My favorite FPS returns to the gaming spotlight with The Initiative taking on the herculean task of reviving the Perfect Dark series! The passion on display by the creative directors and staff at The Initiative give me a lot of hope for this game turning out wonderfully. Here's hoping it does, but in the meantime, check out this developer interview video provided by Xbox on its YouTube channel.
Showing posts with label interview. Show all posts
Showing posts with label interview. Show all posts
Thursday, December 10, 2020
Friday, August 26, 2016
SPC Interviews: Jenny Gibbons and Malcolm Pierce (Echoes of the Fey)
Echoes of the Fey is a visual novel by a pair local developers in the St. Louis game development community. It's astonishing that they were able to do the majority of the design and development work on this project on their own with just the two of them.
I had the opportunity to throw some questions at Jenny Gibbons and Malcolm Pierce, the duo behind Echoes of the Fey, asking them about the development history of the visual novel, what makes the genre so compelling, and other odds and ends.
Phil Stortzum (PS): Who is the team behind Echoes of the Fey, and what were their positions and general duties with the game?
Jenny Gibbons (JG): The team behind Echoes of the Fey consists primarily of myself (Jenny Gibbons) and Malcolm Pierce. Malcolm came up with the original story idea for Echoes of the Fey, and we both thought it would be a good fit to develop together as a new Woodsy Studio game.
We initially worked with a great new artist to draw the concept art, but she wasn't able to stay on the project. I took on all the art after that, as well as the music and initial programming. Malcolm worked on most of the script, and then tackled the process of importing it into Game Maker. From there we juggled tasks as much as we could, and hired out voice actors!
PS: What can you tell SuperPhillip Central’s readers about the story of Echoes of the Fey?
Malcolm Pierce (MP): Echoes of the Fey is detective story that happens to be set in a world of high fantasy. The setting is the continent of Oraz, which is divided in two by a Great Forest. Humans live on one side, Leshin—the proper/preferred term in our world for Elves—the other. In the months after a long war between these two peoples, our protagonist, Sofya Rykov, is a private investigator who uses her magic powers in secret to solve mysteries in the border town of Vodotsk.
PS: Echoes of the Fey is being released episodically. How many total episodes will there be, and what is the timing for release of the other episodes?
MP: To be completely honest, we don't know how many episodes we'll write. While each episode will connect via certain plot through-lines, they are generally stand-alone mysteries. We see the episodes more like episodes of Sherlock rather than episodes of, say, The Walking Dead. Character circumstances may change. They may rise or fall, their relationships may become close or unravel... But at the end of each episode, Sofya will be ready to solve another mystery. The numbering is largely to ensure the between-episodes threads make sense to a new player. As for timing, we're working on that now. We're considering a short, free prologue that would be out sometime in the winter—an Episode Zero, if you will—and beyond that I've already started work on outlining the next full installment, which we'd hope to have done in the spring.
PS: What benefits does having a visual novel have over a real novel? What advantages does telling a story in a visual novel have over doing a different type of game, say, an RPG?
JG: The most exciting element of a visual novel is that the players have an active influence over the story. By making certain choices throughout the game, they help craft the story. Writing multiple branches of a story is more work than a traditional novel with one ending, but it's very rewarding as an author to see how players respond. It is like watching your story come alive and grow into something greater than you first imagined.
The biggest advantage of visual novels over other games (like an RPG) is that the story is the primary focus, and that's okay. Gameplay needs to be altered so that it helps the story; not the other way around. We like to make the story our number one priority.
PS: What do you think makes visual novels so compelling to players?
MP: More than any other type of game, a visual novel has to have an engaging story and interesting characters. That's because the story and characters are the gameplay. The fun part of playing a visual novel is seeing how both react to your choices. If you don't care, then the game won't keep you coming back.
PS: What games, fantasy series, films, stories, etc. have contributed to the inspiration of Echoes of the Fey?
JG: Our initial concept set out to be different from anything we'd seen before, considering that the tone would blend high fantasy with mystery and steampunk motifs. We also wanted to take characteristics often given to well-rounded male heroes and give those to a woman instead. That said, we were heavily influenced by other mediums once we started working on the project.
Malcolm drew some inspiration from Terry Pratchet's novel "The Color of Magic." We also got into the "Saga" graphic novel series shortly after we started development, and that was a huge inspiration both on the story and overall aesthetic. Musically, I drew a lot of inspiration from "Legend" and the way it blended soft synth music with a dreamy fantasy world. I spent a lot of time listening to musicians like Tangerine Dream and Vangelis while working on the game.
PS: How long has development been on Echoes of the Fey?
MP: Approximately one year. Keep in mind, this included the development of our VN system (which was built off of a module called EdgeVN, by Thinkboxly) and when we started, Jenny was the only one who knew anything about GameMaker, or coding at all really. Future episodes should be able to be produced faster.
PS: What were the biggest problems regarding development of Echoes of the Fey? How did you go about solving them?
JG: For me personally, trying to balance a full-time day-job with working on this game in my free time presented the biggest challenge. To that end, it was also very difficult (both practically and emotionally) when our artist left the project just a few months into development. But Malcolm took on more and more of the work tasks as I took over the art, and we were able to keep up that balancing act for the rest of the project!
Otherwise - in terms of basic game development - I'd say the biggest challenge we faced was trying to make a visual novel in Game Maker, which felt very unnatural at first. Fortunately, as Malcolm mentioned before, we were able to purchase another programmer's plugin engine that provided the foundation of code we needed to launch forward.
PS: Is there anything not in this first episode feature-wise that you would like to include in future episodes?
MP: This was our first VN in an engine other than Ren'py. Don't get me wrong, Ren'py is great for creating visual novels. If that's all you want to do—tell a story with visuals and music and branching paths—go ahead and stay with it. But from the beginning we knew we wanted to do more, and add more game systems. In the first episode, The Fox's Trail, this manifests with side-scrolling sections that represent the city where the investigations are taking place. But now that we're both way more proficient with coding, we're hoping to add deeper systems. I can't promise exactly what those are, but I can say that we're beginning to experiment with some game-within-a-game ideas.
PS: There is a relationship system in Echoes of the Fey that changes certain elements of the story. How was this implemented to work well?
JG: That's an interesting question for this story, which can't be answered in great detail without dropping spoilers! But I will say this: in Echoes of the Fey, the pursuit of character relationships through side quests is optional, but also has a strong impact the main plot. By spending time with some characters, you find clues that will help you solve the central mystery. We wanted the plot to feed the character development and vice versa. Towards the end, your relationship with other characters determines whether they will help you out when you need support!
PS: How do you go about making the choices players make feel like they’re actually proactive in engaging with Echoes of the Fey rather than just feeling like they have no power and are just going through the motions?
MP: Choices are a double-edged sword. On one hand, we want to tell a compelling, fully-formed story. We want our player-character, Sofya, to have a personality of her own rather than simply be a cipher. Too many VN protagonists are blank slates. Sofya is a disgraced noblewoman and war veteran who hides her physical scars with magic and her emotional scars with overcompensated optimism. So all the choices—and there are a lot of choices—have to be things we believe Sofya might actually do. Fortunately, she's also (more than) a bit capricious. One of the tools we use to make the choices feel meaningful is information. Certain choices reveal a lot more about the world—and the case—and thus provide the player with information. Other choices are about sharing that information. Since Sofya is a private investigator, she tends to uncover secrets about the characters around her. Revealing certain information to others can drastically affect where those characters end up by the time the credits roll.
PS: How are you encouraging replay value with Echoes of the Fey, or is it intended to be a go-through-it-only-once experience?
JG: Assuming that you see all the side quests on your first playthrough, the primary replay value of Echoes of the Fey comes from the last third of the game. After uncovering the mystery, the player has to make big decisions regarding what to do with the discovery. Do you tell everyone you know the truth, even if doing so causes someone harm, or do you lie about it? Do you tell some people and not others? There are several ending variations depending on your choices throughout the last third of the game, and you can only choose one character to help you deal with the consequences on each playthrough.
PS: Are there any parting thoughts or something you’d like to say to SuperPhillip Central’s readers before we finish here?
MP: If you enjoy stories in video games and you've never tried a VN, you should give one a shot. A lot of people think of them as a purely Japanese phenomenon, but there's a rich history of interactive fiction in the so-called west, from the trial-and-error text parsing of Infocom titles to the wacky puzzles of classic Lucasarts adventure games, to the janky-but-ambitious work of David Cage. A good story can be told in many different formats, and games are too often overlooked on that front.
And if you are interested in Echoes of the Fey after reading this interview, look no further than the game's Steam page to download the title. My thanks to both Jenny Gibbons and Malcolm Pierce for their responses to my questions. Stay tuned to SuperPhillip Central for future interviews, whether for small or large devs, or someone anywhere in between!
I had the opportunity to throw some questions at Jenny Gibbons and Malcolm Pierce, the duo behind Echoes of the Fey, asking them about the development history of the visual novel, what makes the genre so compelling, and other odds and ends.
Phil Stortzum (PS): Who is the team behind Echoes of the Fey, and what were their positions and general duties with the game?
Jenny Gibbons (JG): The team behind Echoes of the Fey consists primarily of myself (Jenny Gibbons) and Malcolm Pierce. Malcolm came up with the original story idea for Echoes of the Fey, and we both thought it would be a good fit to develop together as a new Woodsy Studio game.
We initially worked with a great new artist to draw the concept art, but she wasn't able to stay on the project. I took on all the art after that, as well as the music and initial programming. Malcolm worked on most of the script, and then tackled the process of importing it into Game Maker. From there we juggled tasks as much as we could, and hired out voice actors!
PS: What can you tell SuperPhillip Central’s readers about the story of Echoes of the Fey?
Malcolm Pierce (MP): Echoes of the Fey is detective story that happens to be set in a world of high fantasy. The setting is the continent of Oraz, which is divided in two by a Great Forest. Humans live on one side, Leshin—the proper/preferred term in our world for Elves—the other. In the months after a long war between these two peoples, our protagonist, Sofya Rykov, is a private investigator who uses her magic powers in secret to solve mysteries in the border town of Vodotsk.
PS: Echoes of the Fey is being released episodically. How many total episodes will there be, and what is the timing for release of the other episodes?
PS: What benefits does having a visual novel have over a real novel? What advantages does telling a story in a visual novel have over doing a different type of game, say, an RPG?
JG: The most exciting element of a visual novel is that the players have an active influence over the story. By making certain choices throughout the game, they help craft the story. Writing multiple branches of a story is more work than a traditional novel with one ending, but it's very rewarding as an author to see how players respond. It is like watching your story come alive and grow into something greater than you first imagined.
PS: What do you think makes visual novels so compelling to players?
MP: More than any other type of game, a visual novel has to have an engaging story and interesting characters. That's because the story and characters are the gameplay. The fun part of playing a visual novel is seeing how both react to your choices. If you don't care, then the game won't keep you coming back.
PS: What games, fantasy series, films, stories, etc. have contributed to the inspiration of Echoes of the Fey?
JG: Our initial concept set out to be different from anything we'd seen before, considering that the tone would blend high fantasy with mystery and steampunk motifs. We also wanted to take characteristics often given to well-rounded male heroes and give those to a woman instead. That said, we were heavily influenced by other mediums once we started working on the project.
Malcolm drew some inspiration from Terry Pratchet's novel "The Color of Magic." We also got into the "Saga" graphic novel series shortly after we started development, and that was a huge inspiration both on the story and overall aesthetic. Musically, I drew a lot of inspiration from "Legend" and the way it blended soft synth music with a dreamy fantasy world. I spent a lot of time listening to musicians like Tangerine Dream and Vangelis while working on the game.
PS: How long has development been on Echoes of the Fey?
MP: Approximately one year. Keep in mind, this included the development of our VN system (which was built off of a module called EdgeVN, by Thinkboxly) and when we started, Jenny was the only one who knew anything about GameMaker, or coding at all really. Future episodes should be able to be produced faster.
PS: What were the biggest problems regarding development of Echoes of the Fey? How did you go about solving them?
JG: For me personally, trying to balance a full-time day-job with working on this game in my free time presented the biggest challenge. To that end, it was also very difficult (both practically and emotionally) when our artist left the project just a few months into development. But Malcolm took on more and more of the work tasks as I took over the art, and we were able to keep up that balancing act for the rest of the project!
Otherwise - in terms of basic game development - I'd say the biggest challenge we faced was trying to make a visual novel in Game Maker, which felt very unnatural at first. Fortunately, as Malcolm mentioned before, we were able to purchase another programmer's plugin engine that provided the foundation of code we needed to launch forward.
PS: Is there anything not in this first episode feature-wise that you would like to include in future episodes?
PS: There is a relationship system in Echoes of the Fey that changes certain elements of the story. How was this implemented to work well?
JG: That's an interesting question for this story, which can't be answered in great detail without dropping spoilers! But I will say this: in Echoes of the Fey, the pursuit of character relationships through side quests is optional, but also has a strong impact the main plot. By spending time with some characters, you find clues that will help you solve the central mystery. We wanted the plot to feed the character development and vice versa. Towards the end, your relationship with other characters determines whether they will help you out when you need support!
PS: How do you go about making the choices players make feel like they’re actually proactive in engaging with Echoes of the Fey rather than just feeling like they have no power and are just going through the motions?
MP: Choices are a double-edged sword. On one hand, we want to tell a compelling, fully-formed story. We want our player-character, Sofya, to have a personality of her own rather than simply be a cipher. Too many VN protagonists are blank slates. Sofya is a disgraced noblewoman and war veteran who hides her physical scars with magic and her emotional scars with overcompensated optimism. So all the choices—and there are a lot of choices—have to be things we believe Sofya might actually do. Fortunately, she's also (more than) a bit capricious. One of the tools we use to make the choices feel meaningful is information. Certain choices reveal a lot more about the world—and the case—and thus provide the player with information. Other choices are about sharing that information. Since Sofya is a private investigator, she tends to uncover secrets about the characters around her. Revealing certain information to others can drastically affect where those characters end up by the time the credits roll.
