Hi, Could you tell us a little bit about yourself and what you do?
My name is Danny Yaroslavski, ie Coolio Niato. I’m an undergrad Computer Science student living up in the cold reaches of Canada (*cough Toronto) and make online flash games, some of which include Lightbot, Streamline and RhythmWorld.
How did you come up with the name Coolio Niato?
Much like many other developers who start with a strange alias (see The-EXP or Jmtb02) it tends to stick after a few years and gets to the point that you can’t really change it anymore. As such, Coolio Niato came about when I was in elementary school, I had no e-mail address and my best friend had one called Coolio-Viato. Now being the unimaginative child I was, I changed one letter and kept using this name for animations/games I made. As to what Viato means, neither my friend nor I now have a clue to what it was.
How did you become interested in Flash gaming, and how did you begin developing games in Flash?
It started with enrolling in an animation class. There, maybe a few weeks in, the instructor showed us how to make buttons and use tellTarget for simple interactions. When I realized that I could make my own games, games of the likes of Thing Thing and Ultimate Flash Sonic, I was extremely excited. My first game, “Falling Objects 1” was horrible; it used keyPress and shoddy collision testing. My second, “Stench of Blood” was no better. But seeing the kinds of games on Armorgames (then called Games of Gondor) and Newgrounds; games including Marvin Spectrum and Short Circuit, it inspired me to work at coding more to finally complete my first big break, “Streamline”. Nowadays, ByteJacker and Tigsource are my greatest motivation.
Many of your games have themes relating to song or music. Is this something you have a background or interest in?
Much like the creator of Wii Music, Miyamoto and I have one thing in common. Neither of us have any talent when it comes to playing/making music. But in the same ways that Guitar Hero and Singstar allow people to overlook this fact, I try to get gamers to enjoy music in an interactive environment. I try to test myself; combining different genres with rhythm games. Mouse Avoider, Shoot em Up, Platformer, these were all different challenges I set to combine with rhythm and it worked out fairly well. Whenever I run out of game ideas, I often just listen to music until something pops into my head. And often at times, a song may just be so crucial in the development of the idea, I then have to make the game based on the song, sort of as a tribute to it and the artist behind it.
Which of your games do you like the best? Which game did you have the most fun developing?
I feel like Lightbot is my best accomplishment. It started with trying to combine the preliminary concept behind Bill the Robot (on Newgrounds) and then adding on to it. First I created a user-friendly interface that allowed for concepts like functions and recursion to be implemented. Later, it grew to be an educational experience. This was often at times a first for players, trying to think about the backbone of functional and procedural programming (on a very basic scale). The fact that I created a puzzle game that was enjoyable and sort-of-in-a-small-way taught programming makes me proud.
Besides Lightbot, I would have to say Rhythmworld and Music in Motion are my other favorites. Rhythmworld allowed players worldwide to submit songs and sync them on their own without any complicated interfaces much like some music/ddr game sites require. And Music in Motion was proof that platform games and music can mix. I felt like I used up all of my creative juices on that game, haha, I couldn’t think of any new ideas for months.
You are a young developer, what are your plans for the future? Do you plan on continuing Flash development, or are there other goals?
I’m definitely planning on continuing game development. Flash games, possibly later also iPhone/XBLA as well. Either way, I don’t think I’m ever going to leave Flash behind simply because it’s a great way to reach a large amount of people and let them play your own games for free. In the end that’s all any indie developer wants. I am working towards a degree in Computer Science to broaden the scope of my programming knowledge to make more technically advanced games, and maybe in the far future when I grow old and bitter and have no more game ideas I’ll get some boring office job. *shudders* Until then expect to see more!
Are there any games you have in development or any plans for future games?
Lately I’ve been making lots of engines and prototypes. Platformers, Dynamic Lighting, 3D, Multiplayer Online. It’s fun to experiment with engines but in due time they will all be put to good use.
Lightbot 2 is always on my mind and I’m thinking of ways to make it more of a learning experience without just slapping on new gimmicks like enemies and whatnot. But there is a working level editor for user levels and I plan to release the game by 3rd Quarter 2010.
People often ask if I’m going to make a new rhythm game, and to answer… who knows? It’s often a matter of finding the right song that inspires me in a new way. Either way, keep a look out.
Do you play any console games? What are your favorite types of games?
Lets start with the fact that I’m a Nintendo enthusiast. I own a Wii and enjoy playing basically any game with the name Mario in the title. (New Super Mario Bros, Mario Galaxy, etc) But besides these, I tend to stick to games on the Gamecube or N64, favorites being F-zero GX, Fire Emblem Path of Radiance and Smash Bros. Oh and LOZ Ocarina of Time. Whew, almost left that one out.
