Minions x Minecraft DLC: Dev Q&A

Last week we hosted a Dev Q&A on the Minecraft Discord server to celebrate the release of the brand new Minions x Minecraft DLC pack (available now in Minecraft Marketplace!).

Joining us were a few key members from Cyclone, the developers of the DLC pack.

Why Minions?

Matteo, Game Design: We love the Despicable Me universe. The quirky characters & over-the-top scenarios are super fun, so we felt like working with it was a great opportunity!

How long did it take to plan the development and execute the production, plus the assets?

Will, Studio Co-Owner: We actually got into talks back in February 2020. Once production started though, it probably took us about 9 months from early planning up until the release!

What has been the hardest thing about making this pack?

Timothy, Developer: Depends on who you ask. We have a lot of different things to tackle on a project like this, from animations, to model-making, texturing, and, of course, developing the game’s mechanics. I think what was probably the biggest challenge in general for everyone was the race mission. 

What's your favorite movie from the series and which villain do you prefer? Vector is the best, IMO!

Matteo: Yeah, Vector all the way my friend! In terms of favorite movie, I’d say the first one (because it features Vector).

Gabriel, Pixel Artist: Bratt is pretty fashionable.

Will: Miss Hattie who runs the orphanage in the 1st movie is pretty villainous! 

Mark, Lead Designer: The rock with the googly eyes from the trailer looks pretty villainous.

Esperanza, Community Manager: Sorry, but Scarlet Overkill was the best villain in Minions. She’s witty and fashionable.

Timothy: Dr. Nefario. He is villainous and hilarious!  

Is the pack as good as you expected? Are there any more things you wanted to add but couldn’t?

Gabriel: Ultimately, I think we ended up with a pretty packed map to play. Due to scheduling and some time constraints, some more minor things had to be cut. One example would have been adding more environmental props from the franchise into the world. 

How many people helped make this?

Mark: We had 11 people working on the map directly and 2 additional people who were involved with the development, for testing the map.

What were some challenges you may have confronted with the audio in this DLC? Were there any additional voices or sounds that you had to make personally that could have been a challenge?

Matteo: We would have loved to get some voice-overs going on. Unfortunately, it would have been a legal nightmare, so we stuck to text only. 

How many Minions are there, and do they all have individual names?

Timothy: You can get pretty much an unlimited amount of Minions on the map. There are, however, 15 costumes you can find and put on your Minions in the map. How you name them? Well, that’s up to you. 

Are there going to be the purple Minions too? 

Esperanza: Yes there is! We couldn’t leave the best Minions out of the game.  

What software did you use for the DLC? 

Will: The model assets were made using a modeling program called Blockbench. Animation was also created in Blockbench. Entity Textures and the resource pack are mainly done using external programs such as Photoshop, or within Blockbench as well. Development is pretty much done with Minecraft, with coding done with Visual Studio.   

What language do Minions speak? 

Esperanza: Minions do not speak an official language, but we take note of the French, Spanish, Italian, and English mixed in. Some team members actually dedicated two weeks to learning the language so we could come up with really despicable puns for marketing. 

Will we be getting a Gru or Dr. Nefario skin? 

Mark: Gru and Dr. Nefario are actually part of the Minions pack, including a lot of other cool characters from the films! Players can purchase their favorite villain’s outfit in the persona tab.  

Are there bananas? If so, can players eat them, and are they farmable?

Timothy: The player is able to collect and find bananas hidden around the map which can be used to make friends with rogue minions.

Does the Minion DLC have custom minigames, secret Minions, etc.?

Matteo: There are 5 main missions and one secret one in the DLC. Some of them are more minigame-like in terms of gameplay. In terms of secret Minions, you can find 15 Minion costumes in the map. Some are more hidden than others, so you gotta keep an eye out for them when playing. Each of the costumes gives your Minion different abilities to interact with the world and aid you with playing the map.

Did your team enjoy making the DLC and what was your favorite part of making it?

Mark: I think everyone had a ton of fun working on it. Of course we had a few moments where we ran into a wall, e.g. when some mechanics wouldn’t work as it should and that is obviously a bit frustrating. Favorite part is probably the big chase. It was hard to set up but it is really fun racing around the city with Minions on my bike, dodging flying cars, crashing into food stalls, and going fast!

Gabriel: The skins were really fun to work on! It was a cool experience trying to see how to turn characters from Despicable Me into Minecraft avatars.

Will: On the whole, I think the team really enjoyed making this piece of content. It has been one of our biggest pieces in terms of scope, which has allowed us to play around with ideas, mechanics, and asset production that wouldn’t normally be feasible with standard Minecraft Marketplace content. My favorite part of the content would have to be modelling the vehicles. (Gotta shout out to Jannis, creator of Blockbench – who without, none of these custom models would get made!)

Matteo: For me, definitely the animations for the race mission were a blast to work on. With our ambitious scope I had the opportunity to go quite overboard with some of them, which was awesome, since we usually try not to overdo things due to scope limitations on other projects. 

Esperanza: Being able to crack Minion jokes was the best part of my day! As an avid connoisseur, I must admit that watching the cheese ray be created and implemented into the game was totally a blast!

Timothy: I think the team had a great time making the Minions DLC. I mean, how often do you get a chance to do something like this? My personal favorite part was creating the sticky tool. There was a lot involved in creating it, but I think it is a really fun mechanic.

These were just some of the fun highlights from last week’s Q&A. To go back and read the full chat, and to be a part of more Dev Q&As in the future, be sure to check out the official Minecraft Discord!