PS: How are you encouraging replay value with Echoes of the Fey, or is it intended to be a go-through-it-only-once experience?
PS: Are there any parting thoughts or something you’d like to say to SuperPhillip Central’s readers before we finish here?
MP: If you enjoy stories in video games and you've never tried a VN, you should give one a shot. A lot of people think of them as a purely Japanese phenomenon, but there's a rich history of interactive fiction in the so-called west, from the trial-and-error text parsing of Infocom titles to the wacky puzzles of classic Lucasarts adventure games, to the janky-but-ambitious work of David Cage. A good story can be told in many different formats, and games are too often overlooked on that front.
===
And if you are interested in Echoes of the Fey after reading this interview, look no further than the game's Steam page to download the title. My thanks to both Jenny Gibbons and Malcolm Pierce for their responses to my questions. Stay tuned to SuperPhillip Central for future interviews, whether for small or large devs, or someone anywhere in between!
Monday, June 27, 2016
SPC Interviews: Ben Cook (Last Stitch Goodnight)
I generally interview developers from all over the world on SuperPhillip Central, but this next interviewee is a special one. Living in the St. Louis metropolitan area and being a fellow game developer myself, I find it important to seek out talent within the area and promote it. One of the developers I know within the St. Louis game development community is Ben Cook of Well Bred Rhino, his own upstart.
His latest game, Last Stitch Goodnight, is available to recommend on Steam Greenlight. The game looks both exciting and intriguing. Thus, I felt the desire to ask Ben about the development history behind the game, what makes it so worthwhile, and delve into his own background as a game developer. Welcome to SPC Interviews!
Phil Stortzum (PS): What is your game development background?
Ben Cook (BC): Spacemen and pterodactyls.
In 5th grade a friend and I made a game called Flair and Bock. Bock was the pterodactyl, Flair the spaceman. It was built in World Builder on a Mac Plus, and had static images coupled with some simple text parsing. Flair fell down a hole, and it was up to Bock to… it was terrible. Actually, I think it was long enough ago that I can rewrite history on that one. It was awesome.
I’ve been captivated with game design ever since. Small, quick games evolved into group projects (that may not have taken off but were still a blast), and then those projects evolved into All the Bad Parts, a brawler I released on Xbox 360. The whole experience has been an incredible learning opportunity, but working on Last Stitch Goodnight has been the most fun, most rewarding part of the journey. I feel like I finally have built up the vocabulary I needed to design the game I’ve always wanted.
PS: Since you’re working alone on Last Stitch Goodnight, how did you gain all of the skills needed to make this game on your own?
BC: I am a giant fan of screwing up. Repeatedly. Whether it’s a new art program, writing code for collision detection, or even recording voice over work, I’ve always approached any task with the mindset of “I could probably figure that out”. Then I would spend 3 months running into obstacles (except for the collision detection one) until I finally had a break through. In that sense, working solo is almost a benefit. There is no one to lean on, there is no one to help make excuses, there is no one to blame. It’s all me. SO I HAD THE POWER INSIDE ME ALL ALONG! It was just buried under years and years of screwups.
The biggest gift from all of this is that it reignited my passion for drawing. I think right now we are being trained at a really young age that we should be just one thing. THIS GUY is an artist. THIS GIRL is programmer. YOU are a motorcycle stunt driver, NOW JUMP THROUGH THE FLAMING CIRCLE OF DEATH! It’s all rubbish. It lets people put us in convenient boxes. If we really love something, and we are willing to push ourselves to keep improving at it, then we can do nearly anything, be it code or art or writing.
PS: How long has Last Stitch Goodnight been in development?
BC: Last Stitch Goodnight is the biggest, most ambitious, most sincere game that I have ever made, and so far it has mercilessly devoured about four years of my life. You always run the risk of losing yourself into a project, the eternal passion project. In this case, however, I think the four years sacrificed were well spent to summon it into existence. Last Stitch Goodnight has grown bigger than me. I will be very proud when it starts stomping small villages.
PS: What have been the hardest challenges with making this game?
BC: Learning Unity? Marketing? Mixing humor and horror? Never giving up? Never surrendering?There are a ton challenges, but the biggest is probably to keep pushing yourself. Part of it is the day to day, pushing yourself to keep plodding along. But a bigger part of it is pushing yourself past “that works”, pushing yourself to find something new and unique.
PS: Where did the inspiration come from for Last Stitch Goodnight? Are there any games that you’ve played that influenced its design?
BC: Game Development is a great opportunity to take a hard look at the world. First you try to figure out HOW the world works so you can code it. Then you can explore the space you created to figure out WHY it works. That’s my biggest influence. We live in a huge, expansive universe, full of mystery and the unknown, and I’ve only got five measly senses to experience it. Last Stitch Goodnight lets me examine some of the weirder corners of the unknown. It’s basically an existential crisis, except it’s one you can work through by hitting robots with a lead pipe.
As for games, we have such a rich history of games, I like to think all of the great ones have left a subtle mark on me. The deconstruction of relationships in the Bioshocks, the universe building of Dark Souls, and the breathing worlds of Witcher and Elder Scrolls all spring to mind. The two that stand out the most, however, have to be the tone and exploration of the Castlevania and Monkey Island series. They seem completely different, but they both established a world you visit, as opposed to a world built just for a game.
PS:The visual style of Last Stitch Goodnight is very appealing. What can you tell me about how you went about going with this style? Was it the first style you settled on, or did you have more you decided not to use?
BC: I started with a clean, crisp, fresh drawing pad, and then I drew the same character over and over and over. For about 200 pages. I tried a handful of different angles, a top down, a full side shot, bigger hair, but in the end I settled with something I could live with and I could crank out. Then I started filling the world with characters and abnormalities as fast as I could think them up.
Fast forward a year later, I’m showing off the game to some local game developers, and suddenly I found myself making excuses for a few pieces of art. That’s a big sign in game design– any time you feel like you need to make an excuse, you need to fix it. OR you need to drive across the country and explain your excuse to everyone who plays your game. So I went back to the drawing board and redrew all the characters. It set me back about 3 months, but it helped teach me an insanely important lesson on game development: if you really want to make something as great as you can, nothing can be sacred or set in stone.
PS: How will you encourage players to keep playing the game after it’s finished? Do you have any replay value in mind?
BC: At launch I plan to have the full storyline, tons of side quests, and as many secrets and treasures as I can cram in. So hopefully people will keep going back to explore every spidery corner. But I also have BIG, DIABOLICAL PLANS!
If people genuinely like the game, I would love to keep living in Last Stitch Goodnight with them. I would love to add new quests after release, new chunks of story, new things to interact with. Video games can be viewed as disposable, so I want to give them a game that can stick with them, a game that can give them something to think about long after they’ve finished it.
PS: What do you hope players feel while playing Last Stitch Goodnight?
Intense, burning curiosity. The kind of burning curiosity that needs a topical cream, and you can’t
BC: Intense, burning curiosity. The kind of burning curiosity that needs a topical cream, and you can’t help but show it off to your friends just to get their reaction.
The one thing I hope they DON’T feel is safe. Or trusting. I want to keep surprising them the whole way through.
PS: How difficult is it to distinguish yourself from other independent developers out there? What are you planning to do to garner attention towards your own game?
BC: Streaking, primarily. I figure I’ll focus on small sporting events and work my way up to visits from foreign dignitaries. If I want to be serious about this, I’ll have to get “Last Stitch Goodnight” tattooed somewhere, but I guess that is to be expected; I’ve been told that branding is very important.
Beyond that, I’ll be screaming about it from the rooftops, sharing it at conventions, and playing it with podcast hosts. I plan on putting in a lot of legwork, but my biggest ambassador will always have to be the game itself. I just have to keep pouring as much dedication and love into it as I can until I can prove it’s worth everyone’s time.
PS: How challenging is it to have your game on Steam Greenlight when there are so many others seeking approval by the community as well? Any tips for other independents out there?
BC: It’s crazy exciting that so many people are finding a way to express themselves through video games. That said, standing out really is about solving two problems: letting people know you exist, and making people care. Gamers are savvy; you have to earn their respect
My recommendation to other folks would be to plan a few announcements. Pour as much of yourself as you can into the game AND into the announcements. Share your progress with the world. Talk to Phil. Above all else, let the world know you are a human, and not just some corporate machine. I have to believe that people like authenticity.
PS: What thing or things are you most proud of concerning the development of Last Stitch Goodnight and in general with the game?
BC: My proudest moment is probably when it gained sentience. I always think of anything artistic as a chance for you to (FIGURATIVELY) lop off a bit of yourself and see how it lives on its own. This project has gone out of its way to show me that this is true.
I came into the project with a rough idea, but it keeps growing in ways I could never have predicted. Enemies, weapons, and rooms all spring to life. Whole subplots show up out of nowhere and demand to be part of the bigger story. When I finally got to writing the final scene, I had a blinding epiphany out of nowhere, and suddenly the entire project made sense. The whole game was leading me to something, and I just needed to give it enough time to tell me.
PS: If there is one takeaway you want players to have after playing Last Stitch Goodnight, what would that takeaway be?
BC: Hope in the face of adversity, monstrosity, and absurdity.
PS: Do you have a future project in mind for after Last Stitch Goodnight is complete? If so, what kinds of ideas do you have rolling around in your head?
BC: I’d love to explore space more, and investigate humanity’s significance in it. Space is the perfect irony, a giant empty void that is filled with EVERYTHING. I just need to find a way to work pterodactyls back in.
PS: Is there anything else you’d like to add or anything you’d like to say to my readers before we wrap up?
BC: Last Stitch Goodnight has been a giant journey for me, and I cannot WAIT to share it with you all!
My special thanks to Ben Cook for taking time to answer my questions. To reiterate, his game, Last Stitch Goodnight, is available to recommend to Steam via Greenlight, so if you like what you see, please do so!
His latest game, Last Stitch Goodnight, is available to recommend on Steam Greenlight. The game looks both exciting and intriguing. Thus, I felt the desire to ask Ben about the development history behind the game, what makes it so worthwhile, and delve into his own background as a game developer. Welcome to SPC Interviews!
Phil Stortzum (PS): What is your game development background?
Ben Cook (BC): Spacemen and pterodactyls.
In 5th grade a friend and I made a game called Flair and Bock. Bock was the pterodactyl, Flair the spaceman. It was built in World Builder on a Mac Plus, and had static images coupled with some simple text parsing. Flair fell down a hole, and it was up to Bock to… it was terrible. Actually, I think it was long enough ago that I can rewrite history on that one. It was awesome.
I’ve been captivated with game design ever since. Small, quick games evolved into group projects (that may not have taken off but were still a blast), and then those projects evolved into All the Bad Parts, a brawler I released on Xbox 360. The whole experience has been an incredible learning opportunity, but working on Last Stitch Goodnight has been the most fun, most rewarding part of the journey. I feel like I finally have built up the vocabulary I needed to design the game I’ve always wanted.
PS: Since you’re working alone on Last Stitch Goodnight, how did you gain all of the skills needed to make this game on your own?
BC: I am a giant fan of screwing up. Repeatedly. Whether it’s a new art program, writing code for collision detection, or even recording voice over work, I’ve always approached any task with the mindset of “I could probably figure that out”. Then I would spend 3 months running into obstacles (except for the collision detection one) until I finally had a break through. In that sense, working solo is almost a benefit. There is no one to lean on, there is no one to help make excuses, there is no one to blame. It’s all me. SO I HAD THE POWER INSIDE ME ALL ALONG! It was just buried under years and years of screwups.
The biggest gift from all of this is that it reignited my passion for drawing. I think right now we are being trained at a really young age that we should be just one thing. THIS GUY is an artist. THIS GIRL is programmer. YOU are a motorcycle stunt driver, NOW JUMP THROUGH THE FLAMING CIRCLE OF DEATH! It’s all rubbish. It lets people put us in convenient boxes. If we really love something, and we are willing to push ourselves to keep improving at it, then we can do nearly anything, be it code or art or writing.
PS: How long has Last Stitch Goodnight been in development?
PS: What have been the hardest challenges with making this game?
BC: Learning Unity? Marketing? Mixing humor and horror? Never giving up? Never surrendering?There are a ton challenges, but the biggest is probably to keep pushing yourself. Part of it is the day to day, pushing yourself to keep plodding along. But a bigger part of it is pushing yourself past “that works”, pushing yourself to find something new and unique.
PS: Where did the inspiration come from for Last Stitch Goodnight? Are there any games that you’ve played that influenced its design?
As for games, we have such a rich history of games, I like to think all of the great ones have left a subtle mark on me. The deconstruction of relationships in the Bioshocks, the universe building of Dark Souls, and the breathing worlds of Witcher and Elder Scrolls all spring to mind. The two that stand out the most, however, have to be the tone and exploration of the Castlevania and Monkey Island series. They seem completely different, but they both established a world you visit, as opposed to a world built just for a game.
PS:The visual style of Last Stitch Goodnight is very appealing. What can you tell me about how you went about going with this style? Was it the first style you settled on, or did you have more you decided not to use?
BC: I started with a clean, crisp, fresh drawing pad, and then I drew the same character over and over and over. For about 200 pages. I tried a handful of different angles, a top down, a full side shot, bigger hair, but in the end I settled with something I could live with and I could crank out. Then I started filling the world with characters and abnormalities as fast as I could think them up.
Fast forward a year later, I’m showing off the game to some local game developers, and suddenly I found myself making excuses for a few pieces of art. That’s a big sign in game design– any time you feel like you need to make an excuse, you need to fix it. OR you need to drive across the country and explain your excuse to everyone who plays your game. So I went back to the drawing board and redrew all the characters. It set me back about 3 months, but it helped teach me an insanely important lesson on game development: if you really want to make something as great as you can, nothing can be sacred or set in stone.
