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| Dream.Build.Play Spotlight: Avatar Golf |
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Avatar Golf placed in the top-twenty for the 2009 Dream.Build.Play challenge. Matt Davis of Barkers Crest Studio shares with us how came up with the idea for Avatar Golf, using XNA Game Studio, and what it was like competing in the Dream.Build.Play challenge.
How would you describe Avatar Golf for anyone who hasn’t seen or played it, yet?
Avatar Golf can pretty much be summarized as a game involving a bald space marine blasting away at evil alien life forms in an attempt to save the planet Earth from certain doom. On his quest to save the world, the hero must team up with 2-4 other unique and intriguing space warriors in an effort to conquer the hostile, extraterrestrial invaders. Along the way each of the space warriors learn life lessons and yell out never before heard catch phrases like, "Eat Lead Evil Alien Scum" or "I'm lagging, I'm lagging". Truly, this is a journey they will never forget.
By the way, none of the above is true. Avatar Golf is an awesome game where you play golf as your Xbox 360 Avatar and design your own custom courses in the games easy-to-use course designer to share with other gamers.
What made you want to make Avatar Golf?
I thought it would be fun to build a golf game on the Xbox 360 where gamers could easily design their own courses and then compete against their friends online. There was nothing like it on any gaming console so it just made sense to do it.
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What games influenced or inspired this game?
Lee Trevino's Fighting Golf on the NES. That was back when golf games were fun for the entire family. Hopefully, Avatar Golf shares that same fun family spirit that many of those old golf games had.
Is this the first game you’ve made?
Prior to XNA Game Studio I had zero game development experience. Other than Easy Golf, Avatar Golf, and Home Run Challenge, we've submitted a few builds of various projects to previous Dream.Build.Play challenges that may or may not eventually see the light of day as full releases.
What games are you playing now?
I still have Metal Gear Solid 4 sitting in bubble wrap from Christmas 2008 and a whole lot of games from 2009 waiting on store shelves to be purchased. I’ve been pretty excited about Alan Wake for the last 5 years and now I’m finally about to play it! The last games I finished were Left 4 Dead, Fable 2, and Fallout 3. I am a game completion freak and have to finish every game I start so I'm backlogged for the next three years! Where does all the time go?
How long did it take to make Avatar Golf?
Avatar Golf is what many would consider the spiritual successor to Barkers Crest Studio's first Xbox LIVE Indie Game release, Easy Golf. When Easy Golf was on the market, people kept telling me "If it had Avatars in it I would get it". I had been working on a totally unrelated game when XNA Game Studio 3.1 was released and spent a few minutes playing around with the Avatars. It was then we decided to focus on enhancing the existing golf engine with Avatars and other exciting new features to submit to Dream.Build.Play (DBP) 2009.
So, all in all about a little over two months of time was spent on the build that was submitted to DBP 2009 with one person building the game and another building the courses. Not all of the features that made it into the final release were in the DBP build. Most notable was the lack of other players' Avatars being rendered in the online multiplayer component which is just an interesting little fact to know in case you come across this question while playing Trivial Pursuit or just want to impress some people at a party.
How was your experience using XNA Game Studio to make Avatar Golf?
XNA Game Studio is a very under-rated technology that I expect will mature in a few years and give way to some incredible games. It is only a matter of time.
As for Barkers Crest Studio, it would not exist without XNA Game Studio technology, and to me that speaks for itself. It is so cool to me that by day I can be a regular Joe who writes code for business applications, and then at night be a masked super hero who writes code for video games using the exact same development IDE and code language.
What other tools/programs did you use to help you make your game?
I used a well known 3D modeling software called fragMOTION for 3D models and Avatar animations along with a not so well known image editing software called Adobe Photoshop for working with textures. I also used Sonar Home Studio 6 for editing and mastering the audio. Other than that I just used Visual Studio 2008 Pro with XNA Game Studio 3.1.
Where did you hear about the Dream.Build.Play Challenge, and what made you decide to enter?
The very first day the XNA Framework was released to the public I downloaded the toolkit and plunked down $99 for a year premium membership to the XNA Creators Club Online.
