TPG recently spoke with Andrew, developer of the retro 2D action western-themed title, Super Amazing Wagon Adventure. You will read about his thoughts on Steam Greenlight, the bundle phenomenon, being a solo indie developer and much more.
Please tell us a little bit about yourself and your role with the development of Super Amazing Wagon Adventure.
I’m the solo developer of Super Amazing Wagon Adventure. I did the programming, art, sound, and music.
How did you get started in developing PC games?
Near the end of graduate school I started working on game development both as a distraction from working on my dissertation and to see if it could be a feasible career post graduation. Game development appealed to me because it could let me work independently using my technical skills while also letting me be creative. Super Amazing Wagon Adventure is my first game and based on it’s success I’m attempting to be a full time independent developer.
Where did the idea for Super Amazing Wagon Adventure come from?
The game was partially inspired by a group project I worked on a long time ago as an undergraduate. In the project we were supposed to make a networked multiplayer version of Oregon Trail in Java. One of my jobs was to make the hunting and rafting mini-games, and I went overboard turning them into little arcade games with lots of particle effects and blood. People really liked the mix of over the top violence with the historical setting. The idea for Super Amazing Wagon Adventure was then to make a game using the setting and random story telling of Oregon Trail but with non stop violent action.
What are some of the successes and failures you learned from in developing Super Amazing Wagon Adventure?
Overall, the game has been a much bigger success than I expected it to be, and I don’t have a lot of regrets. One aspect of the game’s success which I didn’t anticipate at all is the game’s popularity on YouTube and how important that would be. Before releasing the game, I had no idea how influential and important YouTube is for video games.
In its current form, how close is Super Amazing Wagon Adventure to your initial vision?
The game is fairly close to the initial vision with a couple of big exceptions. First, I originally wanted the game to use a variety of different gameplay styles, more similar to WarioWare. I decided pretty quickly that that would be too complicated, so I stuck with just two play styles, side scrolling shooting and twin-stick shooting. Second, I wanted the game to be a bit less linear than it is. The original idea was for the story to have deep branches like a choose-your-own adventure book. However, creating that much content proved too difficult, and I didn’t want to spend forever working on the game–since it was my first game I had no idea if it would be successful.
Some devs admitted their games were too hard upon release because they became experts as they developed the game. Talk about setting the difficulty levels for Super Amazing Wagon Adventure and if you faced a similar challenge.
From the beginning I wanted Super Amazing Wagon Adventure to be a hard game. Because the game is short but has random events and branching paths, I wanted to ensure that players didn’t beat the game right away and get bored before they’ve seen much of the game. However, I also didn’t want it to be so frustrating they’d give up. I enlisted my girlfriend and friends to help me playtest the game, and I think the difficulty level is about right, but it was something I worried about a lot throughout development.
Were there any challenges you faced in ensuring Super Amazing Wagon Adventure would run on the various PC system configurations?
I did a small PC beta test to try and work out these issues. I’ve had relatively little problems with compatibility, thanks mostly to the XNA platform which the game uses. I do still need to do occasional tech support, but this seems unavoidable for Windows games.
Please talk about developing the art style, level design and music for Super Amazing Wagon Adventure.
I wanted the game to have retro art and sound, partially because of the game’s theme and partially because as a solo developer with basically zero art experience I needed to keep things simple. The game consists of very short (about 30 second long) scenes which are sequenced together in a semi-random way. Because each individual scene is so short, the level design is also by necessity very simple. The music changes from happy 80s sounding synth music to a bit more modern electronic as you get further in the game. I wanted this to contribute tension to the game.
Outside of creating the game itself, what is the toughest aspect of being an indie developer?
I think the toughest aspect, at least for a solo developer, is staying motivated. There’s a staggering amount of work that goes into even small games like Super Amazing Wagon Adventure, so it takes a lot of effort to keep working.
How did you go about funding Super Amazing Wagon Adventure and did you receive financial or emotional support from friends and family?
Most of the game was created part time while I was a graduate student. The final two months of the game’s development were paid for with savings from previous non-game development jobs. The game has been successful enough to recoup that investment and probably fund most of the new game I’m working on. I received a lot of emotional support from friends and family and in particular my girlfriend who playtested the game almost daily for months.
Tell us about your experience with Steam Greenlight and submitting Super Amazing Wagon Adventure to other digital distributors.
