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!

Hi, could you please tell us a little about yourself and what you do?

I am the owner of Godlimations.com. I have been working with Armor Games for the last 3 years and it has been a lot of fun. My nationality is Half polish, half Wallisian, a small island in the pacific islands close to Fiji. I work at home and nobody I’ve met ever understood what it is that I do. It’s not a culturally normal job making website games for a company in America, whilst residing in Australia, especially since the title “godlimations” sounds nothing more than an enigma.

How did you get interested and involved in the world of Flash games and animations? What came first? games or animations?

My first influence began with Dragon Ball Z at the age of 5, following other popular anime cartoons as years progressed. The old traditional method of animating (Light box, scanner, computer) was an extremely long process, involving expenses, time and structure that was not affordable for me. Comic book drawing seemed like the way to substitute.

When Flash came into the picture, it offered me the solution to a quick and easy way to animate as an independent developer. It encouraged me to pursue this career path, at no knowledge or anticipation where it would lead me. Eventually, I was offered a job as a supervisor for an animation project, and later down the track, an editor for a church of roughly 2000.

My next move was to work full-time on my website by providing Armor Games with content. This was my ticket out of a socially miserable work life, and more-so the control of my own work, not being told what to do for other people and how to do it etc. The gaming market was, and still is statistically more popular than animation, which lead me to a compromise of continuing story telling/animations inside the realm of the flash gaming industry.

How did you come up with the ideas for and stories behind the Escape series of games? Are there any more sequels or prequels planned?

My first point and click adventure experience was “Broken Sword”, which amazed me. It never crossed my mind (though highly debatable) that a “Point and click” interaction can actually be considered a game. And then came the flash game crimson/viridian room produced by Fasco that also amazed me. The Escape series were produced from particles taken from these games. The idea from Broken Sword that a game can be a good game provided minimal interaction and a heck of a darn good story line. The Fasco games which provide the easy mechanics of a Flash game. Anyone can make a point and click adventure these days now… All it takes is a good story and the point and click genre will never die.

Often I am asked the question of STRANDED, the sequel to Escape, along with many other unsolved questions. Stranded is on stand-by, depending on my schedule. In the mean-time, there are plenty of stories around the bend waiting to be unmasked with my talents. I can make a story a lot better than the escape series. Besides, Escape series has a lot of plot holes, may I begin with the banana knife fishing rope rod?

Which of your games did you have the most fun making?

“Trapped”. Never again will I have the pleasure of revolutionizing the point and click genre, as I do believe “Trapped” was the first of many. It was also my first experience making a game based off one of the greatest games I’ve ever experienced, and succeeding enough in sharing that experience with the rest of the world.

What was your first Flash game?

Oh no… It was never made public. I made a trailer called “LOX” which is based on a fairy tale nightmare. It was turned into a shooter game, where you had to click on the enemy following an animation, since I could not make an enemy life bar due to my subpar code knowledge. I lost the game and wished I didn’t. Zombie Erik was my first public game.

There is a great deal of artwork within your games and animations. Typically, how long does it take for you to produce a game or an animation?

It takes roughly 1-3 months for each game and animation. I find animation a lot faster, since coding is not a requisite. Most of my time is spent on finding solutions to a code error rather than just slapping in code where it needs to be. My longest game in production was Wonderboy Legends. The game was scrambled up with mountains of unnecessary code. It was rather an unfinished experiment that crashed my computer every single time I tried to test it. My 2nd attempt at an RPG was Dragon Boy, which showed major improvements on all aspects, as a gesture to apologize for my previous monstrosity.

What are your future plans when it comes to Flash development?

I hope to commit myself to Flash development for a long time. It’s a good investment. Since the beginning, I’ve wanted to produce my own cartoon series. I love to entertain, tell stories and share the experience. I never really have any “Plans”, so I hope every day for the best to come.

When did your website go live?

It went live in 2004. The Alias known as Inglor was very helpful at the time.

Do you have any changes or further developments planned for your website?

The current look has a few bugs. I will be looking at changing it at the end of next year for introducing a new series which I will hope to achieve. Either that, or I’ll be forming an entirely new website for this cartoon series.

How’d you come up with the name Godlimations? What’s it mean?

I was sitting in my office desk back in 2004 drinking my coffee n biscuits for brekky. The name sparked into my head, godly animations… cut it down, you get godlimations. The context explains my initiation to Christianity, and what I believe in now.

A lot of your games have themes from the Bible. What role has the Bible and your faith played in shaping your games and your beliefs?

