Many gamers around the world dream of developing their own video game. However, few see their dreams come to fruition, either due to a lack of funding or advertising. Marketing is the biggest expense of AAA games, or highly popular games. One way to finance a game is through crowdfunding.
Tempo Labs’ “Bits and Bops” gained financial support through the popular crowdfunding platform Kickstarter. In this exclusive interview, Evan Andrews and Rose Hammer, two of Tempo Labs’ creators, shed some light on what it is like to develop an indie video game.
What made you want to make “Bits & Bops?” Was it a hole in the market or a passion project?
Andrews: “It was a bit of both. I’ve been playing rhythm games since I was fairly young, and I wanted to share my love of rhythm games with a new generation of players. In particular, ‘Bits & Bops’ is heavily inspired by ‘Rhythm Heaven,’ which was one of the games that got me hooked on the genre, and is still one of my all-time favourites. My aim is for ‘Bits & Bops’ to provide that same gentle on-ramp for new players while also giving a serious challenge to experts.”
Hammer: “I’m less of a hardcore rhythm gamer than Evan, but I love working on games, and I was excited to use my artistic skills in a project where I really felt they’d work. I also think our team is incredibly talented and that we can offer something awesome to our audience.”
What are your processes of level development?
Andrews: “Generally speaking, we’ll start with a musical draft from Julian or Em, then I’ll pick out some rhythms that match or complement the music to form the cues. Once that feels like it’s working, Rose will develop the characters and stage layout. As things progress, we’ll integrate new work into the build regularly to pick up anything that isn’t working and revise things as we go, and eventually we end up with a finished minigame. However, this is a flexible process.”
Hammer: “Occasionally things are done in a different order, [for example] we’ll start with a visual layout, characters/narrative, or game mechanic. But often the music leads the process.”
Have you faced any unexpected challenges or struggles while in development?
Andrews: “Perhaps not unexpected, but the biggest technical hurdle we’ve faced was minimising audio latency to make the game feel right. Calibration has become the standard for most rhythm games, and many players expect it, but for the intended experience in “Bits & Bops,” it is unfortunately not possible. It’s been a long process and we’re still iterating on it to this day, but we feel the custom engine we’ve built for the game is unmatched – and many of our players agree!”
Hammer: “I think learning to work together and compromise has sometimes been hard. We’re a lot better at it now, but there were times when we spent many hours going back and forth over design or studio-related decisions that perhaps could have been resolved more smoothly. However, these days our team is a lot better off for those disagreements, because as a result we’ve gotten a lot better at communicating and appreciating each other’s contributions.”
Are there any recommendations you would give to budding indie game developers?
Andrews: “Game development is incredibly diverse in the skillsets it requires, spanning both creative and technical domains. If you don’t know where to start in game development, you might find you’re better off pursuing a related discipline first. I’ve always wanted to make games, but ended up studying computer science at university and working as a software engineer for a decade or so before trying to be a full-time game developer. As a result, I have a unique perspective compared to people who have only ever programmed in a game development context, and I also have a career to fall back on if game development doesn’t work out.”
Hammer: “I think the first step, once you know what your role will be, is to figure out if you actually enjoy game dev. You can do this by making small games in a non-commercial setting, such as hobby projects, rom hacks or game jams. Later on, if you want to make something commercial, try to focus on games that both interest you and have enough of an audience to meet your sales expectations. Build a demo or vertical slice that you can share with your genre’s audience ASAP, and gauge their reception.”
