Over the past few weeks I’ve been trying to figure out how I can accomplish making a game on my own. There is a lot that goes into creating a game. When you consider art, programming, music, and all the other details, it can become overwhelming. I decided it was in the best interest of the game to begin looking for individuals who could help contribute on this unique journey with me. Today was an especially exciting day as it was the first time “the team” could all get together and meet each other, share ideas, play some games (Super Smash Brothers Ultimate anyone?) and simply have fun.
It was amazing to see and hear all the new ideas. We first were able to share feedback of the creation, the Centaur. The team concluded that though some animation was needed for the anticipation frames, it was challenging and fun to play. We also talked updated story ideas, and let me tell you — the updated story plot completely “floored” me — this is going to be good stuff! Next we listened to a few music samples for the game. Though I am a hard rock guy myself, I was digging the “Accordion Song” with a Cave Story, Mimiga Town vibe to it. We finally checked out some amazing concept art from old and new ideas alike.
One of the plans for the day was to play through The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past. To my surprise, no one on the team had ever played this amazing game (seriously though, if you haven’t played, do yourself a favor and play it!). After booting up my Wii U, I realized I no longer owned a Classic Controller for the Wii Virtual Console because I owned GameCube controllers, which worked on the Wii, but not on the Wii U. So, I ran over to my parents to pick up the legend. 🙂
I personally haven’t played through the game in a while, and it was great to hear criticism of a game from first time players that sometimes I can be blinded by nostalgia. My most interesting discussion take away was how a games’ difficulty wasn’t necessarily due to well programmed AI, but rather dropping in a ton of enemies who’s objective was to simply move in your direction. It is easy in 2019 to be critical of this attack pattern when games that ran on the SNES and similar hardware during that time couldn’t be computing real time paths for hundreds of enemies — so they made due with simple and fast. Looking back though, this can be frustrating for a player to feel “ambushed” — especially when the method of an enemy’s attack is simply to run into you.
Anyway, I digress. The original reason for this post is to introduce and praise on my team. So without further ado:
Hannah Boellner – Artist
Hannah’s been actually helping with art back in May or June of last year. A couple friends of mine had mentioned how talented of an artist she is. After “Facebook Stalking” a few of Hannah’s artwork, I decided to ask her if she would be interested in the project. Though she hadn’t done pixel art before, she was willing to try. She first started with some concept art of the Violet. After I was completely impressed with her skill, we decided to try doing a tree in pixel art. After a few rounds, we nailed down the style and since has continued to impress me day after day with amazing and awesome art. The thing that impresses me most about Hannah is how she is willing to give anything a try, with 110% effort. I want to conclude by admittedly waiting WAY too long to publicly give her credit, where credit is rightfully due. Without Hannah, we would not be as far along as we are today.
Tyler Shipley – Composer
In my early twenties, I started really getting into composing with FL Studio with some pretty solid tracks. However, compared to the musical genius mind of Tyler, it pales in comparison. I’ve actually got to know Tyler pretty well in the last couple months. We both have a love for really good video game music and love listening to it on a regular basis. Of course, I am listening to metal remixes while Tyler is listening to more relax, ambient soundtracks. But this contrast is great as we both share thoughts and ideas to make each other better (though, frankly, I just inputting notes into FL Studio while Tyler is flawlessly composing and playing on his digital keyboard). I feel like we’re scratching the surface of what Tyler is capable of. So, watch out world — we have an upcoming David Wise on the horizon!