I look back at the word of God embedded in my games, some to which I make an irrelevant point about what I believe in. I realize now this wasn’t a good strategy for evangelism. I figure, if I want to convey the message of God in my games, the game needs to come with good morale. I’ve learnt from stories by CS Lewis that came biblically linear. The lions death and resurrection (Christ on the cross) in the Chronicles of Narnia. Lewis’ friend J.R Tolkien, also had a different point of view expressing biblical morals through Lord of the Rings, another great influence.

When you are not working with Flash, what are some things you enjoy doing?

Hanging out with friends, reading, watching movies, messing with my talk box n microKorg, road trips, working out at the gym, basketball, eating, bible studies….

Thanks Patrick for answering our questions. We look forward to seeing more Godlimation Games in the future.

Could you tell us a little about yourself?
I’m Chris Condon, better known as Con Artist. But you can call me Con, everyone does. I live in Melbourne, Australia.

What sparked your interest in Flash gaming and, more specifically, how did you get into Flash development?
My first introduction to Flash was when I dropped out of my horribly boring Computer Systems course at University to join a web design company that my friends had started. The very first Flash lesson I ever recieved was from a 16 year old work experience kid (I was 20 at the time). I spent 7 years in web design doing everything from banner ads in Flash all the way through to multiplayer gaming portals for the Australian Defence Force.

What was the first game you made and what happened to it?
Depends how far back we want to go here. In terms of any sort of game, it would be a board game that was based on Street Fighter II, spent many hours coercing my little brother into playing it with me. First computer game would be a text adventure that I coded in basic on an old Apple II back when I was about 12. But my very first Flash game was a competitive woodchopping game for a state fair website. It was a button masher as you watched your burly woodchopping guy work his way through a lump of wood. Rivetting stuff, it even had multiplayer (two players on the one keyboard). Client loved it we thought it was really average.

What are some things you like about developing in Flash as opposed to development for other platforms?
Being able to do everything myself. While at university I worked as a contractor for Epic Games on a modification for Unreal Tournament called Infiltration as a level designer, the whole 3D game creation frustrated me. The amount of time it took to do anything was enourmous, especially when very few of us were being paid to work on the game. If I needed a smoke animation, I’d have to get the animator to do it, then get the programmers to implement it and then have to have the latest beta updated and then I could get at it. Now with Flash I can do all those steps myself, no middle people involved.

Flash is by far the easiest level of entry for any form of complete “game engine”. It’s flexibility and ease to do all sorts of games is just unmatched.

Your Zombie and War games are amongst the most played on Armor Games and the entire web. Where does your inspiration come from for ‘The Last Stand’ and the ‘Warfare’ series?
The Last Stand came mostly from my love of zombie movies, especially George.A.Romero’s “Dead” series. But the actual inspiration came from a combination of watching 28 Days Later and playing Defend the House. There’s a scene in the movie where the main protagonists have holed up in a country mansion with some remnants of the army. They’ve built a barricade and are manning it, slaughtering zombies as they come towards them. After playing Defend the House I figured I could do it with zombies and that’d be more engaging by having a physical character running around doing the shooting instead of the omnipotent gun.

Warfare came from an old idea of mine to make a First World War modification for Unreal Tournament way back in 2001. After the Infiltration project, the team were throwing ideas around and I was hell bent on us doing WWI, but no-one else was interested. So combine that with playing too much Company of Heroes and my new found aptitude for making Flash games and you get Warfare.

A high level of quality and attention to detail is apparent in all of your games. Is this something you pride yourself with?
I wouldn’t really call it something I pride myself with, it’s more something I obsess about. I spend a lot of time doing and re-doing things, just today I’ve done 3 different melee weapon swinging animations and scrapped 2 of them becuase I wasn’t happy with them. I think coming from a commercial background probably made me this way because the work I did was never for me, it was always going to be for the person paying for it. Everything I made needed to be top notch so as to avoid scrutiny from clients. Now that I’m making the games I want, I’m compelled to make them better than those old games, can’t have only those corporate clients getting all the good stuff now, can we.

Typically, how long is one of your games in production before it’s released?
The ideas for new games brew for a long time, months sometimes and generally before I’ve finished the game I’m working on at the time. But once I get started, I’ll spend 2 weeks or so in pre-production and planning (writing documents, figuring stuff out) and then 3.5 - 4 months of actual production. I’ve found that artwork and animation seems to be the biggest chunk of time, followed shortly by programming and sound design.

