From upstart indie titles to AAA studios, TruePCGaming will always offer the best PC developer interviews available. Not only will you read about how your favorite titles began and their technical successes, you will see the human side to PC gaming development. Everyone has a story and TPG will attempt to capture the essence of emotional and financial struggles all PC developers face.
May 2012
Tavern Of Heroes – Optim GameStudio
The level design is based mainly on the progression of the story. We develop the levels to fit with the heroes being introduced. We’re aiming to have some free DLC released every once and a while that continues the story in some sort of episodic manner.
Wizorb was fully funded from our own pockets. While some might think I’m crazy for dropping a well-paying job at a renowned studio most were pretty positive and supportive about the venture. We’re still hoping Wizorb will finance our next project but we’re not fully there yet.
April 2012
A Valley Without Wind – Arcen Games 
In terms of DRM in particular, I think it’s a bad idea and we don’t do it. I think that the AAA folks are barking up the wrong tree and alienating consumers. I think that pirates are also in the wrong if they think that they can just take what they want because “information should be free,” though.
I think they’re very cool for getting more exposure for indie games, but I hope it doesn’t get to the point where people see the bundles as the only way to get indie games. I’ve been contacted by a number of different bundles about including Waveform, and I’m sure you’ll definitely see it bundled somewhere in the future.
Blasted Fortress – Dapper Swine Games
Whether or not you become popular quickly is often simple luck… and sometimes it’s about having other more popular indie developers as friends to give you a shout out. If Tiy was making Starbound without Terraria existing first, he would be facing a huge issue right now of nobody knowing about all of his great work. So a lot of it is sadly hand-me-down popularity, the playing field isn’t exactly level, and if you aren’t lucky enough then your fight for people’s attention will be uphill. An 89 degree incline. In the snow.
It’s not complete, but it matches my vision to the degree that it’s finished. When I look at the imported world, the flora, and the controls, I’m seeing my vision in reality. When I see the server handling events and zoning, it matches my hopes for it.
March 2012
I think piracy is always going to be a problem. However, I think gamers still need to be educated properly on the damage it does to developers. Gamers think of publishers or retailers, not developers. People who support piracy are usually pretty selfish. However, they bring up very valid and compelling letters that can win over the masses more than guys in suits can. It’s a battle that will go on for a long time… but in the end, it will always be the developers that suffer. Not the publisher or consumer.
I was honestly shocked by the reaction that I had received. I kept expecting people to say, ‘you’re wasting your time. There’s already this great website that does exactly what you’re trying to do!’ In many ways, a wiki for PC game fixes is an obvious solution to the problem, and I’m genuinely surprised that it hasn’t been done already.
The final 1000 Amps is very different from what I had originally envisioned, but in a good way! With my original prototype, the game was much more linear, you tackled it level by level. You couldn’t die, and key mechanics like the teleport hadn’t even popped into my head yet. It wasn’t until I had people playtest it that I realized they wanted something more expansive and significant.
Generally the games are full and completely enjoyable without the DLCs but I guess it’s really cool that players, who really enjoy the main game, can extend it with buying extra content. Also, when a developer company is working on a game for years, there are many great ideas, which they need to cut from the story but later they can work it out in one or more DLCs. It gives special experience and depth to your gameplay for a smaller amount of additional money than the original game was cost. So I think DLCs are very good both for the players and for the creators of the game.
A demo is important for me. I would personally never buy a game if I can’t try a demo first and be sure it’s working great on my system. I remember essentially having fun with shareware titles when I started using a computer (When I was 16, sadly).
Chariot Wars – Candella Software 
The obvious inspiration are the epic movies set in Ancient Rome from Hollywood’s Golden Era such as Quo Vadis. Personally, I am a big fan of history. So it has always been my dream to create a story-led combat racing game set in Ancient Rome.
Pitman – Rat King Entertainment 
Our pricing is a compromise between what the game is worth for the time we invested in, and what similar games cost and most people are willing to pay. Every now and then we love doing sales when there is a chance to do them (for events like the birthday of our company), as they bring additional attention.
