Whether it’s Mickey Mouse or the most loved Pokemons, each character that you have loved to watch on television or read in famous comics, is the creation of a dedicated and extremely creative Character Artist. Joystics talks to Jose Lazaro, one such character artist from Spain currently working in the UK, who tells us how time consuming though fun this creative art is…

Jose Lazaro

Hello Jose, Tell us a little bit about yourself, about your life. What prompted you to become a character artist?

Hi! Big question. I’ve always been interested in character creation, more or less, because I have been interested in a lot of stuff. In my opinion, the whole process is one of the most creative processes that I know. I started drawing when I was a boy and always loved to know the anatomy of famous characters or draw a dynamic pose. It’s quite fun and keeps me entertained.

I used to draw a lot, probably like most of the 3D artists around the world. For a while I thought that I will end up being an illustrator or a comic artist. Then I discovered the first cg renders in my old video games magazines. I was impressed. The style was different so I began to investigate. I bought a computer…and then I never looked back. I kept fighting with myself to improve and enhance my skills at making characters.

What did you want to be when you were growing up?

Becoming a Comic Artist was my main motive. I used to read a lot of comics and as I said, I drew a lot. It’s rather incredible how preferences change over time. Today, I dislike holding a pencil to sketch anything and reading comics is a long forgotten hobby.

Why did you choose to shift from Spain to UK?

Spain is a good country to live, with a lovely weather, good people but if you consider going for a cg industry, it is quite complicated to find a good spot. The lack of interesting projects, bad salaries and bad management make it an unfavorable place for people like me.

UK on the other hand is working quite well (or at least much better). It is on a central position in Europe. I love Europe. It has the most important companies in films and videogames, the only thing that is disturbing is the weather but then you eventually get used to it.

DeadtoRights Retribution In-game Shot. Image Courtesy: BlitzGamesStudios

What is the work of a character artist? What personal principles do you follow in your profession?

A character artist is the professional who creates the model and texture of a digital character, creature, either from scratch or using help by scanning videogames, films, animations or any such digital content.

A character modeler only does the modeling and a texture artist does the textures. But a character artist is an expert at both.

My personal principle is to concentrate on my ideas in my personal projects and not be disturbed by any factor. It makes me quite happy to give rise to my own concepts and designs, it’s hard because I’m not the best character designer around, but there are times when you have to do what you love and slowly rise the ladder to become the best.

How do you come up with a character? What are the steps involved in making one?

There are different ways to approach a character. First, it is conceptualized from the story related where this character is actually required. In this case the story comes first. The other way is when you just start exploring some shapes in any sculpture app, like Zbrush or Mudbox, and the story comes later. The process takes requires a lot of creative input.

Is it time consuming?

Yes!  It’s really time consuming. I can spend like one month per character, or for personal projects, years! My personal projects take a lot of time as I can only work on them during my spare time.

So Jose, What can we expect from you in the future?

Oh…good question. You never know in this industry. It’s evolving at a great pace. At the moment, I have worked on videogames, films and teaching and I’m quite far from finding my final niche. At the moment I’m happy with my situation, who knows the future!

3D Mesh of Morgan Freeman

Last Move - Morgan Freeman Project

Predator

Who are your favorite character models and why?

I start with Predator. I love that alien, it is different and cannibalistic. I love its ‘futuristic hunter’ persona, quite original. A good creation from Stan Wiston, a real genius.

Vegetta from Dragon Ball Z, the animated series is another favorite. I like the fact that he is all time a bad guy but in the end you find a thin silver lining in his personality.

Nathan Drake from Uncharted is a good character as well. It was inspired by Indiana Jones, a good character from my childhood. We lost that kind of adventure character for a more sexy cliché in the form of Lara Croft.

I like Lupin III, you probably don’t know him. I used to watch this television series in my childhood. He was a thief, the world’s greatest thief.

Lorna, a famous character from the magazine HeavyMe

Which is your favorite creation?

I would definitely say Lorna, although she isn’t my real creation, because it was invented by a Spanish comic artist, Azpiri, but the process of making my own version of Lorna was quite creative and I put a lot of passion into making her.

What message would you like to pass on to budding character artists?

Learn anatomy, learn anatomy, learn anatomy, it is as simple as that. After that you can start learning more stuff, color, composition, posing, rendering, etc.

To be a good character artist you need at least 1 or 2 years and work a lot, so don’t worry if your learning curve is slow. Be patient!