Which of your Flash games is your favorite, and what makes it your favorite?
That’s like asking to choose your favourite child! Out of all of them, probably Last Stand 2. I’ve definitely played that more than the others. I enjoy it because there’s not many other Flash games that are similar, it’s just a good old fashion slaughterfest with a bit of management thrown in. I think the thing that carries it though is that the theme is so strong. It’s definitely struck a chord amongst the fans as it seems every one of them has a zombie apocalypse survival plan. The Warfare games I haven’t played much since finishing them, purely because I played them so much during production.

When you are not developing Flash games, what are some things that you enjoy doing?
I play entirely too many video games, I have every console and platform known to man and I purchase pretty much every game that’s any good. I love film, television and metal. Give me something directed by Martin Scorsese, some Deadwood to watch, some Slayer to listen to and I’m a happy man. Besides that, hanging out with my friends eating / drinking / watching films, they’re a fun bunch of writers, musicians, teachers, gamers and generally clever people. They actually have a lot of input into my games too.

Could you tell us a little about some games you have in the works or planned for the future?
I’m currently working on the third installation in my favourite zombie series titled - The Last Stand: Union City. It’s a prequel set about 2 months before the first two games and has a more action RPG style to it. Think Fallout 3 meets Shadow Complex, with zombies. It’s early days yet, I’m looking at a first quarter of 2010 release. There’s some fact sheets on features and character info here: http://www.conartistgames.com/

It’s a fact: Guys are fascinated with Zombies, War, and Robotic Mechs. Are there any other themes you see Conartists pursuing in the future?
I’ve never actually looked at my games that way…I guess I was subconsciously tapping into something there. The themes I choose though do tend to dictate what games I make. I’ve got a few that have been floating around lately: Aliens, Medieval and Theivery. No plans for Ninjas, Pirates or Monkies at this stage.

Do you eat Vegamite?  (It’s Vegemite - Con)
I do. But, I prefer Promite, far superior product. Now excuse me while I go and hide from the Australian food police.

Thansk for answering our questions Con! If you enjoyed the interview make sure to leave a comment or stop by Con’s User Page and Thank Him for all the great games He makes.

This week we bring you an exciting Interview with the creator of the Indestructo and Shift game series!

Hi, could you tell us a little about yourself and what you do?
Hello, my name is Antony (or Tony, if we’re friends, and if you’re reading this then we are :p ). I make flash games for Armor games that hopefully people enjoy playing. I live in Cardiff, in the UK with my lovely wife Lucy and lovely daughter Ella, who I plan on raising to be the youngest flash game author of all time, just give it a few years.

What sparked your interest in Flash development, and how did you get into it?
My introduction to Flash development started in late high school when my friend Matt started doing little animations in it and named his online flash persona as “The-EXP”. I joined in on some of the things he did until one day when he showed my a simple game he made using the mysterious “actionscript” part of Flash which I had until then been ignoring. It was about a boat which sailed up and down according to arrow key presses. Well that was pretty much it for me, I decided I had to make a game in it, and found out, to my surprise, that the coding wasn’t very much different to my other love at the time, which was RPG maker, a piece of software I still hold dear to my heart, and something that every budding game designer should play about with. Since I didn’t think I’d be going anywhere serious with my Flash games, I asked Matt if I could just upload them to various sites under his account name, which was usually “The-EXP”, and that is pretty much the stroy of how I hijacked his online presence and to this day feel too guilty about it to change the passwords despite it being very insecure

Where did you get the inspiration for games such as Shift and  Indestructo Tank?Shift and Indestructotank are, for the most part, the games that people recognise my name for, and are probably two of my favourite games to work on. The inspiration for Shift came after playing “Portal: The Flash version” by Ido Tal and loving the idea of a platform puzzler game in that setup, but knowing I’d not be able to top how well Ido had done a Portal game, so looking for another “hook” as such. I remember waking my then soon to be Wife Lucy up at 3am to show her the prototype, which is an activity only ever done when I know I have something good enough to show to avoid being strangled by a grumpy half asleep girl.

