Hit Save! Podcast
By Hit Save!
Hit Save! PodcastSep 01, 2022
From Game Jam to Galactic Quest: The Development of Goodboy Galaxy
Goodboy Galaxy is an upcoming indie game developed for the classic Game Boy Advance by Rik Nicol and Jeremy Clarke. It follows a space-faring dog named Maxwell as he travels to an alien galaxy seeking help for his dying planet. The game itself is best described as an exploration-focused platformer with some Metroidvania elements, where you'll explore planets and meet all kinds of obstacles, puzzles, bosses, and interesting characters.
Our interview with Rik Nicol provides an interesting look into how Goodboy Galaxy came to be. It started life as a 3 day jam game, called Goodboy Advance for the Ludum Dare 43 game jam, with Rik and Jeremy experimenting to see if they could make a simple playable GBA game quickly. Buoyed by this initial success, they continued to expand the game bit by bit. The extra free time during COVID allowed them to polish a demo that helped fund the project via a successful Kickstarter campaign.
Artemio Urbina - Pioneering Tools to Keep Retro Gaming Alive
I recently had the pleasure of interviewing Artemio Urbina, a software developer and engineer based in Mexico who has created some fascinating tools for the retro gaming community. His most famous projects include the 240p Test Suite, MD Fourier, and the CPS2 desuicide project. Full blog post: https://hitsave.org/artemio-urbina-pioneering-tools-to-keep-retro-gaming-alive Support Artemio and follow his work through the following links: https://www.patreon.com/aurbina https://artemiourbina.itch.io/240p-test-suite https://stoneagegamer.com/240p-test-suite-for-neo-geo-mvs-junkerhq.html https://ko-fi.com/artemio https://github.com/ArtemioUrbina/240pTestSuite/ https://twitter.com/artemio
Dawn of the Monsters - interview with Alex Rushdy, 13AM Games
We sat down with Alex Rushdy, CEO and Creative Director at 13AM Games, to talk about their new game Dawn of the Monsters. 13AM Games have previously made Pirate Pop Plus, Runbow, and Double Cross.
Feature Phone Game Preservation: Uncovering a Forgotten Era of Gaming - RockmanCosmo & NaoyaShinota
Prior to the advent of the iPhone and the rise of worldwide mobile phone gaming in the early 2010s, there was a fervent mobile gaming scene in Japan - feature phone gaming. Feature phones, also known as Japanese "dumbphones," had dedicated mobile internet services to connect users to an assortment of utilities, including storefronts from the likes of Capcom to Square Enix for purchasing and downloading video games. On top of porting existing games, they created completely original games specifically for these devices. Unfortunately, in recent years, this era of gaming history has become susceptible to becoming lost to time.
Super Marxist Twins - Interview with Eric Kesterson, Saun Conlin, Jim Bochanski, and Nick Zaleski
Super Marxist Twins is a fun and fast parody platformer with an old Soviet theme, where you play as the communist brothers Mikhail and Ludmil trying to take down the evil (literal capitalist pig) Tsar Boarov. We talked with developers Eric Kesterson, Saun Conlin, Jim Bochanski, and Nick Zaleski about the genesis of their idea, level design, characters and themes, and much more. More info here: https://hitsave.org/super-marxist-twins-a-roundtable-with-the-devs
Legends of Astravia - Interview with Jaiden Alemni, Studio Alemni
Jaiden Alemni of Studio Alemni is creating a wonderful role-playing game with an interesting story and game play mechanics.
Check it out: https://www.studioalemni.com/astravia
Betty & Earl - Interview with Matthew Brelsford, Giant Light Studios
Matthew has created a beautiful and creative puzzle game, where you control everything on screen at the same time.
Q-Cubed - Interview with Carolyn Lu at Cludosian Games
I had a blast playing Q-Cubed, and we're so happy to be talking to Carolyn about her game. Apologies for the somewhat crappy audio from my microphone. More information: https://hitsave.org/blog/q-cubed-with-carolyn-lu-cludosian-games/
GigaSword - an interview with Jack Breen
We sat down with Jack Breen, the sole developer behind the upcoming Metroidvania game GigaSword. It's a game filled with charm, fun puzzles, great artwork and excellent music. The demo is available on both Itch and Steam, and we highly recommend you try it out. Jack is also currently running a Kickstarter which ends on March 3, so if you're interested in supporting his work on the game and get your name into the credits, head over there now :)
Wintermoor Tactics Club development team interview
Earlier this year we sat down with three members of the Wintermoor Tactics Club development team: Ben Walker, Kyla Fury, and Ryan Anderson.
Interview with the developers behind Get-A-Grip Chip - Jon Lawitts and Vicky Wei of Redstart IO
We sat down with Vicky Wei and Jon Lawitts of Redstart Interactive just after they released their first game Get-A-Grip Chip on the Nintendo Switch. We cover their development progress which was very quick (less than a year!), how they met up with local play testers, and their influences for the game. We also talk about their experiences working with a translation team to get their game translated from English to Japanese, how the release process works to get a game onto the Switch, and much more.
Interview with Danny Silvers at Lantana Games
As part of our Indie Game Preservation efforts, we strive to preserve video game history through fun, open, and informative interviews with game developers.
Our first interview is with Danny Silvers, CEO and founder of Lantana Games, the studio behind the Mondrian game series. Danny talks about how he started Lantana Games and got into the indie game scene in Boston, gathered a team and made a name for themselves doing web games, and eventually getting the idea for Mondrian during a game jam. Danny then dives into his passion for helping and teaching others, and their student mentorships with partnered Universities.
Read our full blog post: https://hitsave.org/blog/interview-with-danny-silvers-of-lantana-games/