Indeviews have reached the 10th episode! In this episode we are interviewing Tyson Ibele, the indie game developer behind the upcoming game Zombox!

❖

For those who don’t know you, who are you and what do you do?

Tyson: My name is Tyson Ibele and I’m a professional animator who works for MAKE. I’ve also branched out to do indie game development in my spare time. The game I’m currently working on is called Zombox.

Which game engines/game making tools do you use for your games? Did you build your own? If you have used different engines/game making tools, which one is your favorite and why?

Tyson: I’ve only ever used Unity to develop games. I don’t know enough about programming to create my own engine from scratch, and I haven’t tried other out-of-the-box engines like UDK. I jumped into Unity after seeing how cool ‘Interstellar Marines’ looks (another game that’s being developed with Unity), and found it so easy to use that I stuck with it. Also, Unity allows for fast and easy multi-platform support, so it is an ideal engine for me in that regard.

Do you use the same development process for all of your games?

Tyson: Well, I’ve only ever developed this one game, so yes!

What programming language do you prefer developing your games on? Why do you choose it over others?

Tyson: I’m currently developing with Unity’s implementation of JavaScript. I find it very simple and easy to use and understand. Most people who use Unity recommend developing in C#, but I chose JavaScript over C# when I started developing because it was a bit easier to learn. I think now if I were to develop another game, I’d start with C# instead because it’s a bit more robust.

Do you use third party tools (map editors, sprite managers, animation suites etc) or you build your own?

Tyson: I use 3d Studio Max for all of the 3d models and animation for Zombox, Photoshop for all of the texture work, and After Effects for some other tasks (batch export of game icons, compositing complex textures, etc).

Which tools and applications you usually use when developing a game (favorite IDE, text editor, do you use static analysis tools, revision control system etc)?

Tyson: I use Notepad++ to edit all of my code, and Unity’s built in profiler to test and optimize functions. I don’t use any project management tools other than a simple backup system that works in conjunction with Dropbox.

Is there any specific library, framework that you always use on your games?

Tyson: I only use built-in Unity frameworks, so no, I haven’t used any external libraries. That being said, once I get closer to release I’ll be implementing some 3rd party systems to integrate things like in-app purchases for iOS.

What is your computer setup? Do you use Mac or PC? What specs? Do you have a dual monitor setup?

Tyson: I use a PC for all of the main development tasks, and a Mac laptop for exporting builds of the game. The Mac is required for building because you cannot build for iOS from a PC without some shady workarounds (you can do it with VMWare but it’s not Apple-sanctioned). The PC has a dual monitor setup and fairly good hardware, while the laptop is just a generic Macbook Pro that’s a few years old. Zombox runs at a very high FPS, even on slow machines (because it’s targeted for mobile devices), so a fast machine is not required to develop it.

Do you have any photos from your working environment & a screenshot of your typical development setup?

Tyson: I don’t, unfortunately! Just imagine a computer desk in a small apartment, haha!

Which games inspired you the most? Do you have a favorite developer from the games industry (indie or not)?

Tyson: Minecraft has probably been the biggest inspiration for the game, as development has progressed. That being said, the initial reasons for developing it came from inspiration taken from games like Left 4 Dead and Project Zomboid.

What’s the single piece of advice that you would always give to someone, and what is something that you will absolutely avoid/never do again?

Tyson: Avoid burning yourself out! Don’t be afraid to step back and take solid breaks from development, in order to recharge your creative batteries. Also, thinking and planning ahead is just as important as actual physical work on a project. I sometimes take days or weeks to plan a feature out in my mind before writing a single line of code. Doing that - instead of rushing to get a prototype into the game - almost always results in me having to do less code re-writing later.

What are your future plans? What games are you working on right now?

Tyson: I’m currently working on Zombox as mentioned. There’s still a lot of things to add to the game, so I haven’t thought far ahead enough to decide what I’ll do once the game is complete!

Thanks so much for this interview!

❖

Stay tuned for the next episode! :)

Note: If you are an indie game developer and wanna be part of the series, just send us an email at info@evilwindowdog.com

Welcome to the ninth episode of Indeviews! In this episode we are interviewing Tyler Owen of Random Seed Games!

❖

For those who don’t know you, who are you and what do you do?

Tyler: My name is Tyler Owen and I make games. Currently creating a Mars exploration game called Lacuna Passage.

Which game engines/game making tools do you use for your games? Did you build your own? If you have used different engines/game making tools, which one is your favorite and why?

Tyler: I started making terrible, terrible games with Game Maker several years ago. I never really learned any programming in school so I stuck to visual logic-based engines. The first games I created and released I built with Stencyl. If you haven’t heard of it it’s a great tool for creating games and really getting your feet wet with basic programming. I released Iceberg Frenzy on iOS and Protobotic for Flash, both created with Stencyl. During that time I was employed creating and managing game art in Unity, but I didn’t transition to using it for my own projects until I found out about the Playmaker plugin that allows you to do visual scripting very similar to Stencyl or Unreal if you are familiar with their Kismet scripting. Playmaker is much more powerful than most people give it credit for. About 99% of Lacuna Passage is done entirely in Playmaker for Unity and I love it.

