Can you tell us about your game and how did you come up with the premise?
The game is called "My Whole Family's Dead," and is a submission for the 2023 Winter Jam by SoloDevelopment. It was made in less than 72 hours with the theme "End is Near." In the game, you're a boy who just got home from school and a devastating meteor strikes your house, killing you and your entire family. However, fate seems to have other plans for you as you come to realize you're reliving the same day over and over again moments before the meteor hits. To win the game you have to try to convince all of your family members to leave the house by talking to them and interacting with objects around you before the time is up.
When the theme "End Is Near" was announced for the game jam, Tyler came up with the idea of having a giant meteor kill everyone, and then a Groundhog Day scenario would happen where you die over and over and try to save as much of your family as possible. We were all into the idea, then it took off from there.
What role did you have while making this game?
My role in making the game was creating most of the art, specifically the floors, walls, and the furniture. I also made the sky behind the house and the meteor and even animated the flames on it. I used a program called PyxelEdit to make 32x32 pixel tiles that Tyler could piece together in the game. A couch for example is 2 tiles wide or tall depending on the perspective. I also made the song that plays and some of the sound effects.
Can you tell us about your process in creating a game “The End is Near” in one weekend?
Creating the game in one weekend went by actually a lot smoother than I expected. Tyler did an amazing job programming and putting the whole game together, and Jacob was incredible at putting the whole story together and organizing and outlining all the dialogue so well. For the amount of work that got done, it seems like we did a week's worth in just a few days.
What was the most challenging task you had in the developing process?
I think the most challenging task was figuring out the size and perspective of each object and piece of furniture because I wasn't really sure how it would all be pieced together. I didn't really want to waste time on something that ended up looking bad or wouldn't be used. Sometimes I had to cut corners for the sake of saving time, but in the end I was happy with how it all looked.
What game made you want to start creating games?
It's really hard to say a single game made me want to start making games. I guess I could say games like Stardew Valley, Pokemon, and BioShock, Dark Souls (any soulslike FromSoft game, really) and many indie games by developers like PuppetCombo or a recent favorite Infinite Fall who made Night In the Woods.
I've never really been the one to create games though, Tyler's much better at it then I ever could be, but I love helping out in making anything he needs for the games he makes whenever I can. I really would like to start though. I love art, music, and video games and being part of the process is really cool. He asked me I think when we were in high school to make some chiptune songs for a game he was making at the time, and I've been super into it ever since.
If you were talking to someone who is wanting to start creating games but doesn’t know where to begin, what is the best piece of advice you could give?
I guess the best advice I can give to someone who doesn't know where to begin is just literally make anything. Start small, don't get discouraged, and really take the time to learn. I really want to learn how to make 3D art in Blender so I can apply myself to so many new areas of art and media, but my biggest flaw is that I'm not making myself take the time to learn how to use it. The only thing holding me back is myself.
What are your top 3 video game soundtracks?
My top 3 video game soundtracks would be Minecraft, Need for Speed Most Wanted 2005, and Tony Hawk's American Wasteland (I know a lot of people prefer Pro Skater or Underground but it's the game I played most when I was a wee little lad). You just can't get the same feeling from Minecraft without cs188, and the other two were my favorite games growing up and they really influenced my taste in music. Other notable mentions are SSX On Tour and Scott Pilgrim Vs the World because Anamanaguchi slaps.
Where can we find your game and you at?
This game, and any other game Tyler has made can be found at https://sabenstudios.itch.io and that includes a game called "Andy & Tj Don't Save the World" which is a true story about love based on real events. I actually helped with some of the art for that game as well and made the soundtrack, which is actually composed of chiptune covers of songs by local bands like Moonlighting, Stars Hollow, Exit Emergency, and quite a few others! I also have a chiptune album available on Spotify under the name Gnarly Coleslaw here: https://open.spotify.com/artist/34zsZU3sEqHXcfoRJEBHxs?si=znJIRYVcSaKCUXchRHw81w Album cover I commissioned artist @hexchu on Twitter to make. My graphic design and art Instagram is @ActulyJosef
Comments