Zombox Preview 14 - City Here's a fly-through of a randomly generated city made with the Zombox procedural generation system. This is all using in-game models and textures. http://bit.ly/1bGlJoJ http://bit.ly/1gBJzkL Music by James Watkins: http://bit.ly/1bGlJoK
Zombox Preview 14 - City Here's a fly-through of a randomly generated city made with the Zombox procedural generation system. This is all using in-game models and textures. http://bit.ly/MQK1O4 http://bit.ly/17aRvsd
Indeviews has reached the 10th episode! In this episode we are interviewing Tyson Ibele, the indie game developer behind the upcoming game Zombox!
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For those who don't know you, who are you and what do you do?
Tyson: My name is Tyson Ibele and I'm a professional animator who works for MAKE. I've also branched out to do indie game development in my spare time. The game I'm currently working on is called Zombox.
Which game engines/game making tools do you use for your games? Did you build your own? If you have used different engines/game making tools, which one is your favorite and why?
Tyson: I've only ever used Unity to develop games. I don't know enough about programming to create my own engine from scratch, and I haven't tried other out-of-the-box engines like UDK. I jumped into Unity after seeing how cool 'Interstellar Marines' looks (another game that's being developed with Unity), and found it so easy to use that I stuck with it. Also, Unity allows for fast and easy multi-platform support, so it is an ideal engine for me in that regard.
Do you use the same development process for all of your games?
Tyson: Well, I've only ever developed this one game, so yes!
What programming language do you prefer developing your games on? Why do you choose it over others?
Tyson: I'm currently developing with Unity's implementation of JavaScript. I find it very simple and easy to use and understand. Most people who use Unity recommend developing in C#, but I chose JavaScript over C# when I started developing because it was a bit easier to learn. I think now if I were to develop another game, I'd start with C# instead because it's a bit more robust.
Do you use third party tools (map editors, sprite managers, animation suites etc) or you build your own?
Tyson: I use 3d Studio Max for all of the 3d models and animation for Zombox, Photoshop for all of the texture work, and After Effects for some other tasks (batch export of game icons, compositing complex textures, etc).
Which tools and applications you usually use when developing a game (favorite IDE, text editor, do you use static analysis tools, revision control system etc)?
Tyson: I use Notepad++ to edit all of my code, and Unity's built in profiler to test and optimize functions. I don't use any project management tools other than a simple backup system that works in conjunction with Dropbox.
Is there any specific library, framework that you always use on your games?
Tyson: I only use built-in Unity frameworks, so no, I haven't used any external libraries. That being said, once I get closer to release I'll be implementing some 3rd party systems to integrate things like in-app purchases for iOS.
What is your computer setup? Do you use Mac or PC? What specs? Do you have a dual monitor setup?
Tyson: I use a PC for all of the main development tasks, and a Mac laptop for exporting builds of the game. The Mac is required for building because you cannot build for iOS from a PC without some shady workarounds (you can do it with VMWare but it's not Apple-sanctioned). The PC has a dual monitor setup and fairly good hardware, while the laptop is just a generic Macbook Pro that's a few years old. Zombox runs at a very high FPS, even on slow machines (because it's targeted for mobile devices), so a fast machine is not required to develop it.
Do you have any photos from your working environment & a screenshot of your typical development setup?
Tyson: I don't, unfortunately! Just imagine a computer desk in a small apartment, haha!
Which games inspired you the most? Do you have a favorite developer from the games industry (indie or not)?
Tyson: Minecraft has probably been the biggest inspiration for the game, as development has progressed. That being said, the initial reasons for developing it came from inspiration taken from games like Left 4 Dead and Project Zomboid.
What’s the single piece of advice that you would always give to someone, and what is something that you will absolutely avoid/never do again?
Tyson: Avoid burning yourself out! Don't be afraid to step back and take solid breaks from development, in order to recharge your creative batteries. Also, thinking and planning ahead is just as important as actual physical work on a project. I sometimes take days or weeks to plan a feature out in my mind before writing a single line of code. Doing that - instead of rushing to get a prototype into the game - almost always results in me having to do less code re-writing later.
What are your future plans? What games are you working on right now?
Tyson: I'm currently working on Zombox as mentioned. There's still a lot of things to add to the game, so I haven't thought far ahead enough to decide what I'll do once the game is complete!
Thanks so much for this interview!
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Stay tuned for the next episode! :)
Note: If you are an indie game developer and wanna be part of the series, just send us an email at [email protected]
