Episoder
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Our guest today is Heidy Motta, Operations Manager from Extremely OK Games, based out of Vancouver, Canada.
With the success of Celeste, Extremely OK Games was formed in 2019, bringing the entire Celeste team under one company and to one location in their new head office in Vancouver, BC.
The same team of course, also made the popular local multiplayer game TowerFall, which many first learnt of from the Ouya. Towerfall has since made its way to all major consoles and Steam with many updates and new content.
EXOK Games are working hard on their next major release after Celeste, Earthblade. A 2D explor-action game in a seamless pixel art world coming in 2024.
Our conversation included:
Moving to Vancouver, Great Blue Herons and Capybaras Her journey into the indie game industry Launching Celeste, that experience, and EXOK Games Luck and accepting opportunities in life International Relationships and working globally Operations Management, Social Media and Community Management Tips Just how hard finishing is! Great stories and creating connections Press kits and localisation And of course, the top 5 games that influenced herResource Links:
Twine Game Engine - https://twinery.org/ Press kit link - https://www.dropbox.com/sh/87lycjzncb0o9ns/AACcA3s5Uyzkeicn3-26qLBWa?dl=0More on Extremely OK Games:
Website: exok.com Earthblade on Steam: https://store.steampowered.com/app/2239640/Earthblade Celeste on steam: https://store.steampowered.com/app/504230/Celeste Towerfall on Steam: https://store.steampowered.com/app/251470/TowerFall_Ascension Celeste on Nintendo: https://www.nintendo.com/en-ca/store/products/celeste-switch Celeste and Towerfall are on all major platforms Twitter or Twitch: https://twitter.com/heidy_km Discord: https://discord.com/invite/xuwy39H Heidy on Itch.io: https://heidymotta.itch.io Heidy’s website: heidy.pageIndie Dev Game Break Podcast Links:
Join our newsletter and follow us on substack - https://indiedevgamebreak.substack.com Anchor.fm - https://anchor.fm/indiedevgamebreak Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/6IqmIBrbUudh0rSzem9b9w iTunes: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-indie-dev-game-break/id1660382228 Follow Stray Voltage Games / Podcast on Twitter: https://twitter.com/strayvoltageca Stray Voltage Games on Steam: https://store.steampowered.com/app/2221440/Kip_and_Odosan -
Our guest today is Martin Hanses from the Studio Team Clam. Currently based out of beautiful British Columbia, Team Clam makes narrative driven role playing games among other interesting genres. Their game Clam Man on Steam, released back in 2019, as well as their free prologue Clam Man 2: Open Mic, both enjoy a Very Positive rating on steam and feature a unique non-combat, narrative driven RPG style of game play. Martin hails from Finland originally, and has a series of narrative driven games on Itch.Io as well to enjoy. He has recently secured funding and is working full time on Clam Man 2: Headliner.
Our conversation included:
Being a chef Philosophy and kindness in games and writing Making youtubers cry...in a good way Writing and creating unique game experiences Tools and the process in writing a narrative driven RPG And of course, the top 5 games that influenced himResource Links:
Unity - https://unity.com/ Pixel Crushers Dialogue System for Unity - https://www.pixelcrushers.com/dialogue-system/ Adventure Creator for Unity - https://adventurecreator.org/ Construct 2 / 3 Game Engine - https://www.construct.net/More on Studio Team Clam:
Martin’s games on Itch.io: https://marafrass.itch.io/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/clam_team (@clam_team) Twitter: https://twitter.com/marafrass (@marafrass) Clam Man on Steam - https://store.steampowered.com/app/1000640/Clam_Man/ Clam Man 2: Open Mic on Steam - https://store.steampowered.com/app/1278360/Clam_Man_2_Open_Mic/ Clam Man 2: Headliner on Steam - https://store.steampowered.com/app/1278380/Clam_Man_2_Headliner/Indie Dev Game Break Podcast Links:
Join our newsletter and follow us on substack - https://indiedevgamebreak.substack.com Anchor.fm - https://anchor.fm/indiedevgamebreak Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/6IqmIBrbUudh0rSzem9b9w iTunes: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-indie-dev-game-break/id1660382228 Follow Stray Voltage Games on Twitter: https://twitter.com/strayvoltageca -
Manglende episoder?
