PLEASE START US OFF BY INTRODUCING YOURSELF:

My name is Abdur Olajuwon. I am a solo dev making a hand drawn Beat Em Up Called “Dynamite Flare”.

TELL US ABOUT DYNAMITE FLARE.

Dynamite Flare is an 2D beat em up in which you take the role of Flare, a young bounty hunter who tracks down various criminals, so she can earn enough money to buy her own dream mansion.

The idea for the game came when I was playing Battletoads Arcade on the Xbox. I thought it would be great to replicate the craziness of that game in a hand drawn format. Saturday Morning Cartoons, especially Ren and Stimpy and Looney Tunes, were the biggest inspiration in the art style.

I always wanted to see a beat 'em up reminiscence of those cartoons. I don't know if I should say this, but another main inspiration behind the game was with a fight my 2 sisters had(and it was for the pettiest of reasons). For Flare's main goal is to live in a mansion be spoiled and own a petting zoo, its down right petty if you asked me!

HOW HAS THE DEVELOPMENT JOURNEY BEEN

Game development is coming along smoothly. At first, I didn't really have a game plan because I was new to game development and I made very few games(which involved collecting an item to achieve the highest score). This game is my first ambitious project so there has to be a lot more planning involved. I am still learning as I am making this game.

WHICH GAME ENGINE DID YOU CHOOSE AND WHY?

I am using Gamemaker because its a user friendly game engine to use to compared to what else is on the market(and there are a lot of tutorials on Youtube, Discord channels and forums).

WHAT'S BEEN YOUR BIGGEST DEVELOPMENT HURDLE SO FAR?

The biggest hurdle was being indecisive on what this game is going to be. It was a beat em up, then it was a run and gun, a beat em up again. The game took on many shapes until it shaped up as the game I am making right now. I was indecisive because I was inexperience and it took years of my time because of it. I am not the best when it comes to coding so I got a lot of help on the side when making this. I made a lot of friendships with other gamedevs while getting the help on the side( I would like to thank Albert Pierre for implementing a lot of the code and mechanics into the game).

His Twitter:

https://x.com/TeamRushGame

ADVICE FOR FELLOW DEVS?

I got some advice for other game devs with their projects. If you want to start making video games, you can create them right now. There are many resources in this day in age to get you started on making your very own video game.

Remember to start off small, then when you have enough experience move on to a bigger project. If you are working on a bigger project and it is over whelming you, take a break from it and make a smaller game to pass on the time (I had to do that when I am making Dynamite Flare and I plan on doing that in the years to come).

ANY FINAL THOUGHTS?

Thank you all for reading this. I got to say I am enjoying making this game and I cant wait to have it released in a few years time. If you haven't yet, go wish list the game now on Steam.

https://store.steampowered.com/app/2876160/Dynamite_Flare/

-Abdur

❤️