PS: How will you encourage players to keep playing the game after it’s finished? Do you have any replay value in mind?
BC: At launch I plan to have the full storyline, tons of side quests, and as many secrets and treasures as I can cram in. So hopefully people will keep going back to explore every spidery corner. But I also have BIG, DIABOLICAL PLANS!
If people genuinely like the game, I would love to keep living in Last Stitch Goodnight with them. I would love to add new quests after release, new chunks of story, new things to interact with. Video games can be viewed as disposable, so I want to give them a game that can stick with them, a game that can give them something to think about long after they’ve finished it.
PS: What do you hope players feel while playing Last Stitch Goodnight?
Intense, burning curiosity. The kind of burning curiosity that needs a topical cream, and you can’t
BC: Intense, burning curiosity. The kind of burning curiosity that needs a topical cream, and you can’t help but show it off to your friends just to get their reaction.
The one thing I hope they DON’T feel is safe. Or trusting. I want to keep surprising them the whole way through.
PS: How difficult is it to distinguish yourself from other independent developers out there? What are you planning to do to garner attention towards your own game?
BC: Streaking, primarily. I figure I’ll focus on small sporting events and work my way up to visits from foreign dignitaries. If I want to be serious about this, I’ll have to get “Last Stitch Goodnight” tattooed somewhere, but I guess that is to be expected; I’ve been told that branding is very important.
Beyond that, I’ll be screaming about it from the rooftops, sharing it at conventions, and playing it with podcast hosts. I plan on putting in a lot of legwork, but my biggest ambassador will always have to be the game itself. I just have to keep pouring as much dedication and love into it as I can until I can prove it’s worth everyone’s time.PS: How challenging is it to have your game on Steam Greenlight when there are so many others seeking approval by the community as well? Any tips for other independents out there?
BC: It’s crazy exciting that so many people are finding a way to express themselves through video games. That said, standing out really is about solving two problems: letting people know you exist, and making people care. Gamers are savvy; you have to earn their respect
My recommendation to other folks would be to plan a few announcements. Pour as much of yourself as you can into the game AND into the announcements. Share your progress with the world. Talk to Phil. Above all else, let the world know you are a human, and not just some corporate machine. I have to believe that people like authenticity.
PS: What thing or things are you most proud of concerning the development of Last Stitch Goodnight and in general with the game?
BC: My proudest moment is probably when it gained sentience. I always think of anything artistic as a chance for you to (FIGURATIVELY) lop off a bit of yourself and see how it lives on its own. This project has gone out of its way to show me that this is true.
I came into the project with a rough idea, but it keeps growing in ways I could never have predicted. Enemies, weapons, and rooms all spring to life. Whole subplots show up out of nowhere and demand to be part of the bigger story. When I finally got to writing the final scene, I had a blinding epiphany out of nowhere, and suddenly the entire project made sense. The whole game was leading me to something, and I just needed to give it enough time to tell me.PS: If there is one takeaway you want players to have after playing Last Stitch Goodnight, what would that takeaway be?
BC: Hope in the face of adversity, monstrosity, and absurdity.
PS: Do you have a future project in mind for after Last Stitch Goodnight is complete? If so, what kinds of ideas do you have rolling around in your head?
BC: I’d love to explore space more, and investigate humanity’s significance in it. Space is the perfect irony, a giant empty void that is filled with EVERYTHING. I just need to find a way to work pterodactyls back in.
PS: Is there anything else you’d like to add or anything you’d like to say to my readers before we wrap up?
BC: Last Stitch Goodnight has been a giant journey for me, and I cannot WAIT to share it with you all!
===
My special thanks to Ben Cook for taking time to answer my questions. To reiterate, his game, Last Stitch Goodnight, is available to recommend to Steam via Greenlight, so if you like what you see, please do so!
Wednesday, September 23, 2015
SPC Interviews: Adrian Barnello (Hellbound)
I am a part of the local St. Louis indie developer scene, so when I can highlight other local developers, I do so. Adrian Barnello is a part of the scene as well, and his RPG, Hellbound, is currently on Steam Greenlight, able to be recommended by Steam users across the globe. If this interview with Adrian appeals to you, why not take the few minutes to look at Hellbound's Steam Greenlight profile and contribute a recommendation?
With this new SPC Interviews entry, I talk to Adrian about the obvious inspiration between Hellbound and Nintendo's EarthBound, the story, the cast, the battle system, and a lot more in the span of a series of questions.
Phil Stortzum (PS): What can you tell us about the story, main characters, and villains of Hellbound?
Adrian Barnello (AB): The main four characters in Hellbound are Eyor (whose name can be changed at the beginning of the game), Maurice, Valerie, and Jay. All of the characters are pretty well developed, and can't be summed up very accurately in a short burst. At least, I can't do it, but then again I've thought about and built these characters from the ground up, so I'm probably over-thinking it.
Here's my four sentence summary of the plot:
A group of teenagers, after a string of mysterious disappearances, holds a séance to try and get in touch with whatever force is responsible. Instead, they accidentally contact Satan, and end up getting wrapped up in a holy war between Heaven and Hell. After getting infused with demonic powers, the team sets out on a mission to take down the Archangel Gabriel's top dogs, and stop the angels from taking over Hell and Earth. Hijinks ensues.
The game is partially a send up of the traditional set up of RPGs. In most RPGs, you play as a noble character, sometimes even chosen by God or some sort of holy spirit, and fight against evil. In Hellbound, you play as a group of characters that have sold their souls to the devil and fight angels. The main villains of the game are the Archangel Gabriel, the “Three Wise Men (who aren't so wise, naturally),” and the mega-church pastor Reza.
PS: How many people helped with the development of Hellbound? What were their tasks?
AB: I designed, wrote, and did all the grunt work on RPG Maker for Hellbound. I also drew most of the sprites, wrote most of the music, and did most of the testing that has been done on the game so far. Besides myself, my friend Devin Dessieux also did some testing and wrote a few songs for the soundtrack. I commissioned a friend of mine, Paige Andrews-Johnson, to make the title screen for me.
Besides that, there have been a few testers that have not completed the game yet, but that's it. The game really was a pet project of mine, and it shows in the fact that I was responsible for almost everything the player experiences when playing Hellbound.
PS: What program did you use to develop and design Hellbound?
AB: I used RPG Maker VX Ace. The program is laughed at by some, but I think it's a powerful and mostly underused resource that is capable of making quality content, all without requiring tons and tons of programming knowledge. I don't know a computer language. I don't know how to program anything. I am a game designer, not a programmer. RPG Maker VX Ace allowed me to make the game I wanted to make without having to spend months bug testing my poorly-written code. I'd like to take this chance to thank (and recommend) Yanfly to anyone out there that might be using RPG Maker. Yanfly is amazing, and has tons of free code for use on their website. It's really worth looking into, and can take your RPG Maker game to the 'next level.'
PS: How long was development of Hellbound? Did you hit any snags during development?
AB: I started making Hellbound in January 2015, and worked on it pretty much non-stop until the rough draft was completed in June the same year. I worked on the game a lot, staying up until four or five in the morning regularly to get it done. I say the game is a 'rough draft,' but really all that needs to be done is testing and editing (which is easier said than done, apparently). Once I completed the 'rough draft' I made the Greenlight page. There weren't any huge snags in development, other than the lack of support on the Greenlight page and the difficulty finding reliable testers.
PS: What was the most difficult part of development for Hellbound?
AB: The most important part of developing Hellbound, and going forward, has been my inability to find game testers that are interested, and have enough time to complete the game. Hellbound is a pretty long game, spanning about 15 hours. 15 hours is considered, by some, to be epochal for an indie game. The kind of people I'd like to test the game, I find, don't generally have a lot of free time, and when they do their time is already dedicated to other interests. It can be hard to peel people away from Facebook, League of Legends, and Netflix to test my indie game when I don't have any money to throw at them.
PS: Is there anything you’d do differently with development of Hellbound looking back?
AB: If I could go back in time, I'd try to find a stronger network of people to work on the game with me. I really appreciated what help I did get, but taking charge of almost every aspect of the game was a daunting task. I'd also spend a little bit more time refining the battle system, and attempt to secure some sort of funds that I could use on advertising and/or paying people to test the game.
PS: What can you tell us about the battle system for Hellbound?
AB: The battle system for Hellbound is really old school. The combat is most similar to Earthbound, or the old Dragon Quest games for the NES. If I could go back and rework the battle system I would (and perhaps I will before I eventually get to release the game to the public), but I think it's functional and I like the simplicity.
PS: Hellbound obviously has a lot in common with Nintendo’s EarthBound on the Super Nintendo, no doubt inspired by it. What did you do to try to make your game stand out in comparison?
AB: EarthBound was, undeniably, the biggest influence on Hellbound. Everything about EarthBound is fantastic; the graphics, the music, the story, the game play... It's a flawless game, in my opinion. Hellbound could never hope to live up to that, so I tried to make the game in a way that would set it apart from EarthBound, while still embracing the influence. The comparison between EarthBound and Hellbound is 100% justified (I mean, just look at the names), but I think there's a couple things that really set my game apart: The music, the tone, and the characters.
EarthBound's soundtrack is fantastic, and I didn't try to replicate it for Hellbound. Instead, I used a lot of real instruments, and samples that featured real instruments, when making the soundtrack. Earthbound's tone is fairly lighthearted throughout the whole game, with deeper meaning and existential questions lurking underneath the surface. Hellbound is fairly goofy throughout, as well, and features plenty of blue humor, but I would argue that Hellbound eventually goes places that EarthBound doesn't go. I won't spoil anything, but I think once people play the game they'll know what I'm talking about. Lastly, I think the characters in Hellbound really make the game stand out. Ness is great, but he's great because he's a foil of a speechless protagonist. The other main party members in EarthBound are fine, but they don't say much, and most of their personality is implied. I think this is a strength of the game, actually, but I decided to go about it differently in Hellbound. The four person party in Hellbound is full of developed, circular characters that I think players will be able to relate to and appreciate.
So, there are a lot of similarities between EarthBound and my game, but I think they're discernible enough that they're not the same game, and people wont get the same experience from both games. If that were true, I'd instruct people just to play EarthBound.
PS: What games other than EarthBound did you draw inspiration from for Hellbound’s development?
AB: I'm a huge fan of Chrono Trigger, and the Shin Megami Tensei series (both Persona and the SMT games themselves), so I think these influences shine through. I have to give a shoot out to Space Funeral as well, which got me into RPG Maker in the first place. I also drew a lot of inspiration from music (mainly the band Direct Hit!), and a handful of movies. I'd say my biggest film influences, in regards to Hellbound, were “House / Hausu” (the Japanese horror movie) and “Scott Pilgrim vs. The World.”
PS: Hellbound is currently on Steam Greenlight. What do you like and dislike about the process of being greenlit?
AB: The Greenlight process is great in some respects and really lame at the same time. I feel like there's a lot of potential to build a community around your game, and release it to a crowd of people that already want to play it, and have been following it from day one. This potential is definitely there, but I feel like most of the time people only leave a comment when they have something negative to say, and often times their negative opinions are pretty ill-informed. I received a lot of negative comments on my game, and my game's trailer, in the first couple weeks of my Greenlight campaign. This was really disheartening to me, and I consider myself to be someone with a steely resolve when it comes to things like this. I could see the stress of the Greenlight process being a big turn off for small-time game devs who just want people to play their game.
Besides this, there's a lot of content that gets onto Steam Greenlight that gets attention, and really doesn't deserve it whatsoever. Things like simulators of using the toilet, blatantly offensive games, or games that feature extreme copyright infringement tend to get a lot of attention. Of course, usually this attention is negative, but it's still attention that your game (that you spent hundreds of hours making) isn't getting. This can also be disheartening.
I think Greenlight is a good thing if you've got a network of people, and a budget. I don't think it's a good idea for a small-time dev to jump right in expecting magic to happen. Also it costs a hundred dollars. Ouch.
PS: Do you have a personal favorite character in Hellbound? If so, who and why?
AB: My favorite character in Hellbound is definitely Valerie Kaplan. She's one of the main characters, and might actually have the most lines in the game. She's the party's black mage, basically. She's got a really fun personality; she's really tsundere, and was a blast to write. I feel like I got in a really good groove with Valerie, and made a really likable and memorable character. If I ever make a sequel, I'd like to work Val into it somehow. Maybe I'll just make a spin-off centered around her, like “The Misadventures of Tron Bonne” or something.
PS: Which enemy sprites in Hellbound are you most fond of? Why?
AB: This is the Angel of Death, a very late game boss. I really like this sprite, and based it off off a Renaissance painting, which can be found here. I had a little input on this sprite via my Tumblr page, and I think it ended up looking really cool.
I like this one a lot too. I like the ghostly texture, and the way its face came out. It looks pretty creepy, for a goofy sprite that I drew in Gimp. This sprite is actually based on a reoccurring nightmare I had when I was a kid. My parents used to have a weird Victorian plaster bust in our house, which was obviously phony and not from the actual Victorian era. The bust was of some queen, but I'm not sure which one. Anyway, I used to have nightmares about it coming alive / being possessed and terrorizing me in various ways. This nightmare was, in large part, probably caused by me watching the “Haunted Mask” episode of Goosebumps when I was really, really young. If you've ever seen that episode, you'll know what I'm talking about. Yikes!
PS: What was the most fun part about developing Hellbound?
AB: Pretty much everything about making Hellbound was fun. I really liked talking about the game with my friends, and drawing the characters over and over again. I'd say the funnest thing was drawing the enemy sprites. I got markedly better at drawing the sprites as production of the game went on (the two sprites picked as my favorites were actually made quite late into production), so it was cool to see me getting better as time went on. I had such a good time making the sprites that I actually went back and redrew some of the early game sprites. I'd say a close second would have to be writing the dialogue, especially Valerie's lines.
