Indie developers are the starving artists of the video-game world, often brilliant and innovative, but also misunderstood, underfunded and more prone to writing free-form poetry on their LiveJournals. We at Joystiq believe no one deserves to starve, and many indie developers are entitled to a fridge full of tasty, fulfilling media coverage, right here. This week, the asteroidea duo discuss their rockin'-retro iOS title, Planetary Escape.
What's your game called, and what's it about?
Our game is called Planetary Escape, and it is for iPhone, iPad & iPod touch. It is a retro-styled arcade game set deep within a planet's core. Much to your dismay, the planet is gonna blow! You make the wise decision to forgo that last cup of tea, and run to your rocket. With molten lava hot on your tail, you fly your rocket through treacherous caverns of pixelated goodness, and shoot any destructible rocks in your path.
So we know your game -- Now who are you?
Hello. We are asteroidea, a duo who hope to create many a fun video game.
How did asteroidea begin developing games?
From a young age we both wanted to make computer games. Fueled by this desire, we taught ourselves to code. We started various projects, including some homebrew games on Nintendo DS, but because of every coder's nemesis, procrastination, none were completed. Recent developments with the open nature of various platforms gave us enough of an inspiration to start up in earnest.
Why did you want to make games?
It is a pretty standard story, but video games were a big part of our childhood. Ever since we started playing video games, we had the desire to create them. We had sketchbooks filled with ideas, stories, and character designs that we were itching to be able to create. It was only a matter of time until we gained the programming knowledge necessary to make these ideas reality.
Do you feel like Planetary Escape is the game you always wanted to play?
We have no illusions that this is the greatest game in the world, but we both love retro games.
We have no illusions that this is the greatest game in the world, but we both love retro games with awesome pixel art and funky tunes, and we feel this is a good homage to those types of games. It was made with the intention of being played in short bursts of frantic gameplay, and even though we have spent many hours playing it in development phases, we find that we still play it when we have a few minutes to kill.
How long did it take you to create?
Roughly a month of development time, shared between two developers. It was started as a test game for learning a new coding language and environment, but when it was fleshed out enough, both of us worked on it until completion.
What are you proudest of about Planetary Escape?
Like mentioned before it plays homage to the retro style, but has a more modern reinterpretation of that. I think that overall it gives the game an interesting and unique feel. Everything in the game was created by us, and I'm very proud of that. The music is pretty awesome too (I may be a tad biased though)!
Anything you'd do differently?
Some of the limitations of the development libraries didn't allow us as much flexibility and power as we would have liked, so finding one that better suits our needs, or making it ourselves, would probably be the plan for future projects.
Why be independent rather than make games for a larger company?
Creative freedom. The ability to choose what games we make and how we make them, without having someone breathing down our necks the whole time. At no time would we want development to feel like a chore. Also, being able to be actively involved in every aspect of a games development is really quite enjoyable, and it definitely helps in many ways with a creative vision being met.
What one thing would you tell someone to convince them to get Planetary Escape?
You see that guy outside your window? That's me. I'm not leaving until you buy it.
What's next?
We intend to add more content to the game over the coming weeks, and also release it on various other platforms. We also have another three games in the pipeline that we intend to start work on very shortly.
Planetary Escape is out now on iTunes! Buy it now or that dude at your window is never going to leave. Ever.
If you'd like to have your own shot at converting our readers into fans, email jess [at] joystiq [dawt] com, subject line "The Joystiq Indie Pitch." Still haven't had enough? Check out the Pitch archives.
