Steemgg Interview: There will be Dragons and @jonny-clearwater and @nidolabz
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 seventh entry of the Game Jam is There will be Dragons by @jonny-clearwater and @nidolabz. In this arcade style game, you are a knight trying to fight your way through hordes of monsters to get to the mighty dragon and slay it.
Game Review
In this arcade style game, you control a knight which can move up and down the screen as well as left and right. Your goal is to get rid of all the monsters on the screen by using your trusted halberd. There are three types of monsters: Zintar Mortalis which is a long-range monster that shoots green magic, Swamp Thing which could shoot a root at you and also disappear and reappear somewhere else on the map, and a fire demon with a melee attack.
The map comes in stages. At each stage you have to kill all the monsters before you are automatically pushed along the map onto the next stage. On top of the screen shows your HP. You have 8 “Jars” of health which at first seems a lot. However, you will soon find yourself ambushed by a large number of monsters that is just overwhelming!
The mages are especially annoying because they can shoot at you before you can even get close to them. If you get hit by any monster, obvious you will lose HP. Once your HP run out, it’s game over and you have to start all over again.
If you do get through and survive all of the stages, you will come face to face with the final boss, which is a dragon. Well, at least that is what I have been told as I just couldn’t survive long enough to face the boss! I think my best attempt is the 4th stage. It is a very challenging game, but lots of fun! Do post a screenshot dragon in the comment section if you get there so that I can see what it looks like :)
You can find more details about the game on @jonny-clearwater’s own post here
Game Dev’s interview
Now that we know more about this game, let’s get to know @nidolabz a little bit better! We have interviewed @nidolabz 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?
@nidolabz: Team. Partially, my father (@jonny-clearwater) and I (@nidolabz) are almost always together when developing games, but this was our first time getting to work with @lunaticmoon and @bigredd.
Steemgg: How did you come up with the idea for this game?
@nidolabz: We've always loved Double Dragon style arcade games, so getting the chance to produce a game in that style using the Steem Monsters artwork ideas seemed really fun!
Steemgg: What is the most fun or memorable part for you in this game jam?
@nidolabz: Watching streamers, like Daniel Cosmos, play our game on DLive (Steemit based streaming service) was really enjoyable and gave us a lot of great insight on the design and functionality of our game.
Steemgg: Are you a professional game dev or hobbyist? How long have you been doing it?
@nidolabz: While I have made money before while programming, it's still a hobby for me. As a highschool student I don't have much free time, but what little I do I like to spend developing games or other software. I've been programming since I was about 9 years old, and working on games since about 12.
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?
@nidolabz: I'd say the most difficult part of being an Indie Developer is trying to get members to work with us long term on aspects like Artwork. As someone who is completely incapable of drawing a straight line, I've never been able to handle the artwork on my own, and haven't ever really had the funds to actually pay an artist full time. The best part is definitely watching people play my games, that makes me the happiest. My most unforgettable experience as a dev was when I was demoing a VR horror game I was making at a convention. One of the people playing the game become so animated that he was wildly flinging around and jumping all over the place. He was so energetic and scared that he almost hit a few people who were watching too close!
Steemgg: What is your favourite video game, and what would you improve about it if you call the shots?
@nidolabz: My favorite game is Kingdom Hearts, and the only improvement I could ever imagine making it better would be dealing with the player's movement while in mid air. I've always thought that he jumped a bit too high, and fell far too fast (almost like the original mario bros mechanics), and just didn't have enough control while falling to properly simulate a battle in mid air.
Steemgg: What do you think of Steemgg as a platform and how do you think it can be improved?
@nidolabz: I think SteemGG is a fantastic platform. I love the idea that small developers can easily share their games on a platform to try to build an audience, without having to deal with the insane competition brought on by other, similar sites. I think that there are definitely some improvements that could be made, especially those dealing with the dev's customizability of their game page. As they stand right now, the pages seem kind of generic, without any additional flair. If we could change the font and colors etc... it would allow our pages to become much more personalize to who we are as developers, and portray a far better image of what we're trying to make and show for the viewers.
Thanks @nidolabz for sharing your experience with us! You’ve got quite some talent there, especially if you could create a VR game that could scare a grown man like that! We also thank you for your suggestions for our platform, and we hope to see more games from you and @jonny-clearwater on Steemgg soon!
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