PS: Do you have any words of encouragement for other people wanting to make their own games or RPGs?
AB: Making a game, especially an RPG, is very fulfilling. Writing the characters, designing the game, drawing sprites, composing music, all of these things can give a game developer that warm, fuzzy, job-well-done feeling during and after the project is complete. I think game making can be an exceptional emotional outlet for people, and I'd recommend it to anyone who can commit themselves to sticking with it. Making games can be tough, and at times discouraging, but I'd urge anyone trying to make a game never to give up. Work on your game at least a couple times a week, and always keep the project moving. The feeling you get when someone actually does play your game, and enjoys it, is unreal.
PS: Anything else you’d like to say to the readers of SuperPhillip Central who might be interested in pursuing Hellbound?
AB: Be sure to throw me a yes vote on Greenlight, since finally passing through would be a great inspiration for me to finish editing the game. Other than that, leave a comment on this post, or on the Greenlight page, or on the game's Facebook page telling me that you'd like to play it. If I can get some positive attention, I'll be motivated to complete the game. At the moment, I'm busy with law school and haven't had much positive feedback on the game, so it's hard to find the motivation to edit it and complete it. If I have the positive energy, but still don't get through Greenlight, I'll likely post the game on Gamejolt or something like that.
My thanks to Adrian Barnello for his time and thoughtful responses to my questions. If you like what you've read, definitely give a "yes" vote to Hellbound on Greenlight. Stay tuned for future installments of SPC Interviews with even more fresh faces of the independent gaming scene both local and worldwide!
With this new SPC Interviews entry, I talk to Adrian about the obvious inspiration between Hellbound and Nintendo's EarthBound, the story, the cast, the battle system, and a lot more in the span of a series of questions.
Phil Stortzum (PS): What can you tell us about the story, main characters, and villains of Hellbound?
Here's my four sentence summary of the plot:
A group of teenagers, after a string of mysterious disappearances, holds a séance to try and get in touch with whatever force is responsible. Instead, they accidentally contact Satan, and end up getting wrapped up in a holy war between Heaven and Hell. After getting infused with demonic powers, the team sets out on a mission to take down the Archangel Gabriel's top dogs, and stop the angels from taking over Hell and Earth. Hijinks ensues.
PS: How many people helped with the development of Hellbound? What were their tasks?
AB: I designed, wrote, and did all the grunt work on RPG Maker for Hellbound. I also drew most of the sprites, wrote most of the music, and did most of the testing that has been done on the game so far. Besides myself, my friend Devin Dessieux also did some testing and wrote a few songs for the soundtrack. I commissioned a friend of mine, Paige Andrews-Johnson, to make the title screen for me.
Besides that, there have been a few testers that have not completed the game yet, but that's it. The game really was a pet project of mine, and it shows in the fact that I was responsible for almost everything the player experiences when playing Hellbound.
PS: What program did you use to develop and design Hellbound?
AB: I used RPG Maker VX Ace. The program is laughed at by some, but I think it's a powerful and mostly underused resource that is capable of making quality content, all without requiring tons and tons of programming knowledge. I don't know a computer language. I don't know how to program anything. I am a game designer, not a programmer. RPG Maker VX Ace allowed me to make the game I wanted to make without having to spend months bug testing my poorly-written code. I'd like to take this chance to thank (and recommend) Yanfly to anyone out there that might be using RPG Maker. Yanfly is amazing, and has tons of free code for use on their website. It's really worth looking into, and can take your RPG Maker game to the 'next level.'
PS: How long was development of Hellbound? Did you hit any snags during development?
AB: I started making Hellbound in January 2015, and worked on it pretty much non-stop until the rough draft was completed in June the same year. I worked on the game a lot, staying up until four or five in the morning regularly to get it done. I say the game is a 'rough draft,' but really all that needs to be done is testing and editing (which is easier said than done, apparently). Once I completed the 'rough draft' I made the Greenlight page. There weren't any huge snags in development, other than the lack of support on the Greenlight page and the difficulty finding reliable testers.
PS: What was the most difficult part of development for Hellbound?
AB: The most important part of developing Hellbound, and going forward, has been my inability to find game testers that are interested, and have enough time to complete the game. Hellbound is a pretty long game, spanning about 15 hours. 15 hours is considered, by some, to be epochal for an indie game. The kind of people I'd like to test the game, I find, don't generally have a lot of free time, and when they do their time is already dedicated to other interests. It can be hard to peel people away from Facebook, League of Legends, and Netflix to test my indie game when I don't have any money to throw at them.
PS: Is there anything you’d do differently with development of Hellbound looking back?
AB: If I could go back in time, I'd try to find a stronger network of people to work on the game with me. I really appreciated what help I did get, but taking charge of almost every aspect of the game was a daunting task. I'd also spend a little bit more time refining the battle system, and attempt to secure some sort of funds that I could use on advertising and/or paying people to test the game.
PS: What can you tell us about the battle system for Hellbound?
AB: The battle system for Hellbound is really old school. The combat is most similar to Earthbound, or the old Dragon Quest games for the NES. If I could go back and rework the battle system I would (and perhaps I will before I eventually get to release the game to the public), but I think it's functional and I like the simplicity.PS: Hellbound obviously has a lot in common with Nintendo’s EarthBound on the Super Nintendo, no doubt inspired by it. What did you do to try to make your game stand out in comparison?
AB: EarthBound was, undeniably, the biggest influence on Hellbound. Everything about EarthBound is fantastic; the graphics, the music, the story, the game play... It's a flawless game, in my opinion. Hellbound could never hope to live up to that, so I tried to make the game in a way that would set it apart from EarthBound, while still embracing the influence. The comparison between EarthBound and Hellbound is 100% justified (I mean, just look at the names), but I think there's a couple things that really set my game apart: The music, the tone, and the characters.
EarthBound's soundtrack is fantastic, and I didn't try to replicate it for Hellbound. Instead, I used a lot of real instruments, and samples that featured real instruments, when making the soundtrack. Earthbound's tone is fairly lighthearted throughout the whole game, with deeper meaning and existential questions lurking underneath the surface. Hellbound is fairly goofy throughout, as well, and features plenty of blue humor, but I would argue that Hellbound eventually goes places that EarthBound doesn't go. I won't spoil anything, but I think once people play the game they'll know what I'm talking about. Lastly, I think the characters in Hellbound really make the game stand out. Ness is great, but he's great because he's a foil of a speechless protagonist. The other main party members in EarthBound are fine, but they don't say much, and most of their personality is implied. I think this is a strength of the game, actually, but I decided to go about it differently in Hellbound. The four person party in Hellbound is full of developed, circular characters that I think players will be able to relate to and appreciate.
So, there are a lot of similarities between EarthBound and my game, but I think they're discernible enough that they're not the same game, and people wont get the same experience from both games. If that were true, I'd instruct people just to play EarthBound.
PS: What games other than EarthBound did you draw inspiration from for Hellbound’s development?
AB: I'm a huge fan of Chrono Trigger, and the Shin Megami Tensei series (both Persona and the SMT games themselves), so I think these influences shine through. I have to give a shoot out to Space Funeral as well, which got me into RPG Maker in the first place. I also drew a lot of inspiration from music (mainly the band Direct Hit!), and a handful of movies. I'd say my biggest film influences, in regards to Hellbound, were “House / Hausu” (the Japanese horror movie) and “Scott Pilgrim vs. The World.”
PS: Hellbound is currently on Steam Greenlight. What do you like and dislike about the process of being greenlit?
AB: The Greenlight process is great in some respects and really lame at the same time. I feel like there's a lot of potential to build a community around your game, and release it to a crowd of people that already want to play it, and have been following it from day one. This potential is definitely there, but I feel like most of the time people only leave a comment when they have something negative to say, and often times their negative opinions are pretty ill-informed. I received a lot of negative comments on my game, and my game's trailer, in the first couple weeks of my Greenlight campaign. This was really disheartening to me, and I consider myself to be someone with a steely resolve when it comes to things like this. I could see the stress of the Greenlight process being a big turn off for small-time game devs who just want people to play their game.
Besides this, there's a lot of content that gets onto Steam Greenlight that gets attention, and really doesn't deserve it whatsoever. Things like simulators of using the toilet, blatantly offensive games, or games that feature extreme copyright infringement tend to get a lot of attention. Of course, usually this attention is negative, but it's still attention that your game (that you spent hundreds of hours making) isn't getting. This can also be disheartening.
I think Greenlight is a good thing if you've got a network of people, and a budget. I don't think it's a good idea for a small-time dev to jump right in expecting magic to happen. Also it costs a hundred dollars. Ouch.
PS: Do you have a personal favorite character in Hellbound? If so, who and why?
AB: My favorite character in Hellbound is definitely Valerie Kaplan. She's one of the main characters, and might actually have the most lines in the game. She's the party's black mage, basically. She's got a really fun personality; she's really tsundere, and was a blast to write. I feel like I got in a really good groove with Valerie, and made a really likable and memorable character. If I ever make a sequel, I'd like to work Val into it somehow. Maybe I'll just make a spin-off centered around her, like “The Misadventures of Tron Bonne” or something.
PS: Which enemy sprites in Hellbound are you most fond of? Why?
AB: This is the Angel of Death, a very late game boss. I really like this sprite, and based it off off a Renaissance painting, which can be found here. I had a little input on this sprite via my Tumblr page, and I think it ended up looking really cool.
I like this one a lot too. I like the ghostly texture, and the way its face came out. It looks pretty creepy, for a goofy sprite that I drew in Gimp. This sprite is actually based on a reoccurring nightmare I had when I was a kid. My parents used to have a weird Victorian plaster bust in our house, which was obviously phony and not from the actual Victorian era. The bust was of some queen, but I'm not sure which one. Anyway, I used to have nightmares about it coming alive / being possessed and terrorizing me in various ways. This nightmare was, in large part, probably caused by me watching the “Haunted Mask” episode of Goosebumps when I was really, really young. If you've ever seen that episode, you'll know what I'm talking about. Yikes!
PS: What was the most fun part about developing Hellbound?
AB: Pretty much everything about making Hellbound was fun. I really liked talking about the game with my friends, and drawing the characters over and over again. I'd say the funnest thing was drawing the enemy sprites. I got markedly better at drawing the sprites as production of the game went on (the two sprites picked as my favorites were actually made quite late into production), so it was cool to see me getting better as time went on. I had such a good time making the sprites that I actually went back and redrew some of the early game sprites. I'd say a close second would have to be writing the dialogue, especially Valerie's lines.
PS: Do you have any words of encouragement for other people wanting to make their own games or RPGs?
AB: Making a game, especially an RPG, is very fulfilling. Writing the characters, designing the game, drawing sprites, composing music, all of these things can give a game developer that warm, fuzzy, job-well-done feeling during and after the project is complete. I think game making can be an exceptional emotional outlet for people, and I'd recommend it to anyone who can commit themselves to sticking with it. Making games can be tough, and at times discouraging, but I'd urge anyone trying to make a game never to give up. Work on your game at least a couple times a week, and always keep the project moving. The feeling you get when someone actually does play your game, and enjoys it, is unreal.AB: Be sure to throw me a yes vote on Greenlight, since finally passing through would be a great inspiration for me to finish editing the game. Other than that, leave a comment on this post, or on the Greenlight page, or on the game's Facebook page telling me that you'd like to play it. If I can get some positive attention, I'll be motivated to complete the game. At the moment, I'm busy with law school and haven't had much positive feedback on the game, so it's hard to find the motivation to edit it and complete it. If I have the positive energy, but still don't get through Greenlight, I'll likely post the game on Gamejolt or something like that.
===
My thanks to Adrian Barnello for his time and thoughtful responses to my questions. If you like what you've read, definitely give a "yes" vote to Hellbound on Greenlight. Stay tuned for future installments of SPC Interviews with even more fresh faces of the independent gaming scene both local and worldwide!
Friday, August 14, 2015
SPC Interviews: Matt Siegel (Cards and Castles)
Welcome to the end of the week here at SuperPhillip Central! I have a treat for everyone today, a new interview subject with Matt Siegel., part of the development team of Cards and Castles, a digital card game as well as grid-based strategy title which officially launched on Thursday. During preparation to release the game to the public, I was able to ask a myriad of questions to Matt regarding the game's development, gameplay, and much more.
Phil Stortzum: First off, who is on the development team for Cards and Castles? What are their functions on the team? What backgrounds in gaming does the team have?
Matt Siegel.: I'm lead designer and developer with 7-years of professional experience doing software engineering, game design and balance for a variety of studios including Disney Interactive.
Dylan Marquez, art director and game designer. He’s responsible for much of the art in the game and all of the UI. He's worked in games for 6 years as a game designer, UI designer, 2D artist, or producer. He's also a game development teacher, an active community leader, and has a real passion for games.
Phil: Where did the inspiration for Cards and Castles come from? How did your team decide that this was the game that you folks wanted to make?
Matt: I really enjoy making strategy games, and I felt the combination with collectible cards was a natural fit for the genre. I did all the initial prototypes and development before bringing on a team to round out the game.
Phil: What makes Cards and Castles stand out from other games of its type and genre?
Matt: We are a genre combo that hasn’t really been explored too deeply yet, so that alone makes us unique in the current market. Scrolls is probably the most well known attempt at this mashup but it didn’t catch on for different reasons and is being shut down by Microsoft.
We’ve put a lot of work into retaining simple mechanics that interact in complex ways and are expertly balanced. I have a background in theory crafting, I was a spreadsheet master before I was a professional game dev, so you can expect a competitive and balanced atmosphere. You can also expect a lot of fun mechanics and awesome card combos!
Phil: When did development for Cards and Castles begin?
Matt: More than 2 years ago, as a prototype for a turn-based RTS. Yes, I know what that acronym means. I had a very different idea of what I wanted to do when this whole thing began.