More of Jose ‘s work can be seen on http://www.josemlazaro.com/

He has many tasks that keep him busy all throughout, but it is rather inspiring to see him manage all of that with finesse. At a very young age, gaming became his love and since then he has never looked back. Joystics gets candid with Edward Di Geronimo Jr., the founder of Saturnine Games (popular for its game Antipole), and a passionate gamer who took his time out to inspire young gamers.

Edward Di Jeronimo Jr.

You hold many portfolios, you are a game designer, a programmer and you also run a company, how do you comfortably juggle through all these responsibilities?

It can be a lot of work. There’s always new issues to deal with. I think the key is to keep an open mind and be willing to ask for help. You have to keep learning new things, and be willing to ask for help when you need it. It helps to develop friendships with other game developers so you can help each other out.

Tell us about yourself. How did you get into programming and when did it become a passion?

My family got our first computer when I was about 10 years old. Shortly after that someone gave me a book on making computer games. The games were really simple, all text based without any graphics, but it was enough to spark my interest. From there I slowly worked my way up into more complex things. I made a big jump forward in high school when I had my first programming classes and paid programming jobs.

When did you decide to take the huge step of starting your own company?

I made the decision sometime around 2005, a few years after I finished college. I wanted to make games, but there weren’t many game companies in theNew   Yorkarea. I had no interest in moving, so I decided to make my own games.

Steve Jobs always said that in a perfect technology company, programmers and designers work collaboratively. Your thoughts?

I feel that you get a better product in a shorter time if everyone on the team is working collaboratively. A programmer is going to do a much better job if he fully understands the design goals of a project. A designer is going to base his decisions on what he thinks the programmers can do. If the two groups work together, their viewpoints will meet much sooner, allowing everyone to be more productive.

A screenshot from the famous game Antipole

Are you planning to make games for the mobile platform in the future as well?

I don’t intend to focus heavily on the mobile market, but I have been working on an iPhone version of our first game, Cosmos X2. I hope to have that finished soon.

What can we expect from Saturnine Games in the near future?

Our next project is another 2D platformer with the working title ‘Turtle Tale’. We’re trying something different with this game. We’re going with a bright cartoon feel rather than the darker sci-fi themes we’ve gone with before. You play as a turtle armed with a water gun in a quest to defend your tropical island.

How do you prefer to be contacted by your fans?

Fans can contact us through our website at www.saturninegames.com. We’re also reachable on Twitter at @SaturnineGames or from Facebook at www.facebook.com/SaturnineGames.

What is one advice that you would give to budding programmers and game creators who are planning to start their own firm?

Now is a great time to start. The rise of digital distribution has made it far easier than ever before to get your game out there. Start small and get something finished, then build your way up to making your dream game.

A screenshot from Saturnine's upcoming game Turtle Tale

Which 5 games would you recommend to your fans?

Here’s a selection of older games that I played while growing up that were influential to me. These are games that I often look back to when thinking about game design.

Mega Man 2 - A classic action platformer. This game was a huge influence in creating the core gameplay of Antipole.

Super Metroid - Super Metroid presents you with a giant world begging to be explored again and again. There’s an obvious path to take through the game, but there’s also plenty of tricks you can discover to find faster paths. I feel like I learn something new about the game each time I play it. It’s a great game for trying speed runs. This was another big influence on Antipole.

The Legend of Zelda - The original Zelda game is still my favorite. This entry in the series focuses more on exploration than the later ones do. There are plenty of secrets to be found and a lot of different paths you can take through the game.

Quest for Glory IV - I’m normally not a fan of games that put a heavy emphasis on the storyline, but I thought the Quest for Glory series did a great job of weaving the gameplay and the story together. You play the games as either a Fighter, Magician, or Thief. The overall story is the same for each character type, but the way you accomplish each goal varies based on the strengths of your character. There are also subplots for each character type also has its own subplots. While I enjoyed the entire series, the fourth game is my favorite due to the excellent voice acting.

Punch Out - It’s a puzzle game masquerading as a boxing game. The game is about pattern recognition and timing, brought to life with an amusing cast of exaggerated characters.

Watch this video on YouTube.

Interesting Links:

Saturnine Games Official Website – http://www.saturninegames.com

Joystics’ Review of Antipole – http://joystics.com/review/antipole-xbox-360-pc-nintendo-dsi/

Tapsteroids, the action filled iOS game from UNAgames, was promoted to the “New & Noteworthy” section by Apple in just a few hours of the launch. This game has, since then, received rave reviews from popular app reviewing websites.

