Today
I bring you an interview with the man behind Mighty Pebble Games, a new indie studio
based in Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island.
Chad: First off, who are you and what
lead you to game development?
James: I'm James O'Halloran from
Charlottetown, PEI, and I'm the owner/developer of Mighty Pebble Games. I
graduated Computer Science at UPEI in 2013. After school, I worked for a small
software startup in Charlottetown that unfortunately went out of business this
Summer. I took some game development courses at UPEI and also played around
with game dev in my spare time, so I decided that this was a good opportunity
to take my hobby full time and start my own game studio.
Chad: Awesome.
Charlottetown is a beautiful city. How do you see the current game dev scene in
PEI?
James: There are some cool things going on
in the Charlottetown game dev scene. The video game specialization program at
UPEI is great so there's a good flow of new developers hitting the scene each
year. It's awesome to have EA here to create lots of jobs, and there are also
several medium/small studios working on some cool projects.
Chad: That's
great, I had no idea they taught video game-related courses at UPEI. So, are
there other members of Mighty Pebble Games, or is it a solo project?
James: Right now it's a solo project. I do all of the
programming myself. I have been doing approximately 70% of the artwork, and
outsourcing the rest online. I also buy all my audio assets individually
online. I'm hoping to hire a full-time artist if things go well with my first
game.
Chad: You've
recently launched a Steam Greenlight campaign. Tell me more about your game, Miner Meltdown.
James: Miner Meltdown is a
2D team-based competitive multiplayer game. Each player is a miner, who has to
explore an underground mine searching for gold so he/she can buy better
weapons/gear and ultimately kill the opposing team. Matches are quick, and the
game is fast-paced. I often describe it as Terraria
meets Worms meets Counter-Strike.
Chad: Sounds
interesting! What would you say are the advantages of going Steam Greenlight as
opposed to other platforms?
James: For my project, Steam was the best option to start on
based on the fact that I'm making a multiplayer game and it's an increased risk
to buy 8 developer kits for testing for each platform. Steam is also very open,
and a lot more accessible for new studios. Steam doesn't even require getting a
rating from a ratings board (which can costs thousands). The Steam Greenlight
platform also gives your game exposure to a huge audience. If the game is a
hit, I will definitely consider bringing the game to consoles in the future.
Chad: Thanks
for your time James, and best of luck with your campaign!
James: Thanks Chad!
Support local game development by voting for James' game on Steam Greenlight! And might as well like his studio's Facebook page
while you're at it.