Phil: What was the most difficult part of development for Cards and Castles?
Matt: The interface and controls. Seriously, you always feel like you could be a little more intuitive, a little easier to get in and play and understand immediately, and a little more information you could be showing. And the more information you show, the harder it is for the player to learn!
Phil: The different amount of cards is one of the most impressive aspects of Cards and Castles to me and likely a lot of other people. How difficult was it to balance the cards so no card is significantly more useful than the others or deemed as overpowered compared to other cards?
Matt: It’s a big challenge, but we have a robust numeric framework that estimates the relative values of cards on a common scale. Once you have everything lined up pretty close to where it needs to be, playtesting will inform the rest of it. We’ve learned a lot of lessons from games of the past and are applying them here!
Phil: With so many cards available, do you worry that Cards and Castles will take some players a lot of time to learn the game and learn the ins and outs of each card?
Matt: Not at all. We plan to add many more cards, and when we feel like we have too many cards we will probably move to a ranked format that cycles out cards on a yearly basis, much like other TCGs, so that the card pool does not become overwhelming and impossible to balance.
Phil: Being a collectible card game, what kind of deck do players start out with during their Cards and Castles playing career? How are cards added to their collection?
Matt: You start out with a basic set of starter cards for the Viking faction, which is a simpler faction based around unit strength. You get a lot of units to start. As you play other factions, you level them up which gives you starter cards rather quickly. You also earn points which can be used to get free booster packs. There are also simple single-player scenarios that award cards too!
Phil: How will you keep players engaged with Cards and Castles for the long haul?
Matt: We have a lot of new cards and single player content coming out soon!
Phil: Cards and Castles has a very pleasant, uniform art style. How did your team decide on the art direction of the game?
Matt: I’m going to hand this one over to our art director, Dylan.
Dylan: Early in our process we were using Flash prototypes. We wanted an art style that would be Flash friendly, so we studied a lot of other popular web and flash artists. Ironically, we thought this game's visuals would be more serious, but found this type of art relied on visual humor and sarcasm. In that sense much of our world designs are self-ware and derivative of that style. It took us a long time to build our own style, but we ended up with an art and animation direction that is both playful and serious, which fits the gameplay perfectly.
Phil: Who is the primary demographic for Cards and Castles that you’re hoping to lure in and excite right out from the gate?
Matt: Everyone! Seriously, we’ve put a lot of work into making this game fun and accessible while retaining great depth. It’s easy to learn but hard to master! But if I had to pick some people, I’d say anyone who’s ever enjoyed a tactics game or a trading card game will be really excited by Cards and Castles.
Phil: How does it feel to have Cards and Castles’ initial development behind you?
Matt: It’s a big relief! No more 80 hour weeks. And we are all incredibly excited to have people get at our new game!
A big thanks to Matt Siegel and other members of the Cards and Castles team for taking time out of their launch preparations to answer my questions. Cards and Castles is available now for download on iOS (see here) and Android devices (see here).
Phil Stortzum: First off, who is on the development team for Cards and Castles? What are their functions on the team? What backgrounds in gaming does the team have?
Matt Siegel.: I'm lead designer and developer with 7-years of professional experience doing software engineering, game design and balance for a variety of studios including Disney Interactive.
Phil: Where did the inspiration for Cards and Castles come from? How did your team decide that this was the game that you folks wanted to make?
Matt: I really enjoy making strategy games, and I felt the combination with collectible cards was a natural fit for the genre. I did all the initial prototypes and development before bringing on a team to round out the game.
Phil: What makes Cards and Castles stand out from other games of its type and genre?
Matt: We are a genre combo that hasn’t really been explored too deeply yet, so that alone makes us unique in the current market. Scrolls is probably the most well known attempt at this mashup but it didn’t catch on for different reasons and is being shut down by Microsoft.
We’ve put a lot of work into retaining simple mechanics that interact in complex ways and are expertly balanced. I have a background in theory crafting, I was a spreadsheet master before I was a professional game dev, so you can expect a competitive and balanced atmosphere. You can also expect a lot of fun mechanics and awesome card combos!
Phil: When did development for Cards and Castles begin?
Matt: More than 2 years ago, as a prototype for a turn-based RTS. Yes, I know what that acronym means. I had a very different idea of what I wanted to do when this whole thing began.
Phil: What was the most difficult part of development for Cards and Castles?
Matt: The interface and controls. Seriously, you always feel like you could be a little more intuitive, a little easier to get in and play and understand immediately, and a little more information you could be showing. And the more information you show, the harder it is for the player to learn!
Matt: It’s a big challenge, but we have a robust numeric framework that estimates the relative values of cards on a common scale. Once you have everything lined up pretty close to where it needs to be, playtesting will inform the rest of it. We’ve learned a lot of lessons from games of the past and are applying them here!
Phil: With so many cards available, do you worry that Cards and Castles will take some players a lot of time to learn the game and learn the ins and outs of each card?
Matt: Not at all. We plan to add many more cards, and when we feel like we have too many cards we will probably move to a ranked format that cycles out cards on a yearly basis, much like other TCGs, so that the card pool does not become overwhelming and impossible to balance.
Phil: Being a collectible card game, what kind of deck do players start out with during their Cards and Castles playing career? How are cards added to their collection?
Matt: You start out with a basic set of starter cards for the Viking faction, which is a simpler faction based around unit strength. You get a lot of units to start. As you play other factions, you level them up which gives you starter cards rather quickly. You also earn points which can be used to get free booster packs. There are also simple single-player scenarios that award cards too!
Phil: How will you keep players engaged with Cards and Castles for the long haul?
Matt: We have a lot of new cards and single player content coming out soon!
 |
| An exclusive look at the Imp, a unit which will be released in a future Cards and Castles expansion! |
Matt: I’m going to hand this one over to our art director, Dylan.
Dylan: Early in our process we were using Flash prototypes. We wanted an art style that would be Flash friendly, so we studied a lot of other popular web and flash artists. Ironically, we thought this game's visuals would be more serious, but found this type of art relied on visual humor and sarcasm. In that sense much of our world designs are self-ware and derivative of that style. It took us a long time to build our own style, but we ended up with an art and animation direction that is both playful and serious, which fits the gameplay perfectly.
Phil: Who is the primary demographic for Cards and Castles that you’re hoping to lure in and excite right out from the gate?
Matt: Everyone! Seriously, we’ve put a lot of work into making this game fun and accessible while retaining great depth. It’s easy to learn but hard to master! But if I had to pick some people, I’d say anyone who’s ever enjoyed a tactics game or a trading card game will be really excited by Cards and Castles.
Phil: How does it feel to have Cards and Castles’ initial development behind you?
Matt: It’s a big relief! No more 80 hour weeks. And we are all incredibly excited to have people get at our new game!
===
A big thanks to Matt Siegel and other members of the Cards and Castles team for taking time out of their launch preparations to answer my questions. Cards and Castles is available now for download on iOS (see here) and Android devices (see here).
Monday, July 27, 2015
SPC Interviews: Butterscotch Shenanigans (Crashlands)
Watching the trailer for Butterscotch Shenanigans' upcoming release Crashlands sort of tells you everything you need to know about who this trio of brothers is and what they are like. That is to say that they're funny, hardworking, know how to make an impression, are a bit wacky, and are a little crazy at the same time, but the right mix of crazy. If you don't believe me, check out this interview with two of three brothers of Butterscotch Shenanigans, Adam and Seth Coster. We talk about their independent venture, the trials and tribulations of development (including the fact that one of the brothers suffered from two bouts of cancer during development-- sort of a big deal), future projects, and various other topics.
Phil Stortzum: First off, I’ve got to know-- where did the name “Butterscotch Shenanigans” come from?
Adam Coster: Pretty much random word association. During a road trip between our hometown in Iowa and St. Louis we decided to make the company. This was a year or so before Sam and Seth started game development. The original intention of the company was to be a catch-all thing for whatever we wanted to do (hence, “shenanigans”). We just somehow ended on the word Butterscotch after playing word associations for a few hundred iterations, and it stuck.
Phil: How did you three brothers decide to form an independent game studio?
Adam: That’s a long, convoluted story. But here’s the short version: Seth always wanted to be in game dev but thought he couldn’t since he didn’t know how to program. Sam came across YoYo Games’ platform Gamemaker Studio, which lets you start programming with drag-and-drop, and let Seth know about it. Seth started making games, spending hours every single day and most of the hours every weekend, for over a year, until he became a proficient programmer and game developer. Sam and Seth did a game jam in STL and by happenstance were grouped with the CEO of a local studio, who hired them after the jam. They worked in that studio for 9 months but wanted to do their own thing. They had a 6 month runway of savings, and went for it. I had no role in the formation of the game studio, since I was busy with grad school. But after graduating, I jumped into the fray as well. And now here we are.
Phil: Which of your past games did you find the most fun to create?
Adam: All of our games were made before I joined, so for me it was “I Know CPR,” a ridiculous jam game we made while I was still in grad school. A close second would be Narwhal Online, a prototype we also made during a jam that we’ll turn into a full franchise sometime after Crashlands.
Phil: Other than your current work-in-progress, Crashlands, is there a game which was particularly difficult to create?
Seth Coster: No game is difficult to create as a whole, once you get the basics down. Every now and then we’ll come across a crazy problem that we have to solve, but when that happens, we just sit down for a couple hours, come up with a solution, and then spend a couple days getting it done. For example, when we first set out to make Crashlands, the game was supposed to be an infinite world. But I didn’t have the understanding or technical capability to make that a reality. At first, the game took 7 minutes to generate the world, and the world only took 4 minutes to run across. So I spent a week researching random world generation until I knew enough to come up with a better way, and now we have an instantly-generated world that’s so big it might as well be infinite.
Things are only as difficult as you allow them to be. If you can’t figure something out, approach it from another angle. Consult with friends and peers. Do some research. Keep hacking away at it until you get it right. Grit and determination make everything easy.
Phil: Is there a past game of yours that you wish you could have spent more time, or weren’t exactly the most proud of with how it turned out?
Adam: Most of our titles were born in game jams and not fully fleshed out, but we still published them on Google Play. Late last year we decided to clean the crap out of our portfolio, so we unpublished everything except for what are now our core 4 games, which we then spent months remaking. Of those, I still wish there was more to Roid Rage. It’s just too small of a game with almost no meta gameplay. But we’ve also learned that you can’t resurrect a financially dead game, so we’ll just keep moving forward.
Seth: For me, I have to say... NO REGRETS! We have to always be looking forward. Every game we’ve made has taught us a lot, from both a game development perspective and a business perspective. I’m proud of that fact alone, so it doesn’t really matter how the games turned out in the end. Making games is like doing science. There’s always more to learn, and you just have to keep coming up with ideas and experimenting. We’re always learning with every game we make, and that’s enough.
Phil: How does your team of three brothers come up and all decide on a game to make? What makes all of you agree and say, “Yeah, let’s work on THIS!”?
Adam: Basically free-form, filterless improv. The more ridiculous the better, and the more fun it sounds the better. We just assume we’ll eventually figure out how to implement any of the ideas that come up, so we only say “no” to something when practicalities obviously prevent it (e.g. when the facts of piracy and hacking would break a particular kind of multiplayer experience, or the chance for financial success). Our games typically start as a single mechanic and situation, and then we just start making and iterating.
Seth: Pretty much what Adam said. Coming up with ideas for a game is the most fun part, because you can do whatever you want. It becomes much harder to add stuff to a game after it’s already well along, because you have to make new ideas jive with existing systems. But at the beginning, during those first few days of idea generation, it’s magical. There are no limits.
Phil: Where/how did the three of you learn to do all of the work required to make such sophisticated games?
Adam: We’re all self-taught in our particular roles, and we work our asses off every single day. We are fairly siloed in what we know how to do, so that allows the other two the freedom to come up with cool ideas without realizing how hard it would be to actually implement them. Then the third person just has to go figure it out, and is given the time and freedom required to do that. But we also need speed, so if a hurdle comes up that would take a bit too long to get over, we pivot immediately and make a new plan. Our game development process is 100% iterative, and each of us is willing to abandon an idea in a moment, without hard feelings.
Seth: If you want to teach yourself something, it’s purely a question of time. You have 24 hours in a day. You put 7 of them toward sleep (6 if you’re hardcore), 8 toward your day job, or school, or whatever, and you’ll lose another 4 or so to general maintenance of your life. That still leaves 5 hours in the day to do whatever’s most important to you. For me, the most important thing was to learn to code so I could make video games. So that’s where my 5 hours went, every day for a year. And on weekends, it was all day every day. I put in well over 3,000 hours of self-teaching in my first year of game development alone. If you put in that kind of time, you’d be surprised how quickly you can teach yourself just about anything.
Phil: Which games have inspired you guys the most throughout your game making and game playing careers?
Adam: For me it’s been successful mobile and small indie games in general. Because I look at those and know that I/we can make something at least as good, and those successful games prove that such a thing can be done as a real job.
Seth: World of Warcraft. It was a game that changed everything, both for me and for the games industry. That game is proof that you should never listen to people who tell you that something can’t be done -- MMO’s were thought to be a niche game type that only the most truly hardcore of nerds would ever play. Blizzard put a cork in that within months of launching World of Warcraft. And for me, as a player of that game, it showed me that games could be a lot more than a simple little burst of fun, or a good story. A game can form friendships, teach you things, and it can even become a way of life.
Phil: Crashlands, as many folks know, is your latest title that is approaching the end of development and impending release. What can you tell SuperPhillip Central readers about the game? What makes it so special compared to games in its genre?
Adam: It’s a crafting game with story and without inventory management. And it has a web-based editor for players to make entirely new experiences inside the game world. Add to that the complete cross-platform save system and social network and there is nothing else like it!
Seth: I’d also say... the same thing that makes every Butterscotch game special! It’s colorful, it’s packed full of jokes and humor, it’s ridiculous, and we put a lot of passion into making it the best thing we could possibly make it. I think people get that sense when they play our games -- we really care about them.
