the ones that sit on shelves, cross the seven-year development threshold and appear on missing-in-action lists.īut according to brothers Chad and Jared Moldenhauer, who led the project, that was all a bit of exaggeration. At 42 seconds long, the video established a 1930s art style and boss-focused run-and-gun gameplay, looking like an interactive cartoon.īy the time the game started to gain some traction, the Canadian studio had already pushed its target date to 2015 - a process the team would repeat by later delaying to 2016, and then 2017.įor potential fans, the carrot kept moving farther away. 25, 2013, StudioMDHR uploaded the first teaser trailer for its game Cuphead to YouTube. Relive the most cherished and challenging moments of Cuphead and Mugman's adventure to reclaim their souls from The Devil, all in a way you've never seen before! Guided by personal insights from game directors Chad and Jared Moldenhauer, take a one-of-a-kind trip through the Inkwell Isles and discover an all-new appreciation for Cuphead's animation style and challenging retro gameplay.On Oct. ![]() Peek at the early concepts, production work, and early ideas that went into the making of Cuphead's characters, bosses, stages and more including never-before-seen content from the upcoming DLC! Take a gander at the game's traditional hand-drawn frame-by-frame animation. Get transported back to the golden age of 1930s animation with an art book celebrating the acclaimed run & gun game, Cuphead!Įach page of this curated collection of artwork is designed to capture the vintage look and feel of the 1930's.
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