February 2012
I don’t have anyone paying me to do this so I’ve no idea if it’ll pay off or not. Sometimes I struggle working from home as well. I miss interacting with people on a daily basis and talking about what I’m working on.
Magna Mundi – Paradox Interactive
I take all reviews seriously, whether professional or enthusiast. If we see a common thread of complaints, that’s a signal that we may need to make adjustments; however, of course, you can’t let feedback distract you from your core goals.
The imposition of strict control has never led to anything good. In this case, the prohibition of uploading a Gas Guzzlers: Combat Carnage video by some individuals is really meaningless because it is a free promotion of our game. We are definitely not against it.
Defender’s Quest – James Cavin, Lars Doucet and Anthony Pecorella
As for bundles, I think we’re experiencing “bundle fatigue” right now with the enormous glut of copycats trying to follow the Humble Indie Bundle. It’s still a cool idea, but the novelty is wearing off here too. I’ve heard a lot of indies wondering whether bundles and Pay What You Want are pushing down prices.
I would say that Star Sonata 2 far exceeds the initial vision of it. The main thing we wanted was 3d graphics, and we have that. But we also ended up doing a major UI revamp along the way and ended up adding graphical effects that really surpass what I had in mind. I think the game as a whole is really beautiful now, and I’m quite proud of it.
Sometimes I slump so low in my chair that I can’t reach my coffee any more, and those times, I am sad.
January 2012
Elementary My Dear Majesty – Alawar Entertainment
The over-intrusive DRM and paranoid pirate protection irritate me. There is a line that should be observed: as soon as the game activation becomes even the slightest problem for a legally acquired copy, this is wrong. Limiting the number of installations and associating them with a certain system will definitely lead to problems and limitations for many players.
When it comes to failures, we’re learning a lot right now. We never considered how difficult it would be to get the proper exposure for our game as an indie-developer! Now, we work around the clock simply trying to get websites to acknowledge our existence! It is very frustrating but we have worked far too hard and far too long to give up now!
As for funding, well I don’t think indie development needs to cost much except time (although that in itself is worth money). We both have a full time job which means we can pay the bills work on the project as long as we like. We’ve also taken advantage of open source software and this brings development costs down a lot.
Well we always take our hardcore fans opinions to heart and try to build around what we think they’ll appreciate most. Our goal was to make a true Serious Sam game with all the trademark elements and integrate some new features and gameplay mechanics. Based on early feedback we think we’ve done very well, but of course want to continue to monitor fan feedback to see where we might want to improve with our next Serious Sam title.
Backworlds – Anders Ekermo and Juha Kangas
Considering that I also work as a software engineer, one of the toughest things for me has been to find the energy to work on my own projects after spending nine or ten hours programming at work. You are more invested in your own projects, but sometimes there are boring things that you just have to overcome – luckily I have Juha to tell me when he needs something so it is only a matter of discipline.
I’ve got a bit of money saved up, so I’m living off that and what comes in from the pre-orders. Everyone’s been very supportive, and I’m thankful for that – quitting my full-time job was not an easy decision, and I don’t know if I could have made it without my family’s moral support.
Void Destroyer – Paul Chaosavy
For me the toughest aspect is having the occasional thoughts and feelings that the project will be unsuccessful and/or that no one will like it or even find it in the first place; the thoughts to take the easy route out and to quit. The positive aspect of these thoughts is that they connect me to other individuals past and present, the realization that to create something, usually, takes a lot of time and effort, these things cannot be avoided, even when creating a game, there is a lot of “actual damned work” work involved.
I have always been fascinated by the game Dwarf Fortress, even though I have never played it in a devout manner. It’s due mainly to its steep learning curve. One day I found a series of Spanish tutorials on Youtube (a 40 or 50 videos series), where I could get a hold of the basics. From there on Towns began growing in my mind little by little.