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Skull Commando Labs (107) - Single Screen Platformers, Pushing Pixels, and Indie World Order
Our guest today is Raul Martinez, known as Skull on Twitter. His ominous sounding Studio, Skull Commando Labs, is based out of beautiful El Salvador. Raul is very active in the indie game community. He is a co-founder of the Indie World Order and runs the SideScrollerMagazine, an online magazine featuring indie games. As well Raul is part of the IWOCon team, a virtual gaming conference hosted by the Indie World Order. Raul himself has published several games in the 1 bit retro pixel art style including Mouse and Cheese, a precision single screen platformer and Dr. Brown an arcade arena shooter. He is currently working on a new single screen precision platformer dubbed Gusanito Joe - which translates roughly to Little Worm Joe, in English!
Our conversation included:
Side Scroller Magazine and Indie World Order Pixel Art Improving from game to game Learning Unity and entering game development The Indie Community and giving back Whiteboarding! And of course, the top 5 games that influenced him.Resource Links:
Unity - https://unity.com/ Indie World Order - Discord: https://discord.gg/jgmNWtan Indie World Order Web - https://www.indieworldorder.com/ IWOCon on Steam: https://store.steampowered.com/app/2212710/IWOCon_2/ Side Scroller Magazine - check out Twitter - #sidescrollermagazine How to Make a Video Game All By Yourself: 10 steps, just you and a computer, by Matt Hackett (can find in most bookstores) Playmaker - Visual Scripting for Unity Piskel (Pixel Art) And from the Episode here is the whiteboard of Skull’s prototype game still in progress! Concept art ala whiteboard. Amazing.More on Skull Commando Labs:
Skull Commando’s Games on Itch.io: https://skull-commando-labs.itch.io/ Twitter: @labsskull ( https://twitter.com/LabsSkull )Indie Dev Game Break Podcast Links:
Join our newsletter and follow us on substack - https://indiedevgamebreak.substack.com Anchor.fm - https://anchor.fm/indiedevgamebreak Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/6IqmIBrbUudh0rSzem9b9w iTunes: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-indie-dev-game-break/id1660382228 Follow Stray Voltage Games on Twitter: https://twitter.com/strayvoltageca -
81monkeys (106) - World of Anterra, Kickstarters, and Mobile
Our guest today is Stephane Cotichini, the CEO and Founder of the game studio 81monkeys. 81 Monkeys is a mobile and now desktop and console game studio located on the West Coast of Canada in Port Moody, British Columbia. Their mobile games include the popular Sudoku Scramble, holding a 4.1 star rating on iOS, and the Chore App which gamify’s chores for the whole family.
In August 2022 Stephane and the team launched a very successful Kickstarter for their upcoming game, the World of Anterra. World of Anterra is an open world, non-linear, retro inspired RPG. With almost 6000 backers they have raised just under $400,000, and are building towards launch on all major platforms! The game was in development for three years prior to the kickstarter campaign and looks impressive in both game play and scope!