Phil: What have been some of the most difficult parts to developing Crashlands?
Adam: For me it is the Crashlands Creator, which is the web tool that we’re using to build the in-game story. It’s basically a high-level programming interface for story, so you can make characters, boss fights, and complex quests and bases. But that tool also has to be useable by Crashlands players, so it has to be intuitive, robust, and secure. Every single thing I had to do for that tool was something that I had absolutely no idea how to do!
Seth: Balance... for sure. I love the challenge of balancing game systems. It’s one of the craziest things I’ve ever had to do. But Crashlands has so much stuff in it, that it goes to a whole new level of crazy.
Phil: For those unaware, one of the Butterscotch brothers has had serious health issues, but is currently kicking cancer’s ass (ed. Note: Sorry for the swear, but it was needed in this case) in triumphant fashion. What happened to development during these especially difficult times?
Adam: Honestly I might not have joined the studio if it wasn’t for the cancer nonsense. It forced me to reprioritize my life and act quickly on those priorities. And so I worked my ass off and graduated really quickly (a normal molecular biology PhD is 5 years and I finished in just under 4, which was 6 months after Sam’s diagnosis). I was already working full time for Butterscotch the week following my graduation. During chemo and other rough patches I would usually just throw myself harder into the work, though sometimes Seth and I would work on side projects as a form of distraction. Development was hugely affected by it all, but not in a way that is easy to quantify. Things just came out a lot differently than they otherwise would have.
Seth: Sometimes it made things easier to work on, because there was a constant sense of determination being infused into the project. Especially at the beginning, when we had no idea what was happening other than “this is really really bad,” The sense of urgency for the project was huge, and I found it very easy to just go full-force into working on Crashlands. Plus, it was therapeutic and gave me a sense that I was helping.
Other times, it wasn’t so easy. When Sam was going through his first stem-cell transplant, there were a few days in which he was especially vulnerable because he had no white blood cells. For those uninformed, that means he had no way to fight off infections. He also wasn’t producing any of his own blood because his bone marrow had been wiped out by the chemotherapy, and he was developing fevers and coughs and was so weak he couldn’t stand for more than 30 seconds without throwing up from the exertion. And I couldn’t go see him, because the risk of me getting him sick with something was too great. When I knew all that was happening, it was impossible to concentrate. So I would just take a day to try to decompress by going for walks with my dog, watching stupid shows on Netflix, or reading.
So yeah... definitely a mixed bag.
Phil: Which part of Crashlands’ development have you guys thought to yourselves, “Okay. We’ve finally turned the corner on this savage beast”?
Adam: I joined when Crashlands was already a complete game. Since then, we’ve overhauled every damn mechanic in the game once or twice, and every time I thought “WOW, this thing is ready to ship!” Looking back, I was wrong every time. Just a week ago I finished the Crashlands Creator, and within the past week Sam used it to build the story for half of the entire game. That was the most recent corner-turning, and I totally believe it’ll be the last.
Seth: Yep. The story. It’s something that we’ve been working toward for a long time, but we needed the Crashlands Creator to be complete before we could do it. Now that it’s there, the story is just BLASTING into existence, and it is changing everything. Crashlands takes inspiration from a lot of other crafting-based games, but the presence of a narrative (and a truly insane one at that), and how that narrative complements the crafting and progression, is going to give people a whole new perspective on what a crafting game can be like.
Phil: Who is Crashlands being marketed towards? What kind of players are you expecting to download this game?
Adam: EVERYONE. But seriously, we wanted it to be an overall friendly game (hence the absurd humor and minimal consequences to in-game death) that is still challenging and fun even for avid gamers. With so many mechanics, harvested from so many genres, there really is something for everyone. The combat system is super fun, but challenging, so the only it’s the only thing I see pushing more casual gamers away. I hope they play it anyway.
Seth: People who don’t take life too seriously. Is there market data on that?
Phil: What engine are you making Crashlands in? What software is being used for the incredible art?
Adam: The engine is Seth + Gamemaker Studio. The art engine is Sam + Inkscape. My brothers are experts at their respective crafts, and are so intimately familiar with the software that it’s a little creepy sometimes. Sam can make a new art asset in 10-15 minutes, and Seth can recode an entire game system in half a day. It’s just weird.
Seth: Adam forgot all the tools he’s developed, though. Crashlands would be a much different beast if we didn’t have him in the mix. For example, whenever we add a new item to the game (like a weapon, or a chair, or resource, or whatever), there are a ton of things that need to be encoded for it to work. Adam automated this process by creating a Python script that writes Game Maker code for us by hacking the XML files that the game’s data is stored in. So where it used to take 30 minutes or more to hook a new item up, now it takes 3 (with a little bit of testing time). And, of course, there’s the Crashlands Creator, which is the web-based tool Adam created to allow us to rapidly build the game’s story. I think he used five different languages for that one, but I don’t even know.
Phil: What will you guys do once Crashlands has been completed? Are there other game ideas you’ve been tossing around or projects you have put on the backburner?
Adam: We have a lot of plans, though the order in which they occur will heavily depend on the consequences of launching Crashlands. Narwhal Online is still the next brand-new game we have planned, though we may finish up some already nearly-complete games before that, or port some existing games to other platforms.
Seth: Once Crashlands is done, I’ll be crapping my pants and sending out emergency patches for a month. That’s my plan.
Phil: What advice do you have for people that are interested in making games and possibly going independent as well?
Adam: Work your ass off and be ready to accept when you have failed at something. Take it as a learning opportunity and do it better the next time, and never stop moving forward. If you’re going to go independent, accept the realities of the games market. Competition is extreme and so making a good game is required but not sufficient. You can’t just plop a game down, no matter how good it is, and make money off of it. You won’t make any money for a long time unless you have a really good marketing plan, a really good game, and a lot of luck. You’ll need a financial safety net (either enough savings to live off of or a financially secure partner willing to take the gamble with you).
Seth: Adam said it. I’d also just add that I’ve talked to a lot of people who claim to want to be game developers. But to be honest, most of them actually don’t want it at all. I know this, because if someone really wants something, they go and get it. And only about 1 out of 100 aspiring game developers I’ve met have actually put in the time and effort necessary to make it a reality. So my advice would be... don’t just want it. Be one of the rare ones who makes a plan and actually does it.
Phil: Are there any final words you’d like to offer to my readers?
Seth: QUIT READING AND GET BACK TO GAMING.
I'm going to quit typing and get back to gaming, too, on that note. My special thanks to the busy Butterscotch Shenanigans crew for taking time out of their schedules to answer my questions.
Phil Stortzum: First off, I’ve got to know-- where did the name “Butterscotch Shenanigans” come from?
Adam Coster: Pretty much random word association. During a road trip between our hometown in Iowa and St. Louis we decided to make the company. This was a year or so before Sam and Seth started game development. The original intention of the company was to be a catch-all thing for whatever we wanted to do (hence, “shenanigans”). We just somehow ended on the word Butterscotch after playing word associations for a few hundred iterations, and it stuck.Phil: How did you three brothers decide to form an independent game studio?
Adam: That’s a long, convoluted story. But here’s the short version: Seth always wanted to be in game dev but thought he couldn’t since he didn’t know how to program. Sam came across YoYo Games’ platform Gamemaker Studio, which lets you start programming with drag-and-drop, and let Seth know about it. Seth started making games, spending hours every single day and most of the hours every weekend, for over a year, until he became a proficient programmer and game developer. Sam and Seth did a game jam in STL and by happenstance were grouped with the CEO of a local studio, who hired them after the jam. They worked in that studio for 9 months but wanted to do their own thing. They had a 6 month runway of savings, and went for it. I had no role in the formation of the game studio, since I was busy with grad school. But after graduating, I jumped into the fray as well. And now here we are.
 |
| Adam Coster |
Adam: All of our games were made before I joined, so for me it was “I Know CPR,” a ridiculous jam game we made while I was still in grad school. A close second would be Narwhal Online, a prototype we also made during a jam that we’ll turn into a full franchise sometime after Crashlands.
Phil: Other than your current work-in-progress, Crashlands, is there a game which was particularly difficult to create?
Seth Coster: No game is difficult to create as a whole, once you get the basics down. Every now and then we’ll come across a crazy problem that we have to solve, but when that happens, we just sit down for a couple hours, come up with a solution, and then spend a couple days getting it done. For example, when we first set out to make Crashlands, the game was supposed to be an infinite world. But I didn’t have the understanding or technical capability to make that a reality. At first, the game took 7 minutes to generate the world, and the world only took 4 minutes to run across. So I spent a week researching random world generation until I knew enough to come up with a better way, and now we have an instantly-generated world that’s so big it might as well be infinite.
 |
| Seth Coster |
Phil: Is there a past game of yours that you wish you could have spent more time, or weren’t exactly the most proud of with how it turned out?
Adam: Most of our titles were born in game jams and not fully fleshed out, but we still published them on Google Play. Late last year we decided to clean the crap out of our portfolio, so we unpublished everything except for what are now our core 4 games, which we then spent months remaking. Of those, I still wish there was more to Roid Rage. It’s just too small of a game with almost no meta gameplay. But we’ve also learned that you can’t resurrect a financially dead game, so we’ll just keep moving forward.
 |
| Sam Coster |
Phil: How does your team of three brothers come up and all decide on a game to make? What makes all of you agree and say, “Yeah, let’s work on THIS!”?
Adam: Basically free-form, filterless improv. The more ridiculous the better, and the more fun it sounds the better. We just assume we’ll eventually figure out how to implement any of the ideas that come up, so we only say “no” to something when practicalities obviously prevent it (e.g. when the facts of piracy and hacking would break a particular kind of multiplayer experience, or the chance for financial success). Our games typically start as a single mechanic and situation, and then we just start making and iterating.
Seth: Pretty much what Adam said. Coming up with ideas for a game is the most fun part, because you can do whatever you want. It becomes much harder to add stuff to a game after it’s already well along, because you have to make new ideas jive with existing systems. But at the beginning, during those first few days of idea generation, it’s magical. There are no limits.
Phil: Where/how did the three of you learn to do all of the work required to make such sophisticated games?
Adam: We’re all self-taught in our particular roles, and we work our asses off every single day. We are fairly siloed in what we know how to do, so that allows the other two the freedom to come up with cool ideas without realizing how hard it would be to actually implement them. Then the third person just has to go figure it out, and is given the time and freedom required to do that. But we also need speed, so if a hurdle comes up that would take a bit too long to get over, we pivot immediately and make a new plan. Our game development process is 100% iterative, and each of us is willing to abandon an idea in a moment, without hard feelings.
Phil: Which games have inspired you guys the most throughout your game making and game playing careers?
Adam: For me it’s been successful mobile and small indie games in general. Because I look at those and know that I/we can make something at least as good, and those successful games prove that such a thing can be done as a real job.
Seth: World of Warcraft. It was a game that changed everything, both for me and for the games industry. That game is proof that you should never listen to people who tell you that something can’t be done -- MMO’s were thought to be a niche game type that only the most truly hardcore of nerds would ever play. Blizzard put a cork in that within months of launching World of Warcraft. And for me, as a player of that game, it showed me that games could be a lot more than a simple little burst of fun, or a good story. A game can form friendships, teach you things, and it can even become a way of life.
Phil: Crashlands, as many folks know, is your latest title that is approaching the end of development and impending release. What can you tell SuperPhillip Central readers about the game? What makes it so special compared to games in its genre?
Adam: It’s a crafting game with story and without inventory management. And it has a web-based editor for players to make entirely new experiences inside the game world. Add to that the complete cross-platform save system and social network and there is nothing else like it!
Seth: I’d also say... the same thing that makes every Butterscotch game special! It’s colorful, it’s packed full of jokes and humor, it’s ridiculous, and we put a lot of passion into making it the best thing we could possibly make it. I think people get that sense when they play our games -- we really care about them.
Phil: What have been some of the most difficult parts to developing Crashlands?
Adam: For me it is the Crashlands Creator, which is the web tool that we’re using to build the in-game story. It’s basically a high-level programming interface for story, so you can make characters, boss fights, and complex quests and bases. But that tool also has to be useable by Crashlands players, so it has to be intuitive, robust, and secure. Every single thing I had to do for that tool was something that I had absolutely no idea how to do!
Seth: Balance... for sure. I love the challenge of balancing game systems. It’s one of the craziest things I’ve ever had to do. But Crashlands has so much stuff in it, that it goes to a whole new level of crazy.
Phil: For those unaware, one of the Butterscotch brothers has had serious health issues, but is currently kicking cancer’s ass (ed. Note: Sorry for the swear, but it was needed in this case) in triumphant fashion. What happened to development during these especially difficult times?
Seth: Sometimes it made things easier to work on, because there was a constant sense of determination being infused into the project. Especially at the beginning, when we had no idea what was happening other than “this is really really bad,” The sense of urgency for the project was huge, and I found it very easy to just go full-force into working on Crashlands. Plus, it was therapeutic and gave me a sense that I was helping.
Other times, it wasn’t so easy. When Sam was going through his first stem-cell transplant, there were a few days in which he was especially vulnerable because he had no white blood cells. For those uninformed, that means he had no way to fight off infections. He also wasn’t producing any of his own blood because his bone marrow had been wiped out by the chemotherapy, and he was developing fevers and coughs and was so weak he couldn’t stand for more than 30 seconds without throwing up from the exertion. And I couldn’t go see him, because the risk of me getting him sick with something was too great. When I knew all that was happening, it was impossible to concentrate. So I would just take a day to try to decompress by going for walks with my dog, watching stupid shows on Netflix, or reading.
So yeah... definitely a mixed bag.
Phil: Which part of Crashlands’ development have you guys thought to yourselves, “Okay. We’ve finally turned the corner on this savage beast”?
