The Game and the Story by Dan MacDonald

Kingdom Elemental (part II) (January 20, 2007)

This is the second in a series of articles about the launch of Kingdom Elemental. In the first article we talked to Josiah Pisciotta from Chronic Logic (Kingdom Elementals�" publisher) about their expectations for the launch we decided to take some time to interview Scott Thunelius the games developer, designer and artist. So without further introduction, here�"s the interview.

Lets kick it off by means of introduction; tell us a little about yourself, how you got started making games and what your favorite types of games are.

My name is Scott Thunelius, Scoot, Scooter and for anyone who has seen Austin Powers or Euro Trip "Scotty Don't" and "Scotty doesn't know." Yeah, it's been years since those movies came out. I still get those. Thanks guys.

I started making games when I discovered the eraser tool in Mario Paint for SNES. I took those little Yoshi stamps, and pretended they were tanks. I erased the stamp when my Yoshi stamp was killed by a Mario stamp. (Mario Stamps are submarines. Duh.) When I began to desire real-time combat the constant switching between the stamp tool and the eraser tool just wasn't making the cut. So I tried to learn programming. After going my dad's C++ program and typing in "Make tank. If Tank shoots Submarine, Submarine dies" trying to compile it, and getting nothing short of around 9 thousand compilation errors I realized the task was not going to be easy.

A few years later I got my act together, learned some basic programming, and started making pixels fight each other on the screen. (Green pixels were tanks, red ones subs. But of course.) It wasn't much better, but it was in real-time. I then picked up 3D Studio (3.1 at the time, you know, the DOS one which took about 6 hours to render out a 24 polygon sphere. Ahh those were the days...) I continued learning both programs in concert, and about 5 years after my original Yoshi Tank vs. Mario Submarine game I had the real deal. With rendered 3d sprites!!

The rest, as they say, was the underused alternative to the cliché - a span of time which took place after said events.

As for the types of games I like, I enjoy all types of games. I'm like those people that say they like "all types of music" but only end up listening to Nickleback and Disturbed, then call their tastes "diverse." We all know at least one of them. So, let me rephrase that. I like most types of games. The exceptions to games I like being anything with "Madden", "2k6", "Quest" or "Saints Row" in the title.

Give us a little background about the development of KE from a design standpoint, did you have a strong vision for the project from the beginning? or did it evolve over time?

I tried to have most of it planned out, but it changed so much over time. I can still recall the nights sitting in my apartment in Seattle blasting Sage Francis, drinking expensive girlie froo-froo drinks and talking with friends about what the best names for the pirate character were going to be. (For those wondering: Captian Jack, John Gristleback, Horus Greenbeard, and Tom "pegleg" Waits).

What I did have planned out was pretty unofficial. Take the character design for example, most of the concept art for the game were doodles done on a sheet of 6x8 collage rule binder paper, using dry-erase markers. In retrospect I don't know why I even bothered to do concept art, but suffice to say we found a good use for the pages. They are now taped together and hung in front of my west-facing window to block out that pesky evening time glare.

With regards to the technical aspects of KE I heard that the majority of the work was done by you, tell us what you did and explain how you developed such a wide set of game development skills.

I never liked having to rely on other people to do things for me. I hated it so much in fact, that one time my girlfriend made me a peanut butter and jelly “sammitch”. I asked for chunky, not smooth. Alas, this is not what I got. I determined the relationship wasn't working out and broke up with her the next day.

In my search for independence I was often told that one person cannot take the role of both programmer and artist. They said either the art would end up looking something like surreal landscape wallpaper created in Bryce mixed with MS paint drawings made by a 3 year old, or the game would be so simple it would make pong look like Twilight Princess.

I picked up convention and promptly gave it a foot-lodging in the 'ol loaf pincher. I studied everything I could about art, math, and the effects of alcohol. Turns out only 2 of those 3 things helped me make games, but hey math can't solve everything right?

So I eventually learned programming and how to make 3d art decent enough it might actually be considered "good." I'm still getting better at both, since I don't excel at any particular one. But it's really nice to be able to take the role of both people, and essentially exercise both sides of my brain. I think it made me a pretty stable, well rounded person. So stable that now when I get non-chunky peanut butter I just say, "I think we should see other people."

Can you let us in on your future plans for KE if all goes well?

I think I would want to get a group of like-minded patrons of the electric video entertainment industry and engage in some sort of "expansion pack", as the kids are calling it these days. Having a team to work with would make many things much more enjoyable.

I will have a studio with a TV devoted exclusively to Guitar Hero. Every Tuesday will be Jewsday Tuesday, where all members of my studio will be treated to my secret recipe for Bagels & Lox, or Gefilte Fish. Every Friday will be casual Friday, where the mandatory dress of pirate regalia will give way to the alternatives: ninja or robot. There will be an in-house Sushi bar. My computer chair will double as a throne, it will have no wheels, and be held up by two full-time unpaid interns. We will most likely never get any work done and will constantly go out for coffee and talk about "Mike's new girl." We will hire a man named Mike exclusively for this purpose.

In a completely unrelated topic, does anyone reading this want to fund an exciting new game studio?

Do you have any designs for other games you'd like to make?

Too many to name. Let's just say the majority of them involve barfing, gas masks, and Viagra. I'll let you fill in the blanks.

Josiah described Kingdom Elemental as an indie game, do you think you'll keep making indie games or do you see some casual games in your future?

Oh I forsee many casual games in my future. Maybe even a spinoff of KE. I'll call it "Elemental Quest: Search for the Kingdom Jewels." It will have a Space/Atlantis/Egyptian/Western theme. Players will try to match three swordsman in a row and will be rewarded with a fun sound and some flashing lights. I will aim it at 45 year old soccer moms and will make millions.

And that�"s all we have for this article, as promised next we�"ll follow up with Chronic Logic to see how the game has been doing since its release.

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By: Dan McDonald
Posted: Friday January 19, 2007