Indestructotank started when I played a game called Heavy Weapon on Xbox Live and thought to myself how easy it would be to make something similar in Flash, so I did, not intending to ever release it as a game, but more of a learning experience. Then while working on it I was talking with someone I’d recently met in University called Joel Atkinson, who I was sending the prototype versions of back and forth. One of the versions I sent had a little bit of physics programming in there to make the tank bounce when hit, and if, for example, it hit a helicopter, it would give you a bonus point. On playing this, Joel suggested that each time you hit a helicopter, you should be blasted further upwards, and to make it a side challenge to hit as many as you can before you hit the floor. Then we decided to take the ability to shoot from the tank completley and make the entire objective of the game to rack up “Combos” jumping from helicopter to helicopter. When the game was released and it was rated extremley well, I was pretty much in shock that I stood in for a chance to win the Armor Games contest. In the end, it was beaten to the top spot by some Australian game, I forget its name, I think it was called the Latest Stand or something, you’ve probably never played it…

Which of your Flash games is your favorite, and what makes it your favorite?
My favourite game to play, is actually an old one I made called Ignitopulse, as I can play it for quite a while before getting bored, one of the ones I had most fun making was “Virtual pet reindeer“, as I made it with my wife, so while lacking in a fair few ways, the production of it was lots and lots of fun. Then of course there’s Indestructotank, which I alwasy feel compelled to finish if I start up a game…

Are there any games you currently have in the works or any games planned for the future?
I currently have the BEST version of Shift I’ve ever made in production, it’s also by far the largest game I’ve ever made and should appeal to people alot more than Shift 4, which was, in retrospect, much too hard, and not appealing to newcomers to the series. It will be lots of fun to play. I also have 2 or 3 games mid production that need to be finished, one being a nice simple tower defense based on Turn Based Battle, so I look forward to a bit fo time to finish those after Shift, to increase my overall output.

What do you like about developing for Flash as opposed to other platforms?I think Brad Borne, the developer of Fancy Pants adventure, described it best for me. Flash is the only platform in the world currently that offers both freedom and flexibility. Flexibility  in the sense that it’s powerful enough to make anything you want in, as long as you’re not aiming for Gears of War style graphics and the fact you can basically draw in what you want, and build the game around it, and flexibility in the fact it’s available anywhere in the world, on any operating system, without having to make lots of changes. He told me that the cartoonish nature of Fancy Pants and the fluid ways in which he literally draws the levels would just simple not be possible on other platforms, and I of course agree.
When you are not developing Flash games what are somethings you like to do?
In my downtime I like to take my wife out to dinner and spend time with Ella, who is for the most part, very well behaved while Daddy is doing his work. She has her own laptop, and can already surf the internet aged 3, so she’s well on her way to making her nerdy father proud. I also like to play other peoples Flash games alot as well as play some Gears of War 2 online. Theres nothing better to relax to than shooting up some locust horde.

How do you like living in the UK?
Living in the UK has its problems, everything is very expensive and the weather in Wales, where I live, is pretty much terrible year round. However, for the most part the people here are all very nice, and that’s whats really important I guess.

I hear you’ve visited the Armor Offices. How’d you like CA? Do you have plans to come back?
California was an amazing place, unfortunately first time I visited I underestimated how nice the weather would be, and ended up with rather severe sunburn. The Armor office is a really nice place and I’d visit it again anytime possible. I spent a couple of hours working alongside Dan and John which was alot of fun, and then went go-karting and partook in a medieval style dinner of Meat and Grog and a show in which Knights battled to the death for us, which I can only assume is how every day at the office ends. It really was a great experience and would love to work out there.

Is it true you wear a monocle, have a british accent and enjoy High Tea everyday?
Monacles are so popular in this country that many people wear two at the same time, using a special type of frame that holds them in place. I think they’re either called Dualacles or “Glasses” depending on your standing in society. My British accent, while not as awesome as the Queens or the Super Flash Brothers’ accents, is still rather spiffing, and as for Tea, both high and low, I enjoy as much of it as I can. Sometimes if i’m really lucky I have crumpets as well. The sad thign is I’m not even kidding, Tea and Crumpets rock.

Joey Betz

Dashing and Daring,
Crushing and Fearing,
Faithful and smart,
As He programs along.

Joey Betz
Coding Here and there and Everywhere
His games are beyond Compare,
He is called Joey Betz.

I hope everyone enjoys this interview.

1-  Hi, Could you tell us a little bit about yourself and what you do?

I live in Irvine Ca and I work full time as a game developer for Armor Games

2 - What is your educational background?

I got a Bachelors degree in game development, which sounds kind of cheesy, but it’s the best decision I’ve made.

3 - When did you realize that making Flash games is something you would like to do full-time?

Flash games are extremely fast to produce, and realizing that you can make something amazing within just a few weeks, I got addicted really fast.

4 -  How did you get involved with Armor Games?