For the first 5 or so months the game didn’t get much traction on Greenlight, but thanks to some recent very popular YouTube videos the game is now in the top 100. It’s still not clear if it will make it through the Greenlight process, but I’m grateful for the support it’s gotten. I was very fortunate to be contacted by someone from IndieRoyale based on early coverage of the game’s trailer. The game debuted in an IndieRoyale bundle and has been sold via Desura since then. I was also recently contacted by someone from GamersGate who are now also distributing the game.
Did you research similar titles when trying to come up with the launch price?
Yes, the game is priced at $1 on the Xbox Indie Games Marketplace which is the de facto standard price for that market. For the PC version I looked at the prices of other Xbox Indie games that have been released on Desura, and $3 seemed to be the standard. The price difference is partially due to differences in the marketplaces, but there’s also a fair amount of extra work that went into the PC version and it comes with the soundtrack.
Can you tell us why you chose to release a demo for Super Amazing Wagon Adventure?
You have to create a trial version of your game for the Xbox Indie Games marketplace, so most of the work for the PC demo was already done. I think it’s also especially important for non-Steam games to have a demo because PC gamers are generally more hesitant to purchase games outside of Steam.
How important is it to get instant feedback about Super Amazing Wagon Adventure from users through online message boards and other social networking sites?
For the most part the game was developed without much feedback from users–I haven’t updated the game’s content too much since it’s been released. However, getting this kind of feedback is extremely important to me personally. Hearing from people that enjoy the game is very rewarding, and it’s a big part of why I want to make games. I’m also trying to incorporate what I’ve learned from player feedback in my next game.
How much value do you place on the opinions of those who review Super Amazing Wagon Adventure professionally?
I have a lot of respect for game critics, and I think they serve an important role in the industry. I also think most of the reviews of my game were fair and generally spot-on. However, I think it’s also important to not let criticism guide design. Criticism is usually about identifying what’s good and bad in a game, which is what matters to players considering purchasing a game, but this is often different than identifying what would make the game better, which is what matters to game designers.
How do you feel about the various indie bundle promotions and the “Pay What You Want” pricing methodology? How was your experience with Indie Royale?
I think the exposure I got from being a part of the bundle was a big part of the game’s PC success. I don’t have any immediate plans for another bundle or sale, but I think they’re great promotional tools, and I’m open to the idea.
What are your thoughts on how the PC gaming industry as a whole are dealing with the problem of intrusive DRM and piracy?
I think that DRM is generally a bad way of responding to piracy. I think a much better way of encouraging people to buy games is through services like Steam which offer things like friends lists, leaderboards, and achievements that you don’t get from pirated games. I think it’s still pretty unclear which direction the industry will take.
How do you feel about individuals posting videos of Super Amazing Wagon Adventure?
I love it! The game has experienced a big rush of new interest in the past couple of months thanks to a number of popular YouTube videos. Actually, if you exclude the IndieRoyale bundle of which my game was only a small part, the game sold much better in January and February than when it was first released in July and August of last year. It’s crazy to see the game do well so long after its release, and it’s all thanks to word of mouth and YouTube. Getting to watch people enjoy the game is also very rewarding for me.
How do you feel about DLC and its current implementation in the PC gaming industry?
I think DLC is in principle a good way of giving gamers more of what they want after a game has been released. However, I don’t like things like on-disc DLC and pay-to-win microtransactions because these sort of things feel disrespectful to gamers. I also don’t like how paid DLC fragments the player base of a game.
How do you feel about the online modding community in general and specifically if mods were created for Super Amazing Wagon Adventure?
I think modding is great. Unfortunately I didn’t anticipate the game’s success, so Super Amazing Wagon Adventure isn’t very easy to mod. If I were to redo the game, mod support would be high on the list of new things to add.
What advice would you give up-and-coming indie PC developers who are trying to break into the business?
My biggest piece of advice is to be yourself and make something unique. The indie marketplace is extremely competitive, so it’s hard to stand out.
We thank Andrew for allowing us to get a glimpse of what it takes to make a dream come true. You can pick up Super Amazing Wagon Adventure via Desura or GamersGate and the official site. Also please remember to vote on Steam Greenlight.
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http://www.handsometrustworthy.com/ Armaan Khan
