Interviews

Ichiro Lambe from Dejobaan Games kindly took the time to answer the questions for Aum41's interview.

Q: How many people have worked at Inago Rage?

A: I'm responsible for the bulk of development, but have been able to bring in others when needed. Two talented artists consulted on aesthetics as we moved from prototype graphics to what you see now. The in-game graphic novel was created with the help of a dozen people over the course of three photo shoots (www.dejobaan.com/inago/shoot2), and formal testers were recruited from the game development group of a local university (http://gdc.wpi.edu/index.php?page=about). I was also fortunate enough to have the help of a longtime colleague who consulted on the game's storyline. Finally, let's not forget everything Eli Whitney's done for us all.

Q: How long did it take you to finish the game?

A: Inago Rage started life as a prototype called "Killgame" (www.dejobaan.com/killgame), and was intended as a month-long, personal side project. It's actually taken about two years to develop into its final form. I joke that misjudging a project's duration by a factor of 24 is a personal record for me, but in reality, Inago's scope is much larger than that of the original prototype.

Q: You state that we can create our own levels using a simple drag and drop system. How many different prefabs and special effects will we be able to combine?

A: There are about 100 pieces in the catalog. Most of these are architectural elements such as buildings, platforms, and signage. Some are active pieces, such as accelerators and bouncers. There are also enemy generators, prize/powerup generators, and particle generators, which allow player-builders to set the type, frequency, and direction of a particle spray.

Q: What type of AI are you using for the enemies?

A: The algorithms which make Inago's enemies dance around are fairly straightforward "follow this mathematical function; do this other thing if you hit your head on something" affairs. This simplicity was necessary to allow so many enemies on-screen simultaneously, but I think it works well.

Q: Please give us the name of a great low cost or freeware tool that is extremely useful for game development. Btw, what tool did you use to create those fabulous skies?

A: I'm not sure if there's any one tool I'd single out above the rest. So, at the risk of being long-winded, here's a list of some we used:

- Python (free) for support applications and analysis tools

- FL Studio for music composition

- Audacity (free) for OGG encoding

- Cool Edit for audio editing and effects

- Caligari Truespace for model creation

- Ultimate Unwrap3D for texturing

- Corel Photopaint for image creation and editing

- GIMP 2 (free) to filter the graphic novel frames

- Pandromeda's Mojoworld for the skycubes

- The BASS Sound System to replace A6's internal audio system

- FreeImage (free) for JPEG support

- AVerMedia neoDVD to capture video for trailers

- InnoSetup (free) for the installer

Q: The movement of the player is really smooth. How did you manage to code it this way?

A: Player movement grew out of the original A5 template scripts, which we just tweaked until things "felt" right. Aside that, Inago tries to keep the framerate high by (gracefully) degrading effects if it drops below a set value. For example, certain events will spit out half the normal number of particles if the game slows down too much.

Q: Please describe a great looking special effect in your game and how did you create it.

A: Most of our special effects are a combination of moving particles and semitransparent models. For example, the energy columns fired by the "Arc Fiends" (www.dejobaan.com/inago/misc/arc_fiends.jpg) are essentially long diamond-shaped models with growing/shrinking particles running along their lengths.

Q: When will we get the chance to buy a copy of I.R.?

A: Inago Rage is on schedule for commercial release by the end of this month (September '04).

Q: Please give us a few tips for beginners.

A: Think big, and aim high. Developers who have a few titles behind them will tell you to start off small and work your way up. It's good advice, but it's useless, because a) most folks new to game development are fuelled by enthusiasm, (and few people get excited at the prospect of implementing Tic-Tac-Toe), and b) nobody ever listens, anyway. So, I'll go against conventional wisdom and suggest that you do start that MMORPG. Write that next-generation RTS title. Get your team together and go for that Doom III killer. Pay the jaded folks no mind as we mutter under our breaths about naivety. If you're doing something new and cool, you're probably gaining skills every step of the way. I attend the IGDA's Boston chapter meetings (www.bostonpostmortem.org) regularly, and I've never once heard someone say, "Gee, I wish I didn't waste that time learning those cool 3d effects. I should have been programming a Minesweeper clone, instead." If you're just starting out, do what strikes your fancy, and leave the responsible, modest project to a few years down the road. So, dream up that game you've always wanted to create, and go for it.

Thank you a lot, Ichiro.