The following is a continuation of my answers to the questions in Dan L. Daglow's "Indie Games: From Dream to Delivery" (2018).
Dreams change as we live our lives. What is a game you once really hoped to create, but that is no longer as important to you?
The first game I dreamed about making was a co-operative, competitive hover craft racing game, inspired by the Matrix sequels and their tunnel chase/combat scenes. I also envisioned a dedicated peripheral, similar to steel battalion.
What game do you think you may want to build a few years from now that isn’t as important to you today? Why will you care more about it in a few years than you do now?
I enjoy auto-battlers, cooperative pve, rogue-likes, deck builders, and a couple of custom games from the old SC2 days, and I feel like there’s a hidden game idea somewhere in the intersection of those genres that I’d be interested in finding. The reasons I’m not diving into that game first are: 1) it’s less defined than my Yomi game idea, and 2) the Yomi game is more straightforward in terms of technical requirements.
Do you have ideas for additional content or follow-up products that can be introduced if the first game is a success?
I like cosmetic elements that are tied to achievement or prowess, as means to showcase one’s skill rather than one’s wallet. I think that the pool of available cosmetic customization could be greatly expanded upon if the base game is successful.
Is it the technology involved in the making of the game that interests you? Is it the genre or category of the game? The platform on which you’ll create the original version? The style of interface? Or do you take joy in the visuals of the game? The audio? Some combination of the above choices?
I believe it is a combination of the game style, the technological challenge, and the visual/audio elements of the game that make it interesting for me. The tactile elements of a turn-based fighter like this could be very simple, or they could be very complex—it depends on how deep I want to dive into it and how much time I want to spend on them, and that type of open ended aspect where I can let interest and passion guide me sounds fun, albeit scary from a timeline planning perspective.
What makes you believe that this game will draw players’ attention in a crowded market? Is this a completely new idea, or are you setting out to improve on a game that already exists?
My hope is that the game will have enough “flavor” added to the core rock paper scissors mechanics to be enjoyable to repeatedly play. From what I can tell, a turn based fighter is a new concept, but there are many, many rock paper scissors games.
If you could describe your indie game to a stranger in just one sentence that would interest him or her, what would that sentence be? What are the three most important features that will make someone want to play your game and spend money on the title?
It’s a competitive turn based fighting game that captures the core mind-game elements of traditional fighters without the mechanical requirements. It will be online and competitive, allow for player customization, and have ranked matchmaking and possibly tournaments.
What is the primary mood of your game? (e.g. happy, dark, frightening, goofy, stealthy, foreboding, curious, joyful etc.) What is the pace of your game? (e.g. frenetic, thoughtful, alternating action and strategy, etc.) How long will people play in a typical session, and where will they be playing? For two minutes waiting in line at the grocery store? Fifteen minutes on the bus? Three hours in the living room? One of the first people to play your game has lunch with a friend. What do they say to the friend about how they were feeling as they played?
The primary mood is “playful”. I want the game to be something that can be taken seriously when pushing for ranked points, but also something that is just fun to play even for less serious players.
The pace will be less frantic than traditional fighters, but also not a slog—even though it will be turn based the turns themselves need to be moderately quick to make players decide their move quickly.
I imagine the typical play session to be 15+ minutes. I’ll have control over total match length through player hit points, turn timers, and the “best of X” format, and perhaps all of those are different in competitive settings and casual settings.
I want the words someone uses to describe the game to a friend to be awesome or sick.
What will the first two minutes of the player experience be like in your game? Will you have a tutorial? How will users learn how to play?
There will be a tutorial, but I do not know if I would make it mandatory for first time players. But either way, the tutorial will be quick and to the point, so as to not consume too much of the player’s time.
What will the first playable prototype of your game include?
The first playable prototype will have full gameplay mechanics and lobby based multiplayer, that’s all. Visuals, matchmaking, cosmetics can all come after I’ve proven that the core mechanics are enjoyable.
What kinds of people will want to play your game? What other games do those same people play? What websites do they visit? Where would you find them on social media sites like Facebook, Twitter, Instagram etc.?
I think the core audience will be “cerebral” gamers that enjoy mentally challenging games, but I would hope it finds more widespread appeal. Reddit would be the primary websites I would expect to find and engage with such players.
What games are the most similar to your indie title? How is yours different? What makes yours better?
Rock paper scissors is what the game will be most similar to, but I will be aiming to add enough flavor to the mechanics to make it distinct and more replayable.
How would you feel if The New York Times, Wired magazine, Oprah Winfrey and your best friend’s mother all said your game sucks?
I would take that pretty hard. If the game isn’t engaging enough to hook people and show them that there’s a skill ceiling to climb for, or if the flavor mechanics are deemed “gimmicky” or not really an improvement over rock paper scissors, then I would view that as a failure if my core design goal.
You just won a mega-million-dollar jackpot in the lottery! From this moment on you can do whatever you want to do each day. In this “perfect world” how would you spend the first month when you got back?
How I would ideally spend that time is to establish a routine of enriching activities, like working out and eating well, but more realistically I would spend the time enjoying some of my favorite games—all of which are very time consuming.
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