Dan was interested in a flash developer that was local, and I happened to be on his radar. After the gladiator battle with the other hopeful developers and the final fight against a Rancor monster, I was lucky enough to come out victorious.

5 - You are relatively new to the Flash game world. Did you expect the immense popularity for many of your games would produce?

No, that’s what so funny about it. I just make games that I would enjoy playing, and find it pretty cool that other people like them too.

6 - What qualities or features do you think added to the success of your games?

Addictiveness. I try and put addictive properties in every game I do, and sometimes it’s really successful.

7 - What is your favorite game you have worked on so far? What do you like most about it?

I’d have to say it’s a toss up between Crush the Castle and Phage Wars. During Crush the Castle John and I got to make a real working trebuchet in the office and launched Ball Revamped balls in the parking lot. With Phage Wars I did a lot of research on cells and got to implement a lot of technical charts in Phage Wars 2.

8 - Do you have any games currently in the works or planned for the future? Is there more destruction coming?

I have a some sequels coming up and quite a few new ideas in the works. Destruction aplenty.

9 -  Where did you get the inspiration to make a game about demolition?

My dad actually came up with the idea for Demolition City. He wanted a game where you could blow up buildings with dynamite, and so DC was made specifically for him.

10 -  When you are taking a break from game development, what are some things you like to do for fun?

I watch movies all the time. I especially enjoy anime movies and I think I’ve seen almost everything Studio Ghibli has produced. I enjoy listening to music quite a bit as well.

11 -  Approximately, how often do you eat at Chipotle?

Twice a week and sometimes more. I’ve kind of brought it into the office as well, with Chipotle Mondays for lunch. It’s an addiction, and I struggle with it everyday.

12 - I hear that You and Daniel McNeely share the same birthday, both have a sister named Jennifer and that you use to live 5 doors apart in Newport Beach and never even knew it. Do you think you two are long lost brothers that were separated at birth?

I think Dan and I are one in the same person. When Dan is happy, I’m happy and when Dan gets sad, I feel upset. It’s really weird.

13 - What words of encouragement would you give to someone who is just starting off in game development?

If you aren’t having fun making a game, then you aren’t making a very fun game.

Thanks for taking the time to answer our questions Joey!

This week we bring you a very exciting interview with ‘Hero Interactive’.

1.      Hi, Could you introduce yourself and tell us a little about yourself?

Yeah sure!  I’m Jared Riley, the founder and owner of the flash game studio Hero Interactive.  We’ve developed a number of popular games out there, many of which you’ve probably heard of such as Bubble Tanks and StormWinds.  Our studio is located in Southwest Michigan, USA and currently consists of 3 programmers, an artist, a project/community manager, and two composers.

2.      What sparked your interest in Flash gaming and, more specifically, how
did you get into Flash development?

I was always interested in game development and had initially planned on entering console game development.  For that reason I picked up degrees in Computer Science and Telecommunication from Michigan State University.  However, disillusioned with the lifestyle and work conditions a console developer could be looking forward to, I decided to try something different.  So in 2006, I started exploring with Flash and seeing what was out there.  Turns out it was a good fit for me.

3.      What are some things you like about Flash as opposed to trying to develop on other platforms?

Flash is an amazing platform to work with.  Firstly, it’s one of the (if not the most) ubiquitous programs out there.  It’s installed on billions of machines, more than Microsoft Windows by far.  Our games can run on almost any computer be it Windows or Mac.  Additionally, Flash games can be developed far more quickly than console games so we’re able to experiment with games and try something new.  In a month or two we’re usually on something new!

4.      How did you come up with “That Hero guy from your logo”? Who drew him?
Was he modeled after you?

Haha, actually I didn’t have much to do with the character though I get this question often.  I did choose the name of the company and when we approached the logo design company, we gave them a lot of input: we wanted a super hero, blue, orange, and white colors, etc…  After MANY revisions this is what we got!  I’m happy with him, and he’s served as a great mascot.

5.      What inspired you to make games about Bubbles in Combat?

I knew I wanted to make a game where you could go around shooting off components of enemies and then having those parts fuel your own growth.  Once I decided I wanted to be able to also have you float around from one arena to another, bubble just kind of came to mind and stuck.  I wanted a casual shooter as well, and it was a good fit.

