An Obsession Toward Learning: Unhack Interview

Conducted By – Adam Ames

Unhack is a visual novel which follows the events of a devastating virus which looks to be unstoppable.  We had the pleasure of speaking to Marcus, the lone (aside from music) developer on Unhack about his game, thoughts on the industry and more.

 

Please tell us a little bit about yourself and your role with the development of Unhack.

My name is Marcus aka InvertMouse. Aside from my music composer friend, I’m the one man team behind everything Unhack.

 

How did you get started in developing PC games?

I guess I was wired that way from day one. Like any other kid on the block, I grew up playing games like Mario. I would then design my own levels on paper. That then led to me creating my own games using Klik & Play (hope someone remembers), Visual Basic and building animations in LogoWriter. I next moved onto Flash in university, and now here I am.

 

Where did the idea for Unhack come from?

One day, I was amused by this 3DS Street Pass message: “The most recent game I played was System Settings.” I considered making a game that took place inside a systems menu. You would meet AI characters that befriend and betray you throughout the game. Ultimately, I forfeited the idea because the gameplay felt uninteresting. I then moved onto a Trauma Center like format for a time. That eventually resulted in the Unhack that we see today.

 

What are some of the successes and failures you learned from in developing Unhack?

Unhack’s progress has been ideal so far. I hope to make the game available on the iPad at some point. However, I failed to match the iPad’s aspect ratio, so I had to go back and fix that up. Just another example of having to pay the price after rushing in.

In its current form, how close is Unhack to your initial vision?

Unhack matches my initial vision quite well. I’ve sacrificed some features here and there, but I made those choices willingly.

 

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 Unhack and if you faced a similar challenge.

I made a platformer in university and learned some difficulty balancing lessons from that. Enemy hitboxes that are too big. Item hitboxes being too small. Mistakes we all learn from as developers.  With Unhack, I kept the gameplay as basic as possible. This makes difficulty balancing easier to manage. It beats having redundant, unbalanced or misleading features.

 

Were there any challenges you faced in ensuring Unhack would run on the various PC system configurations?

Creating a browser based game is always a challenge. Developers need to make sure their games run reasonably well on all major browsers. For outdated versions, an upgrade message needs to be displayed to avoid confusion.

 

Please talk about developing the art style, level design and music for Unhack.

Unhack is a visual novel, so appropriately, the characters are drawn in anime style. For the interface, I did my best to aim for a futuristic look using glow effects, etc.  Clarity is the key with Unhack’s level designs. That aside, a different “gimmick” is featured in each episode to keep players engaged. Levels are short because that beats being repetitive.  The music is composed by Matt Hamm at Brainfed. I was lucky enough to have met him during a local indie developer meet up. After showing him an early build of Unhack, he kindly expressed interest in being involved.

 

Outside of creating the game itself, what is the toughest aspect of being an indie developer?

With all creative works, it’s human nature to want feedback. Indie developers, however, will mostly get very little attention. It’s important to persevere and stay positive.

 

How did you go about funding Unhack and did you receive financial or emotional support from friends and family?

Unhack is a low budget game. Webhosting costs came out of my own pocket. I am lucky enough to have the support from family and friends. They give me the freedom and space needed to pursue my endeavors. Having social media today is also a blessing. The folks on Twitter etc have been supportive. I am very grateful.

 

Tell us about the process of submitting Unhack to the various digital distribution platforms and if you encountered resistance in doing so.

I have yet to submit Unhack to any major distribution platform. Of course, I expect to encounter plenty of challenges!

 

Can you tell us why you chose to release a demo for Unhack?

With indie development, finding a way to maintain motivation is important. By releasing Unhack in episodes, I can continue to get feedback and stay inspired.

 

How important is it to get instant feedback about Unhack from users through online message boards and other social networking sites?

It is vital. No matter how much experience a designer has, gamers will always provide a different perspective.

 

How much value do you place on the opinions of those who review Unhack professionally?

I am thankful, because I understand there are countless other games they could be playing instead. When someone takes the time to check out your work, it’s important to be grateful.

 

How do you feel about the various indie bundle promotions and the “Pay What You Want” pricing methodology? Would you be interested in contributing to a project like that in the future?

I certainly would be interested. With me, I would often pick up a game on Steam during a sale. If I end up loving the game, I might then go out and buy a physical copy for full price to pay my respects. I’m sure there are many others like me. That’s why I have no issues with releasing Unhack’s episodes for free at this point.

 

What are your thoughts on how the PC gaming industry as a whole are dealing with the problem of intrusive DRM and piracy?

If a player enjoyed a game, I would like to think that she would pay for it. Of course, reality is not quite so unicorns and rainbows. It’s a tough topic because you can understand where both sides are coming from.

 

How do you feel about individuals posting videos of Unhack?

I would be happy for them to do so. Indie gaming is all about not hiding everything behind the curtains.

 

How do you feel about DLC and its current implementation in the PC gaming industry?

Honestly, a lot of DLCs do feel overpriced. Buying DLCs is a great way of showing your support, though. Developers and publishers are just trying to make a living. As long as they stay classy with their approach, it’s all good.

 

How do you feel about the online modding community in general and specifically if mods were created for Unhack?

The modding community does a great job of extending a game’s lifetime. People create maps for Doom and Quake to this very day. I’d be flattered if someone decided it was worth the time to create a mod for Unhack.

 

What advice would you give up-and-coming indie PC developers who are trying to break into the business?

I’m no expert by any means, but I’d strive for an obsession toward learning. Valuing success too highly can make people forfeit their dreams. Celebrate every time you get better. If you do that, it’s just a matter of time before you reach somewhere. You can do it!

We would like to thank Marcus for his responses and wish him well in all of his future development projects.  You can play the demo and check out more tidbits on by visiting the official site.