GameDev Academy

Splatter is not the classic shooting game. It is inspired by them, but with a light/shadow gameplay. Confused? Read what its creator has to say.

Tell us something about yourself

Me: I’m Thomas Schulze, 34 years old now, programming for nearly 30 years now. I started on a GDR computer called the Z1013 and grew from there over KC85/4, Robotron computers, the Amiga 500 to the PC. So I also had my share of games over the years, some of them are still shown at my team’s website http://www.dreamworlds.de My “company” Dreamworld: is me and an old friend of mine, Michael. I’m doing all the organisation, coding, PR, game design and story writing. Michael does all the graphics and visual design and all web-related stuff such as the web shop. There are a lot more people hoping that we succeed so they can join us to bring our sparetime projects to a new level 🙂

What can you tell us about Splatter?

Splatter is an Oldschool Topdown shooter with a unique light/shadow gameplay and gorgeous light/shadow graphics effects to accompany. The game offers a film-noir-styled storyline to play, upgradeable weapons, boss battles, dialogue and side missions, and secrets. When you’re done with the story, you can start another run at the new difficulty level, or you can jump into the Arcade game mode to fight for ranks in online leaderboards. You’ll get to keep all your upgrades. Or you gather a few friends in front of your computer. Splatter can be played in local multiplayer modes by up to 4 players. You either frag each other in Deathmatch or you stand together against ever-growing hordes of enemies in Survival. More game modes will follow via free updates.

Where did the game idea come from?

I loved Crimson Land for the shooting, but I came up with the light/shadow stuff because shooting gets old after a while.

What can you tell us about the development of the game?

Splatter was made by two people: me and Michael. It took us roughly 2 years, with occasional help from other Dreamworlds friends to bridge some gaps. Sound and music was contracted to Sven Gerlach who did a really good job for a more-than-friendly price. I still owe you one, Sven! I’m using C++, always switching to the most recent version of Visual Studio as soon as it’s available. I’m especially in love with C++11, even though Microsoft left the C++ side behind quite a bit in the recent years.

What is the most important thing you learned when making this game?

Organizing myself. This was my first project as a fulltime indie dev.

What advice would you tell people who are beginning with game development?

Stick to it, be curious, have fun. And leave it a hobby.

Anything else you would like to share with the audience?

Buy my game. I really think it’s way better than most of the other topdown shooters around. Especially after playing Gatling Gears.

Thanks Thomas! Awesome job with Splatter!

[button link=”http://www.splattergame.net/” target=”_blank” style=”none, small, large, biglarge” title=”Download Splatter for PC”][/button]

This interview is the result of a conversation with Alvaro Castaneda. He is the creator, with his brother, of infeKted, a puzzle game inspired in the living dead.

Can you tell us something about yourself?

We are MIX Studio, a small company run by 2 brothers. We started doing VFX for film and TV and we also do training for the VFX industry. Now we’re starting to take on game development, a dream we had since we had our first Atari 2600.

Describe your game

infeKted is puzzle domination game, simple to learn, so hard to master. The goal is to spread the sickness until everyone is infeKted, but smart because you have a limited amount of bites. But don’t think too hard cause time is ticking. Why would you do this? Because zombies are awesome. infeKted is not a game you can master by repeating. Every level is generated at random every time you play, so everyone gets a NEW game every time, it might seem simple at first, but we dare you to finish all 200+ plus levels, we are sure is going to take time.

What are you waiting for? get infeKted!!

Where did the game idea come from?

From a Blackberry game called flood-it

What can you tell us about the development of the game?

The game was developed in the span of about a year, from which the last 6 months was real constant development. It was made by Varomix who had the initial idea an prototype and then his brother Anglish got involved and then we manage to get it done.

What is the most important thing you learned when making this game?

Making the game is the easy part. 

What advice would you tell people who are beginning with game development?

Don’t quit, you’ll get there. The first part of making a game is actually really easy, you get a prototype working really quick and you’re really proud of it, but there’s still lots to do: art, points, scores, menus, etc. Seems like it never ends at some point, but it’s really rewarding when you finally push that build and people start playing it. Also, pick a programming language and stick to it, our game was made in about 3 or 4 languages before the final game was done.