Seth: Yep. The story. It’s something that we’ve been working toward for a long time, but we needed the Crashlands Creator to be complete before we could do it. Now that it’s there, the story is just BLASTING into existence, and it is changing everything. Crashlands takes inspiration from a lot of other crafting-based games, but the presence of a narrative (and a truly insane one at that), and how that narrative complements the crafting and progression, is going to give people a whole new perspective on what a crafting game can be like.
Phil: Who is Crashlands being marketed towards? What kind of players are you expecting to download this game?
Adam: EVERYONE. But seriously, we wanted it to be an overall friendly game (hence the absurd humor and minimal consequences to in-game death) that is still challenging and fun even for avid gamers. With so many mechanics, harvested from so many genres, there really is something for everyone. The combat system is super fun, but challenging, so the only it’s the only thing I see pushing more casual gamers away. I hope they play it anyway.
Seth: People who don’t take life too seriously. Is there market data on that?
Phil: What engine are you making Crashlands in? What software is being used for the incredible art?
Adam: The engine is Seth + Gamemaker Studio. The art engine is Sam + Inkscape. My brothers are experts at their respective crafts, and are so intimately familiar with the software that it’s a little creepy sometimes. Sam can make a new art asset in 10-15 minutes, and Seth can recode an entire game system in half a day. It’s just weird.
Seth: Adam forgot all the tools he’s developed, though. Crashlands would be a much different beast if we didn’t have him in the mix. For example, whenever we add a new item to the game (like a weapon, or a chair, or resource, or whatever), there are a ton of things that need to be encoded for it to work. Adam automated this process by creating a Python script that writes Game Maker code for us by hacking the XML files that the game’s data is stored in. So where it used to take 30 minutes or more to hook a new item up, now it takes 3 (with a little bit of testing time). And, of course, there’s the Crashlands Creator, which is the web-based tool Adam created to allow us to rapidly build the game’s story. I think he used five different languages for that one, but I don’t even know.
Phil: What will you guys do once Crashlands has been completed? Are there other game ideas you’ve been tossing around or projects you have put on the backburner?
Seth: Once Crashlands is done, I’ll be crapping my pants and sending out emergency patches for a month. That’s my plan.
Phil: What advice do you have for people that are interested in making games and possibly going independent as well?
Adam: Work your ass off and be ready to accept when you have failed at something. Take it as a learning opportunity and do it better the next time, and never stop moving forward. If you’re going to go independent, accept the realities of the games market. Competition is extreme and so making a good game is required but not sufficient. You can’t just plop a game down, no matter how good it is, and make money off of it. You won’t make any money for a long time unless you have a really good marketing plan, a really good game, and a lot of luck. You’ll need a financial safety net (either enough savings to live off of or a financially secure partner willing to take the gamble with you).
Seth: Adam said it. I’d also just add that I’ve talked to a lot of people who claim to want to be game developers. But to be honest, most of them actually don’t want it at all. I know this, because if someone really wants something, they go and get it. And only about 1 out of 100 aspiring game developers I’ve met have actually put in the time and effort necessary to make it a reality. So my advice would be... don’t just want it. Be one of the rare ones who makes a plan and actually does it.
Phil: Are there any final words you’d like to offer to my readers?
Seth: QUIT READING AND GET BACK TO GAMING.
===
I'm going to quit typing and get back to gaming, too, on that note. My special thanks to the busy Butterscotch Shenanigans crew for taking time out of their schedules to answer my questions.
Friday, June 19, 2015
SPC Interviews: Happy Badger Studio (SmuggleCraft)
I've had the privilege of interviewing some great subjects in the past: Sean Velasco of Yacht Club Games (Shovel Knight), Manfred Linzner of Shin'en Multimedia (FAST Racing NEO), and most recently, Big John Games (Cube Creator 3D). However, this interview subject is more personal to me as part of the St. Louis game development community. Happy Badger Studio is stationed right here in St. Louis, and I've known most of the crew there for a couple of years now. It excites me that they're entering console development with their work on the upcoming PlayStation 4 downloadable title SmuggleCraft, an atypical racing game featuring players piloting hovercrafts through procedurally generated courses. See the details of this upcoming PS4 release with my interview with them below.
Phil Stortzum (PS): Just to bring everyone up to speed, would you tell everyone about Happy Badger Studio, how long you've been a team, past games, and the origins of your studio?
Happy Badger (HB): Happy Badger Studio has been making games since 2011, including mobile titles like Stodgy Gents, The Flip. Cosmic Kitty Pop, and Strange Donuts vs. The World, among others. Long story short, we and several friends came together shortly after graduating from college, and decided to work together to make games.
PS: In our first interview I asked if you were ever going to delve into console gaming. Now, several years later, SmuggleCraft is your console debut, and it’s looking promising. What made you decide now was the time to try your hand at console game development?
HB: It felt like the right time for us to experiment with console game development. We wanted to create something that felt more substantial than a two-minute mobile game, and PC and console seemed like the obvious choice. Once we saw the PlayStation presentation at IndieCade, we were convinced that Sony would be the right platform for us moving forward.
PS: Where did the inspiration to make SmuggleCraft come from? Where did the ideas about the mechanics, narrative, and structure originate?
HB: The idea came out of wanting to question what's typically expected of a racing game, and make something totally unique. We were tired of games that ask you to constantly race around in circles, so our first goal of the prototype was to make a game that was fun to play and had randomly-generated tracks to keep players from memorizing circuit tracks.
PS: When did development for SmuggleCraft begin? What did you work on first for the game?
HB: We started in October of 2014. In the beginning, it was just one or two of us working on it a few hours a week. We spent most of our time in the beginning focusing on controls and the feel of the hovercraft. We knew that it had to feel just right, so we spent a lot of time getting it exactly where we wanted it. It wasn’t until later on that we started adding in better graphics, effects, and additional mechanics.
PS: When is development set to end for SmuggleCraft, and when is the game planned to be released?
HB: We’re aiming to release early 2016. There’s a lot of work left to be done!
PS: Do you worry that the name of SmuggleCraft might lead people to believe your game is related in gameplay style to Minecraft and games of its ilk?
HB: Some people don’t like the name. I guess they think ‘craft’ is overused. It’s a bit polarizing, and we think that’s okay. In the end, it’s a hovercraft game that’s about the skill (or craft) of smuggling, and it also includes craft-able vehicle parts. It seemed too perfect.
PS: SmuggleCraft features procedurally generated courses to speed one’s hovercraft on. How does they work and how hard was it to make it so randomized courses didn’t look or play off-kilter or totally messes?
HB: The track is designed sort of like a puzzle-piece system. The track pieces have a variety of path sizes that connect to other pieces with the same size path. Each track piece is designed carefully with a specific experience in mind, but which pieces will ultimately connect together is randomized.
PS: Not only are the courses procedurally generated, but if I recall correctly, so are the hovercrafts presently. Do you plan to offer hovercraft customization?
HB: Hovercrafts will be customizable. The hovercrafts in the multiplayer demo right now are random to visualize the variety in crafts that there can be, but ultimately players will be able to use their own custom vehicles using modular ship parts.
PS: What does the single-player portion of SmuggleCraft currently offer, and what else do you plan on adding to it? How much variety will there be apart from maneuvering one’s hovercraft from the start of a given course to the finish?
HB: The single player campaign mode will offer a few different quest types for players to enjoy, and an overall narrative that they can play out and will change depending on the quests they take on and the way they play the game.
PS: How is progress measured in SmuggleCraft? How are you going to keep SmuggleCraft in the minds of players for the long-term, so it’s not just played once and then never played again?
HB: Our hope is that players will fall in love with the gameplay in the single player campaign mode, then continue to play as a social experience with the local and online multiplayer functionality. We've found within ourselves that the games that we play the longest and keep coming back to are the ones that give us a great social experience.
PS: When I played SmuggleCraft at your studio, I accumulated credits as I completed racing events. What are they going to be used for?
HB: Credits will primarily be used for the crafting system. Players will be able to use what they collect to make ship parts and upgrade their ships to suit their specific driving preferences.
PS: What are you planning on offering for multiplayer? Will there be local as well as online play, and if so, for how many players? What is your biggest ambition towards multiplayer in SmuggleCraft?
HB: We do plan to offer both local and online. We’d love to be able to offer eight or more players simultaneously online, but we still have a lot of work to do for that, so we’ll see what we can do!
PS: What is each member doing as part of SmuggleCraft’s development?
HB: Ben Triola: Producer, Designer;
Dana Huth: Creative Director, Level Designer;
Carol Mertz: Narrative Designer, Character Artist;
Joey Paniello: Lead Developer;
TJ Hughes: Technical Artist;
Philip Hayes: Music
PS: You’ve been collaborating with Sony for SmuggleCraft with them giving you access to a PlayStation 4 development kit. How was the process to become a PS4 developer? Has Sony been kind and complementary to your studio?
HB: Sony has been very helpful and supportive throughout the process. We are really grateful to be working on a title for the PlayStation 4.
PS: Where do you see Happy Badger Studio in a year’s time? Five years? If I could be so bold, in ten years' time?
HB: For all of those things: still making great games!
My thanks to the Happy Badger Studio crew for their time and thoughtful responses through this insanely busy time for them. Stay tuned to SuperPhillip Central for even more interviews in the future of developers both big, small, and everything in between.
Phil Stortzum (PS): Just to bring everyone up to speed, would you tell everyone about Happy Badger Studio, how long you've been a team, past games, and the origins of your studio?
Happy Badger (HB): Happy Badger Studio has been making games since 2011, including mobile titles like Stodgy Gents, The Flip. Cosmic Kitty Pop, and Strange Donuts vs. The World, among others. Long story short, we and several friends came together shortly after graduating from college, and decided to work together to make games.
PS: In our first interview I asked if you were ever going to delve into console gaming. Now, several years later, SmuggleCraft is your console debut, and it’s looking promising. What made you decide now was the time to try your hand at console game development?
PS: Where did the inspiration to make SmuggleCraft come from? Where did the ideas about the mechanics, narrative, and structure originate?
HB: The idea came out of wanting to question what's typically expected of a racing game, and make something totally unique. We were tired of games that ask you to constantly race around in circles, so our first goal of the prototype was to make a game that was fun to play and had randomly-generated tracks to keep players from memorizing circuit tracks.
PS: When did development for SmuggleCraft begin? What did you work on first for the game?
HB: We started in October of 2014. In the beginning, it was just one or two of us working on it a few hours a week. We spent most of our time in the beginning focusing on controls and the feel of the hovercraft. We knew that it had to feel just right, so we spent a lot of time getting it exactly where we wanted it. It wasn’t until later on that we started adding in better graphics, effects, and additional mechanics.
PS: When is development set to end for SmuggleCraft, and when is the game planned to be released?
HB: We’re aiming to release early 2016. There’s a lot of work left to be done!
PS: Do you worry that the name of SmuggleCraft might lead people to believe your game is related in gameplay style to Minecraft and games of its ilk?
HB: Some people don’t like the name. I guess they think ‘craft’ is overused. It’s a bit polarizing, and we think that’s okay. In the end, it’s a hovercraft game that’s about the skill (or craft) of smuggling, and it also includes craft-able vehicle parts. It seemed too perfect.
PS: SmuggleCraft features procedurally generated courses to speed one’s hovercraft on. How does they work and how hard was it to make it so randomized courses didn’t look or play off-kilter or totally messes?
HB: The track is designed sort of like a puzzle-piece system. The track pieces have a variety of path sizes that connect to other pieces with the same size path. Each track piece is designed carefully with a specific experience in mind, but which pieces will ultimately connect together is randomized.
PS: Not only are the courses procedurally generated, but if I recall correctly, so are the hovercrafts presently. Do you plan to offer hovercraft customization?
HB: Hovercrafts will be customizable. The hovercrafts in the multiplayer demo right now are random to visualize the variety in crafts that there can be, but ultimately players will be able to use their own custom vehicles using modular ship parts.
PS: What does the single-player portion of SmuggleCraft currently offer, and what else do you plan on adding to it? How much variety will there be apart from maneuvering one’s hovercraft from the start of a given course to the finish?
HB: The single player campaign mode will offer a few different quest types for players to enjoy, and an overall narrative that they can play out and will change depending on the quests they take on and the way they play the game.
HB: Our hope is that players will fall in love with the gameplay in the single player campaign mode, then continue to play as a social experience with the local and online multiplayer functionality. We've found within ourselves that the games that we play the longest and keep coming back to are the ones that give us a great social experience.
PS: When I played SmuggleCraft at your studio, I accumulated credits as I completed racing events. What are they going to be used for?
HB: Credits will primarily be used for the crafting system. Players will be able to use what they collect to make ship parts and upgrade their ships to suit their specific driving preferences.
PS: What are you planning on offering for multiplayer? Will there be local as well as online play, and if so, for how many players? What is your biggest ambition towards multiplayer in SmuggleCraft?
HB: We do plan to offer both local and online. We’d love to be able to offer eight or more players simultaneously online, but we still have a lot of work to do for that, so we’ll see what we can do!
PS: What is each member doing as part of SmuggleCraft’s development?
 |
| From left to right: T.J. Hughes, Carol Mertz, Joey Paniello, Ben Triola, Dana Huth (not pictured: Philip Hayes) |
Dana Huth: Creative Director, Level Designer;
Carol Mertz: Narrative Designer, Character Artist;
Joey Paniello: Lead Developer;
TJ Hughes: Technical Artist;
Philip Hayes: Music
PS: You’ve been collaborating with Sony for SmuggleCraft with them giving you access to a PlayStation 4 development kit. How was the process to become a PS4 developer? Has Sony been kind and complementary to your studio?
HB: Sony has been very helpful and supportive throughout the process. We are really grateful to be working on a title for the PlayStation 4.
PS: Where do you see Happy Badger Studio in a year’s time? Five years? If I could be so bold, in ten years' time?
HB: For all of those things: still making great games!
