First came up with the core-mechanic...after finding the basic mechanic of moving blocks...and then had to find a theme around it...knew people liked monkeys so themed it with monkeys.
Developed the game for 2 years and it wasn't working out. Showed the game in a forum and Matt found it...and started helping...they scrapped the old game and focused on making a solid game.
It was coincidence that Matt found the artwork...as Brian rarely shows off artwork of a game before release.
Did remote development.
Once met together, took about 1 year to develop. Most play-testing done in the IGF...really useful feedback.
Will release a PC version done...and may do a console version of self-publish online.
It is challenging to find someone to help you virtually...it is challenging to find someone that knows what they are doing and can help.
Process was a lot of experimentation. Messed with the music idea for 8 years. Did a First Person shooter based on sound
Once the prototype "felt" good, then knew it was the right design.
Had a lot of usability tests to catch a lot of the issues that caused confusion among players.
Once tweaked, sent it off to IGF
Finding out that was nominated was amazing experience
Wanted to make something that was compelling and different.
To start doing something compelling is very hard...but it's easy to do something different. If you do enough different things, you'll find something compelling.
Used Quest3D as a tool to develop the game, really useuful.
0:00 - 5:00 Interesting game where you record a certain action and then it replays in the game. Game based on playing with time...
Prototyped game in flash and kept prototyping to get enough to hold a team down.
Did other prototype other games while doing this one.
Also used paper prototyping.
Focused on System Mechanics...
Did test board game prototypes on a few team members and users...
5:00 - 10:00 The call to recruit more team-members...
Had a recruitment meeting and showed demo to recruit other folks.
Put up a flier all over campus. Put out an e-mail blast...and went to classes, etc.
Thirty people showed up to the meeting...
All of them were pretty much designers. But they were looking for engineers.
Let everyone stay...and the person that kept showing up week after week...those are the ones with the passion.
Found a high schooler to help do the programming.
Visual design of the game is very unique... One of the designers was also an artist
10:00 - 15:00 One challenge was listening to an Engineer professor about using a 3D engine instead of Flash... so tried it for a month, but it wasn't working after a month...so went back to flash...it was hard to change to change back at the time, but it was a good decision.
At University of Southern California, the environment allows for innovation. Design on paper, etc. Even though most folks in the game design program there are not programmers, try to collaborate with engineering school to help with games. 2 things learned from game design school... 1) Prototype 2) Get the game out there
Future plans are to get the game out as a downloadable on one of the console games
Special Thanks to PlayFirst for setting up this interview and a few other upcoming interviews...they provided excellent developers and allowed them to share some really useful information...
Show Notes: Founder of Kat Games (www.katgames.com) and developer of Dream Chronicles 1 & 2
Made an adventure game in the casual games genre
Played adventure games in the 90s...those were more challenging.
Had to find a way to make a new adventure game that is simple enough for the casual gaming audience
Went through PlayFirst
Before they pitched the game, had a prototype done in Director
Challenge was how to make an adventure game that was easy to start and fun enough to keep people playing.
People compare hidden objects with adventure games.
Design Suggestions: Make sure there is little text Make sure there is eye and ear candy Have an uplifting experience from the first click
Had extensive play testing when developing the game
Avoided text by making every level self contained
Had to make sure the story elements were split properly to appeal to Casual Game audience...
Playfirst helped them get solid Audio
The studio is based in Spain...and PlayFirst is in San Francisco...so some challenges in working with PlayFirst.
How PlayFirst helped the game: a) Offered Professional Usability Testing
Did user testing through game
Benefits of going through a publisher vs. self-publishing... Did self-publish previous games. But this case, the project was more expensive, so risk was higher.
Hopes that current adventure games will expand the adventure game market for casual game players
Feels adventure games are more gratifying than hidden object games. With adventure games, there is more of a hook.
Show Notes: Simple Flash RPG...won Best Browser Game award Star Control 2 Paper Prototyping First tested out paper prototypes on self Casual RPG Try to be able to level up in 10-15 minutes Idea is to have players have quick success and quick action If you die, that's ok...equipment is still persistent
Did some rough prototypes in Flash Worked on converting in-browser game...into .exe version
Current goal is to finish up Iron Dukes and get out to market...
Looking to do online and multiplayer capabilities of flash
Advice for other indies... Start small Smaller design is much more effective Start small and continually expand from there Can give players something loose and allow folks to create their own story :)
Show Notes: Based on the Fairy Tale of Little Red Riding Hood... But altered and a little darker.
Have an MMO called the "Endless Forest"
This is a "Short Horror Game"
Making a rich environment and dropping the player inside it...and not force-feeding the story
First two games made were very light.
No games out there to satisfy emotions they wanted...so they made this game to fulfill desire to see games that cover emotions not yet expressed in other games.
Big challenges to game....decide on what to do and what to outsource to others.
Looking for folks that they don't have to manage.
IGF useful for play testing a game
Things they will change baed on feedback at IGF... Find better ways to communicate thing without text
Next Steps: Improve the game
About to release another game. A small experimental game...called "The Graveyard"
Nuances of these types of games... It isn't a casual game, but do value casual gameplay Casual Gameplay with Mature Content Have fun ways to convey gruesome things without violence It's more about a psychological story that is in your head...so play with interactivity to inspire the player's imagination
It's important that a work of art is about the player...so leave things open enough to interpret things for their own lives.
Wants to take interactivity to enhance that
Suggestions for indies... 1) Make what you want to make 2) Make what's inside you 3) A game is a conversation...try things out
Show Notes: Fez is a multi-dimensional platformer... IGF Finalist
Won award for "Excellence in Visual Art"
Visual Arts inspired by Spirited Away
The top challenges while developing the game... a) Optimization issues...ways to optimization of pixel rendering b) Getting it done even while doing the project on the side
Expect to release the final version within a year.
Suggestions for indie game developers out there... a) Make it...find the right people and get it done b) Show it to as many people as you can, listen to them and act accordingly :)
Show Notes: 0:00 - 5:00 Josh from Singapore-MIT Gambit Game Lab An experimental gameplay lab Focuses on interesting games that couldn't exist in the market yet Created a Facebook game Has a resource management game Having an ant colony and resource management Did a paper prototyping
Design Process principles is... "Fail Early, Fail Often"
Started with paper prototyping early on.
Wrestled with whether should have public or private information.
Tested people in the lab, classmates, etc.
Do a search for "Eat Wars"
5:00 - 10:00 Issues with designing for Facebook... There are people with varying levels of commitment Have to design for people and their friends
Need to design for multiple play styles
Have room now for players that are more aggressive and cooperative
Looking for ways for players to be more social
Get more points for convincing players to bring friends in
Accomodating people's natural habits on Facebook
In the future... May work on other game platforms Looking into Flickr Games Opportunities for different types of games is very exciting
Sychronous vs. Asychronous gaming... Need to have a balance between letting folks advance and letting people grief their friends at 3 AM in the morning
Systems where you can plan ahead and moves at one time and it acts that way later on in the game
10:00 - 11:30 Favorite Game on Facebook... Scrabulous Parking Wars
Here's a quick interview that happened at GDC 2008...
Justin, from GameLayers and the founder of the Passively Multiplayer Online Game (www.pmog.com) talks about developing and designing the unique game...