Anything else you would like to share with the audience?

It’s great to have an idea and after long days working on it see it done. I’m very proud of me and my brother for doing this and who better than my brother to do this with. Thank you for giving us a little of your time and please enjoy the game.

Thanks for talking to us Alvaro! Best of luck with infeKted!

[button link=”http://www.infekt.me” target=”_blank” style=”none, small, large, biglarge” title=”Download infeKted: Zombies Revenge for Android”][/button]

Update! infeKted is now available on PC, Mac and Linux.

[button link=”http://www.desura.com/games/infekted-zombies-revenge” target=”_blank” style=”none, small, large, biglarge” title=”Download infeKted: Zombies Revenge for Windows, Mac or Linux”][/button]

Magicite was created solely by Sean Young. This young developer shared with us his quest of making this game.

Can you tell us something about yourself?

I’m a one man team. I am a junior at the University of Central Florida and have been making games since freshman year. Magicite will be my 9th game, but my first non-mobile game.

Could you describe us your game?

Magicite is a 2D rpg game that focuses on randomization, customization, epic loot, giant monsters, questing, and perma-death. Players will embark on dangerous quests with or without friends to slay challenging enemies while acquiring rare yet essential loot for crafting gear. Perma-death only occurs when the entire party has been defeated, so if all of your friends die it is up to you to deliver the final blow to the boss and finish the quest or return to town to save your party. Once in town players can store their hard earned loot or sell it. These stored items will be accessible to future characters even when your character dies permanently.

Where did the game idea come from?

Playing other games.

What can you tell us about the development of the game?

I’m the only person working on it, but I plan on hiring someone to do the music. I imagine this game will take no more than 4 to 5 months to make. There will be a Steam greenlight and a Kickstarter page up in the coming weeks.

What is the most important thing you learned when making this game?

PC games are harder to make than mobile games LOL

What advice would you tell people who are beginning with game development?

Start small. Finish your games. Ideas don’t mean anything unless the game is finished.

Anything else you would like to share with the audience?

Happy developing 🙂

Thanks Sean! Great work with Magicite!

[button link=”http://www.indiedb.com/games/magicite” target=”_blank” style=”none, small, large, biglarge” title=”Download Magicite for PC and Mac”][/button]

Ricardo Silva was kind to talk to us in the GameDev Academy about LoadingPlay and his new game for Andrioid devices: Oh my Cat.

Tell us something about LoadingPlay

At loadingplay, we aim to be a platform for the collaborative creation of video games, by involving the community in the whole process, from idea to initial investment.

Describe Oh my Cat

It is a runner type game, where the user must accompany a friendly stray cat in his adventures collecting enough money to visit a stripper kitten that drives he crazy. This dance only if enough money is collected.

Where did the game idea come from?

Stray cats.

What can you tell us about the development of the game?

The team that worked is compound for five developers, marketing and art,
    Julian Larrea: Marketing
    Carlos Hinostroza: Programming – level designer
    Ricardo Silva: Engine Programming
    Yi-Chun Lin: Programming
    Mauricio Galvez: Animation and Design (primitiva3d.com)

     We worked for two months to get a demo and are currently working to launch the full version, completed with the feedback we have received from the demo version.

What is the most important thing you learned when making this game?

Perseverance, the most important thing to reach the goal is perseverance.

What advice would you tell people who are beginning with game development?

Above all, be persistent, the process of developing a video game is not easy and finishing the game is only half of the process. Then comes the spread, which is where many give up.

Anything else you would like to share with the audience?

We invite you to participate in our next videogame, you can visit our website and join us with your ideas and feedback. Don’t be afraid to contact us at loadingplay.com

Thank you Ricardo! Best of luck with this game and future projects.

[button link=”http://bit.ly/10odfIF” target=”_blank” style=”none, small, large, biglarge” title=”Download Oh my Cat for Android”]http://bit.ly/10odfIF[/button]