We've (finally) released our first game, so I interviewed our lead programmer about the experience! (With a bit of an AMA)

[MrNature72]

Afternoon, good morning, or whatever time it is where you're at. I'm part of a little indie studio known as Neon Arkade Games (I handle the business nonsense), and I thought to myself "I wonder what game development is like?" I mean, I understand it from my perspective. Working with advertisers, store fronts, social media, so on and so forth. But I had a unique position, where I could watch game development in-detail from afar. And now that we approach our first major sale with our flagship product, the first installment The Amazing Fantastics, I thought it would be a fun opportunity to interview our lead programmer, and to share our game development experience.

 

For the sake of simplicity, we'll be referring to myself as BL and our lead programmer as LP.

 

BL: "What was it like making TAF?"

LP: "Extremely rewarding! This game has evolved so much over the years that it’s almost unrecognizable compared to before in terms of both art and gameplay. It’s been like watching a kid grow up."

Personally, this one was interesting to learn. I was brought in relatively late, since my skillset isn't too useful in the super early stages. I got to dig through all the old files, looking at concept art, early builds, so on and so forth. It's really encouraging to see videogame development as such a wonderful artistic platform. It's an outlet unlike any other, and I truly believe it's best to stretch your creative muscles as much as possible.

 

BL: "What about game development caught you off guard?"

LP: "How tough it can be to get your game noticed."

This is definitely true. Marketing is hard. Really hard. Without immense funding, it can be very difficult to get your game off the ground. We're still working hard to this day, months after release. It requires plenty of time, effort, and raw manpower.

The best advice I can provide is to start early, and work consistently. Develop leads, work on building connections. And out of all of that, SPREAD YOUR EFFORTS! Don't focus on any singular marketing venue. Word of mouth, let's players, paid ads, it's all important, and only through a 'combined arms' approach will you see results.

 

BL: "What's your favorite part about the game?"

LP: "Building your team little by little, learning all your heroes’ moves, strengths, and weaknesses, and trying out new strategies. And the art’s awesome too!"

The last bit I want to comment on the most. Having such a dedicated art team has been amazing. Indie devs in the modern era seem to, and with good reason, often rely on unique art styles. This is two fold; one, most indie teams don't have the raw manpower to produce photorealistic, AAA graphics. Two, a unique art style lends itself greatly to recognizability and marketing. It catches the eye and draws people in; Cuphead being one of the best examples.

So it's definitely something I'd recommend focusing on. Having a unique art style, coupled with interesting gameplay, is necessary for any indie game to strike itself out on the market. Without those two things combined, you risk just getting lost in the sea of steam trash and early access.

 

BL: "If you could've done one thing different, what would it be?"

LP: "I would’ve tried out a different animation method that would have let players create their own hero. We’re such a small team that it wasn’t feasible to have both high-quality pixel art and character creation, but it’s something we’re definitely going to revisit in the future."

This goes onto a key point that we recognized during game development; be realistic*, and don't stretch yourself too thin. It's very easy to dream TOO big, and end up with a game that never gets accomplished. State clearly the main goals you want to complete in game development, and while be creative, don't overload yourself and end up with a game that's never done. Looking at you, most of steam early access.*

 

BL: "What was the best part of development?"

LP: "Watching our universe slowly come to life has been very exciting. We’ve got so much planned and this is only the beginning."

It's true; one of the main goals we set for ourselves, as discussed earlier, was to develop this game in an episodic fashion. This allows us to focus and spend more time polishing a smaller, more precise game. Which then lets us tailor the experience to provide exactly what we want to show.

 

BL: "The worst or most difficult?"

LP: "Motivating myself to keep going even when it felt like I was never going to finish the project."

To any other game devs out there, this one hits the hardest. It's very easy to give up on a project. While it's easy to just say 'don't', I want to give some personal advice that I used myself. Schedule, schedule, schedule. If you get stuck, don't treat it like a hobby. Treat it like a job. Get a planner out, break down what needs to be done, organize it by workload and plan everything out. While making a game is a passion, it's also work, and should be treated as such. It might not seem fun, but if you want to actually release a game, it's just how it is.

 

BL: "Anything you'd like to add?"

LP: "We’re on sale right now! The Amazing Fantastics: Issue 1 is only $4.99 for a limited time!"

See 'marketing is hard' from earlier in the interview. But hey, it's true; we're going on our first Steam Sale!

 

BL: "Who's your favorite character?"

LP: "My answer will change depending on the day, but Vipera’s for sure up there. She has no superpowers but still kicks ass alongside people who run faster than sound and can lift cars."

Everyone loves a good underdog who manages to keep up. As for myself? I'd have to say Singe. You've gotta love that voice. Thank you, Jonah Scott.

 

"And what are you most excited for players to experience?"

"Our superhero take on RPGs. The Amazing Fantastics is what you’d get if you crossed Final Fantasy with Marvel and DC."

It was really kind of shocking to see such a lack of Superhero RPG's. For a field as popular as it is on the big screen, the superhero-genre was severely lacking. We got a few in the 2000's, but lately? Dry as a desert. Which brings me into my last point: find your niche. This plays along with the art style and unique mechanics. As in any market, you need to carve out your own little plot of land. Find, thematically, a field you both enjoy and that's (relatively) untapped. The most simple example? Don't try to make Call of Duty: The Indie Game. You don't have the resources or manpower to compete. Instead, become their neighbor.

