SMJ Q&A Created 10 years ago2013-11-18 17:11:01 UTC by Rimrook

Ask anyhting you want and I will try my best to answer your questions. I won't spoil anything though.

What was the original catalyst to the idea - what made you decide to make SMJ into a game?

What's been the biggest difficulty in making the game?

Your skills are inevitably improved working on a project like this for as long as you have and it must be tempting to constantly rework and tweak early elements with a newer, better skillset. Do you find it hard to actually label things finished?

Can we expect Oculus support?

Dim fer real? lmfao.

I love the 16bit/pixelated look and art style. Why did you choose to stay low-res?

Why did you choose to stay low-res?

Well, given my love of pixel art, he's clearly trying to get into my pants.

Can we expect Oculus support?

Still trying to justify your ridiculous purchase?

ANYWAY...

[i]What were your goals when you started working on this project and have they changed since then?[/i]

ANSWER TIME!

What was the original catalyst to the idea - what made you decide to make SMJ into a game?

Essentially it was being able to have the right tools that enabled me to make the game. SMJ started out as a Super Mario World mod but like modding anything, there were some tight limitations. I was watching Stencyl's development for a while, and when it finally released, it was the toolkit I was looking for. This came some years later and I didn't know that SMJ was going to be the game I was going to make. I wanted to play around with Stencyl a little bit so I took some loose pixel art I've done that was inspired by the Super Mario mod. In a short two hours, I had the player character running, jumping, double-jumping, wall-jumping, and shooting. This captivated me instantly to try and make a little game of it. I remember how awesome it made the real Matt Jordan feel that he was starring in a game, so I was going to make a small project of it and just put it out there.

What's been the biggest difficulty in making the game?

Uhm... Finding the time to work on it for starts. The most tedious part of the game is linking the individual levels together. There are 108 playable areas in the game right now and that's only about 15% of the whole. Most of it is still on paper. The hardest part is moving into a new section of the game where the backgrounds, foregrounds, enemies, etc., is all new. There's a lot to accomplish artistically.

Your skills are inevitably improved working on a project like this for as long as you have and it must be tempting to constantly rework and tweak early elements with a newer, better skillset. Do you find it hard to actually label things finished?

I don't think about it that much. Yeah I will tweak a thing here or there, but to redo an area, it's all about how it feels. If the environment portrays enough of the emotion or message to the player that is necessary, then its done. Also, making each area consistant with each other is also something to keep in mind so I do still have to go back and improve some parts of the game. I deem it important because the scope for graphics I have at my disposal is unlimited, so I want to make good use of aesthetic story telling.

Can we expect Oculus support?

If I honestly knew how to support it, I seriously would. With the many layers of background and foreground elements, it would actually look pretty bad-ass.

I love the 16bit/pixelated look and art style. Why did you choose to stay low-res?

As mentioned above, I took some artwork that pre-existed. The 16-bit resolution fit immediately and I simply expanded what I already had, which also dictated the style in which the game would take form. Also, I have noticed that some stencyl games that run at 1x pixel or screen-res doesn't run as smoothly. 2x pixel size runs better and uses less memory. SMJ right now is about 50mb which is surprisingly small considering I do a lot of little specific graphics, sounds, and music.

What were your goals when you started working on this project and have they changed since then?

The goal was to just make a game, just to get one under the belt and stop wanting to be a developer and start being one. Unfortunately my simple idea exploded into something far more involved. The issue of money surfaces from time to time, though I always do my best when I forget about making money with the game. Ultimately I think SMJ will be released for free. That would loosen up the creative process (and any unforeseen legal issues) and make a better experience for everyone, and everyone would be able to play it. The goal has changed from wanting to make a game to wanting to make a good game.

Another question, will it have USB controller support via remappable keys?

Nope. It plays most like a shooter with the mouse and WASD keys.

i watched the video and it looks a bit like metal slug, but anyway, it does look like it will be pretty good, and if you do decide to make it free, I will try it and record if you want. I just played an old school adventure platformer and realized how much fun this genre can be. Can't live off FPS forever, especially since nowadays fps's are suffering the most from the 'lack of creative process' problem. Ever thought about steam greenlight? There's a 100 dollar fee though.

Will there be Nintendo Virtual Boy support?

Just for you.

Did some experimenting and I got controller support for SMJ.

Sweet, so I can play with keyboard or my Logitech gamepad?!

Yeah... aiming is a bitch at the moment. The problem lies where the aiming with the controller should be as free and flexible as aiming with the mouse. I have some solutions but controller support is partial at best unless I get some killer java scripting done. So its looking like a much later thing than right now, but it's possible nonetheless. It also can conflict with the many new ways players can attack besides shooting fireballs.

How many easter eggs are there to discover?

only the ones that you can see with the Oculus Rift

No oculus support. Forget about it. Controller support is as far as I can go.

What's up with you guys and your over-frivolous stuff?

We expected a lot from you, Rim. A lot.

I think I can collectively say that we're all a bit disappointed with you.

Yep. Every single one of us who also owns an Oculus Rift is disappointed with you. Also, those of us like it in the bum.

Aka just TJB for the latter part.

I don't even have an occulus to test this stuff. If one of you would like to send me one, that would be great.

Its a bit unanimous with controller support. I told some people about it and they said they didn't like the mouse-shooter setup but would play it if it was on a controller.

Rimmie, you're getting silly with your old-age.

They are taking the piss with the occulus questions.

We've known eachother for years. Don't you think that if I could, I would? Yes I know their bullshitting me, but if I got Occulus Rift support, it would certainly be a unique experience being a 2D platformer. Never say never...

Eventually I need to write a new article...

THIS JUST IN! Rimrook confirms that oculus support is a definite future possibility!

On a more serious note.
What's your image editor of choice, and how much math have you needed to use for all the programming?

Photoshop of course, combined with some flash for animation composing.

As far as mathness in the programming, I didn't need much at first, but the more I got into the AI and advanced player controls, I think I've learned enough algebra to pass high school.

I just finished a draft of the controller set up. Its good enough for now but will need an update hopefully before the final release.

When the game is finished, around how long do you think a playthrough would last?

And Joe, don't be silly. I don't have an Oculus Rift.
You're spot on with me liking it in the bum though.

I don't know how long the game will be. I'm sitting at over an hour per chapter, and there are 10 chapters. Could very well be a long game...

Who's the black guy?

That's chocolate rimrook. Its been a running joke. He shows up in the shop in a 1 in 30 chance when you enter. I rarely see him when testing but he does show up.

Does he sell illegal stuff?

That's racist.

But black people are so cool