The Last and Final Word: Radstronomical
Radstronomical has just begun his journey into independent videogame development. He scored something of a hit with his first release, Ultimate Flirt-Off. It was a game that he wanted to expand upon but he worried that the complexity of his vision might take away from the bare-bones concept.
Name?
Diego E. Garcia.
Age?
24.
Location?
Brooklyn, New York.
Development tool(s) of choice?
What do you do?
I work at a TV network, preparing content for on demand and broadband viewing, and I do some animation and illustration as a hobby / for small change on the side. Right now I’m applying to grad schools for game design and trying to build up some game design experience on my own in the meantime.
How did you get into videogame development?
I’ve always been really passionate about games. Some of my earliest memories are of my brothers’ Atari, and playing Mixed Up Mother Goose on the IIGS. Most of my relationships are centered around games. I think it’s a powerful medium that brings people together and takes us places.
I chose to focus on animation during my undergrad education, but when I moved to New York I fell in love with the games’ community here — things like Babycastles, the events Kill Screen has been holding, and the lecture series at the NYU Game Center have been super inspirational for me. They helped me realize that anyone can make a great game, and that rather than waiting for the experiences you want to see appear in games, sometimes it’s better to roll your sleeves up and do it yourself.
What are you goals and aspirations as a game developer?
I think in the simplest terms, I want to make games that have a sense of delight to them. There’s a ton to explore in games; I’m tired of shooters and zombies. I love the moments when we’re playing and we’re suddenly hit with this feeling of “Oh! I didn’t think of that!”, whether it’s a puzzle solution or just a way of looking at things, when everything falls into place and you get a wave of wonder. Maybe that’s every game designers’ goal, but that’s kind of my driving force.
I also really miss games that make us laugh. I’d love to start or be part of a small studio to achieve that. I’m not interested in becoming part of a huge team - I feel like a smaller team can have a more unified vision. I don’t necessarily think it’s wise to make games with no demographic in mind, but I want to make games that can be played by anyone who wants to play them. I don’t want to alienate anyone.
You recently released your first game, Ultimate Flirt-Off, working on it outside of your full-time job. How long did it take you to develop?
It’s hard to say how much time I actually spent on the game, but I completed it over the course of two months. I made Flirt-Off as a creative submission for my grad school applications, so I was also writing essays and doing everything else that goes along with that. It was a pretty hectic time, and I had to squeeze things in where I could.
Where did the idea for Ultimate Flirt-Off originally come from?
During my first week of college, I went to a party held by the rugby team, which was absurd in and of itself. At one point I came out of the bathroom and there was a tall, very attractive girl standing there, and she said “I like your glasses.” I was caught completely off guard and for some reason felt the need to compliment her back, and found myself saying “Thanks! I like your—” And then I realized I hadn’t really planned that out? And I was just grasping for something to say feeling this immense pressure. She was wearing a red sequined shirt, so I said “—shirt!” Which I didn’t even really think, the word just kind of presented itself to me.
That feeling of pressure to impress and trying to say something normal, even if everyone isn’t quite as much of a dolt as I was then (and am now), is pretty universal, I think. The experience jumped back into my head when I was reading a comic by Mare Odomo earlier this year, and I thought it would make a different and funny game.
Here’s a quote from a recent blog: I spent a LOT of time thinking “this game is terrible, I don’t know why I am still working on this.” What propelled you to complete development?
As I said above, I made Flirt-Off as a creative submission for schools - so I had a pretty real deadline of December 1st. I had also kind of reached a point where it was like, “well, I’ve already made this mechanic and all of this animation and commissioned music.. if I give up now I’ve completely wasted the last month.” So there were those things, and also the support of my friends and the tumblr community to whom I’d revealed a lot about the game, and people seemed really excited about it.
Upon release, you stated that Ultimate Flirt-Off was only about 10% of what you wanted the final product to be - what else did you have planned for it?
I never had a design document for Flirt-Off, just a whole bunch of bullet points in my head. The ones I checked off were the core sentence forming mechanic, drinking, and the player’s choice of self and flirtee. Beyond that, I really wanted to have a much more diverse set of characters, a few different types and locations of parties, and a much broader conversation map. I wanted each character to have a unique personality and set of preferences, rather than it being randomly decided at the start of the game. I also had several less developed ideas: walking around and choosing someone to talk to, going outside for a cigarette or some air, etc..
Another thing that I will add if I ever expand the game or port it to iPad would be a recap of the conversation with the ability to tweet individual sentences, as well as some feedback from the flirtee: “he was nice, but seemed too nerdy,” or something like that, depending on what he or she is into and how the player performs. But part of me worries that the more complex it gets, the less appeal it will have.
Unexpectedly for you, it received coverage on Kotaku and Indie Games, which got you excited about developing future projects. Any particular plans or promising projects started?
Yeah, that was a pleasant surprise and confidence boost! I’m a little preoccupied with other animation and design work now, but I’ve got a whole list of ideas I’d like to pursue. The next thing I want to prototype out is a goofy iOS physics-based space management action game. A good friend of mine wants to help me program that, so I’ll be able to focus more time on design and art. I cracked up on the subway when the idea popped into my head. Super embarrassing.
Is it hard to stay motivated, working on a project outside of a 40-hour-a-week job?
I don’t think it’s hard to stay motivated. It is VERY hard to stay productive. Working eight hours a day with a 40 minute commute on either end, it’s much easier to come home and sink into my couch or go get a drink with friends than it is to sit back down at a computer for five more hours. I often feel like a bad friend when I’m working on things outside of my job.
Being motivated is easy. Every time I see a movie or read a book or even look at a piece of art, I think about how I can apply the concepts to games. I spend a lot of my time reading about games, and some nights I lie in bed having conversations with myself about what I want to make next. It’s finding the energy to get down to business that’s hard when you’ve been working all day or all week.
