Steemgg Interview: Steemmonsters Snap and @stuffbyspencer
Hi Everyone, the Voting of Steemgg x Steemmonsters Game Jam has started! Visit our voting page and place your vote on your three favourite games!
During these 7 days of voting, we will be showcasing each of the games that was submitted, so everyone can learn a bit more about the games, and a bit more on the developers themselves.
Our sixth entry of the Game Jam is Steemmonsters: Snap by @stuffbyspencer. In this game, you take the camera and try to snap photos of wild monsters appearing in front of you
Game Review
You are in a room. Holding a camera on your hand. Your goal? Snap pictures of monsters! As you move through the room, you will encounter monsters that will move in front of you. Click the mouse at the right time (when it is right in front of you) to capture the monster on camera. Monsters will only appear as you walk around the room.
If you were successful, you will see a message telling that you have “captured” a monster, just like in Pokemon! Sometimes, you might not be quick enough, and press the button a little too slow. In that case, the game will tell you that you have made a bad shot.
Other times, you might successfully capture a monster, just to greeted by the message that you have already captured this monster. There are 11 monsters of each element (earth, water and dark) to be caught, and just like in Pokemon, you need to be in the right place to catch the right type of monster. As you walk around, you will find places filled with water that will let you catch water type monsters, and an area covered with dark stone that let you catch dark type monsters.
You can check out what monsters you have captured by right clicking on your mouse. See if you can collect all the monsters!
There is a lot more to this simple game than meet the eye. It tests your eye and hand coordination to the limit, and once you get the hang of it, you will want to keep playing until you have catch’em all!
You can find more details about the game on @stuffbyspencer’s own post here
Game Dev’s interview
Now that we know more about this game, let’s get to know @stuffbyspencer a little bit better! We have interviewed @stuffbyspencer to talk about the game, game development, and how they feel about Steemgg:
Steemgg: Did you enter as a team or solo? If as a team, is this the same team you always have when you develop your games? Who’s in your team and what does each person do?
@stuffbyspencer: I worked solo.
Steemgg: How did you come up with the idea for this game?
@stuffbyspencer: Originally, I intended to make a combat-based game. However, upon realizing I wouldn’t have enough time to add the features I thought were important to create a good fighting mechanic, I simplified drastically.
I basically went from pokemon battles, to pokemon snap. It felt kind of relaxing to just stroll around and take pictures of randomly spawning monsters.
Steemgg: What is the most fun or memorable part for you in this game jam?
@stuffbyspencer: When the deadline got extended, I took the opportunity to add a final bit of gameplay. I decided to live stream this part of development on Dlive. It was my first time using the site, but having a few people show up in chat made it a fun experience. I would say the community overall was the coolest part. Be it from Dlive, Discord, and just the Steemit community in general, these people are some good people :)
Steemgg: Are you a professional game dev or hobbyist? How long have you been doing it?
@stuffbyspencer: I’m a hobbyist. I’ve been doing game dev on and off for roughly 4 years. The first 2 years were only the occasional game jam. Recently, however, I’ve been trying to make some standalone, longer-form projects as well. And now with Steem, I found some new inspiration to develop games.
Steemgg: What is the hardest part in being an Independent Game Dev? What is the best part? And what is your most unforgettable experience as a game dev?
@stuffbyspencer: It may be a bit of a cliché, but honestly the best part & the hardest part are one and the same: You get to work solo. Have an awesome idea you want implemented into the game? Go add it! Want to make some kind of wacky experimental garbage? Go for it! But, you also don’t have anyone to fall back onto when you’re stuck or run out of ideas or motivation. Getting involved in communities can really help center you and get you back on track when you’re burning out.
For independent game developer teams, the hardest part is usually centered around funding and distribution. It can be very hard to stand out and compete against some of the bigger players out there. Luckily, distribution sites like Itch.io, Newgrounds, and, of course, SteemGG, make the distribution a lot more accessible. As for funding, Steem & Utopian, Patreon, and the rise of the ‘pay-what-you-want’ formula are trying their best to help relieve that stress. As for standing out? Well, just be you. In time, hopefully, someone will notice how unique you can be.
Steemgg: What is your favourite video game, and what would you improve about it if you call the shots?
@stuffbyspencer: Glover. If I were in charge, it would be a yearly released game. No, scratch that. It would be monthly.
Steemgg: What do you think of Steemgg as a platform and how do you think it can be improved?
@stuffbyspencer: SteemGG is a wonderful idea. I can tell that the developer is putting in a lot of effort in order to achieve the vision that they have for a true blockchain gaming site.
Some things that can be improved are mostly just the design of the site. In my opinion, the game pages themselves look good. Clean, simple, with the main focus being on the game. That’s how I personally feel like a gaming platform should operate.
The homepage, however, could benefit from a different way of showcasing the games. I’ll be fair here and admit, though, that I could just be way too nit-picky about these types of things. I like itch.io & Newgrounds as well, but I also think their homepage design leaves something to be desired. It’s tough to get it just right, but if SteemGG were able to do it, they would have a major leg up on every other distribution platform, in addition to their blockchain implementation!
Thanks @stuffbyspencer for sharing your experience with us! Those are very helpful advise for other game devs starting out! We are glad that Steem provided you with new inspirations, and we hope that we can see some of those into games on Steemgg!
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