6.      What aspects of your Bubble Tanks games do you think attributed to
their success?

I think there are two big factors that make Bubble Tanks as popular as it is.  The first is the game centers around growth.  Watching your tank constantly evolve and grow is really fun and gives us a sense of positive progress in the game.  Secondly, the ability to just float around and choose who we fight and when we fight them allows us to control the difficulty in the game far better than most and in a way that is subtle yet makes sense.  If you find the game too easy, all you have to do is keep swimming away from the center of the map.  If you find it too hard, you can simply stick around the center killing the smaller enemies.  If you’re in a situation that’s too stressful- just run!  This kind of difficulty control allows the game to be challenging and interesting yet never so hard you get frustrated and quit.  I’m definitely trying to find new ways to port this sort of system into other games’ designs.

7.      Which of your games are you most proud of?  What do you like most about it?

You know, despite it’s limited popularity, LightSprites is just one of my favorite projects.  I LOVE that game.  It was a very original and ridiculous game that I really enjoyed playing AND making.  Once I saw all the little people dancing and having fun and then bursting into flames or getting struck by lightning, I knew the game was awesome.

8.      What new games do you have planned for the future?  Any screenshots we can check out?

Being constantly busy producing, we currently we are working on THREE new games!  Some of them are actually getting near to completion.

The first game and closest to release is a game called Paint the Fence.  The game cleverly has you painting fences as fast as you possibly can while trying to avoid obstacles, enemies, and other challenges.  Sound easy?  Try painting a chain link fence with a paintball gun with an explosive cat running around.  Paint the cat and it explodes and you DIE.  Yeah, it’s pretty intense.  There will also be a meta game on top of the standard one: beating levels unlocks stickers (such as broccoli) that are then hidden throughout the game.  Collecting all the stickers hidden in a world will unlock bonus levels.

http://www.herointeractive.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2009/09/blogpost1.jpg

The second game on the way is Bubble Tanks Tower Defense.  Like most TD games, you’ll be able to place towers to destroy the oncoming waves of bubble tank “creeps”.  These enemies will be able to move anywhere and won’t be following a pre-defined path.  Although you’ll only be able to place a basic tower on the map, these towers are able to evolve into many other different types.  Additionally, you’ll be able to merge towers together to form super towers four times the size of a normal tower.  Even these super towers can be merged to form even larger mega towers.

http://www.herointeractive.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2009/09/bttd_screenshot_11.jpg

Finally, we’re working on the much anticipated Bubble Tanks Arenas.  BTA breaks away from the standard Bubble Tanks tradition by giving players something a little more intense.  Rather than just wandering around a massive world, you’ll be able to choose arenas, a series of bubblefields with pre-set enemies and challenges, to take on and score points with.  The coolest feature?  You’ll be able to design and share your very own tanks!  In addition, users of ArmorGames will be able to create Enemy tanks and Arenas to challenge their friends with as well.  Completing Arenas will earn you new items and weapons as well as increase the possible size of your tank.  This is definitely a game we’re really excited about.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bS95fZCUW44&feature=player_embedded

All in all, I’m really excited about all of these games and really looking forward to getting them to all of the players!  More information on the games can be found on our blog.

9.      Is developing Flash games something you do full-time?

It is!  We actually have a number of people working at our office full time on flash game development!  Aside from myself there is Eric and Jimmy on the programming and design front.  We also just picked up KC, our full time artist, so hopefully our games will get a much needed boost on the graphics front.  My wife Steph handles our community stuff such as updating the blog, sending out the newsletter, and responding to your comments on ArmorGames as well as doing some Project Management work.  We also have two composers named Brian Hall and Calvin Winbush who create completely original music for our games.  All of these people make Hero Interactive work, without them it wouldn’t be near the success it is today.

10.     What would you say to those just getting into Flash development? What are some things you learned early on?

Well, there isn’t any single lesson I could hand off.  The secret is just to be prepared to spend a LOT of time on it.  I didn’t just start developing Flash games overnight.  I went to a 4 year university, picked up bachelor’s degrees focused on game design and development, and have been hammering away at the pixel factory for the past 3 years.   I’m still learning a ton every day.

Be prepared for a lot of competition out there, but if you are serious about flash games and put in the hard work to make great games, you’ll do great!

11.      Are there any Flash developers whose work you admire?

There’s just so much talent out there. I think one of my favorites for a long time has been John (jmtb02) here at Armor Games. Seriously, the guy has put out almost 50 games now and he still is one of the most creative developers out there. He takes something simple but extremely fun and makes a game with that almost every time. I know few developers that can put out original and creative games that are hits like his, not just once, but over and over again.There are so many new people coming in to Flash games and getting a random hit here and there that I think the community has forgotten some of the real superstars in the community. Developers who have consistently been putting out amazing games since way back. I’m thinking not only of jmtb02 but NinjaKiwi, Casual Collective, etc…  Joey Betz, Krin, and Con Artists have also been putting out some really amazing work that is always inspiring us here at Hero Interactive.