Our conversation included:
Their kickstarter campaign and what it is liking working with a larger team after a successful kickstarter. Mobile games and how mobile gaming has changed. His journey into video games and his move from retail to gaming. His studio’s upcoming game World of Anterra. Procedural vs design and content creation for a large game. And of course, the top 5 games that influenced him.Resource Links:
Unity - https://unity.com/ World of Anterra on Kickstarter: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/81monkeys/world-of-anterra CanadaGameDevs on Twitter: @CanadaGameDevs - Covering the videogames made in Canada & the people who create them. (World of Anterra Runner Up for Most Anticipated Game 2022 Award)More on 81monkeys:
81monkeys - https://www.81monkeys.com/ Twitter: @81monkeysStudio Web: www.worldofanterra.com Discord: https://discord.gg/world-of-anterraIndie Dev Game Break Podcast Links:
Join our newsletter and follow us on substack - https://indiedevgamebreak.substack.com Anchor.fm - https://anchor.fm/indiedevgamebreak Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/6IqmIBrbUudh0rSzem9b9w iTunes: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-indie-dev-game-break/id1660382228 Follow Stray Voltage Games on Twitter: https://twitter.com/strayvoltageca -
Myke Wills (@enfenyx) is a solo indie developer with Enfenyx Games and headquartered in the lovely Annapolis Valley in Nova Scotia Canada. Enfenyx creates 2d and 3d games for the PC and has several titles under their belt including Devastation: Annihilate the Alien Race and its 3d sequel Devastation 2: Repatriation, both are available on steam. Myke’s current project is Virvius, a first person horror shooter.
Our conversation included:
His journey to writing indie games, being left handed, and building fake laptops. His toolchain and the technology involved in creating his steam games, including his 3D Assets and Sound Design. His love of First Person Shooters. Building games while raising young kids. Early game building and floppy disks. His top 5 games that influenced him, including some Id classics.Resource Links:
Probuilder for Unity - https://unity.com/features/probuilder - allows for building 3 models easily Masters of Doom book - https://www.penguinrandomhouse.ca/books/96382/masters-of-doom-by-david-kushner/9780812972153 RPG Maker 2000 - https://store.steampowered.com/app/383730/RPG_Maker_2000/ Landstalker on Steam - https://store.steampowered.com/app/71118/Landstalker_The_Treasures_of_King_Nole/ Adobe After Effects & Photoshop - www.adobe.com Magix Music Maker - https://www.magix.com Halcon - Halifax Comic Con (Nova Scotia, Canada) - https://hal-con.comMore on Myke Wills:
https://www.michaelwills.net Steam Page for Devastation - https://store.steampowered.com/app/1227040/Devastation__Annihilate_the_Alien_Race Steam Page for Devastation 2 - https://store.steampowered.com/app/1464090/Devastation_2__RepatriationIndie Dev Game Break Podcast Links:
Join our newsletter and follow us on substack - https://indiedevgamebreak.substack.com Anchor.fm - https://anchor.fm/indiedevgamebreak Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/6IqmIBrbUudh0rSzem9b9w iTunes: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-indie-dev-game-break/id1660382228 Follow Stray Voltage Games on Twitter: https://twitter.com/strayvoltageca -
Tomas Guinan is a full time indie developer with Spoony Bard Productions headquartered in Truro, Nova Scotia, Canada. The Spoony Bard specializes in retro games. They have released an original NES game on physical cartridge and digitally for NES and Steam through their successful kickstarter called Eskimo Bob in 2017. They shipped a sequel in 2019, called Alfonzo's Arctic Adventure, backed by a second successful Kickstarter. This was published as an NES ROM, and was later published on the Switch and XBox One as well. Spoony Bard and Interabang collaborated on the 2020 release, Jay and Silent Bob, Mall brawl for the NES. This game is now ported to most platforms and Tomas is currently working on a new title with Interabang targeting modern consoles and Steam titled Jay and Silent Bob: Chronic Blunt Punch with a target release date of late 2023.