Sophia Holmes from Joystics.com catches up with Daniele, Founder of UNAgames, to find what’s so special about Tapsteroids and the wonderful two-person team.

Excerpts:

Daniele, Founder of UNAgames

How and when did you startup?

The passion for video games accompanied me since I was eight years old. I received a Commodore 64 and my first program was a sort of Pitstop clone. I had very clear ideas already! And I never stopped: I kept making games for fun until I attended the first professional production – a 2D graphic adventure for PC-DOS and Amiga – when I was 18 years old in 1994.

Tell us about UNAgames. 

UNAgames is a small indie studio consisting of me (Daniele) and Erika. Our mission is to develop video games for mobile devices, currently iPhone and iPad. While I mostly take care of programming, Erika realizes the graphics. Of course, being only two, you end up taking care also of many other things, like marketing and financing.

UNAgames originates mainly from our individual passions: while I have worked for many years as a programmer in AAA productions for the few companies that have succeeded in Italy, Erika has always been passionate about both 2D and 3D graphics. UNAgames represents our desire to do something in an independent way.

We identified the mobile market as the most appropriate for our ambitions: it has an exceptional wide audience, low entering barriers and devices are “always-on” and very powerful.

Two to tango - Daniele and Erika at UNAgames studio

Tell us about a project you’ve been very proud of (Tapsteroids OR any other). 

Tapsteroids although is not the most prestigious production of my career, it is certainly the most satisfying as it is produced as an independent. In an independent production you follow all aspects, from concept to advertising, and I can guarantee it gives a lot of professional satisfaction, even when compared to a AAA production.

Do you have any specific reasons/advantages for choosing to develop for iPhone OS?

Absolutely, and for many reasons: the software/hardware platform of Apple is stable and has a few fragmentations, it provides access to low level features, has the best delivery system available today and the development costs are within range of an independent studio. In addition, the audience is made ​​up of casual gamers with a good rate of expenditure. All features that significantly reduce market risks.

What was your first product? How did you grow from there?

The first professional production I was part of was “The Big Red Adventure”, follow-up to “Nippon Safes, Inc.”, 2D graphic adventure for PC DOS and Amiga developed by Dynabyte, distributed by Core Design in 1995. At the time it was common to program in assembly language and, on PC, to replace the operating system and switch the machine to 32-bits mode – even when DOS worked only at 16-bits, good times! Then I worked, always as programmer (mainly on game engines and AI systems), for other companies seeing the end of Commodore with “Gianluca Vialli’s European Manager” (a soccer manager), the spread of 3D graphics and the birth of the first consoles with “Blood & Lace” (a 3D graphic action/adventure) until the arrival of modern mobile devices. In all this, development of video games has become technically simpler, but other aspects are now more complicated.

Draft models from Tapsteroids

How is the gaming market in Italy in comparison to other countries?

Unfortunately there are no big IT companies in Italy, and the same is true for the video game industry. In the past we have had major companies, such as Dynabyte, Simulmondo and Milestone, which produced important games; but, except for Milestone, all closed their doors. This is due mainly to the conservative mentality and the impossibility to find funds. Today, the game development in Italy is almost exclusively in the hands of few small, but well motivated, independent groups. Working here as a game developer is not simple too, as it’s seen more like a hobby than a real work. But I am stubborn.

Tell us a little bit about yourself, about your life? What helped prepare you to become the game developer/entrepreneur that you are today?

Surely the passion has been crucial: making games is a complex task that requires a lot of knowledge and attention, and very much time at home working alone with your computer. It’s quite nerd-ish. Have properly planned my studies has certainly helped too, as I was always motivated and focused on my goal: make video games. The same passion is then needed to be an entrepreneur, as you will end up working more than a regular employee and taking a lot of more risks. But I’m a real “stubborn and a free spirit”: I cannot work without autonomy, and since I want to make games the only solutions was to become an indie game developer!

What did you want to be when you were growing up?

What I am now, but a little richer and with more free time!

What do you wish you could change about games or the industry in Italy?

I would like to see a change in the perception of the video games market in Italy, with people understanding its complexity and the needed professionalism. As for games, I would like to see more ambitious productions, not necessarily more expensive, but given the context I believe our local indie community is already making the maximum possible effort.

So Daniele, what kinds of things can we expect to see from you in the future?

