Indie gamedev interview: Half Heart Games

Halo semuanya! Minggu lalu aku sudah mulai menghidupkan lagi segmen indie gamedev interview, di mana aku menanyai game developer indie dari berbagai belahan dunia dan meminta mereka untuk berbagi pengalaman mereka. Kemarin kita sudah kedatangan tamu dari Belanda, kali ini target interview kita adalah developer dari US, tepatnya dari Minnesota.

Saat ini game yang dia kembangkan masih dalam tahap awal pengembangan. Mungkin kalian berpikiran: "Apa menariknya game yang masih belum selesai?" eits, jangan salah sangka. Justru kita paling bisa banyak belajar tentang proses game development dari game yang masih dalam pengembangan. Kita bisa tahu dari mana developer mendapat inspirasi, bagaimana proses prototype dibuat, dan semacamnya.

Apa kalian mengira proses prototype itu selalu dalam bentuk software? Ternyata kita juga bisa membuat prototype dengan kertas dan kotak pizza lho! Kotak pizza! (disclaimer: semua gambar di artikel ini diambil dari halaman facebook dan blog Half Heart Games, link facebook dan blog akan diberikan di bawah)

Pizza box prototype

bagaimana, menarik kan? Untuk tahu lebih detil tentang proses pengembangannya, langsung saja kita simak hasil interview di bawah ini. Seperti biasa, interview akan dibiarkan dalam bahasa Inggris supaya tidak ada makna yang terlewat.

To start our interview, why don't we talk about yourself? What can you tell me about your group? How many people are involved? Where are you guys located? Stuffs like that.

Half Heart Games is currently mostly just me. I do hire on programmers when I can, but I can only offer them rev share. So I mostly get students who are eventually get too busy to help. However, with their combined effort I do have a small prototype.  I plan to pitch to a few investors that I know this month which will help hire on more permanent programmers.

I am an artist (3D to be specific) so I handle all the art for the game. I am also located in Minneapolis Minnesota, but the programmers and additional artists that have helped me thus far range from California, Michigan and even South Africa.

What can you tell me about your game? Is it an Android title or iOS? How long is the development of the game?

Fleet Calamity is a sci-fi strategy game. (think of Magic the gathering meets battle ships). Each player builds a deck and uses their cards to bring out vessels, traps and upgrades to conquer their opponents fleet. Life is measured by population on each respective ship the players own.

The game is being made for PC, but I would like to port it to mobile devices. But one thing at a time for now. I have got a long way before I jump into that pit of snakes.

The game is scheduled for 2 years (assuming I can get funding from the investors). If I can't the game will take much longer depending on how much help I can get.

Assembly drone

  
What can you tell me about the inspiration for your creation? Does it come from your favorite game? Are everyone in the team gave their suggestions on it?

The game was actually spawned from the t.v. show Battlestar Galactica. Its one of my favorite shows. It also had some inspiration from deck building games like Magic the gathering, Scrolls and the like. When the game was first being developed I was the only one working on it. Now that I have gotten it to a play-able version I do ask for help from every one involved, such as play testers, programmers and artists. Each one has shaped the game into what it is now. No matter what game you work on or how much you try to refine it yourself there is just no way other people won't influence it. Every one on the team has their own ideas and inspiration and they will want to add their own little tweak. If it helps the game in the end, I don't see why you'd hinder them.

The year 2014 just left us, what kind of thing did you achieved last year? Any achievements or milestones broken?

Oh jeeze! lets see here. Since I'm the only 3d artist all of the models are created and textured by me. Last year I created over 40 models and textured them all. Aside from that I also got a play-able version up and running and have been regularly testing it and making plenty of tweaks and changes to make game play more involving and fun. I also got a quick prototype up and running for the actual digital version. so considering in 2013 I didn't even have a fully developed game I think I have come a long ways.

Paper unit prototype

It's the beginning of 2015, and people are having new resolutions this year. What do you want to achieve in this year?

Funding! Funding! Funding! I've been making steady progress with a budget of zero, but its getting harder and harder to make real substantial progress without paying people. And I really do want to pay those who help me, their contribution is making my dreams a reality and they deserve something in return! So early this year I'm hoping to get enough funding for a full time programmer for a few weeks. Then return to the investors and show them what can be done in a short amount of time with just two people working on the game.

