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Gastronaut's Jacob Van Wingen on Small Arms and Six Degrees |
Listed in: Xbox 360 Tags: FFVII, Jacob Van Wingen
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Gamasutra sat down to talk with Gastronaut Studios">Jacob Van Wingen, founder of Gastronaut Studios, to talk about their upcoming XBLA title Small Arms. As we've mentioned before, Small Arms is a wild multiplayer shoot'em-up game which features interchangeable gun-arms as well as a "shoot first, ask questions later" attitude (FFVII's Barret would feel right at home here, wouldn't he?). Wan Wingen claims to be impressed by the pacifism Achievement in Geometry Wars as it encouraged players to try a play style different from what they're used to or would expect. They had similar ideas with Small Arms, that would tie to the multiplayer, "social networking" feel of the game's design.
There is the Six Degrees of Small Arms Achievement, which works based on who you play - and that list includes the developers. "The four of us who developed this game will each have the 0th degree. To get the first degree, you've got to play us. Play first degree players and you get the second degree, and so on. So the achievement spreads virally, depending on who you've played."
They would have loved to add a lot more - the Sniper gun-arm literally was begging for a host of trick shot Achievements! - but with a limit of only 12 Achievements they could put into the game, they could not afford to. But the studio was very appreciative of the support on Achievement design given by their XBLA producer, says Van Winger.
To those who dream of one day making their own game - and have their dreams hyped up with XNA and the Community Club - Van Wingen has but two words of wisdom: realism and commitment. Independent game development can be a harsh mistress. "It's hard work, and not all that glamorous either. So you need to be extremely committed and really enjoy the work. It consumes a lot of time and energy long before it ever produces much of a financial reward." Small Arms is only Gastronaut's second work; the studio also had to take contract work to help pay the bills.
Via Gamasutra
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