My desire is to publish always more demanding video games, focusing on multi-player and social aspects. Not the “social” to which we are used to, but rather something more similar to a cooperative multi-player, where people can actively interact with friends and others to improve their overall gaming experience. In general, I found that games that can be played together with other people are order of magnitude more deep, fun and long-lived. This is the near future of UNAgames.

If people would like to contact you, how would you like to be contacted?

I love to exchange opinions with other developers and players, for this is very simple to contact me: UNAgames (www.UNAgames.com)

Draft scribbles of the stations from Tapsteroids

and the BIG Apple..

Tapsteroids is a hit on App Store. Are you happy with the sales so far?

Relatively: we still have not reached the break-even point, but since Tapsteroids was our first mobile title, a balance was not our main objective. We was more interested to experiment with the App Store world and to develop technologies.

But the real big surprise has been the exceptional reception by media and players: after few hours, Tapsteroids was promoted by Apple in the “New & Noteworthy” section of several App Stores; in the following days, major gaming websites reviewed Tapsteroids with very positive judgments; and a lot of players leaved nice comments and evaluations.  All this was unexpected.

As already said we wanted to experiment, so while promoted by Apple we decided to give away Tapsteroids for free for a day and the result has greatly impressed us: 20,000 copies was downloaded for free in one day only, bringing Tapsteroids at the top of free charts. We are still wondering what would have happened if we had implemented a “free to play” mechanics.

Do you suggest any changes in App Store to promote video games?

The number of video games in the App Store has exploded from 2009 to today, and despite all efforts by Apple to ensure the right visibility to the best games, many are left in oblivion. Considering that each day they publish over 120 games, it is clearly a problem with no simple solution. It is a pity that many good games are cannibalized by the “same old ones” only due to a matter of visibility. Perhaps, rather than rely solely on volumes, it would help having more articulated and fuzzy charts, with a better and more intelligent interpretation of the tastes of users.

Check out the latest review of Tapsteroids

—————————————————————————————————-

Behind the Games

Joystics believes in making a strong rapport not only with great games, but also with the people behind them! ‘Behind the Games’ is our collection of candid talks with makers of the games you love. A gamer’s delight!

They started recently to enhance their passion for gaming and make locally eligible games for their locality and are determined to not turn their work into a mere commercial activity. They are chaotic, informal and reach late for work, but with no regrets continue to reach their targets and visions and are almost done with their very first game. We are talking about the Game Cooks who ‘cook delicious games’ in their kitchens. Lebnan Nader, the founder of Game Cooks, tells us all about his company.

Tell us more about Game Cooks. How did it start and what ethos does it follow?

Game Cooks started on the 1^st of January 2012, we kicked off with the full team from day one (a total of 6). The reason we started this company is the passion for producing games, playing games and sharing our ideas and products with the region. We’re all heavy gamers and wanted to start making local games. We had ideas, we acquired the know-how. Why always download international games where we can create funny, simple and cool local games ourselves? We’re very relaxed and easy going people. We follow a simple path, play, develop and play again.

Your website is very creative. How did the idea of making such a website originate?

We wanted to create a nice website that reflects our team and vision. We didn’t want to follow the regular way of making game development company websites. We think that everything that is produced by Game Cooks, whether our website, our games, blogs, etc., everything needs to be done in a different and creative way!

The idea of using the technology was from our technical artist, the development started and the art guy added his touches. A bit of copywriting here and there made it look complete! It still lacks a bit of fine tuning and the Arabic language addition, we will get to that very soon.

Which was your first game? How did you grow from there?

As game cooks, our first game will be released soon. However, prior to game cooks, my brother and I created a mobile game with the help of our ex partner, the game is called Birdy Nam Nam and talks about chicken invasion in the Middle East.

Now as game cooks, our first game will be a running game, about peace in the Middle East. (Details are being given on our Facebook page on daily basis at www.facebooks.com/gamecooks.

We created the team, kicked off development and we are yet to launch our first game in a month or so.  We expect to grow slowly, even if we get good success after the game, we expect to go step by step and never loose focus. We do not want to replace our passion for games and the love of producing games into mere commercial things.

The cooks, bubbling with energy like always...

How does an average day pass in the Game Cooks office?