 Aside from that I still have 100's of models to make and more play testing to refine and polish.

If beginners in gamedev read this article, do you have something to say to them? Some advice, tips, or anything?

Stop reading and start doing! Get involved, ask questions, start a project! There are tons of game jams that you should be checking out. Find one you like and jump right in.

Also, if you have a game idea make a physical copy first and start play testing. No body wants to work with you unless you can prove you have a product. For me I used pizza boxes for game boards and note cards for cards and folded pieces of paper for the ships. I've even heard of people running around their house/office pretending to shoot each other for FPS's.

Lastly, but not least, Play test your heart out. Once you get any type of prototype up and running begin play testing with your friends, with yourself, with your mom and dad, Any one! Find out whats wrong with your game early and save yourself the headache later. With the type of prototype I just talked about you can refine your game quickly and without spending much money. Spend maybe 100 bucks on card board and paper or spend 1000's on a programmer to re-do half their code.

Mech cruiser

 
Lastly, is there anything you'd like to share with the audience? Doesn't have to be technical.

I think I said most of whats needed in the tips, and I've probably talked your ear off enough. But I would like to plug my dev blog. It just shows the progress we've made on Fleet Calamity and lets you know whats on the agenda.  We are still very early in the development process, but it might be interesting to see how things progress from the beginning. The blog can be found @ http://fleetcalamity.blogspot.com/

Yap, itulah dia hasil interview kita hari ini! Bagaimana? menarik kan caranya pihak developer membuat prototype dari kertas dan kotak pizza? Membuat prototype seperti ini akan lebih mudah terlihat hasilnya daripada membuatnya dalam bentuk code, dan lebih mudah diubah kalau kalian merasa game kalian perlu modifikasi.

Kalau kalian ingin mengunjungi langsung developer kali ini, kalian bisa ke halaman facebook: https://www.facebook.com/FleetCalamity atau twitter: https://twitter.com/HalfHeartGames untuk update yang terbaru.

Kira-kira sampai di sini blog post kita kali ini, sampai ketemu di tulisan berikutnya!

Indie gamedev interview: Lionade Games

Halo semuanya! Beberapa bulan yang lalu aku punya sebuah segmen sendiri dalam blog ini, yaitu Indie gamedev interview, di mana aku berusaha menanyakan beberapa pertanyaan kepada gamedev dari seluruh dunia tidak peduli apakah mereka studio besar atau kecil. Ini aku lakukan untuk membantu mereka mendapat lebih banyak pemain, karena aku tahu bahwa mendapatkan pemain untuk game indie adalah hal yang sulit.

Beberapa bulan lalu rubrik ini sempat terhenti karena kesibukan ku menulis buku. Tapi sekarang aku akan berusaha membangkitkan segmen ini lagi, dan membantu para gamedev dalam mendapatkan pemirsa. Tamu kita kali ini datang dari Belanda, yaitu Lionade Games. Mereka adalah para pelajar yang baru saja mendirikan game studio mereka bulan Mei 2014 lalu, tapi biarpun begitu mereka sudah mendapatkan penghargaan bergengsi dalam bidang gamedev.

Game karya mereka adalah Check-in, Knock-out di mana kalian berperan sebagai tamu hotel yang memperebutkan kamar dengan tamu lain. Trailer dari game ini bisa di lihat di bawah:


jadi tanpa menunda lagi, teks lengkap interview ini ada di bawah. Sama seperti biasanya, aku membiarkan teks dalam bahasa Inggris, supaya tidak ada makna yang hilang.

First, why not start with yourself? Can you tell me about your studio? How many people are in it? How long have it been around? Stuffs like that

Sure! Lionade Games is our Dutch independent game studio. We are the trio of Nick Aarts (me), Menno Stas and Tijmen Tio. Menno and Myself did a Game Art and Game Development course, since then we became good friends. We had always talked about starting our own company together. We dreamt about the whole wide world playing our little games. And about working together in our way too small house until the break of dawn. Tijmen was already making games when he was being spoon-fed. When the three of us met at our current course at HKU University of the Arts it was love at first sight. Tijmen was the missing glue that firmly fixed me and Menno in place. Lionade Games was officially born on May 30, 2014. So we are a pretty new studio.

I've seen the video for your game? It looks great, can you tell me more about it?

