PLEASE START US OFF BY INTRODUCING YOURSELF:
I am Pixel Trash - like most devs I'm a life long gamer and someone who considers games not only art, but a vested hobby of mine. I've always been fascinated with all facets of game development and play, video games have been a constant in my entire life!
TELL US ABOUT ANATINE.
I am making a game called "Anatine". It is a metroidvania, which is a genre i feel very passionately about. I played Symphony of the Night at a formative age and I'm greatly inspired by all that game brings to the table. I truly believe that it's one of the greatest games of all time! channeling that passion, I decided to hone in on a few of the elements from that game, and the genre, I really liked and thought were really unique. Mainly the spell system - a combination of button presses that were available right from the start that the player could input at any time to produce an effect. I thought that was really cool, so the main mechanic of Anatine - the flute playing - is based on this idea. The player must memorize three note songs that can be played at any time to produce effects. I tried to integrate it into the game fully, so basic things like healing and saving are tied to these songs.
HOW HAS THE DEVELOPMENT JOURNEY BEEN
The journey has been a long one for sure. The game has gone through so many iterations and styles at this point, it's functionally a different game compared to when I started it in 2020.
WHICH GAME ENGINE DID YOU CHOOSE AND WHY?
I am using the Game Maker studio 2 engine - at the time it was free to try and common consensus agreed it was the best for 2d games. I like GMS2, I find it easy to use and flexible enough. Just last year Anatine was signed with a publisher, which was a huge turn in the development journey. Making Anatine has not only taught me so much about how exactly games are made but also the whole business aspect behind games, which has been really exciting, as well.
WHAT'S BEEN YOUR BIGGEST DEVELOPMENT HURDLE SO FAR?
Biggest hurdle is finishing! I think alot of people will say that though, about any game project. Especially when you're working on something and learning along the way - you'll always end up saying "oh this is a better way of doing this, let me go back and redo this and this". You can get caught in this loop of doing and redoing the same aspects or mechanics over and over as you learn more and more. Games being such long term projects, there's a lot of other hurdles as well. Things like doubt starts to creep in at some point: is this worth doing? will anyone care? So having a plan and finishing quickly can help prevent that as well. I think I'm someone who is generally good with sticking to a long term plan - the game is almost in 1.0!
ADVICE FOR FELLOW DEVS?
I sort of touched on this before - make a plan, stick to it, and get projects done. Start small, mess around and get creative - and if no one cares, so what? ideally you've only spent a week or two experimenting. Don't commit yourself to something big or your magnum opus idea until you feel really confident in your abilities and have found a core mechanic or idea that resonates with people. Do lots of game jams and wear alot of hats. familiarize yourself with each aspect of game dev, you dont have to be good at all of it, just familiar. Also, dont be afraid to ask for help! connect with people and collab. the indie game dev community is one of the greatest assets to making games!
ANY FINAL THOUGHTS?
I love making games! Anatine certainly won't be my last, although this road has been really long, I can't wait to see what's on the other side, post release.
Should be out sometime this year or next!
thanks for the opportunity!
-Pixel Trash
❤️