Our conversation included:
His journey to writing indie games including his flash animated show. His toolchain and the technology involved in creating his games. Q-Basic The retro NES / game scene. His kickstarter campaigns. His top 5 games that influenced him - an NES, Gameboy, and SNES set of favorites!Resource Links:
CC65 - C compiler for 6502 systems - https://www.cc65.org/ Limited Run Games - https://limitedrungames.com/ Interabang Entertainment - https://www.interabangent.com/ YY-CHR - Sprite utility - https://w.atwiki.jp/yychr/ NEXXT - https://frankengraphics.itch.io/nexxtMore on Spoony Bard Productions:
Spoony Bard Productions - www.spoonybard.ca Twitter: @SpoonyBardToma Jay and Silent Bob - Mall Brawl - https://store.steampowered.com/app/1087440/Jay_and_Silent_Bob_Mall_Brawl/ Eskimo Bob Starring Alfonzo - https://store.steampowered.com/app/651360/Eskimo_Bob_Starring_Alfonzo/ Alfonzo’s Arctic Adventure - https://store.steampowered.com/app/1170170/Alfonzos_Arctic_Adventure/ Spoony Bard on Itch.Io - https://spoony-bard-productions.itch.io/Indie Dev Game Break Podcast Links:
Join our newsletter and follow us on substack - https://indiedevgamebreak.substack.com Anchor.fm - https://anchor.fm/indiedevgamebreak Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/6IqmIBrbUudh0rSzem9b9w iTunes: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-indie-dev-game-break/id1660382228 Follow Stray Voltage Games on Twitter: https://twitter.com/strayvoltageca -
Max Inferno is a two person indie game studio out of Halifax, Nova Scotia consisting of Anne Macmillan and Lukas Steinman. Their first game A Little to the Left, started in 2020 as a 48 hour game jam entry, and has since evolved into a major release for Steam and Nintendo Switch.. The game's commercial success has allowed the pair to make game creation their full time gig!
Our conversation included:
Their experience in the game jam and interest that followed. Wholesome games and their showcase. Mythic Quest Selecting and working with a publisher. Completing games and that last 20%. Their top 5 games that influenced them - an interesting mix of puzzle and exploration games!Resource Links:
Unity - https://unity.com/ Wholesome Games - https://wholesomegames.com/ Secret Mode - https://wearesecretmode.com/ Mythic Quest - https://tv.apple.com/us/show/mythic-quest/umc.cmc.1nfdfd5zlk05fo1bwwetzldy3 Dark Quiet Death Episode Podcast - https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/dark-quiet-death-w-katie-mcelhenney/id1571535707?i=1000527959557 Justin Karas - Composer involved in the project and mentioned in the podcast. Paul G Hammond - Key art - https://www.paulghammond.com Una Di Gallo - Additional character animation - https://unadigallo.comMore on Max Inferno Productions:
Max Inferno Studio - www.maxinferno.com Twitter: @MaxInfernoGames A Little to the Left on Steam - https://store.steampowered.com/app/1629520/A_Little_to_the_Left/Indie Dev Game Break Podcast Links:
Join our newsletter and follow us on substack - https://indiedevgamebreak.substack.com Anchor.fm - https://anchor.fm/indiedevgamebreak Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/6IqmIBrbUudh0rSzem9b9w iTunes: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-indie-dev-game-break/id1660382228 Follow Stray Voltage Games on Twitter: https://twitter.com/strayvoltagecaCorrection Notice:
On the Podcast Lukas correctly indicated the Dark Quiet Death Mythic Quest episode was inspired by Sierra Systems. The host suggested it was Ubisoft. This episode was based on Sierra Systems real life couple Ken and Roberta Williams. The series Mythic Quest itself is loosely based on Ubisoft and produced by Ubisoft Entertainment. -
Matt Hughson (@matthughson) is a Triple AAA game developer and an indie dev specializing in NES Homebrew and retro platformers. He has published several games for the NES including Witch N’ Wiz, From Below, and MineKart Madness. He helped host this year’s (2022) Nesdev competition, an annual game development competition for the NES.