Check-in, Knock-out is a game where you and the other hotel guests are double booked. You decide to settle it with an old fashioned brawl in the hotel room! You can knock-out your friends by throwing pieces of the hotel at them. By doing so, the level gradually gets smaller. Each character has a distinctive playing style, derived from its personal special abilities. The game is fast to learn but there is depth for those who seek it in the form of advanced techniques.





It looks like a local multi-player game? Is it an android console exclusive? Or will it be available on other platforms?

Yes, it is local multiplayer only. This is because of the fast twitchy gameplay, which is not possible over the internet. Well, not with our expertise. We are aiming for a Steam launch in May 2015. It will come to the consoles somewhere in July 2015.

It looks like you used pixel art graphics to its full potential, with destructible stages. Where did you get your game idea?

We did a school assignment in which the goal was to make a game in one week and add polish and juiciness for 2 weeks. One of the first ideas was ‘Let’s make a game in which you throw your environment at each other!’ We love multiplayer games so why not? We worked really hard for 3 weeks. When the assignment was over we were all individually playing the ‘finished’ game with our friends until for a few consecutive days. We honestly had a lot of fun playing our own game. We then knew that we had a solid base and that we really wanted to continue the development, so we did.




With 2014 ended a few days ago, did you have a great year? What special impressions or achievements that last year left you?

We had an awesome year! We never thought we would have our studio this fast. Especially since we are still students. What was also pretty bizar is that we were nominated for 2 out of 3 student categories of the Dutch Game Awards. Best Student Art Direction and Best Student Game Design. We won them both! What we also noticed is that the indie games industry is super lovely. Everyone wants to help everyone. We had tons of help from our new industry friends.

We're now just beginning 2015? It's the time where people usually make resolutions, what's your gamedev resolutions for this year?

Good question! We would love to get some more international recognition. We are pretty known in The Netherlands now, but that’s about it. We hope to achieve this with our booths at PAX South, PAX East and PAX Prime which our new publisher, tinyBuild arranged for us!


If this interview is read by people who just starting out in gamedev, what advice can you give to them?

Talk to people! Go to events! I think the most important part of being a successful game developer, is people actually knowing that you exist. Because it’s impossible to play a game you don’t know. Like I said before, the indie games industry is a very welcoming family! Oh, and go to events. Lots of them. Also, be active on social media, it really helps connecting with your fans and fellow devs.

Lastly, is there anything you'd like to share with the audience? doesn't need to be technical.

Follow us on Facebook and Twitter! We post relative updates on Check-in, Knock-out and our little side projects. We’d love to have you there :)
www.facebook.com/LionadeGames
www.twitter.com/LionadeGames 



Dan itulah tamu pertama kita kali ini. Semoga kalian semua bisa terinspirasi dari apa yang sudah dicapai oleh Lionade Games, dan kalian juga pasti bisa membuat game kalian sendiri, walaupun masih sekolah. Sampai ketemu di blog post berikutnya!

Indie gamedev interview: Those Guys pt.2

Halo semua, jarang-jarang aku nulis dua artikel dalam sehari. Kalau kalian sudah membaca post sebelumnya tentang interview dengan Those Guys, di situ sudah dijelaskan kalau studionya berisi dua orang artist. Nah, kebetulan mereka berdua menjawab dalam email yang berbeda jadi bahan untuk blog postku jadi terbagi dua, hahaha.



Kalau kalian mau tahu tentang apa jawaban orang kedua dalam pertanyaan yang sama, baca terus di bawah ini:

Why don't we start with yourself? can you tell me about your studio / dev group?
Well here's what, at the beginning i was just doodling some sketches for my imaginary game until i went to the first class of my new High school. There i met a friend who was into programming and we started to work together, our first game was a knock off on Indiana Jones and it was terrible so it's kept in our private files to this day. The game was terrible but a feel of developing something yours was great so we continued working together.

What is your game title?
My game title is "Dark tree valley''

What platform is it for?
First version is for power of 4 on newgrounds, so yea first one is for
internet and after that we will make a mobile version and after mobile version comes full pc version with full story line and much more items, options stuff like that.