Everyone arrives late. No one arrives on time! After coffee, and casual reading a bit, jokes here and there, we start our day with our morning briefing at around 10.30 am. We finish at 11. Then each one works on his tasks. We all sit in the same room so it’s very easy to communicate, share the work, etc. We then pause for lunch and eat a bit. After lunch it’s the sacred 1 hour gaming session, we take our devices and start playing with new games to discover them better! After that the day continues in development, testing, sharing ideas, thoughts, jokes, etc. till around 9 pm or more sometimes.

How do you go about thinking of a game that will be addictive for your consumers?

This is a very tricky part. Actually the games we’re working on and the ones we will create in the future are all based on one thing. “We create games that we want to play and enjoy”. This way it’s more fun for us to create, and will be definitely appealing to similar audience like us. As for addictiveness, no matter what the idea of the game will be, making it addictive is very hard. This is where we concentrate a lot on effects, humor, nice small tweaks in the game, etc.

Is gaming in MENA region popular? What is your strategy when it comes to making games that are liked by people from this region?

Gaming in the MENA is popular, and it’s getting bigger and bigger by the day. Our vision in Game Cooks is to produce mobile games with an Arabic twist. We are targeting the MENA region. Since we are Lebanese and come from this region, making games that we like means that there is a high probability that Arabs will like them as well. We focus a lot on hitting local nerves in our games through dialects, music, effects, story, etc.

What marketing strategies do you use to promote your games?

We use blogs, or at least the ones we know about. We have a shy presence on Facebook as well. That’s pretty much it.

A screenshot of Lebnan's game Birdy Nam Nam

If a game enthusiast wishes to start his own game developing company, how many years of experience should he ideally have before he takes the big step forward?

He needs to be passionate about games; he needs to know 3 different things:

• technical development and cycle of game production
• a very good eye for game design, art and ideas
• a good idea about the market plan

I’d say anyone needs a year or more to kick off. Well we had a bit of over a year of experience in producing games before we started. I think this should be good enough for anyone to start.

Which are your five favorite games that you wish to recommend to our readers and why?

I am a big fan of POP-CAP. I recommend Bejeweled, Plants v/s Zombies for a start. I also recommend Jet-Pack Joyride, Bike Baron is a very nice game as well. Adding to that Need For Speed Hot Pursuit are the best 5 mobile games for me personally.  All of those games are entertaining, fun and fast.

How do you wish to be contacted by your fans?

Best way is by emails to info@gamecooks.net. We do like to talk to our fans on the phone or by chatting, etc., but emails are the best way to start the conversation.

Interesting Links:

Game Cooks’ Website: http://www.gamecooks.net

Birdy Nam Nam’s Website: http://www.birdynamnamgame.com/

Joystics reviews Plants v/s Zombies (Lebnan’s favorite game): http://joystics.com/review/plants-vs-zombies-ps-vita-xbox-360-iphone-ipad-xbox-360-and-more/

By successfully permeating into the Turkish and MENA region gaming market as leaders, the people at Peak Games are living their dreams. Their aim is to focus on culturally rich games to cater to the Turkish and MENA markets. Peak Games has set great examples for game developers to follow. For instance, they are making locally suitable games that celebrate Eid and Ramadan instead of Christmas and Easter, now that’s one company working towards customer satisfaction! Joystics talks to Rina Onur, the co-founder and CSO of Peak Games.

Turkey seems to be the hottest destination for Social Game development. Throw some light on the gaming industry in Turkey. How is the gaming market in Turkey in comparison to other countries?

Turkey is definitely the place to be for social games development. Turkey is an incredibly sophisticated market in terms of gaming consumption. With an average age of 27 and 46 million credit cards (second highest in Europe), Turkey is an extremely exciting market as well.  Turkey is among the top 4 countries on Facebook with 31M users. Our top game, Okey, has 4.1 million monthly active users.

Do you think Peak Games has a first-mover advantage in delivering culturally relevant games in Turkey and Middle East?

Yes, I believe this has already been proven as we are a top emerging market games developer focusing on producing culturally relevant games in these regions. With our strategy, we have market dominance in Turkey and now MENA and have become among the top 4 social gaming companies in the world.

Are we expecting more traditional Arabic board and card free-to-play multiplayer online games with your recent acquisition of Saudi Arabian social games giant Kammelna Games?

Kammelna is an online platform serving the Arabic region. The flagship product on the portal is named Baloot, which is a popular Saudi game and the platform is garnered towards the Gulf region. The team of Kammelna has been working on and polishing this product for years. The game is a Saudi card game, thus fits perfectly into our culturally relevant, multiplayer synchronous game genre. We will continue to grow this product, launch Kammelna Social on Facebook and on mobile, and continue to work with Kammelna team to produce more content for the region.