12.   We heard HI has their very own office and full time staff. Can you send us a link showing off your office set up and computers?

I sure can!  But you’re going to have to wait a few day till I can get my camera, take some pics, and then send them to you!

13.) When you aren’t making or playing flash games, what’s your favorite platform to play games on?

I actually am most partial to PC games as strategy and simulation are my two favorite genres.  I seriously can’t wait for Starcraft 2 and Diablo 3, both by Blizzard.  Oh, and then there’s God of War 3 coming out for the PS3 soon.  I am a diehard GoW fan and have beaten all 3 (including the PSP game) about 209309232 times.

I keep inviting the ArmorGames office to play Hero Interactive in Warcraft 3 but they haven’t yet risen up to the challenge….

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Thanks for taking the time to answer these questions Jared! Be sure to visit their website for more information on their upcoming games.

The talented Mr. Wagner James Au who writes for Gigaom, posted a story about Sonny 2.

Check out the Story

Edmund McMillen & Tyler Glaiel were kind enough to answer a few questions about their newest game Aether.

Q.) What emotions does Aether conjure up when you play it? (Seeing the game is about your childhood)

Edmund: The goal of the game was to put the player into the mind of a lonely young boy who has a hard time relating to others. While designing the game i tried to put myself back in the mind frame of me at 7-8 years old, lonely, nervous and self destructive with great fears of abandonment and alienation from others. Playing and designing the game conjures up those feelings.

Tyler: It was interesting as I was developing the game because it was pretty much about Edmund’s childhood, not mine, and I did not know all the facets of the story as I was working on the gameplay. So, I basically worked out the mechanics of the planets to convey specific emotions, not necessarily knowing which ones would be used for what part of the story. It’s tough to decide if the mood molded to the gameplay or the gameplay molded to the mood, but I think that because the line is fuzzy there, the game manages to build up mood much more than something that is 100% planned from the beginning.

Q.) What inspires your creativity? Is there any one source you tend to draw upon more than others?

Edmund: Creative and driven people inspire me. Working with Tyler was awesome because i could totally ride off his inspiration and get a ton of stuff done in a very short amount of time. People being creative and taking risks with their work always is inspiring to me, honesty in art is also very inspiring.

Tyler: Part of my inspiration comes from looking at what other games do wrong, and thinking to myself, “I could do better than that…” Maybe that’s an egotistical way to think, but it’s an interesting challenge to try and fix someone else’s errors. I also recently played Braid, and before Edmund even pitched this idea to me, I was thinking of how to make a game that has a deep story and a gameplay that fits the story (like Braid). A few weeks later I was working on this. I also took cues from The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess (and various other songs) for the music.

Q.) What is your favorite game that you created?

Edmund: Aether is currently my favorite game ive created, with Gish a close 2nd.

Tyler: As of now, Aether.=2 None of my other stuff really comes close (even though I do like what I did on Paths, there were some serious difficulty problems. Like technically impossible levels. My bad.).

Q.) Can we expect to see Aether on WiiWare? Seeing the game is set up perfect for the WiiMote.

Edmund: Thats the goal for next year!

Tyler: We hope so. Should be fun to juggle school (college omg) and this.
We look forward to more great games from you two and we hope to be playing Aether next year on our Wii.

I recently had the opportunity to ask a few questions to Krin, the creator of Sonny and the mastermind behind one of the most popular RPG releases on the web.  A few fans (including myself) have been curious about the production and release of Sonny 2 so I asked Krin if he would spill a few beans and he most certainly did!  So without further ado here is an interview with Krin about the latest version of Sonny.

John: Tell us a bit about your team.  Who is involved and what roles do they play in the creation of Sonny 2?

Krin: Some of the people who are working with me on “Sonny 2″ include David Orr, Joan CG, Will Arbuckle. David Orr is a musician, who also did the soundtrack and effects for the first Sonny. His new tracks for “Sonny 2″ are currently being composed, and I think they will sound more distinct and powerful than before whilst retaining the feel of the original Sonny soundtrack. Joan CG is an illustrator from Spain and also a great friend of mine. We’ve been working together since games like “Crimson Warfare” and “Sinjid:SotW.” Now he is back, and will be crafting the characters and landscapes in Sonny. Will Arbuckle, the creator of the “Edible Castle” series will work with me and Joan to bring you some high quality cut scenes to help with the narrative of the story.