What is the game about? Describe it for us.
That story part is going to be a little secret until the release, well lets just say your goal is to protect the remaining tree :)

Where did you get your game idea?
Game idea? as you can see i clearly played ''Limbo'' but after that i listened to ''Dumb ways to die''. This is like those two combined in one wave cleaning dark themed  game.

Can you tell us about the development of this game? (like how many people are involved, what tools are you using, stuffs like that)
Development is going nicely as i mentioned this is for power of 4 so we have two programmers me as artist and my friend as animator. We don't have any special tools , Im using ps6 with just my mouse (im not using a drawing board) programmers are using Unity and animator in using Flash.

What advice can you give to people just starting out with gamedev?
Design your games to be simple and fun to play. Usually simple games with a lot of items in them do good , take ''Don't starve'' for an example (talking only about indie games)

Lastly, is there anything you'd like to share with the audience? (doesn't have to be technical)
Nothing much just my personal feels for this game to come out well :)

Yap itu dia pendapat orang kedua dari Those Guys! Semoga kalian bisa mendapat insight baru dengan berkenalan dengan indie gamedev yang sudah memulai perjalanan indie mereka, dan semoga ini bisa menginspirasi kalian semua untuk membuat game studio sendiri!

Indie gamedev interview: Those guys

Halo semua, apa kabarnya? Dulu aku pernah memulai sebuah seri blog bernama indie gamedev interview, yang sempat sepi agak lama. Sekarang aku ingin menambahkan lagi beberapa hasil interview dengan indie gamedev dari seluruh dunia. Kali ini kita kedatangan tamu dari Serbia, dan mereka ini membuat sebuah game yang sangat menarik, mau tahu seperti apa? Lihat saja di bawah ini




Why don't we start with yourself? can you tell me about your studio / dev group?I'm just a kid from Serbia who discovered Flash back in 2010. In 2013, I formed a group of people who work under the name of "Those Guys" and have several projects running, one of which was actually featured on a big gaming website.

What is your game title?I have to important ones to talk about;Dark Tree ValleyApocalypse: Survive It

What platform is it for?Dark Tree Valley will be on multiple platforms, first on the web, then it will come on Android, iOS and Windows phone before finally coming out on PC.Apocalypse: Survive It is just for PC, there is a prototype made in 48 hours for a gamejam that can be found on the web.

What is the game about? Describe it for us.Dark Tree Valley is about protecting a tree. It's an arena styled platform action game where waves of enemies come from different sides to try and destroy the tree, pretty much. Of course, it has a deeper story but for now that must remain a secret.Apocalypse: Survive It is about being blind in a zombie apocalypse. It focuses heavily on surround sound system so the player can interact with various characters and shoot zombies while - obviously, being blind.

If you participated in LD48, did the theme give you some trouble in coming up with the idea?I have never participated in LD so far, I did, however, participate in other game jams and it's always hard to come up with a useable idea.

If you participated in LD48, is there anything different with gamedeving for a jam compared to your usual project?Game jams are always different. You need to stay focused for 48(+) hours and there are no breaks. It's always hard to pull it off, but once you do - it's rewarding, especially if people support the thing you did and want more of it!

Can you tell us about the development of this game? (like how many people are involved, what tools are you using, stuffs like that)Dark Tree Valley is being made by 4 people (2 from my studio(Those Guys), 2 from BugDevStudios). We (Those Guys) are in charge of the visuals, everything really. From the font to the backgrounds, we do it all while the the guys from BugDevStudios are coding it. It is made in Unity (The web version) and C++ (The PC/Downloadable version).Apocalypse: Survive It is being made in flash by more than 10 people (2 of which are not voice actors - including me) and was planned to be released by the end of the year but we got into some financial problems and had to postpone it. We are still working on it though.

What advice can you give to people just starting out with gamedev?Start small. Always start small, make silly dressup games or something. Eventually move onto something more serious. I, for one, started with mouse avoiders (I did add a little twist to it). If you are making a game that is going to be like many others, add at least 1 original feature to it so people remember it and come back looking for more of your stuff. After some time you'll gain some followers and possibly a friend or two who will always be there to work with you. Then you can recruit people, and eventually try and hit it big. (Am doing that as we speak)

Lastly, is there anything you'd like to share with the audience? (doesn't have to be technical)There's a sweet game jam going on at Newgrounds during the summer. It's called Power of Four and it's deadline is in October, check that out! Also, don't end up like Phil Fish, please.