With that said, I was gobbling down any news released on the XNA Creators Club Online website, which is where I originally learned about the contest many moons ago. I figured worst-case-scenario I get a free four month XNA Creators Club Online membership and best-case-scenario an all expense paid trip to happy land.
I've competed in every single Dream.Build.Play (DBP) challenge including both of the warm-up challenges. The 2009 competition was the first time any of my entries placed (which is awesome by the way!).
How was the experience of competing in Dream.Build.Play?
The experience was outstanding. I had been competing in every previous DBP challenge to only come up short each time, which was quite discouraging at the time. Avatar Golf placing in the top 20 was a nice validation of all the efforts our team has put into XNA Game Studio development. The lesson learned?...never give up on your dreams.
Did you playtest your game through XNA Creators Club Online?
Playtest is critical for all developers that plan on releasing a game onto the Xbox LIVE Indie Games channel. Aside from the obvious testing for bugs, the most valuable part of playtest is receiving feedback similar to what your potential customers will have when your game finally releases. The feedback helps so we can tweak game difficulty and find out what game mechanics are fun; along with the ones that aren't. Playtesting helps developers find their happy place and we at Barkers Crest Studio have found that place.
How was your experience with Peer Review?
Peer Review is the one of the most nerve racking experiences I've ever been through. As much as you test your game there is always the chance an obscure bug can come out of nowhere and ruin the best of plans. That is why it is so important to thoroughly test games before submitting to peer review.
Have you helped to Playtest and Peer Review other games?
Having a regular job and a family on top of building games is quite demanding on time, but with that said, it is still very important to me to contribute to the community.
When we have a game in peer review, we try to download a ton of games for playtest and peer review to make up for lost time. Everyone once in a while during development I check in and see what games are in Peer Review, as I like keeping up with what exciting new games are coming out. Each time I am surprised to see 40 games sitting there staring at each other not getting reviewed. I don't understand why so many developers with games in review don't review other games. It is like the middle school dance where the girls are on one side of the gym and the boys are on the other. I don't get it.
How many people are on your team and what are their roles?
There are six members of our team. First, is me and my responsibilities are to basically develop the games. Tasks include coding, finding or building art or audio assets, testing, marketing, and anything else that is necessary to shipping a game.
Second in command is my wife. She is the novice gamer tester. Basically, I make sure she can play and enjoy the games with little to no instructions. If she can play the game, then anyone can.
Third and Fourth in line are our two pugs Carly and Zoey. Their roles are to eat, sleep, play, and bark at me when they get bored. I would consider their job the toughest and most demanding of all roles.
The last two members of our team are Nicholas Wilson and Adam Wentzell. These two I had never met before releasing Easy Golf. They bought the game and became highly active members of the Easy Golf community. Eventually their talents for video gaming became apparent, so they were provided with XNA Creators Club Online memberships and have become valuable testers for our team.
They have also provided content for Avatar Golf as Nick designed and created all of the courses for the game on a special Windows version, and Adam provided valuable input on the titles players can acquire in the game. It just goes to show that actively participating in your games community can benefit both your customers and yourself.
Can you walk us through a usual day for you and your team?
There really isn't much of a "usual day." Each day is more of a “fit-time-in-when you-can” kind of process here at Barkers Crest Studio, due to a regular full time job and other various activities we participate in.
When I get a chance, I pop my laptop down in front of the TV and grind away until the magic happens. Then I grind a bit more till the magic is gone. Then I hit undo a few times till the magic comes back.
Sometimes a little pug comes up and barks at me and that is when I know I've spent too much time on the project and have other more important things to focus on. It's all about balance. Balance work, family time, and XNA Game Studio time, and everyone is in their happy place.
Any plans to release more games for Xbox LIVE Indie Games?
Most likely we will. I'm working on a pretty epic game that is inspired by Fable 2 and Fallout 3. The game should be a lot of fun. Hopefully, it works out well.
Would you participate in Dream.Build.Play again?
Sure. I'd love to participate again. Is this an invitation? If so, I accept.
Start practicing your Avatar’s golf swing and download Avatar Golf today from the Xbox LIVE Marketplace or Xbox.com! |
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