The successes would be creating the entire game without using a programmer and finding the right people for each task. Failures would be time management and underestimating how long the game would actually take to make. This is primarily because this was our first game.
Crystal Hunters – DreamRoot Studios
One of my favorite NES games growing up was The Adventures of Lolo. To this day I still have every level from the first game memorized. When I started work on Crystal Hunters, I took the concepts from that game and went from there. Little things evolved out of the design, such as lasers, doors, and switches.
December 2011
Telepath RPG: Servants of God – Craig Stern
I’ve learned a lot in terms of design and technique. I basically had to teach myself intermediate-level AI programming to make this game. This was difficult, but I think it was ultimately worth the time investment. The enemies in Telepath RPG: Servants of God are good at seizing on small mistakes in the positioning of your characters, so tactical planning is important. I’m very proud of that.
I have always been interested in computers and computer games, ever since I got my C64. When I was at university, studying computer science, I got in contact with Paradox Games and they quickly turned into my favorite past time. I also participated in a couple of Paradoxes beta tests. A few years later when I was looking for a job I saw that paradox needed programmers. I applied and have been here ever since.
Defenders of Ardania – Paradox Interactive
Many of our friends are also working in the game development, or close to that, so they can understand our problems easily. We have lots of common events with the colleagues and the friends, like Board-game parties, hangouts, laser tag battles and stuff. So we know each other very well in any kind of situations, and it makes us something like a huge, geek family.
Epic Inventor – Mike “Weem” Wiemholt
What it really comes down to is that when you consider our original goal of simply “completing a game”, these kinds of decisions (who gets access, when, and why) aren’t that big of a deal. Let’s let people have access to the game to help us make it better and not worry about what anyone says about the game.
I don’t care about piracy. If people pirate my game, I’ll be proud, because it shows me that people want and like my game. Of course, I’d rather get paid for it, but I know that a pirate is going to pirate and that’s that. I can’t stop them and I’m not going to try. We’ll put a serial key on the software to make it harder, but I expect that will be cracked in short order.
Nitronic Rush – DigiPen Institute of Technology 
There aren’t official plans for Team Nitronic to create a studio, but I would definitely be looking out for this team in the future. While some of the artists and musicians on the team are already working on new game projects at DigiPen, there is a good possibility for a few of the developers to be working on new projects down the road.
Planet Buster – Exit Strategy Entertainment 
Biggest success I would say is the fact that we finished something which is a really good feeling. We have been working on our other big project, Pirates of New Horizons, for about a year and we still have a long way to go there before release. So Planet Buster was a nice change from that, as the overly long productions was one of my original reasons for leaving triple-A and starting an indie studio.
Global Ops: Commando Libya – Spectral Games
The biggest success of GOCL is that it was actually completed and released, it’s really hard for a small startup game dev to complete a project of that size and scope. I think for a small garage type team this was a huge accomplishment and I`m proud of it. There were to many mistakes done to list but that’s the process of learning. You can only avoid mistakes by doing nothing.
Ghost Whisperer – Legacy Interactive
We love to get people’s feedback. We do our best to monitor all the forums that cover our games, looking for bugs or problems that people have with our games. When we find a bug that a lot of people are hitting, we try to fix it as quickly as possible. Personally, though, I also look for player feedback on what they liked or didn’t like about the game. As people are trying out my last game, I’m usually working on one or two more – the notes players give me on one game will likely make it into the next one I make.
November 2011
Waves was mostly an accident – I was fiddling around the Unreal Dev Kit one weekend and ended up with a ball rolling around a level collecting glowy balls. I messed around with this a bit more and thought I could maybe make a physics based puzzle game from it. The problem was I got very bored trying to make a physics puzzle game. I don’t enjoy designing hundreds of subtly different levels I like creating systems that will themselves create content and fun.
I would say getting the word out. And creating a good trailer video. Definitely not my best skill, but I need to improve. So maybe if I could fix the latter, that would fix the former. I’ve got the impression some websites are more into appearance than actual content. It’s a bit sad but it is as it is, you have to play a game by its rules, I guess.
