Today we delve into the exciting world of independent game development.How do do people start developing? What do they use to develop? How do they market their games? We got the answers to these untapped mysteries from none other than Phr00t developer of the games 3079 and 3089.
Q: First off, what are your games like?
A: 3079 and 3089 are futuristic first-person shooter action RPGs.
Q: Are your games a series with regards to story?
A: No, the games are separate. They have individual stories and gameplay goals. There are some similarities; they all have randomly generated gameplay with RPG elements, but besides that every game has its own story. That may change in future releases though, I might tie them together.
Q: Why did you start developing these games in particular, then?
A: I actually started with 3059 in college as a hobby. I was inspired by Nethack, and I wanted to make something real time and futuristic. After 3059 I wanted to try something new with graphics, so I made 3069 which is 3D and then continued with 3079 which is my first commercial game.
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8a0occCHl8Q[/youtube]
Q: So how did you get started developing games?
A: When I was in middle school we had a computer class, and there were two or three of us who liked playing games and eventually we realized we could make our own. So we started working on our own projects and showed each other our work and we’ve been improving ever since.
Q: What kind of tools do you use to develop?
A: I try to keep everything open source. I use Ubuntu as an operating system, and for 3D modeling I use Blender. When I need to make textures I usually use Gimp, and sound effects I make in Audacity. For 3D rendering and physics, I use the jMonkey engine which is built on Netbeans. Everything I use is freely available; I like the efficiency of it. I’m using things that people have created and asked for nothing in return, so I try to contribute to those projects. I’ve made improvements to the jMonkey engine and people have used those changes in their own games.
Q: Do you do everything yourself?
A: I hired an artist to do graphical things. I try to keep the artist happy and make sure that they get what they want into the game.
Q: What kind of feedback do you get on your projects?
A: There’s a lot of support, love, and feedback from the community. There are also a lot of people who are just neutral, and people who aren’t shy to say they hate it. I don’t take the negative feedback harshly, I try to work improvements in based on it.
Q: How do you distribute your game?
A: I got 3079 onto Steam using Greenlight. Before Greenlight everything took a long time to get in, but once it started to pick up steam I was really happy about it. 3089 is also on Steam.
Both 3079 and 3089 are currently available on Steam right now. When you buy either one, Phr00t’s strength increases by a power of two.
Visit the official site here: 3089:An Action RPG