Development of the game, Boryokudan Rue

Josh, UCLA student, talks about their game, Boryokudan Rue

You can download the podcast here…
http://www.indiegamepod.com/podcasts/ucla-student-gdc-2010-interview.mp3

Or listen to it here…

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Show Notes:
Interviewer: I’m here at the Game Development Conference in San Francisco at the IGF Student Competition and with me today is a special guest. How about you introduce yourself?

Josh: Hi, I’m Josh Nuernberger. I’m a second year student at UCLA, and I’m the creator of Boryokudan Rue.

Interviewer: What’s the game about?

Josh: It’s a point-and-click adventure game, and it’s about two characters who are in two separate story lines which intertwine and kind of reconvene at a specific moment creating kind of an epic story line.

Interviewer: What inspired the game?

Josh: There were a number of inspirations. Portal was one, Cowboy BeBop, the TV show Lost, a bit of “Blade Runner” in there and probably some of “Clockwork Orange”.

Interviewer: This game was done outside of class, and what inspired you to do it? Which is good.

Josh: Yeah. Yeah. The game that really made me say “I want to make games” was the Secret of Money Island. That was one game where I knew that games could be a lot more than just jumping over pits or killing bosses. It could be a whole experience for the player.

Interviewer: And so, when you decided to make this game, and you wanted to do it outside of class, how did you go about doing it? Did you just form a team?

Josh: So, I’ve actually been making games just as a hobby on and off since I was 11 years old. So, I started this game in my last year of high school, and I’m still working on it with a musician for about two years now.

Interviewer: What inspired you to submit it to IGF finally?

Josh: I actually didn’t know about IGF until about six months ago. I was helping someone else with their game which they were going to submit to IGF. They told me about the contest and they said, “Hey, you should enter, too.” So, I submitted it and I didn’t really expect anything but then I got the e-mail: you’ve been nominated. I was like, “Wow”. It’s great.

Interviewer: What were some of the challenges as you were developing this game?

Josh: I don’t know if there were any major challenges. I had a vision at the beginning, and this just took a long time and a lot of hard work and dedication in order to get there.

Interviewer: What were some of the technology aspects that you used? Did you use C++? Did you use Flash?

Josh: I’m sorry?

Interviewer: Did you use Flash or C++?

Josh: I used a free engine called Adventure Game Studio.

Interviewer: What’s next in store then for you guys? Are you going to try to promote this or make another game?

Josh: I think right now I’m just going to concentrate on getting this finished. So, I’m just going to test it more, add more features, maybe, more music; just make sure it’s the best game that it can be and then I’ll release it.

Interviewer: How much longer do you think that’s going to take?

Josh: Not too long. I’d say the game is pretty much complete right now. It’s in an Alpha stage, so I’m just going to have it tested. So, I’d say within three – I don’t want to say anything specific, but probably within six months.

Interviewer: What are some of the challenges of developing a game while you’re a student?

Josh: Just time, really. I probably did the majority of the work actually before I started college, just during summer breaks and stuff like that. Once I started college, my free time just went down like that. It’s just a matter of coming up with my art style that I could do really quick and utilizing my time to the best of my ability.

Interviewer: You mentioned developing games since age 11. What is your favorite type of genre that you develop in, or what types of genre do you like the most?

Josh: I guess adventure games. That’s what I do the most, but I really love every type of game. But I think adventure games are really unique for their story, and also they’re easier to develop on your own. You don’t have to have like 3D physics or action or all that stuff.

Interviewer: Well, you know, the conventional wisdom is that adventure games don’t hold much attention of the gamers. Where do you see adventure games going? What needs to change to make that happen or resurrect the genre, instead it’s as beholden as some of these other genres, like social games or something?

Josh: I actually think – well, here, a lot of people come up to me and say, “I love these games, and I wish people still made them.” I think there’s an audience for them, but just the way gaming is perceived as entertainment you don’t really sit around at a game and plan to get stuck intentionally and think about a problem in order to play a game. So, I think people want to play these games but just don’t have the time or energy necessarily to play them.

Interviewer: So, do you think it’s worthwhile then to make adventure games for the iPhone or some of these more mobile devices where people have 5 or 10 minutes to spend?

Josh: Yeah. I think that’s a good idea because – yeah, I agree.

Interviewer: Where can folks find out more information about the game?

Josh: You can follow me on Twitter. So, it’s Twitter.com/the jburger.

Interviewer: And how is Twitter working for you?

Josh: Yeah. I mean, I just started, basically, after I got nominated for IGF. Since then, I’ve made a lot of contacts. Everybody’s been really supportive and great. So, yeah, it’s good.

Interviewer: Thank you very much.