GAMESDEFINED SCRIPT INT

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 ME : This is a new feature on games defined today as we are opening the first indie interview. In this new feature we will be featuring the brightest of indie developers. Talking to them to make a very unique feature. To show the people that make the games that you love. Today we'll be talking about the team behind a new game in progress of INT that can be found at www.int-game.net/. So first a thank you for having the time to speak to us! Let's Begin...

•	First what was your inspiration for the game.

Justin (Project Lead):  First we would like to thank you for the opportunity to participate in your new featured interview segment.  I teach a technology course and one of the biggest inspirations for me when getting started was the desire to translate the game design segment of my course to indie game development.  That led me to forming a team, working to create a GDD, codified universe, factions, story elements, etc.  My secondary inspiration comes from my love of rich Sci-Fi universes such as Firefly, Star Wars and Sci-Fi games such as Starcraft and Kotor I/II.

•	I notice you have factions for the game based on planets vs earth what was the inspiration behind the story of the game?

Justin (Project Lead):  The story of the game drew inspiration from my study and fascination with World History.  There are many examples throughout history of nations and empires fighting themselves over ideas.  One example would be the Roman Civil Wars, another would be the French Revolution or Russian Revolution and of course the American Civil War.  Once I had a theme, ‘civil war’ that translated into the driving backstory of the universe, I.E. the Interstellar Civil War.  The war that is being fought in INT is between the United Colonies of Earth based in the Sol System (Earth’s system) and the Atlas Confederacy of Planets which are a group of Middle Colonies who want to form their own government.  I would encourage any of your readers to check out our story page for more information:  http://www.int-game.net/the-story/.

•	(Question to all please all give responses) as we hope to inspire new students to the gaming industry and help them on the channel in your areas of programming, art, writing and sound(if there) what inspired you to become a professional in the sector and what advice would you give to new students wanting to learn the profession?

Justin (Project Lead):  My advice would be to latch onto an idea and seize every opportunity you can.  I come from the public sector, teaching technology, but my teaching allowed me to learn and study game design for nearly three years before taking an idea to the internet and remotely forming an international team to make it happen.  The internet has given us all a wealth of new opportunities and means to form partnerships, collaborations, and communicate with people near and far.

BC (Writing Lead): Write. Write everyday. The most important thing I have learned is that when writing at a professional level, you need to hone your skills. This not only can help improve your writing mechanics, but will give you new and great ideas to present to your peers.

Monte (DevTeam):  Learn everything you can but find out early what you are naturally good at.  For me this is hard surface modeling.  However, I still try to learn parts of all the process of modeling and texturing.  I play around with sculpting and use all the parts in little ways to make my models as good as I can within a reasonable time frame.   I know I am not the best modeler,  I have very little traditional art talent but I find programs or tricks to help me overcome these things. I learn so much from the things I am not particularly good at that help make what I am good at even better.

John (HR Lead):  Making a game is very much like making a carpentry piece or an art project to me.  You may follow a structured process from planning to crafting, but not even sky is the limit when it comes to the imaginary wonders one can put into an interactive experience.   Various software suites and programming knowledge may sound daunting at first, but they are really there to help you.  So go ahead and start crafting!

Heath (Sound Lead): If you have a passion for something, pursue it to the ends of the earth. If you can see yourself growing old doing something and you love doing it enough, you’ll make time for it. It’s a competitive world, especially now. Stand out.




•	Whats the most exciting feature about the game in your opinions?

Justin (Project Lead):  Our most exciting feature that we will be showing and explaining to the larger gaming community soon is what we call Randomized Companions.  This feature stems from early roguelike games and the desire to have unique and differing play throughs each time you experience the game.  Our feature will allow you to meet companions as you play the game and these companions in turn will unlock story choices for you that would be unavailable without them.  Through them you can experience new levels of story.  They are ‘random’ so they won’t all be present each time you play the game, but perhaps you unlock one random companion and find a new way to beat a story quest however in doing so run into a companion you had in a previous play through except this time they are hostile to you.