John: What stage is Sonny 2 at?  Can we get a estimation of when we should see it on Armor Games?

Krin: We’ve finished upgrading the actual engine and system of the game, so now we’re working on things like enemies, items, abilities, and of course, the three classes. We still have to design most of these things, both in the mathematical sense and in the graphical sense. I can’t tell you when it will be released, because I don’t know myself. In the past few months, most of the team including me have been locked down by things like final exams which is why we haven’t made much progress, but things are going along pretty fast now. It will be released when it’s COMPLETELY ready Quality cannot be rushed.

It’s been taking such a long time because the game is bigger than Sonny in a lot of ways. We recently talked about maybe having to split the game in half since it’s become so huge. Each Zone in Sonny 2 probably has more story progression to it than the whole of Sonny 1, and there are going to be at least 6 main story Zones (unless we split it), and several other bonus Zones that will also have interesting story motifs, but not be the driving force of the plot. Think of it as “Zone 4″ but with better integration.

Krin: The plot was something that received a lot of complaints about. We listened to every single complaint and we made the storyline one of the main focuses of Sonny 2. People said it ‘trailed off,’ and ‘it was too short,’ and the people are always right!

We’ve worked hard on the new plot, and I think you will find the story to be more engaging and coherent than in the original Sonny. So no more random Samurai ghosts and angry shamans. Doesn’t mean we’ll take away the characters’ dark sense of humor and one-liners though

As usual, a lot of the plot will be narrated through dialogs during battles, and the rest in cut scenes. In the worse case scenarios we might need to pop one or two boxes of text post-battle for you to read

Krin: You’ll hear what’s on the tape, and you’ll be thinking “Krin was probably high when he did this.” And no, it’s not a Rick Roll or anything of that nature.

You will also find out what happened on the ship the day Sonny was resurrected. You’ll get answers to most of questions presented in the original Sonny. Of course, those answers will just be the beginning

Krin: The AI has been improved and friendly AI is designed so that you won’t need to depend on them so much anymore, so the chance that you lose a fight because your AI teammate randomized the wrong ability will be much less. I’ve decided I don’t want to give players full control of the AI. There are plenty of games that do that, and I think it’s more interesting to have to work WITH the AI rather than control it completely. What you ARE able to do though, is to tell a teammate to fight in a different style. The 5 modes of AI are: Phalanx, Defensive, Tactical, Aggressive, Relentless. You can change it in combat.

Bosses and fights can now have ‘phases.’ For example, once you get a boss down to 50% life, he might say “Now I pwn you!” and starts using completely different skills and fighting styles, so your tactics and strategy are REALLY put to the test this time!

There is also a ‘hardcore’ more to play on. This mode will be like the normal mode, except each turn you have a limited time to make your move. I’m thinking of making it so that the faster you make your move, the more effective it is and the less likely it is to miss. This will put pressure on you and make it more intense and challenging.

Krin: Since there is not yet any multi-player interaction, balancing the classes basically means that the game is equally fun to play for all three classes. This can still be hard though, because we need to make sure all bosses are beatable with any class. And since the classes all have different ability trees, we’ll need to make bosses have more than one weakness (unlike the bosses in Zone 4 in Sonny, where there was only 1-2 viable tactics per boss). This doesn’t mean we’re planning to make it less challenging though. We’re actually hoping to make the endgame of Sonny 2 even more intense.

The actual ability trees themselves will be more flexible and useful than before. And example ability from the Biological class is “Crystallize.” It stuns the target for a couple of turns, yet at the same time shielding it from all damage. This could be used both on friends and enemies, for both defensive and offensive purposes.

Krin: Writing the story was hard. When we made Sonny, we never really thought people would be so interested in the story, so we left a lot of open ends. The challenge in Sonny 2 was to find a way to create a story that would be coherent with the first one, and also very exciting to experience on its own, AND also explain the loopholes we’ve left in the first Sonny.

Krin: Before people have had to wait up to a year for a new release of my games… And Sinjid fans are still waiting for 3+ years (I haven’t forgotten about you!). Don’t yell at me for having to wait two months We’re going fast, but we won’t release it until it’s reached the quality we want! I’ll get some screen shots when we are a little bit more progressed!

There you have it.  Don’t yell at Krin, he’s working hard and it makes him sad.

We’ll try to keep up with Krin and his team as they work through the various portions of the new Sonny game.  Thanks Krin for the interview!