What are some things you like to do when you are not developing Flash games?
I enjoy playing Tennis, Squash… any racquet sport really. I also enjoy dance, Latin being my favorite style but having Michael Jackson be my biggest inspiration. On occasion I will try to see a Raptors/Blue Jays game (Basketball and Baseball for you non-Canadians) or catch a play.
Thanks for taking the time to answer our questions!
Its really cool to know the face behind such amazing games, good job.
you really are cool i will be always baging you to make another game like coolio dj i really love it
Would love to know more about you now that you’ve joined the company. Maybe a video while in office?
i cant get out of level four in triggerman. can anyone help me out
I love your games, And I didn’t have any idea that you were only 18!
Dude, you totally have to recreate Roborally, Multiplayer! You’re halfway there with Lightbot, and Roborally has been screaming for an online MP version for years
i love to play all day on my gamecube. *”:
I like both the Gamecube and Xbox, we have them in our home office and also in our living room.’~`
Hello!
We’re present the company which is engaged in developing games for social networks. We are interested in your games. We would like to buy your source code for placing them in Russian social networks. Please let us know if you’re interested.
Best regards, Kuba Games.
I like your games. I recently was playing one step back, when on the third last lever (the one that looks like and 8, after I got the yellow thing) I had failed and let one through, when all of them froze. I could still move, but they did not. I am not sure if anyone else had encountered this glitch.
Also, you have way too much time on your hands.
It’s hard to imagine you not as a musician (which surprises me even more because I am).
I, too, and a Nintendo fan, and play the games and the music (yep, I have WAY too much free time in the summer).
Can I please can a piano sheet music for One Step Back?
Hi, my new friend, I am Aileen,We have a Chinese site:www.7k7k.com, and we are interested in your game: one step back
Can we talk about the cooperation? We welcome all kinds of cooperation.
We also provide the translation into Chinese version service. China is a big market with many players, and our site with 80~100million PV is famous in China, I’m sure your games will be popular there and you will get benefit from our cooperation.
Besides, we are seeking developers for our site:www.youyouwin.com, which is the designer, distributor and operator for Flash games in China. If you are interested in this, please feel free to contact shanhua2003@gmail.com at your first convenient time.
I’m looking forward to hearing from you
Best,
Aileen
Hello there,
It’s greeting from Aileen of youyouwin.com, a flash distributor in China.
We’re interested in your game one step back very much and would like to assure if we can authorize to distribute this game in China market. And we want to site-lock this game, Please let me know if the site-locked version available for this game and how about the charge for it. Hello there,
It’s greeting from Aileen of youyouwin.com, a flash distributor in China.
We’re interested in your game stunt master very much and would like to assure if we can authorize to distribute this game in China market. And we want to site-lock this game, Please let me know if the site-locked version available for this game and how about the charge for it. Please feel free to contact shanhua2003@gmail.com at your first convenient time. Thanks!
Best,
Aileen
i love to play on gamecubes and on psp machines, so addicting ‘
I love colony on armor games.Its so alsome!!!!I can not get off of it!It is soo addicting!!!!
i love both the gamecube and the nintendo DS, two of the best stuff you can get.”`
You are my favorite game developer, I love all your rhythmic games!
I only have one thing on my mind…can you get the songs used in your games? For example those in Rythm Rocket, I really like them. And the ones in Music in Motion.
wether it is gamecumbe or nintendo wii, what matters is great graphics and ergonomics~*`
i am addicted to computer games that is why i bought a gamecube for me and my brother ,`.
Light-bot is cool game! I am looking forward Lightbot 2.
Wow, that looks so gifted!Peradventure you from changed your theme not too extensive ago? For all practical purposes because I could contain sworn it was not the unchanging the former time I was here…unless I am thinking of a bizarre web site.
you know you are pretty cool and your beat on stream line so cool could you tell me what song or were I could get that really cool song please
my name is R. Ryan Miller and I go by my middle name heres my armor page11211998
that weird you can’t leave links
italian words,
Hello
I wasent looking for that but still a great post
how did you guys found this information??thank you for your post I saw it on Google And I saved it . I’ll share. Please send me updates
thank you and have a nice day
what are the songs used in music in motion i almost need to know
please i need you to create a game only for my webpage if the game have extict y will pay you very well
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Lol. Kind of awkward that you post a lot of your info on the internet…
Wow, I’m surprised you don’t like the Xbox 360/Live or any Playstation consoles. I mean, I hate them too, but most people love those consoles. All my favorite consoles are made by Nintendo…
(Except the PC… But I don’t think that counts as a console.)