•	What would you say is the most Unique feature of the game in progress?
Justin (Project Lead):  I believe that our most unique feature is the randomized companion feature because it allows you to play the game differently each time and unlocks varying possibilities.  You never know if you will encounter a companion from another save that wants to murder you in this one.

BC (Writing Lead): To sort of expand upon what Justin is talking about here, we want our companions to not only be a stat like you see in so many other games with a large pool of companions. We want each of these randomized companions to bring the universe to life in different ways-- we want them to feel real as well as engaging.

•	How important is exploration in the game and will there be rewards for players who explore beyond the main objectives

Justin (Project Lead):  Exploration is very important to us and we encourage it.  One of our features the DSR (Data Storage and Retriever) is akin to a codex in similar RPG’s however our feature not only records and stores items you find in the codex, but also has a secondary feature.  We call it the livestream.  This will allow your DSR to tap into the planetary and universal news networks.  As you experience the game you may want to check the DSR to see if there are any breaking events on the world you are in, if there are you may want to journey to that location for a chance to explore and get rare items.  Also, our randomized companion feature allows companions to randomly spawn throughout the level so you never know where they may pop up.  This also encourages exploration.

BC (Writing Lead): Our focus has often been centered around pushing the player to explore the universe we've built and we've crafted pieces meant to not only expand the player's knowledge of the universe, but to also present story changing experience. For example, let's say the player finds a dead agent for one of the factions in the rubble of a war torn city, on this agent the player finds classified documents that would be invaluable to either side. The choice here is simple, which side do you give the documents to? Will you give them freely or try to sell them? These documents could help either side win the battle that you are trying to escape from and may just lead to something that will change the player's perception of the story. These are the kind of things that we are including to encourage the player to explore the universe we've meticulously crafted.

•	(Writer Questions) What kind of tone is the narrative of the script? When writing the script was there any major changes through the development process so far? What kind of themes does the story display and what would you like it to convey.

BC (Writing Lead):  One of the things that has drawn all of the writing staff to this project (and video games in general) is the fact that we aren't stuck to single, defining tone. As silly as it sounds, when writing such an expansive RPG you let the player set and shift the tone based on their play style and the choices they make throughout the story. As for major changes we have certainly had our fair share and while they are quite the hurdle, they are never insurmountable and we often come back with a stronger story, stronger companions and a more solid vision as to where we want the game to go. The main theme that we've incorporated into the game is the idea of cause and effect. Your choices in the game will shift the universe and effect how you play the game. Cause and effect is the name of the game when we've been writing the story, how will choice A effect the player down the road and to the end game. In many ways, making some of these choices so far reaching creates a unique challenge for the writing department as we move along in the game-- but I can assure you that we crave the challenge.

•	(Art ) What was the inspiration to the art style of the game? What tools did you use? How long did it take to create the concept pieces talk about them!?

Monte (DevTeam):

When i first joined the project the high tech/ futuristic theme was already set to the project.  However, our method of texturing didn’t really lend itself to that polished and metal look that is usually associated with any sci-fi game.  Do to several events, both planned and unplanned we moved to a more natural and less “painted” look to the project.  Part of this change was trying to take advantage of the latest lighting and rendering systems available today.  As the textures sit right now I am still not completely happy with them but the solution seems to be coming in the next big release of the Unity game engine.  In the mean time we are doing the best we can with what the engine has to offer.  As far as the inspiration,  I can’t honestly answer that.  The descriptions and direction of the art was already set down by the writing team.  All I can say is I took was what written and trying to but what I believe to be a more futuristic and metallic look to what was being created.

Our concept guys are awesome and it really doesn’t take them long to go from idea to concept.  Most of the concepts have been approved right off the bat.  Our core modeling team has been pretty good too and can take the concept to completion in about a week most of the time.  I don’t mean 40 hours here, we all work jobs or are in school so that turnaround time is for some of the most complicated models.

