Hey guys! Welcome to our second Developer Interview! Over the past few weeks I have been busy playing Indie games from the 360 Marketplace and I found an amazing gem everyone should try, DLC Quest. Now yes, I could review the game…but instead, I emailed the Indie Superhero behind this satirical adventure! Ben Kane, of Going Loud Studios, had some great things to say about his dev. process on the game, and Indie Developing in general.

Q1: What was your job on creating DLC Quest?

In a word: everything. Well, almost everything. It’s a one-man show here at Going Loud Studios, so I’m responsible for all the concepts, design, writing, coding, artwork, marketing - you name it! The one exception is music, which I choose to outsource for the sake of everyone’s ears. Fortunately, there are some really great musicians out there willing to share their work.


Q2: Were there any problems you ran into, during development, that halted progress for a substantial amount of time?

Normally I’d have a good anecdote for you here, but the development of DLC Quest was a bit of an anomaly for it. From start to finish, I spent about 7 weeks on the project and everything just went really, really smoothly. I had a solid idea of what I wanted to do from the beginning, so the execution was a flurry of coding, pixel art and energy drinks.


Q3: Do you have any tips for Indie developers, on how to get back on track after running into a problem in development? 

My best advice is to take a break, then reassess, make a decision and move on. Go get some food, some sleep, some fresh air and just give your brain a chance to think about something else for a while. Working on a side project, or some completely different aspect of development (like art versus code) is a great way to keep up momentum when you hit a roadblock. Later on, try to take an objective view of what the problem is and think about how it can be fixed, worked around or dropped altogether. Seek advice if needs be. Then you really need to just pick a resolution and move on - sometimes the best solution is just the one that gets you moving again.


Q4: Did DLC Quest start out as something different than the finished game?

It’s startling how similar the final game is to my initial “vision” for the project actually. Normally things evolve quite a lot through development, but DLC Quest was a bit of an exception. I did originally have grander plans for the platforming aspects of the game, such as enemies and ways to fail, but I felt they added little to the game and existed only because it seemed like a platformer “should” have those elements. Those sorts of things were cut pretty early on in the concept stages though.


Q5: Are there any plans for an expansion for DLC Quest?

For the moment, I’m not working on an expansion. There are so many things to poke fun at in the industry that it’s hard not to come up with ideas for a follow-up of some sort though…


Q6: What was your favorite part of the game?

I personally love the sheep in the game and the way players react to them. Without fail, everyone attacks the sheep as soon as possible. There’s no reason to, but it seems ingrained in the a gamer’s mind to do it. It’s an interesting result, though I won’t read in to it too much :)


Q7: Were you playing anything during development, that helped you continue making the game?

One of the great downsides to being a full-time indie developer is that you can end up dedicating all your time towards your own games and not play anything else. I definitely put my head down and worked in a vacuum for most of the project. I think the season changed without me noticing.


Q8: If you could tell any Indie Developer one thing, to help in creating their game, what would it be?

My best advice is to pick something really small and finish it. Finishing a game is much different than taking a game 90% of the way to completion. You learn a lot about polishing and the user experience by doing that. So just take a small idea, like cloning Pong or Breakout, and make a complete game out of it. Then share it with others to get feedback. You’ll learn a lot more than you’d expect and then you’ll be hooked!

Ben, the 8BM Team and our followers thank you for doing this review, and good luck on your future projects!

That wraps up our second Developer Interview! Hope you enjoyed it and we promise to bring you more in the coming months.

Article by: CmdrShphrd

Image by: Ben Kane