Interview with Jacob Van Wingen about Fuzzee Teevee
Multi-player interference meets puzzle action
By Russell D. Carroll [March 17, 2004]


How did your studio get your start in working with independent games?
I’ve been programming games as a hobbyist for almost 10 years. I’ve spent even longer drawing comics, sketches, and eventually 3D modeling. During the Dot-Com boom I worked at an enterprise software company doing programming and software architecture. It was fun and interesting work, but I wanted to bring my artistic talents into my job somehow. I started Gastronaut Studios to work on games full time. From the beginning, submitting my game to the IGF has been a goal that’s helped motivate me to get my work done on time and at a high quality.

What is the most innovative feature of Fuzzee Teevee and how is it innovative in your mind?
I think the most innovative part is its hybrid game design. Fuzzee Teevee is a blend of platformer and puzzle game. There are a few other games that have similar blends, like the great but overlooked “Wario’s Woods” on the NES and SNES and the Playstation’s “Devil Dice.” But I think that Fuzzee Teevee presents a very different experience. First, there’s the interaction between characters and the puzzles. But there’s also the possibility for more direct conflict between players because you get to interfere with the others’ puzzles. Also, just off the top of my head, I can’t think of any other puzzle games with team modes. That option opens up a lot of new possibilities for game play and player interaction.

What do gamers appreciate most about Fuzzee Teevee?
Fuzzee Teevee has only been shown to the public once, at the IGC. At that conference players definitely got into the multi-player “brawl” mode, and the spectators seemed to enjoy the graphics and artwork. I only had two-player matches then, but at the IGF I expect players to get into the full four-player games. At home when friends come over we always play four-player matches for hours. The bright colored graphics have a mesmerizing quality about them that I’ve always enjoyed in puzzle games. One friend said that after playing for the first time, she dreamt about colorful blocks with X’s and O’s moving around everywhere. Something that I really like about the game is how accessible it is to non-core gamers. The majority of my play-testers so far are female and not-avid gamers either. They still get absorbed into the game, though. I think this is an important quality for “party games.” Mario Kart, for instance, has a very broad appeal that keeps it from being reserved for guys’ nights only. My girlfriend and her friends love it. I think that Fuzzee Teevee will have a similar appeal to both men and women.

What was the most difficult part of Fuzzee Teevee to program?
That’s a tough question. I’m tempted to say the graphics and animation systems were the hardest because it took so long to get everything working. I’ve spent a lot of time putting polish into both of those areas of the program, and I think it shows. Besides that, one of the most difficult parts has been the minute design details that I constantly have to make and test. For instance, the way the player controls the character and its interactions with the blocks and the objects of the world have been really challenging. A lot of this programming can’t just be planned ahead. I constantly have to keep testing for how it feels and then retool it until I get the right feel.

Other than your own game did any one of the IGF finalists or Student Showcase games stand out to you? Why?
I think they all look great. I’ve only met a few of the other developers, but I’m looking forward to meeting everyone at the conference. I’ve had my eye on some of the games since the entries were first listed. In particular, I’m excited to see Façade, the interactive dinner-party game. I like the way it centers around a non-violent psychological conflict rather than the typical action-oriented approach. My favorite films tend to be very dialogue intensive. Obviously with games this is difficult, but I think it will be more feasible in the future. I also think that Chronic Logic’s “Gish” looks pretty cool. I got to meet the Chronic Logic team at the IGC last October and I’m looking forward to seeing their new games at the IGF.

What is your definition of an Independent Game?
An indie game is quite simply a game developed by an indie developer. I see at least two types of indie developers: The “Stick it to the man” indie and the “Just waiting ‘til I get a publishing contract or job” indie. I’m definitely the latter with occasional delusions of “sticking it to the man.”

What do you think makes Independent games distinctive?
I think it’s difficult to generalize about all indie games, but I think the primary difference is the originality in game design. Bigger studios tied to publishers can’t afford to take as many chances. They have too many mouths to feed. Money is invested in areas that are more certain to have a return on investment like graphics, licenses, celebrity voice acting and so on. Even with my work, I’ve avoided certain risks for the sake of making something accessible and publishable.

How do you think Independent Games will evolve in the future
In some ways, I think that indie games will become easier to make. I don’t agree with the notion that games are getting harder to make now because of the sophistication of 3D graphics. I think in many ways game development has become more accessible for the small developer. We no longer have to write software renderers. With DirectX and OpenGL it doesn’t take very much work to get a huge amount of textured polygons to the screen. With the power of hardware graphics it’s no longer important to spend days getting models down to under 200 polygons. I’m rarely concerned about the number of polygons in my models, within reasonable complexity. Keeping on the bleeding-edge of graphics will always be a lot of work. I don’t think that it’s worthwhile for indies to bother. But I do think that technology has given creators more room to play around.

What is the biggest challenge facing Independent games?
I’d say that Distribution is the toughest challenge for indies. The Internet has helped with getting indie distribution, but it’s still an uphill battle to get your game out there. I think that places like GarageGames are a tremendous asset for the development community, by helping small developers both make and sell their games.

As one of the leaders of Independent Games, what is next for you?
Of course, I need to finish up Fuzzee Teevee and get it out to the public. It’s very close, but I want to make it as good as I can. After that I want to stay on course making “Sociable Games.” I enjoy creating these games that can be experienced by a group of people sitting around looking for competition, an icebreaker, or just something to have a beer with. Eventually, I want to move on to more serious games. There are definitely some ideas that I want to work on that would be very different sorts of games, but I think it’s important to start simple and work up.