Yap, itu dia interview dengan Those Guys. Sayangnya aku nggak mendapatkan link game Dark Tree Valley, tapi ada versi prototip dari Apocalypse: Survive it di web yang bisa kalian mainkan di sini atau di sini. Sampai ketemu di interview yang lain ya.

oh iya, kelupaan. Ada beberapa screenshot lain tentang Dark Tree Valley, check it out!

Indie game interview: Fatter Mike Games

Selamat pagi para pembaca blogku semuanya! Ternyata sewaktu beberapa waktu lalu aku bertanya di twitter apakah ada indie developer yang berminat untuk diwawancara, tanggapannya bagus sekali. Sampai-sampai belakangan ini tulisanku selalu tentang indie game interview (sebenarnya aku pengen lanjutin ke tutorial lagi sih).

Kali ini  tamu kita datang dari Fatter Mike Games, kalau sebelumnya tamu kita selalu membuat game untuk PC sekarang kita kedatangan iOS developer. Mereka sekarang sedang membuat puzzle game yang inovatif yang berhubungan dengan warna. Terus terang aku tertarik banget dengan ide gamenya, kalau saja aku punya iPhone atau iPad pasti sudah aku coba sekarang. Yap, tanpa ditunda-tunda lagi, hasil interview ada di bawah ini! Seperti biasa aku biarkan tetap dengan bahasa Inggris.

What is your game title? Puzzle Pix

What platform is it for? iOS (iPhone & iPad)

What is the game about? Describe it for us.  Puzzle Pix is a color based puzzle game. Puzzles are pictorial and have regions that must be colored such that no two adjacent regions have the same color.  It includes hundreds of levels as well as the ability to create puzzles from photos with your device's camera, providing an unlimited number of levels.

Where did you get your game idea? We got the idea for Puzzle Pix from the Four Color Theorem, which states that any Puzzle Pix puzzle you can dream up can be solved with just four colors.  Crazy right?  That's convenient for us though, since we can absolutely guarantee that all of our puzzles are perfectly solvable!

Can you tell us about the development of this game? (like how many people are involved, what tools are you using, stuffs like that) There were two people involved in the creation of Puzzle Pix. Matthew designed the graphics, feel, and usability of the app, while Kiefer managed the programming using mostly Cocos2D.  An image processing library called OpenCV was used for creating photo-puzzles.

What advice can you give to people just starting out with gamedev? The most important thing to focus on is not on creating a game that will be popular, but on developing a game you are proud of.  If you make something that you think is awesome, you have 100% succeeded.  Creating something great is a long bumpy road which requires a lot of perseverance and a great attitude, but keep at it.

Lastly, is there anything you'd like to share with the audience? (doesn't have to be technical)
We would just like to say that the audience is what keeps indie game development in motion. Most indie developers never see a return on investment for their games, so it is truly a labor of love. The more users we see playing our game, the more excited and motivated we get. Anytime you can help spread the word about an indie game, it is a way to help make indie game development continue to flourish.  If you would like to get in touch with us, visit our website: http://fattermike.com

Yak, itulah dia interview kita dengan Fatter Mike Games! Kalau kamu tertarik dengan gamenya, kamu bisa men-download di sini: https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/puzzle-pix/id824435305?ls=1&mt=8 . Buat kalian yang suka dengan hal-hal gratisan, game ini cocok buat kamu karena memang gamenya gratis!

Sampai ketemu di blog post berikutnya yah!

Indie game interview: Split Polygon

Halo-halo, ketemu lagi denganku di tulisanku yang terbaru. Gimana pendapat kalian tentang indie interview kemarin? Bagus nggak? Aku harap kalian suka seri ini dan bisa memberikan lebih banyak insight tentang dunia indie game development yang sebelumnya nggak diketahui oleh semua gamers.

Kali ini kita kedatangan tamu lagi untuk indie game interview, kalau kemarin tamu kita datang dari Inggris, sekarang giliran sebuah game studio dari Breda, Belanda bernama Split Polygon. Mereka adalah kelompok 5 orang pemuda yang baru saja lulus kuliah, dan sudah mengerjakan game mereka selama satu tahun! Dan game mereka terlihat bagus sekali, lihat aja dari satu screenshot ini

Penasaran kan seperti apa pengalaman mereka dalam mengembangkan game ini? Di bawah ini adalah wawancaraku dengan mereka, masih dalam bahasa Inggris karena aku yakin lebih baik perkataan mereka dibiarkan sesuai aslinya.