Our team is still created concepts and models.  For the most part we concept each model as we need it, refine it if it’s needed and then model and texture it based on the concept.  One of our concept artists, Kong, in my mind at least is the driving force behind our art.  Somehow, he just seems to have in his head what Justin and I think the game should look like and we work from there.  The other artists that have been with us were giving us good stuff too.  But as I textured many of the models I fell back on the general concepts he made to keep what consistency I thought was needed.

9)(Sound) How did you come up with some of the sound effects? How do you think the theme of the game mirrors with the ost of the game so far? Describe a usual working session?

Heath (Sound Lead): A typical session is rather fluid for me. I work in a non-linear way when it comes to building certain sounds. First off, I do not rely on soundbanks – I start from scratch. I envision what an object or event is to sound like based on the art and description of said object or event. I design the sound to fit the game – down to the last component. Some sounds are comprised of many layers! Sometimes I begin by scouting about with my ZOOM handy recorder, (usually scaring people; like the cashier who thought that it was a Taser…that thing goes everywhere with me) in case I chance upon the perfect base to work from relative to the sound I am trying to convey.

I set the appropriate levels and hit the red button! Conversely, sometimes I begin with a wavetable and synthesize a certain sound for a base, then to finish it off; I scout for the finishing touches with my ZOOM. The cornerstone to sound design is reimagining everyday audio and using foresight to realize in your mind how these sounds will come together and whether or not the concoction will properly portray the object. For instance, the equipping sound for heavy armor was comprised of: My girlfriend slamming a dryer door at the Laundromat, the cashier at the local Dollar General’s scanning gun, my air compressor and me throwing a soft guitar case on concrete. See, to reiterate, quality sound design hinges on the ability of the designer to reimagine all these layers and components and have the sum end up greater than all its parts. The roar of the T-rex in Jurassic Park was made of several animal sounds, see? This dynamic evidences itself in that it’s also quite common for me and other freaky sound designers to whip out their headphones and recorder in the middle of a busy restaurant, or whilst walking down the street, or driving…sound strikes fast…and it’s everywhere! And, if the rest of the team isn’t happy with something I come up with, well, it’s back to the drawing board and I change it as many times as necessary until they love it.

In regards to the sound fitting the OST? Well, the game’s got space, ultra high-tech and a western polish. When I wrote the main theme, I elected to summon the powers of Ennio Morricone for inspiration and “Zazz it up” with synth to convey the Sci-Fi aspect of the game. The team and I (Heath Music) have colluded to secretly place subliminal messages in all of the music to keep people addicted to INT. Approved by the marketing team, of course. No, I jest. We know how to reconcile Sci-Fi and Westerns (I blame it on early childhood exposure to Gunman Chronicles), so we’ve stuck to that format and I think it’s working out. And, to keep it safe and consistent, I’ve been composing within the same mode (Save for a song or two) and the rest of the team (Matt: Guitar, Alex: Drums/Drum Programming) has decided to as well. The Foley is just as Sci-Fi as the music!

10)(Design) Was coming up with any particular level or stage hard ? How did you structure levels / areas for the player. When coming up with concepts what was the best yet?

Justin (Project Lead):  At this stage, no, the levels we plan for the demo are very straight forward from a design perspective.  We want to encourage the player to not only explore the level, but to finish the level so it will take them closer to their primary goal for the demo and that is to obtain a starship.  Levels are structured to have the player clear the level and make it to the next one, inching ever closer to their primary goal.  One of the most interesting concepts we have come up with is a boarding simulation for the starship.  Essentially as you are getting boarded, mini-tasks spawn:  repel the boarders, fix the IDS, and pilot the ship.  This of course requires you to utilize all of your companions, but also allows you to experience the event from differing perspectives.

11) (For everyone in the interview) Sum up the game in one word! Finally any questions to us

Justin (Project Lead):  Engaging

BC (Writing Lead): Choice.

John (HR Lead):  Articulate.

Heath (Sound Lead): Sauce.

Monte (DevTeam): Team.

Thank you for being interviewed in this first indie plays! Hope it's been a great experience. Please follow the game at www.int-game.net and Like Sub and comment if to stay in touch with games defined! Have a great day Thank you to the developers for the opportunity!