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In the latest installment of our Academic Spotlight Series, we spoke with Justin LeClair, student at Vanderlbilt University in Nashville, Tennessee, about his Xbox LIVE Indie Games: Game Training Vol 1: Dexterity, Game Training Volume 2: Flight, Time and Tune, Rumble Massage, Zoom, and Torino-X.
How would you describe your games for anyone who hasn’t seen or played them yet?
Game Training Vol. 1: Dexterity is a simple Dance Dance Revolution-based button matching game. All the buttons represented on the Xbox 360 controller rise from the bottom and the user has to press the specified button at the correct time. The game also features good music and some nice particle effects. GT1 was primarily made to start the Game Training line of games, and for us to get better at 2D graphics.
Game Training Vol. 2: Flight is a starter flight simulator game designed for people who haven't played before and wouldn't want to buy a full title. Basically, you can fly three different types of aircraft around a small arctic world and complete activities, such as staying below an altitude for a period of time or destroying all the targets in a predetermined set of time.
I noticed one of my friends refuse to play a full scale Flight Simulation-game because he had never played one before and didn't want to be really bad at it. I figure his situation is probably not unique and other people might appreciate a "starter" flight simulator.
Zoom is based around going really fast. The user pilots an ever accelerating ship and tries to keep it on a straight track (in 3D) for as long as possible to achieve the highest top speed. Zoom features a very trippy environment and an original soundtrack. The game was inspired by the Need for Speed series of games. We probably could have taken the idea much farther, but hey who doesn’t like to go really fast?
Time and Tune is a simple metronome that features notes that help tune your guitar. Some features of Time and Tune include: comical metronome sounds and the ability to have the metronome go 1500 beats per minute. This application was inspired by one of my friends who enjoys playing the guitar, when he complained about having to buy a $30 metronome in a store.
Rumble Massage, by far our most successful title, is essentially a colorful meter that allows the user to control how much rumble the Xbox 360 controller makes. Most of its success can probably be attributed to inappropriate jokes made about its potential uses and its colorful presentation. I created it after I saw an Xbox 360 controller rumble loudly on a table and thought, "Hey, Neck Massager!"
Torino-X is a 3D tower defense-style game where the player controls the placement of turrets and pilots a fighter plane that can manually destroy the onslaught of enemies. The idea was to take the strategy aspect from the tower defense game genre and combine it with the excitement of 3D space fighting. I feel that Torino-X's concept was solid but our talent level at that time was pretty immature. (I would expect a remake soon)
How long did it take you to make your games?
Torino-X took by far the longest; not only is it a more in-depth game than the others, but it was the first video game I have ever coded and we ever developed. We learned a lot through trial and error.
Zoom took two months, because we weren’t as experienced then.
GT1 took about a month or two. GT2: Flight took a little under a month to develop. Time and Tune took about two weeks. Rumble Massage only took about six hours.
Have you taken any courses or classes that helped you with game development/design?
I'm about to start my last semester as an Electrical Engineer at Vanderbilt University; I enjoy programming and have taken a few Computer Science classes. The only class that was helpful in video game development was "Computer Graphics," but that was not geared to real-time rendering.
What advice would you give other students looking to build a game?
Just dive in! The best way to learn is to try some XNA Game Studio tutorials; a lot of them are very helpful. I found Riemer's Tutorials extremely helpful, especially the HLSL ones. I would also recommend his book on programming recipes
How was your experience using XNA Game Studio to make your games?
It's been a joy, everything seems intuitive and I rarely run into an issue that's the framework or studio's fault.
What other tools/programs did you use to help you make your game?
I'm a big fan of Particle Illusion (for sprite effects), and Wings 3D (for basic modeling).
Did you playtest your games through XNA Creators Club Online? Did it help?
Yes, I got some pretty good advice and made some changes. In general, the people on the XNA CCO forums are very helpful.
How was your experience with Peer Review?
The only game that was hard to get through review was Time and Tune. At that point in time the "Apps" were dominating the marketplace (Rumble Massage, Fireplace, Fish Tank) and some people failed Time and Tune because it wasn't a "game". When we brought this issue up to the XNA CCO crew it was handled extremely quickly and it really wasn't a problem.
It seems like a pretty good system, I feel that it can be a little bit arbitrary at times but the moderators are great and are actively making it better. It's changed a lot since Torino-X was in review, right after the service was launched.
How many people are on your team, and what are their roles?
The team size ranges from three to six people. I do the programming. I started game programming the summer of my freshmen year at Vanderbilt University. I had a summer internship as a C# coder and when I found XNA Game Studio, I dove right in. This summer we plan to take game development full time as ZXB Games.
Ben Bautz and Derrick Xu create the music. They are both from my hometown (Lexington, MA) and have been invaluable to the creation of our company. I've known Ben since kindergarten and he is currently at Stanford University, and an extremely talented computer and jazz musician.
I've known Derrick since junior high; not only does he create amazing original soundtracks, but he is a computer wiz. He's able to create any content needed from advanced particle effects to skyboxes and 3D Models.
Will Danforth helps me with art. I met Will through our fraternity, Phi Kappa Sigma, at Vanderbilt where he is about to graduate with an art degree. Will is a very talented artist and will be joining Drew and myself full time next year.
Drew Johnson helps with sales and marketing. I also met Drew at Vanderbilt. He is an Econ/History major from New Jersey and will be handling the financial and marketing aspects of our game company. He also helps out by play testing our games and making sure everyone stays on a schedule.
Any plans to release more games for XBLIG?
For sure.
What’s next for you?
Using proceeds from Rumble Massage, after graduation we are taking video game development full-time. Keep an eye out for ZXB Games, LLC.
Are you interested in playing any of Justin's games yourself? You can do that through the Xbox LIVE Indie Games channel on Xbox.com or through the Xbox LIVE Marketplace on your Xbox 360!
If you're a student or a teacher using XNA Game Studio and have made an Xbox LIVE Indie Game that you'd like to be featured in a future Academic Spotlight - be sure to let us know by emailing us at Creators@microsoft.com!
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