Interview: Riot Forge breaks down Convergence development process

We spoke to Rowan Parker, the creative director of Riot Forge, to learn more about the development process behind their latest title Convergence, a League of Legends story.

Riot Forge’s most recent endeavors with studio Double Stallion produced Convergence, an action platformer featuring Ekko and the unexplored suburbs of Zaun. The title was released earlier this year on multiple platforms, allowing players to experience a brand-new story not yet seen before.

Throughout the game, players will travel through Zaun’s various boroughs and face off against many of League’s iconic characters, all whilst running, jumping, and reversing time as Ekko.

Of course, transferring an entire champions kit from one game to another is no easy feat, so we asked Riot Forge creative director Rowan Forge exactly how they did it.

What is Convergence?

To catch everyone up to speed, we asked them to describe to us what exactly Convergence is and what players can expect from the title.

“For people that don’t know, Convergence is a 2D action platformer that features Ekko as the protagonist character. Ekko is a young boy inventor who can rewind time.”

Convergence is the fourth game released by the Forge, who had previously released The Mageseeker, which featured Sylas.

Choosing Champions

When it came down to choosing what champion for the next Forge title, the team at Double Stallion already had an idea of what they wanted. Creative Director Eric Angelillo was particularly interested in Ekko’s iconic ability to rewind time and wanted that featured as a mechanic.

This all happened before the release of Arcane, which expanded on Ekko’s backstory and easily made him a fan favorite.

“Even before they knew Arcane was a thing they were interested in Ekkoo because of the time rewind. Because of their action platform pedigree, they wanted to play around with different enemy designs, character and kit designs with the time Rewind and see what was possible,” Parker explained.

Transferring Ekko into the 2D Platformer Genre

Being a 3D title, the team would need to put in a lot of effort to transfer Ekko, his kit, and Zaun into an entirely different genre. Parker explained that in order to successfully showcase Ekko in Convergence, they would need to be “clear on what is the fantasy of the character.”

This would include things like how Ekko fights and moves around, as well as the “aspirational fantasy” of the character. The team ensured that they not only had a clear understanding of this from a game design perspective but also from a player’s expectation point of view.

“There’s a lot of people, there’s millions of people out there who are very familiar with Ekko and they have a certain expectation of how Echo feels and plays in combat. Whether that’s at a 65-degree isometric camera angle or it’s at a side-scrolling 2D platforming angle.

“We’re trying to make sure we live up to the expectations of players who know the champion, but also build on his power set and extend it,” Parker elaborated.

From there, the devs began to shift Ekko’s kit into a 2D space. They begin to look at different “threads” in order to manipulate Ekko’s kit, seeing what potential designs they could have for the abilities.

“Can we do AOE damage on the Timewinder? Can we do chain lightning on the Timewinder or what happens if we play with the cooldowns on face dive?”

The team can then start picking out identities in the gameplay of what combat may look like. It may mean that Ekko is really good at shielding or moving around spaces, but Parker believes starting with the core kit and staying true to the champion is the formula to success.

Making Mechanics for Ekko

Implementing Ekko’s kit goes far beyond just his regular gameplay, they needed to still be integrated with the game’s core mechanics. Parker expressed how fun it was to mess around with these mechanics and explore the possibilities, with players now being able to have their own go at it.

“We get to have a lot of fun in the game playing with the mechanics for Ekko. Not just in combat where you can rewind time to undo mistakes you make in combat or just to get the perfect flow.

“We also have a lot of platform and parkour sequences in the game like jumping puzzles and jumping challenges. So you can use the time rewind on that and if you make mistakes, you can just rewind and try again, which is exactly what Ekko would do in the real world of Zaun”.

Parker explained how without the restraints of League of Legends, they were really able to explore his kit and power level in a single-player space. The devs were really able to really elaborate on his kit from League and figure out his power level, coming forward with the idea of modifying and applying gadgets.
These gadgets give the game more personalization, allowing players to pick and choose what strengths they’d like to enhance.

“We have all these gadgets in the game, you can modify his Timewinder, you can modify Parallel Convergence. You can change the after-effects on his ultimate. There’s a lot of ways to build in combat strategy to how you want to approach builds and combat.

“Do you want to stay back at range and like slow everyone down and then blink in with Phase Dive? Do you want to just keep rewinding time a heap and perfecting all of the fights? That’s not a thing we can do in the MOBA, but we can totally do it in Convergence.”

Creating a new Zaun

Not only did the devs need to think about how Ekko would work in Convergence, but they needed to think about how his surroundings too. The team worked hard to formulate the different boroughs, characters, and creatures of Zaun, all to fit within the theme of Convergence.

“I think Ekko is a great character to ride shotgun with and explore the city of Zaun alongside. If you’re introduced to Zaun for the first time in Convergence, Ekko is a pretty good starting point to give you a grand tour of the city, in our opinion.” Parker stated.

Ekko is constantly on the move, so you’ll see him interact with people from around Zaun. The creative director praised the team at Double Stallion for crafting Zaun and showcasing it through Ekko’s eyes.

“Zaun looks colorful, beautiful, and bright because you’re seeing it the way Ekko sees it. He doesn’t see it the way Piltover does. It’s his home, it’s where he grew up.”

The team also created brand new zones unique to Zaun, in order to flesh out the location and make it a living breathing space. This included new zones like the Industrial Factorywood, the Carnival, and even the Clock Tower. Parker explained the process behind the creation of these zones.

“As gameplay needs, we’re filling in blank canvas and building out new areas and regions and parts of the world. And that sometimes means making new characters as well.”

Convergence is available right now on Steam, Nintendo Switch, Playstation, and Xbox Consoles.