Our conversation included:
His journey to writing indie games and specifically into the NES Homebrew community. His toolchain and the technology involved in creating NES Homebrew games. The Pico-8 Fantasy console and community. His top 5 games that influenced him.Resource Links:
Action 53 - NES ROM from NES Dev - https://www.nesdev.org/wiki/Action_53 Nebs ‘n Debs - NES Game - https://dullahan-software.itch.io/nebs-n-debs Micro Mages - NEW Game - https://morphcatgames.itch.io/micromages Twin Dragons - NES Game - https://www.brokestudio.fr/product/twin-dragons-nes/ Pico 8 Fantasy Console - https://www.lexaloffle.com/pico-8.php PocketChip - https://shop.pocketchip.co/ - was from Next Thing Co. - I believe now defunct. neslib - https://github.com/clbr/neslib nesdoug - https://nesdoug.com/2017/04/13/my-neslib-notes/More on Matt Hughson:
matthughson.com MineKart Madness - https://forums.nesdev.org/viewtopic.php?t=24238 Witch ‘n Wiz - https://mhughson.itch.io/witch-n-wiz From Below - https://mhughson.itch.io/from-below Matt’s Pico 8 Library - https://www.lexaloffle.com/bbs/?uid=15406Indie Dev Game Break Podcast Links:
Join our newsletter and follow us on substack - https://indiedevgamebreak.substack.com Anchor.fm - https://anchor.fm/indiedevgamebreak Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/6IqmIBrbUudh0rSzem9b9w iTunes: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-indie-dev-game-break/id1660382228 Follow Stray Voltage Games on Twitter: https://twitter.com/strayvoltageca -
Nathan van der Stoep (@studio_vds) based out of the Netherlands, is a psychologist working on multi-sensory research by day, and in what time is left to him, a freelance illustrator operating as Studio VDS. His artwork has appeared in several Orange Pixel games including Residual for the Nintendo Switch, and Regulator City. Recently he collaborated with Cosmocat Games and released a new game from the ground up called Astral Flux. This game was just released in October 2022 on Steam, and is a 2D Pixel Art style Roguelike. Nathan continues to collaborate with Orange Pixel and other studios to create more games with another upcoming release next year still unnamed, so watch out for more details on that coming next year!
Our conversation included:
His journey to writing indie games starting as an artist. His toolchain and the technology involved in creating his games. Pixel art and game art styles. Shipping and keeping scope under control as an Indie. Collaboration in indie games. Work / life / game making balance. His top 5 games that influenced him.Resource Links:
Orange Pixel - https://orangepixel.net/ Cosmocat Games - https://cosmocatgames.com/ Spelunky and Procedural Generated Levels - https://bossfightbooks.com/products/spelunky-by-derek-yu Unity Plugin Odin Inspector - https://odininspector.comMore on Nathan van der Stoep:
Astral Flux - https://store.steampowered.com/app/1757920/Astral_Flux/ Residual - https://www.nintendolife.com/reviews/switch-eshop/residual Regulator City - https://orangepixel.net/regulatorcity Cosmic Caves - https://cosmocat.itch.io/cosmic-caves Studio VDS on Youtube - https://www.youtube.com/@Studio_VDS Art Portfolio / Website - https://www.artstation.com/nathanvdstoepIndie Dev Game Break Podcast Links:
Join our newsletter and follow us on substack - https://indiedevgamebreak.substack.com Anchor.fm - https://anchor.fm/indiedevgamebreak Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/6IqmIBrbUudh0rSzem9b9w iTunes: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-indie-dev-game-break/id1660382228 Follow Stray Voltage Games on Twitter: https://twitter.com/strayvoltageca -
Welcome to the Indie Dev Game Break Podcast, the podcast where we interview Indie Game Creators about their journey into video game creation, their process and technology, and the top 5 games that influenced them.
We are all set to launch our first season on Wednesday February 8th, 2023, with two episodes to drop on launch day. The remaining 6 episodes will drop every Wednesday following.
We can't wait, see you in February!
Indie Dev Game Break Podcast Links:
Join our newsletter and follow us on Substack - https://indiedevgamebreak.substack.com Anchor.fm - https://anchor.fm/indiedevgamebreak Listen on Spotify or iTunes Follow Stray Voltage Games on Twitter: https://twitter.com/strayvoltageca