What is your game title?
Our game is called Interstellar Rift.

What platform is it for?
Currently we’re focusing on getting it to work on Windows PC first, but we have plans to eventually port to Linux and Mac OS X.

What is the game about? Describe it for us.
We see Interstellar Rift as the ultimate starship experience. First off you can design and build your starship from the ground up using the ingame ship editor, which can be of any size and shape. Then you can take that ship out into the galaxy and explore, trade or fight other players and non playable characters. You can do this alone, or if you want you can take your friends along and have them operate different systems on your ship. For example: One person could be flying, the other could be operating a turret and another is managing your power distribution and repairs etcetera. The bigger your ship, the more people you will need to man it effectively. Also it will be a lot easier to defend your ship from hostile boarding player if you have more people aboard.
The universe that you will be exploring is going to be procedurally generated and every server you join will be unique.

Where did you get your game idea?
About a year and a half ago a few of us were playing the Spacebuild gamemode in Garry’s mod at night, and after a few hours we had built a few cool looking starships. But like most things in Garry’s mod they were glitchy, and things start to fall apart quickly when you really wanted to do something with the ships. We really thought it could be an awesome game if done right. So that’s what sparked the initial idea of the game, and we spent the rest of the night brainstorming and by morning we had a extremely rough outline for what eventually would become Interstellar Rift. Roughly 6 months later we founded the studio.

Indie gamedev interview: Exilian

Halo semuanya, ketemu lagi di blog post terbaruku. Kali ini aku ingin memulai sebuah seri baru bernama indie gamedev interview! Di seri ini aku meng-interview developer-developer game indie dari manapun mereka di bumi ini, tidak peduli apakah mereka studio besar atau tim kecil apakah baru mulai atau sudah merilis game, dan apapun target platform game mereka, aku akan meng-interview mereka semua!

Yang mendapat kehormatan sebagai tamu pertama dari seri indie gamedev interview ini adalah James Baillie, seorang hobbyist developer dari Cambridge, Inggris. Di bawah ini akan aku sertakan wawancaraku dengannya dalam bahasa inggris. Bisa saja aku terjemahkan ke bahasa Indonesia tapi aku rasa kalau diterjemahkan akan ada nilai yang hilang dalam interview ini, karenanya aku akan menuliskannya sesuai dengan apa yang James jawab. Silahkan membaca.


Why don't we start with yourself? can you tell me about your studio / dev group?
I’m James Baillie, or Jubal Barca on the interweb: I’m a hobbyist developer and history student living in Cambridge, eastern England. I’m a bit of a jack of all trades, covering design work, scripting, lots of writing, and so on among other hobbies. I’m not part of a formal studio, but I work on games and game mods under the banner of Exilian, a website I helped found which is aiming to create a game dev and creative community where all the devs, artists and writers who make up the community can participate in and vote on running the site.

What is your game title?
I’m mainly working on a game called Adventures of Soros at present.

What platform is it for?
PC

What is the game about? Describe it for us.
It’s using an illustrated text parser to build an open RPG world. Text interfaces aren’t really in fashion these days, particularly with mobile gaming being such a big thing, but I think it allows a lot of storyline and development of the world around you without relying too heavily on having a huge voice-acting team or a massive high-end game engine. The player has a lot of freedom in how they develop their character, which quests they choose to do, and so on. For me the main feature of the game is the world – I like games that are about adventures and exploration, so really what I wanted was to give people the chance to interactively explore the world I’ve built.

Where did you get your game idea?
In terms of the aesthetic, mock fantasy is a nice genre. It can allow you to say and look at interesting things without risking getting too gritty and still feeling basically fun. Building worlds and settings is a hobby of mine anyway, and my actual background (I’m mainly a medievalist) fed in quite strongly as well. For the mechanics I’ve always liked parsers, and they’re simple to program; I decided illustrations were also important to give it more depth for people who like having something visible to latch onto. In some ways I’d have liked to do an engine more along the lines of the early King’s Quest or Space Quest games, but my pixel art skills aren’t where they’d need to be for that.