This is going to be a bit out of the ordinary for us. However we want to invite fresh developers into the community. As a result, we will be covering one fresh developer, Charlie Jackson. For you enterprising developers you should contact us as well. If we see potential or like your attitude, you could get the same treatment. On to the interview.
Charlie came to us with his game “When Asteroids Attack.” His go-getter attitude and passion for the business greatly impressed us. We see future versions of his games being great. So we wanted to give our fans a chance to see a developer who might not be far off from them right now, but who has a great passion and future. In many ways Nerd Age is a fledgling site in the same way.
Scholar of Nerd Age:
How did you get started in this business?
Charlie Jackson of the Critterverse:
I’ve always loved games, and once I found out how easy it is to get started (through things like RPG Maker, GameMaker, etc) I started to make games. I picked up a book on making games in Flash and messed around with it long enough to make a game back in 2004 or so, and once I found MochiAds I realized I could actually make money at game development! I was off and on for the next several years, then found out that some sites actually pay to sponsor Flash games (they put their webpage’s logo before the game and often in the main menu) and give a pretty good amount of money to do it!
A few years ago I’d come up with a game idea, and an artist named Ariel Marsh helped me come up with some art for it. The art she made was so cute that I came up with this whole world around it – The Critterverse. My focus shifted from aimlessly making games to trying to make games to inspire kids, to give them self-confidence, make them laugh and have lots of fun all at the same time.
NA: Do you have any other developers or games that inspire you?
Charle Jackson:I grew up with Atari, and then Nintendo and Sega and so on… My biggest influences have always been Nintendo itself, Squaresoft (Square Enix is still weird to say…). As for games, my biggest influence has to be Earthbound – that game was amazing! So fun and yet so funny as well… It really proved that a game could be wacky and silly and completely out there but still major fun as well.
These days, my biggest inspirations are the developers during Ludum Dare competitions, on Flash game sites like Kongregate and Newgrounds, etc. All of those free games by a vast number of developers – it’s easy to pick up on some fun concepts and experimental ideas.
NA:Why did you choose to work with the coding medium you did?
Charlie Jackson: Honestly it’s because I tried C++ over and over and over but never got far. I would always get to the pointers and stuff and just get lost… And then realize that I’m not even doing anything graphically yet! When I messed with RPG Maker and the other “Maker”s, they were just always so limited… Flash is a great balance between the two, plus the games can be played on the web AND exported as a downloadable as well.
NA:Tell us a little about your current projects.
Charlie Jackson: When Asteroids Attack was released on the 9th, it’s my first “for sale” game. Basically it’s an action/adventure game through space using Asteroids-type levels (minus the control scheme – When Asteroids Attack uses a simple “move any of the 8 cardinal directions at any time” control method – and plus some wacky types of enemies), some side-scrolling levels, chain reaction levels and some crazy twists (like sun waves that mess up your controls, bombs that explode after a countdown, black holes that try to suck you in…)
My next project is The Adventures of Rubberkid. It’s a game that’s fitting for kids of any age, and it teaches the evils and results of bullying. I’m actually going to be starting a Kickstarter for it within the week, so look out for that! The player takes on the role of Rubberkid – a kid who is tired of being bullied and decides to cover himself or herself with rubber bands, literally bouncing the insults back at the bullies who hurl them.
As the player finishes each level, they see some info about the kid (or kids) they helped out – this is the most important part for anti-bullying teaching. The info shows what would have happened if the kid was left to be bullied throughout school, ranging from dropping out of school, a girl who dumbs herself down to fit in and even one who would have committed suicide. It also shows what that kid does with their life since you helped – the girl who would have dumbed herself down becomes a famous scientist and role model for smart girls everywhere, for example.
NA: Where do you think the indie market is going?
Charlie Jackson: I think the indie market is expanding. It’s becoming easier and easier to make games, and as it does, more and more people are beginning to praise great indie games as well. Between Kickstarter, Google Ads, affiliate-ships, in-game ads like those from Mochi, Paypal and sites like Indievania and Indiecity, there are SO many ways for people to earn money making games! The possibility of “making it” is enough to push a lot of people over the edge and consider game development not just a flight of fancy but a possible self-sustaining career!
NA: How do you plan to bring yourself into a higher position in the indie community?
Charlie Jackson: My goal to rise and “make it” has three major sections:
- Promotion: Keep doing fun contests like Ludum Dare and Experimental Gameplay, plus keep up on blogging about the things I’m doing and write to awesome indie coverage people (like you!)
- Build Onto The Critterverse: Since almost of all my games are free, my goal has to be to get people back to the site to play them and to keep them there and playing games once they get there. I’ve yet to do any kind of SEO with it since development has taken priority thus far, but it’ll get done sooner or later.
- Make money! Money is BADLY needed to get out there… Both for marketing AND just for being able to work on game development full time instead of in the little bit of free time while working a full-time job. Money is made through sponsorships, through contract work, through game downloads and soon (hopefully) Kickstarter!
NA: What advice do you have for other developers in a similar place to you?
Charlie Jackson: Keep on doing what you’re doing, make the most of every game you make, DO NOT underestimate the importance of reaching out to promote yourself (it’s time consuming but pretty fun, and a great break from working hard on development!) and DO NOT compromise your own goals. If you love to make platforming games and you found out that Tower Defense games are doing well but you don’t really like them, PLEASE don’t make one! Stick to what you love and your passion will shine through! Remember that the major plus to being an indie is that you can work on whatever the heck you want – don’t force yourself to do something you don’t like for that long of a period of time…