===
My thanks to the Happy Badger Studio crew for their time and thoughtful responses through this insanely busy time for them. Stay tuned to SuperPhillip Central for even more interviews in the future of developers both big, small, and everything in between.
Wednesday, February 25, 2015
SPC Interviews: Jaywalkers Interactive (Kick & Fennick)
The team at Jaywalkers Interactive isn't a big bunch. In fact, it's just two people, yet they do the work of 10-20 people. That includes doing interviews to places such as SuperPhillip Central. Fresh off of the release of Kick & Fennick, currently a PlayStation Vita exclusive (also available for free for PS+ subscribers), both members of this two-man team took the time out of their hectic work schedules to answer a series of questions by yours truly. From how the studio came into fruition to the process of making Kick & Fennick a PS+ game, this interview ought to give you some more insight into the minds of indie developers.
Since this is an extended interview, check it out after the break.
Since this is an extended interview, check it out after the break.
Tuesday, February 17, 2015
SPC Interviews: Big John Games (Cube Creator 3D)
Cube Creator 3D is a game that is of great interest to many Nintendo platform owners. It's because Minecraft has skipped Nintendo's systems, and fans have been clamoring for any kind of substitute, so much so that the demo for the game will have crossed over 200,000 downloads by the conclusion of this upcoming weekend, according to Ken Patterson of Big John Games. The studio wishes to step in and provide a fitting and polished voxel-based game substitute with their soon-to-be-released Cube Creator 3D.
Last week, I was able to catch the Big John Games team to ask them about details surrounding Cube Creator 3D, its features, possible continued support of the game, how the team is trying to bring a fun voxel-based game to the 3DS, and information about future projects and prospects.
If you missed my interview in 2012 with Big John Games' Ken Patterson, talking about how the studio came into fruition among many other subjects, you can check that out here. Without further ado, let's get to this second Big John Games-focused interview!
Phil Stortzum (PS): Firstly, I’d like to take this opportunity to thank you for agreeing to this interview. It’s really appreciated. My first question regards what made your team decide to create Cube Creator 3D in the first place. Where did the desire come from?
Big John Games (BJG): When we first started developing Cube Creator 3D, there were no voxel type games available for the 3DS. We wanted to see if we could make something similar. There was a demand for it and we wanted to supply a quality product to fill the void.
PS: It’s no surprise that Cube Creator 3D is inspired by Minecraft. Is your team doing anything to distinguish your game so it isn’t just another Minecraft clone (and I use the word “clone” in a non-derogatory way)?
BJG: Minecraft got a lot right. We wanted to make sure we got the fundamentals of what made it what it was and then expand from there. We have added different types of enemies, they are similar in ways but also different. We have portals that will take you to different environments. Each environment is specific, Plains, Mountains, Snow Mountains, and Desert.
PS: What details can you provide about Cube Creator 3D different modes?
BJG: There is a Creative and Survival Mode. In Creative you pick one of the maps and all of the items are available to you. In Survival you start in one map and have the ability to transport to 3 others. You have to collect all of your materials, survive enemies, collect food, you can sleep at night. Very much what you might think of for a typical survival mode.
PS: How big of a playing area can players expect to see with Cube Creator 3D?
BJG: There will be four 192x192x95 worlds in a survival map, and you can choose one 192x192x95 map for creative. Each map has over 3,500,000 spots that can have a cube put in them.
PS: Minecraft allows for grand creations such as towns and castles. What limitations, if any, are there to what players can create in Cube Creator 3D?
PS: This is purely a selfish question, but one of my favorite games from Big John Games was Kart Krashers on DSiWare. Has there been interest expressed by your team to return to that series, possibly for a Nintendo 3DS sequel?
BJG: We would love to create a sequel with multi player, tournaments, and more crashing chaos. It’s on the short list.
PS: What makes your team decide for its games to stick primarily to Nintendo platforms?
BJG: We love the Nintendo platforms. Nintendo is always coming up with cool player input and feedback systems. The eShop, if done properly, is a great place to sell games and earn some revenue for our studio. The eShop audience is receptive to games created by studios like ours. The online news portals, like yours, covers digitally published games. Consumers of the eShop can find out info on literally any game being sold on the eShop.
Nintendo continues to improve the digital buying experience. We look forward to growing with Nintendo as it increases its digital publishing platforms.
PS: In our first discussion together back in 2012 I asked about Wii U development for Big John Games. You responded that the team was going to start developing Wii U projects the following year. How is that progressing? Is there any information or screens you can share about this project?
BJG: We keep looking at Wii U projects. Right now it seems like our resources are better spent making 3DS games. That will change once the right game concept comes along.
PS: This leads me to my next question, how is developing for the Wii U? For ignorant folks like me who are console development illiterate, how much of a difference is there between developing for the Nintendo 3DS and the Wii U? Do they have any similarities?
BJG: We have not built anything on the Wii U yet. We have done Wii, DS, DSi and 3DS games. There is a similarity among the console dev tools that even the Wii U shares. Each system has dev tools that high light features of that particular platform.
We write our code in C++ and have found that much of our core code ports well between Nintendo systems.
Since each system has different graphics abilities. We try to bring out the maximum capability of each system in regards to graphics.
Also player input devices are different, so a lot of thought goes into how the player will interact with the game. Nintendo offers some really cool and unique user feedback experiences.
PS: Moving on from the future to the past, regarding your Nintendo 3DS games and DSiWare titles, have sales been kind your games? Which titles have seen the greatest success thus far?
BJG: We sold a lot of Thorium Wars on the DSi, our sequel on the 3DS has not done as well. Our Big Bass Arcade games have done well on all of the Nintendo platforms. Coaster Creator 3D has sold well on the 3DS here in North America, Europe and has sold really well in Japan. We are very honored to have some of our games selling in Japan.
Reviewers and players seemed to like Ohno Odyssey on the 3DS. But it still had trouble finding an audience on the eShop.. Maybe your readers can download the demo of Ohno Odyssey and give it a try. If they like the demo maybe they will get the full game. It’s a lot of fun to play. We lowered the price to $3.99 and did a content update to add 14 more puzzles, hopefully the demo, the lower price, and the new content will help Ohno find a wider group of players.
PS: Thank you very much for answering my questions. I know your answers will be interesting to a lot of people. Are there any parting words you’d like to say to those reading this interview?
BJG: Thank you for all you do when it comes to informing your readers about games on the Nintendo platforms.
We really do this because we have a passion for playing and creating games. I hope that translates to the players of our games. We really put the player first when we develop our games.
I hope your readers will check out Cube Creator 3D, Lionel City Builder 3D: Rise of the Rails and our other games on the 3DS. We love building the games and really love it when people play and enjoy games.
Big John Games (BJG): When we first started developing Cube Creator 3D, there were no voxel type games available for the 3DS. We wanted to see if we could make something similar. There was a demand for it and we wanted to supply a quality product to fill the void.
PS: It’s no surprise that Cube Creator 3D is inspired by Minecraft. Is your team doing anything to distinguish your game so it isn’t just another Minecraft clone (and I use the word “clone” in a non-derogatory way)?
BJG: Minecraft got a lot right. We wanted to make sure we got the fundamentals of what made it what it was and then expand from there. We have added different types of enemies, they are similar in ways but also different. We have portals that will take you to different environments. Each environment is specific, Plains, Mountains, Snow Mountains, and Desert. PS: What details can you provide about Cube Creator 3D different modes?
BJG: There is a Creative and Survival Mode. In Creative you pick one of the maps and all of the items are available to you. In Survival you start in one map and have the ability to transport to 3 others. You have to collect all of your materials, survive enemies, collect food, you can sleep at night. Very much what you might think of for a typical survival mode.
PS: How big of a playing area can players expect to see with Cube Creator 3D?
BJG: There will be four 192x192x95 worlds in a survival map, and you can choose one 192x192x95 map for creative. Each map has over 3,500,000 spots that can have a cube put in them.
BJG: Size would be the only one, Our world is 192x192. That can limit a mega build, but for the most part anything a player can imagine they can create.
PS: Is there any form of multiplayer or sharing of creations with other players?
BJG: Miiverse is the way you can share images of the creations at this point. We are looking into multiplayer as a future update.
PS: Then, your team has considered future downloadable content and/or support for Cube Creator 3D after its release?
PS: Is there any form of multiplayer or sharing of creations with other players?
BJG: Miiverse is the way you can share images of the creations at this point. We are looking into multiplayer as a future update.
PS: Then, your team has considered future downloadable content and/or support for Cube Creator 3D after its release?
BJG: We do plan on gathering feedback and releasing updates. Our hope is to continue supporting Cube Creator 3D. We hope to have open dialogue with our customers and make sure that they know that we hear them.
PS: Speaking of which, Cube Creator 3D does not have a firm release date yet. Do you have a release period in mind, or even more, an exact release date? Will the game be available for SuperPhillip Central’s non-North American readers any time soon?
BJG: We are very close to submitting the full version to lot check. Once Nintendo has approved the submission we will be able to lock in a release date.
PS: Shifting our attention away from Cube Creator 3D, I’d like to take this opportunity to ask you about your team’s future proposed projects. Do you have something already in the works as your next Nintendo 3DS project? Is there anything you can reveal about it today?
BJG: In production is “Lionel City Builder 3D: Rise of the Rails”. It’s a city building game that features trains. It has a pretty cool story that takes the player 50 years into the future and transportation has broken down due to neglect and fossil fuel shortages. Communities are isolated and decaying since current transportation cannot support survivable commerce. The idea of using trains to reestablish transportation and commerce, with your help, can save the day.
Our Coaster Creator 3D sandbox has been expanded and enhanced to make Lionel City Builder 3D: Rise of the Rails a great creative experience.
BJG: We are very close to submitting the full version to lot check. Once Nintendo has approved the submission we will be able to lock in a release date.
PS: Shifting our attention away from Cube Creator 3D, I’d like to take this opportunity to ask you about your team’s future proposed projects. Do you have something already in the works as your next Nintendo 3DS project? Is there anything you can reveal about it today?
BJG: In production is “Lionel City Builder 3D: Rise of the Rails”. It’s a city building game that features trains. It has a pretty cool story that takes the player 50 years into the future and transportation has broken down due to neglect and fossil fuel shortages. Communities are isolated and decaying since current transportation cannot support survivable commerce. The idea of using trains to reestablish transportation and commerce, with your help, can save the day.
Our Coaster Creator 3D sandbox has been expanded and enhanced to make Lionel City Builder 3D: Rise of the Rails a great creative experience.
PS: This is purely a selfish question, but one of my favorite games from Big John Games was Kart Krashers on DSiWare. Has there been interest expressed by your team to return to that series, possibly for a Nintendo 3DS sequel?
BJG: We would love to create a sequel with multi player, tournaments, and more crashing chaos. It’s on the short list.
PS: What makes your team decide for its games to stick primarily to Nintendo platforms?
BJG: We love the Nintendo platforms. Nintendo is always coming up with cool player input and feedback systems. The eShop, if done properly, is a great place to sell games and earn some revenue for our studio. The eShop audience is receptive to games created by studios like ours. The online news portals, like yours, covers digitally published games. Consumers of the eShop can find out info on literally any game being sold on the eShop.
Nintendo continues to improve the digital buying experience. We look forward to growing with Nintendo as it increases its digital publishing platforms.
PS: In our first discussion together back in 2012 I asked about Wii U development for Big John Games. You responded that the team was going to start developing Wii U projects the following year. How is that progressing? Is there any information or screens you can share about this project?
BJG: We keep looking at Wii U projects. Right now it seems like our resources are better spent making 3DS games. That will change once the right game concept comes along.PS: This leads me to my next question, how is developing for the Wii U? For ignorant folks like me who are console development illiterate, how much of a difference is there between developing for the Nintendo 3DS and the Wii U? Do they have any similarities?
BJG: We have not built anything on the Wii U yet. We have done Wii, DS, DSi and 3DS games. There is a similarity among the console dev tools that even the Wii U shares. Each system has dev tools that high light features of that particular platform.
We write our code in C++ and have found that much of our core code ports well between Nintendo systems.
Since each system has different graphics abilities. We try to bring out the maximum capability of each system in regards to graphics.
Also player input devices are different, so a lot of thought goes into how the player will interact with the game. Nintendo offers some really cool and unique user feedback experiences.
PS: Moving on from the future to the past, regarding your Nintendo 3DS games and DSiWare titles, have sales been kind your games? Which titles have seen the greatest success thus far?
BJG: We sold a lot of Thorium Wars on the DSi, our sequel on the 3DS has not done as well. Our Big Bass Arcade games have done well on all of the Nintendo platforms. Coaster Creator 3D has sold well on the 3DS here in North America, Europe and has sold really well in Japan. We are very honored to have some of our games selling in Japan.
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| Ohno Odyssey (Nintendo 3DS eShop) |
Reviewers and players seemed to like Ohno Odyssey on the 3DS. But it still had trouble finding an audience on the eShop.. Maybe your readers can download the demo of Ohno Odyssey and give it a try. If they like the demo maybe they will get the full game. It’s a lot of fun to play. We lowered the price to $3.99 and did a content update to add 14 more puzzles, hopefully the demo, the lower price, and the new content will help Ohno find a wider group of players.
PS: Thank you very much for answering my questions. I know your answers will be interesting to a lot of people. Are there any parting words you’d like to say to those reading this interview?
BJG: Thank you for all you do when it comes to informing your readers about games on the Nintendo platforms.
We really do this because we have a passion for playing and creating games. I hope that translates to the players of our games. We really put the player first when we develop our games.
I hope your readers will check out Cube Creator 3D, Lionel City Builder 3D: Rise of the Rails and our other games on the 3DS. We love building the games and really love it when people play and enjoy games.
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My thanks to Ken Patterson and the Big John Games team for taking time out of their busy schedule and final prep work for Cube Creator 3D to answer my questions.
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