Editor’s note: Here’s a list of Unity plugins from Random Seed Games blog.

Do you use the same development process for all of your games?

Tyler: Each game is it’s own beast, but I have a general approach to most of my games, and that usually starts with some intense prototyping. I always get down and dirty making something that moves before even really putting my ideas down on paper. Planning things out too much before that tends to get you too attached to the ideas and not the merits of the gameplay.

What programming language do you prefer developing your games on? Why do you choose it over others?

Tyler: I’ve always been fond of visual scripting programs like Stencyl and Playmaker, but they can have limitations. I’ve run into enough roadblocks during the development of Lacuna Passage that I have started to dabble in C# and Javascript. For indie developers, really whatever gets the job done is the best language for you.

Do you use third party tools (map editors, sprite managers, animation suites etc) or you build your own?

Tyler: My background is primarily in graphic design and 3D art, so I’m very entrenched in the Adobe and Autodesk suite of products. When I’m working it’s not uncommon for me to have Illustrator, Photoshop, 3ds max, Mudbox, and Unity all open at the same time. One new program I’ve adopted specifically while working on Lacuna Passage is World Machine. If you are creating a game that requires any kind of custom terrain then I don’t see why you would bother using anything else.

Which tools and applications you usually use when developing a game (favorite IDE, text editor, do you use static analysis tools, revision control system etc)?

Tyler: I usually keep my production tools pretty lightweight. I do utilize the Unity Asset Server for some simple version control and project sharing functionality. One tool that I do find extremely useful though is Allway Sync for project backups. We have our main project folders and all our working assets automatically synced to several backup harddrives. I just can’t imagine losing any of our hard work because of something as simple as a crashed harddrive.

Is there any specific library, framework that you always use on your games?

Tyler: Nope, I have yet to dive into more complex frameworks for creating games. Whatever is free or cheap and easiest to translate from idea to reality is what I use.

What is your computer setup? Do you use Mac or PC? What specs? Do you have a dual monitor setup?

Tyler: I have a dual monitor PC that is starting to show it’s age. It has a first gen i7 quad core processor with 8 gigs of ram and a mid range NVIDIA card that was swapped a couple years ago. I should really update my rig.

Do you have any photos from your working environment & a screenshot of your typical development setup?

Tyler: I’m too lazy to clean my desk for a good picture, but it’s nothing very exciting. Monitors are mismatched and propped up on books on top of a particle board desk. Only thing you can’t be cheap about is buying a nice chair. I have terrible back problems.

Which games inspired you the most? Do you have a favorite developer from the games industry (indie or not)?

Tyler: I draw inspiration from different sources depending on the game I’m working on. The inception for Lacuna Passage came after playing Dear Esther while being simultaneously enthralled with the landing of the Mars Curiosity rover. Games that inspire me in general are Braid, Portal, Journey, and many others. A developer that I really admire is Andy Schatz. In fact, he is really the person that spurred me to start creating games. I met him back at GDC 2010 when he won the IGF. At the time I was really struggling to decide if I wanted to go make art for some big AAA developer or create my own games and so I asked him for advice. I remember exactly what he said, he said “If you want to make games, then start making games. You don’t have to wait for someone to hire you or give you permission.” I really took that to heart.

What’s the single piece of advice that you would always give to someone, and what is something that you will absolutely avoid/never do again?

Tyler: I like to add on something to what Andy told me and that’s that you can’t be afraid of failure. Start making games and actually show them to people and release them. If they suck then people will let you know and you will learn from the experience. Your next attempt will be better. As far as something that I avoid, I probably try to avoid getting burnt out. Sometimes you will hit a slump with one project and it’s a better use of your time to just pick up something else instead of trying to crash through a brick wall.

What is your opinion on the rise of free game development “suites” like Unity, UDK, CryEngine etc? Given that you already use Unity for Lacuna Passage, is it safe to assume that you will use it for your next project or you will switch back to an in-house engine?

Tyler: I love free and inexpensive tools. Anything that brings game development to a larger group of people I think can only result in better games being created over time. I can’t say for sure if I will continue using Unity for projects beyond Lacuna Passage, but I find it difficult to think of anything that would necessitate a change to another development environment. I’m comfortable with Unity and it’s always evolving and updating.

What are your future plans? What games are you working on right now?

Tyler: As the primary developer for Lacuna Passage I have a lot of work ahead of me, hopefully leading up to a Kickstarter in the next month or so. Crowd funding I think will be a critical component for the success of the project. If we are successful in raising our required funds then we still have a long road ahead of us, but at least we will have enough gas to get us to our destination. People can follow our development on our website at www.randomseedgames.com.

Thanks so much for this interview!

❖

Stay tuned for the next episode next week! :)

Note: If you are an indie game developer and wanna be part of the series, just send us an email at info@evilwindowdog.com