It started in January 2011 at the Global Game Jam. The theme was “extinction.” We scoured the internet for an interesting use of the word that didn’t have to do with post-apocalyptic scenarios. We discovered a neurological disorder called visual extinction and started developing the core gameplay from there.
In my opinion cyberpunk is not exploited enough. We wanted to use a totally different setting than all the modern mainstream fps shooters. No world war 2, no Iraq or modern war. Since I’m personally a fan of Phillip K. Dick, cyberpunk was the obvious choice. Thus the idea behind Hard Reset was born.
As with any developer, we had to start from somewhere as well. While most of us have experience from before, this was the first time we’ve worked together. In addition, a lot of our team members worked remotely, making communication tricky. We managed to sort this out really well and I think we’ve worked out a great way to cooperate from distant points of the Earth very well.
We believe the “pay what you want” methodology is part of that sharing culture I was talking before, and sure the HumbleIndieBundle as well as IndieRoyale and others understood that. We’d definitely love to be part of a bundle. Also, look at the IGF Pirate Kart! it’s a great way to bring this idea of a sharing movement to a higher level. It’s not a cheap way to get to the IGF but it’s a way of saying this is what we really are, we are a group and as a group we can shine.
I have a lot of difficulty accurately balancing games that don’t rely on numbers, and I know I’m not a good meter of difficulty, so I listened to the playtesters I had, and when I hear “it’s difficult, but not ‘cheap’ difficult, it’s just hard because I need to get better” I feel like I’ve done something right.
When I first started making this a commercial project, I had some money saved and paid for everything myself. Since then I’ve funded everything out-of-pocket or with game sale shares. We are still small and not turning a huge profit but it’s getting better as we get on more platforms. My mother has been my biggest fan and source of encouragement from day one.
October 2011
Orcs Must Die! – Robot Entertainment
Mr. Condyle’s Escape – Shawn Pierre
Dungeon Defenders – Trendy Entertainment
Girl with a Heart of – Alexei Andreev
Unepic – Francisco Téllez de Meneses
CurrentGen Interviews TPG Founder Adam Ames
Signal Ops – Space Bullet Dynamics Corporation
Frayed Knights: The Skull of S’makh-Daon – Rampant Games
President Matt Ployhar – PC Gaming Alliance
Camy Adventures – Intergalactic Creations
Hamilton’s Great Adventure – Fatshark
September 2011
The Clockwork Man Series – Total Eclipse Games
Star Ruler – Blind Mind Studios
Card Hunter – Blue Manchu Games
PR Marketing Director – GOG.com
Defense Grid: The Awakening – Hidden Path Entertainment
Elias Toufexis Interview (Voice of Adam Jensen)
Legend of Fae – Endless Fluff Games
The Witcher 2 – CDProjeckt RED
Kaptain Brawe: A Brawe New World – Cateia Games
Blocks That Matter – Swing Swing Submarine
August 2011
MumboJumbo – Luxor: 5th Passage
GamersGate CEO Theodore Bergquist
Breaking The Rules – BTR Studios
Davey Wreden – The Stanley Parable
Mini Robot Wars – Picsoft Studio
Tobe’s Vertical Adventure – Secret Base
Dungeons of Dredmor – Gaslamp Games
Runespell: Overture – Mystic Box
S.P.A.Z: Space Pirates and Zombies – MinMax
Ancients of Ooga – Bacon Wrapped Games
Critical Mass – Manic Game Studios
The Great White Destroyer – Brent Anderson
Creeper World 2 – Knuckle Cracker Games
July 2011
Swords and Soldiers – Ronimo Games
Impulse – Stardock CEO Brad Wardell
Nancy Drew Series – Her Interactive CEO Megan Gaiser
Vertex Dispenser - Michael Brough
Steel Storm: Burning Retribution – Kot-in-Action Creative