Okey is Peak Games' most successful game. It is a table-top/board game in Turkey and its claimed that 1 out of every 4 people on Facebook playing it on a daily basis.

Do you intend to shift the focus to a more global market as well?

Right now, Peak Games is focused on producing culturally relevant games in the emerging markets of Turkey and the MENA region. It has always been our goal to expand to other emerging markets globally. Peak is also a very acquisitive company; we believe in inorganic growth as much as we believe in organic scaling. Surely we won’t be doing acquisitions just for the sake of doing them, but we’re always on the lookout for good products and more importantly teams that can fit into our strategy and help us develop the gaming ecosystem in our markets.

Peak Games now has a strong presence in Asian Market. Any there any plans to enter the fast growing gaming market in India?

No, we’re not planning on expanding into India at this time.

Tell us about a project you’ve been very proud of. Also attach a screenshot or some images if possible.

In June last year we launched our first Arabic Game, المزرعة السعيدة which has now reached 2.7m Daily Active Users in the region to feature in the list of top 15 games globally in this genre. The game is a farm simulation game that is based on user resource management, but the way we approached it was the reason it dominated every other game in the region. Our attention to cultural differences and our way of handling localization was the key. As western games were celebrating Christmas and Easter, we were celebrating Ramadan & Eid. The farmer in the Arabic version seemed to hail from the Gulf Region as the game itself was adorned with very famous buildings from the region. This game’s success not only shows that what we have been doing works in our markets, but also it is a huge testament to the potential of the MENA region.

The Turkish equivalent of Fish Tycoon!

What was your first product? How did you grow from there?

Our first game, Okey, was launched in December of 2010 on Facebook.  From day one, we have been focusing on genres culturally relevant multiplayer synchronous games. We have built on this franchise and this know-how to produce similar games that catered to the Turkish user-base, such as Okey Plus, 101 Plus and others that are in the pipeline. Having done this, we got the chance to dominate Turkey- a top 5 country on Facebook with 30M users. When we entered the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) market, we wanted to follow on the know-how and strategy we built in Turkey. We first opened up shop in Amman, Jordan, but we were also looking for an established team with a solid track record, who would be a good fit for Peak.

That’s when we found Kammelna. Kammelna is an online platform serving the Arabic region. The flagship product on the portal is named Baloot, which is a popular Saudi game and the platform is garnered towards the Gulf region. The team of Kammelna has been working on and polishing this product for years. The game is a Saudi card game, thus fits perfectly into our culturally relevant, multiplayer synchronous game genre. We will continue to grow this product, launch Kammelna Social on Facebook and on mobile, and continue to work with Kammelna team to produce more content for the region.

Peak Games seems like a great place to work at. Do you hire foreign game developers as well? If yes, how do they adapt to the cultural requirements of the game content?

Being a company that focuses on multi-cultural and multi-language products serving over 30 different countries in our emerging markets, we have a lot of non-Turkish people working in our world-wide offices. To begin with, we have a significant Arabic population due to our Jordan and Saudi Arabia offices, but our presence in Germany & Spain, along with our global talent has given way to an international working ecosystem.

Do you think the boom in gaming market in Turkey will also give boost to the local multimedia based education programs in Universities and Colleges?

Certainly a boom in the games market only helps in the growth of all things digital.

In this game, you are a zookeeper and your aim is to save endangered animals from geting extinct.

Any tips for the budding game developers?

• Try to find your angle in what you love to do
• Make sure you have a solid idea about your vision, but be malleable
• Be ready to pivot and make a big change everyday
• Be ready to make a lot of mistakes (just make sure the rights are enough to compensate the wrongs)
• Build the best team you can
• Be sure to launch a product, a service or whatever it is you’re doing even if it isn’t 100% ‘there’
• Be sure to iterate and polish and keep improvising your product to get it “there”
• Follow metrics, alongside your gut
• Pace yourself; make sure you don’t burn out
• Just get started
• Don’t panic

If people would like to contact you, how would you like to be contacted?

info@peakgames.net

All was going well for him when he suddenly felt God instructing him to start a gaming company. That’s when Mr. Doug Glover started Slime Sandwich which created the popular online game SCAPS Agent which is today believed to be the best graphically rich 3D game that can be played without the need to download. He talks to Sophia about the game and why he will never create offline games…

How did you develop the passion to start an internet game company?