 

And that wraps up our interview! If you'd like to check out our game, it's over here on Steam. If you have any questions for myself or our team, I'd be happy to answer them (or have them answered)!

Edited August 13, 2020 by MrNature72

[Shagger]

No, I'm not gonna buy you game, because I'm sick of you people coming here with no intention of making any contribution to this community and forum whatsoever, just here to peddle stuff.

[Zro]

8 minutes ago, Shagger said:

No, I'm not gonna buy you game, because I'm sick of you people coming here with no intention of making any contribution to this community and forum whatsoever, just here to peddle stuff.

I am agree with you. I know after this post this member going to be inactive and never come back

[The Blackangel]

God, that's almost all this forum is anymore. Spammers coming here, making one post about their bullshit that they expect us to jump right on and buy immediately, and never come back to the forum. Some days I wonder if it's even worth coming back here.

@DC Will you please take @Shagger advice and appoint someone as a mod to delete these so the rest of the forum doesn't have to suffer?

Edited August 14, 2020 by The Blackangel

[Shagger]

5 minutes ago, The Blackangel said:

God, that's almost all this forum is anymore. Spammers coming here, making one post about their bullshit that they expect us to jump right on and buy immediately, and never come back to the forum. Some days I wonder if it's even worth coming back here.

@DC Will you please take @Shagger advice and appoint someone as a mod to delete these so the rest of the forum doesn't have to suffer?

 

It's not so much about deleting these post every time.  SSP is OK, there just needs to be rules drawn up, implemented and enforced when it comes to SSP so don't we get these one time posters who show up, lazily copy and past their promo, then never come back. As well as, of course, the affiliate spammers and people who aren't prepared to be honest out the fact they are involved with said project, like here. And yes, somebody on the forum to do all that.

[MrNature72]

On 8/14/2020 at 4:28 AM, Shagger said:

No, I'm not gonna buy you game, because I'm sick of you people coming here with no intention of making any contribution to this community and forum whatsoever, just here to peddle stuff.

 

On 8/14/2020 at 4:40 AM, Zro said:

I am agree with you. I know after this post this member going to be inactive and never come back

 

On 8/14/2020 at 11:55 AM, The Blackangel said:

God, that's almost all this forum is anymore. Spammers coming here, making one post about their bullshit that they expect us to jump right on and buy immediately, and never come back to the forum. Some days I wonder if it's even worth coming back here.

@DC Will you please take @Shagger advice and appoint someone as a mod to delete these so the rest of the forum doesn't have to suffer?

 

On 8/14/2020 at 12:07 PM, Shagger said:

 

It's not so much about deleting these post every time.  SSP is OK, there just needs to be rules drawn up, implemented and enforced when it comes to SSP so don't we get these one time posters who show up, lazily copy and past their promo, then never come back. As well as, of course, the affiliate spammers and people who aren't prepared to be honest out the fact they are involved with said project, like here. And yes, somebody on the forum to do all that.

 

I mean honestly all of these are pretty reasonable. I used to regular gaming forums back in the day; mostly Planetside Forums, The Behemoth forums, and a few others. It's kind of surprising to see this now that I'm getting back into forums, and wanting to share something my friends and I created. Back in the day, that would be a pretty big deal. But admittedly, it's been a few years since I've been around forums, since I mostly hang out on game-specific Discords. Which I imagine have mostly taken over forum's roles with the videogame community at large, as I'm sure @The Blackangel has noticed, what with you pointing out whether it's worth even being here.

 

But this isn't just a one-and-done spam post. I was sincerely curious if anyone here had questions about game development. @Zro, is this something that happens often on the forum?

[Crazycrab]

52 minutes ago, MrNature72 said:

But this isn't just a one-and-done spam post. I was sincerely curious if anyone here had questions about game development. @Zro, is this something that happens often on the forum?

 

Are you fucking serious?  You post an A.M.A when nobody on the forum even asked you or your company any questions then ask, in response, if this is something that happens often on this forum as if it's some kind of excuse?

 

FUCK OFF! 

 

Just to let you know spamming has been a problem as if late and many of us are sick of it.

 

To tell the truth, the game actually looks pretty decent.  But you need to make a meaningful contribution to the community before pushing it like this.

[MrNature72]

1 hour ago, Crazycrab said:

 

Are you fucking serious?  You post an A.M.A when nobody on the forum even asked you or your company any questions then ask, in response, if this is something that happens often on this forum as if it's some kind of excuse?

 

FUCK OFF! 

 

Just to let you know spamming has been a problem as if late and many of us are sick of it.

 

To tell the truth, the game actually looks pretty decent.  But you need to make a meaningful contribution to the community before pushing it like this.

Hey, I'm not trying to use it as an excuse at all. I'm legitimately curious. And you know what? You're right. I'll be more than happy to stick around and join you guys. I really am sorry y'all have been dealing with spam so much. I imagine it's just easier to squeeze spam through on a forum rather than a, say, discord server. Also makes sense why you guys have a pretty solid registration system.

 

And you think so? We spent a fuckload of time on it. It's actually kind of crazy to finally actually get a game released. Shit's hard. Especially since every indie game can't be a Cuphead or a Hollow Knight.

[Shagger]

@MrNature72There is nothing wrong with a bit of self-promotion, but as you have seen the sheer amount of it from members who have joined the forum to do nothing but that has been a great source of frustration recently for the community. I look forward to your future contribution to the community and wish you nothing but the very best for your game, but for now, I'm going to lock this thread. You will be free to talk more about this game of yours once you have made a greater contribution to the community.