I was in a coffee shop writing my to-do list when I felt God instructing me to start Slime Sandwich.  I went home and discussed it with my wife, Michelle, who also felt the calling.  We sold our large house and moved into a two bedroom duplex.  We both worked during the day and lived off my wife’s income while we used mine to start the business.

Tell us about Slime Sandwich and the popular game SCAPS Agent.

We are a small team (6 of us domestically) passionately creating a game we hope people love.  We also have team members from India such as Firstbase.in.  The SCAPS Agent storyline was written by Marvel Comics author, Michael Lent and involves a splinter group of renegade soldiers and scientists, SCAPS Agency wages a tireless battle against the Crah, an army of hideous bioengineered mutants led by the evil Abraxas.  The game is free to play and we believe it is the best graphically rich 3D game that can be played in a browser without a download

Watch this video on YouTube.

How did Mr. Alex Welch (former CEO and founder of Photobucket) get so attracted to Slime Sandwich that he became an investor and joined the team.

Alex had tremendous success with Photobucket and sold when he was only 30 years old for somewhere in the range of $300 million.  He did very well for his investors.  Alex is very bright and wanted to do as well with another product.

In regard to SCAPS Agent, he understood where the market was going in regard to games, free-to-play, virtual goods and the ability to deliver a graphic rich 3D game in a browser without a download.  I think he thought there was great potential there.  As it turns out, he was right.

Do you plan to make games for iOS and Android?

Yes.  We have smaller games that allow our players to earn virtual currency from phones and tablets.  We also have plans to publish a form of SCAPS Agent on tablets.  Both of these projects have been placed on the back burner while we concentrate on delivering the core game over the net.

In-game shots from SCAPSAgent

Are you thinking about entering into the offline video game segment?

No.  There is an economic concept called Bertrand Competition that basically says in a competitive market, the price a customer is willing to pay will always drop to the marginal cost of production.  At slime sandwich, we believe the net provides the cheapest form of delivery and that over time the net will necessarily be the premier form of distribution for games.  That is why we are focusing all our efforts on platforms that make use of the net.

What is the work atmosphere at Slime Sandwich like?

Fun, interesting, collaborative, sometimes frustrating.  Everyone plays a part in game construction and development.  We have developed tools and processes that work with the Unity 3D Game Development Tool.  These tools allow us to build levels and worlds and add content at a fast pace.  The smaller size of our team allows everyone to play a substantial role.  In larger game companies such a circumstance is not possible.  I hope that we will retain this aspect of our business as we grow larger.

This band of happy ninja warriors is as follows (starting from left) : Doug Glover, Trent Bean, Joe Foster, Patrick McDougle (top), Eric Thomas, Nick Kimball, Alex Terletskiy

I am sure you would be very happy with the overwhelming response on the beta release of SCAPSAgent. What can we expect from Slime Sandwich in the near future?

Our primary goal is to expand SCAPS Agent to a full MMO status by quickly developing expanding areas using the tools we’ve created.  We have also been discussing making our Unity tools available in strategic partnerships to allow other game companies to quickly develop games in Unity.

Which 5 games would you recommend to your fans?

Just five?  Well, SCAPS Agent at www.ScapsAgent.com (shameless plug) would be my first choice.

I have to say I’ve loved the Portal games.  I also loved the original Myst series, Bioshock and Fallout.  I played Delta Force Land Warrior for years and if I just want to disappear into a game, the original versions of Command and Conquer were great.  I am still in awe of the Play Station II game, Shadow of the Colossus.

—————————————————————————————————-

Behind the Games

Joystics believes in making a strong rapport not only with great games, but also with the people behind them! ‘Behind the Games’ is our collection of candid talks with makers of the games you love. A gamer’s delight!

At the age of nine, he would make, print and sell buttons with funny sayings and at 10, he tried selling jewelry door-to-door…years later, he left an IBM job to pursue his passion – making social games. Sophia Holmes from Joystics.com talks to Robin Alter, the CEO and Co-founder of Kreeda Games India as he discusses his past, present and future.

How and when did you startup?

In 2005, after moving to India as an independent Management Consultant to Media and Telco companies, two colleagues from IBM along with me decided to start a gaming company. Having worked across Asia Pacific where multiplayer gaming had become a massive force, we felt there were untapped opportunities in India. We rented a small office (actually a garage) in a Mumbai suburb, and I spent the first year analyzing the market and defining the business opportunities.

The gaming industry in India at that time was small and fragmented and had many gaps – poor internet access, few cash collection methods and limited Indian gaming content.  We decided to focus on online game publishing and social game development. After about 6 months of intensive search in 2006, we closed our first round with Softbank and IDG Ventures.

Over the last 5 years we have built a unique team with specialized skills in online game operations and development. We started by licensing and localizing games and we expanded into a full game development studio that makes games for international gaming companies. We are now also making our own social mobile IP.

DanceMela - An Indian touch to gaming

Tell us about a project you’ve been very proud of.

DanceMela was a Casual MMOG which we licensed and then localized it for India, complete with Bollywood songs, dance moves and Indian virtual clothing items. We built all operations such as marketing, CRM, micro-billing, data analytics, in-game advertising and server management and published it in India. We ran DanceMela for 4 years, the first fully localized MMOG, won multiple awards and offered something new and exciting in Indian Entertainment.

Throw some light on the gaming industry. Which software do you use?

The gaming industry in India is just now taking off, and it represents the largest untapped opportunity in gaming in the world. With over 65% of India’s one billion people under the age of 35, and with over 650 million active mobile users, a large and unique gaming industry is inevitable in India.

A mass gaming movement in India will take a different form than in other countries. Iconic interfaces, culture specific reward systems and regional partnerships are just a few keys to success.

Kreeda designs and develops cross-platform gaming experiences on platforms such as Android, Flash, LAMP and HTML5. We also use cross-platform tools such as Unity3D and Box2D.

Who was your first client? How did you grow from there?

We first worked with 9You in China to localize DanceMela (formerly SuperDancerOnline). To complement our Localization and Game Operations business, we also built social networks and mobile and casual games. In 2009, we established a full-scale game development studio. The first project was to build game-based, brain-training website (MyFitBrain.com) with games and a custom built Learning Management System to track and adapt games difficulty levels based on player performance and skills.

Since then, we have built over 100 games and gaming solutions such as virtual worlds, SmartPhone games and social games with companies like SPIL and PlayFirst. Also, we have delivered game marketing services for companies like Take2 and Nintendo. Currently, we are focusing on building deeper, cross-platform, social-mobile games.

Tell us a little bit about yourself, about your life? What helped prepare you to become the entrepreneur that you are today?

I am always building something. Even at the age of nine, I would make, print and sell buttons with funny sayings and at 10, I tried selling jewelry door-to-door. Although I come from a family of entrepreneurs, a defining moment came in 1989 when I got my first job at IBM, implementing educational networks in New York City Public schools. At that time, IBM was downsizing and by and large, firing people who had worked there for many years. I understood early on that there is no real security in working for someone else. We have to make our own decisions, make them often, and stay in places where the learning curve is steep. I worked at IBM for 8 years to improve my business and technical skills and get more professional polish and I have been in startups ever since.

Starting a gaming company really brought all my interests together. Of all the industries I have worked in, nothing compares to going to work to design fun games.

What is a typical day for you, and who are the people you work with?

Typically, I meet with the team managers to review priorities, progress and objectives, then I review the games in production or lead brain storming sessions on new game concepts and level progressions. I also enjoy taunting the team to beat my high-score on games I want them to study. We are a team of about 50 people, everyone younger than me, in their 20’s and early 30s. We have game designers, producers, developers, animators, testers and the usual cast of characters in a gaming studio.

What do you wish you could change about games or the industry in India?

Well, besides the obvious issues of access and monetization models, I would like to see better games made for India. These games should be inspired by India’s rich stories and cultures, and they should reflect the new tastes of a country going through an immense cultural change. Since the culture is so socially connected through informal and generational bonds, I believe successful games in India will be fundamentally social.

Any tips for budding game developers?

Build a lot of games, in the process you will learn and improve as a studio, and maybe some will bring greater commercial success. To do this effectively, I suggest collaborating with other individuals and companies outside of your company. It helps to focus on what you are good at and to work with other teams to fill in the gaps and get more games out. Over time you will learn the nuances that make better games. In particular when it comes to creating social games, it is important to tap into many different perspectives and creative ideas because the game will need to appeal to many different people and tastes (kind of like crowd-sourcing game design).

—————————————————————————————————-

Behind the Games

Joystics believes in making a strong rapport not only with great games, but also with the people behind them! ‘Behind the Games’ is our collection of candid talks with makers of the games you love. A gamer’s delight!