LuisCastanon.com

NegativeOne

June 2007

Q:

This months AOTM is a little different thanks to the release of NG Rumble. I felt that it would be cool to have a roundtable discussion with everyone that participated in the making of it (me & Mindchamber) but concentrate more on NegativeOne who had the original vision for it. Also I already featured MC and I’m sure people are getting tired of that nigga. That being said, on with the interview(s)!
So before getting started and diving into the guts and bolts of what makes NG Rumble how about you tell us a little about you personally?
Who are you, how far do your flash bloodlines go back, what attracted you to Flash, etc? (If it makes it easier for you, this is probably the only part of the interview anyone ever reads so try and make it semi arousing.)

A:

NegativeOne: I’ve been drawing and programming for nearly a decade now, but when it comes to Flash, I can’t claim to be much of a veteran. I first started playing with it around 2002, had my first release in 2003. I’ve put in a lot of work though and made up for some of that lost time. For the purposes of arousal, I answered that question in my briefs.

Q:

Great, now that my mind scarred, let’s continue! Back to the main event of this episode of aotm, NG Rumble. Tell us a little about the game, what made you tackle the project and what sort of influences did you have (or not have) along the way?

A:

NegativeOne: Well, I’ll just wrestle the one everybody’s thinking about - Smash Bros was a definite inspiration, but a surprisingly muted influence on me. You’d find a much easier time seeing where I drew elements from games like Timesplitters or Gekido.

Q:

One of the unique quirks of the making of this (at least for me) was having essentially 3 artists (me, Mindchamber, Neg) splitting graphic responsibilities..usually its always been a ‘you be code-bitch and ill be talented art person’… a 1-1 type of thing. What were some of the biggest challenges you encountered in this sort of scenario with art assets coming from 3 sources?
After all is said and done are you happy? This is a question for everyone by the way…

A:

Mindchamber: At first I will say it wasn’t easy.. Negs and I are really headstrong and we both have different ideas on what makes game fun. But in the end it was a great experience because Negs learned how to make a games more fun thru me, and I learned how to be more PC ^_^. Luis was more like Issac on the luvBoat. He listened to gripes, smiled and served drinks.

NegativeOne: It came about surprisingly easily. We all have a detailed but clean style, and no one has complained about the different sources clashing with one another. The biggest challenge was still getting you to follow through with things, Lu, and I know that doesn’t comes as a surprise, haha. In the end, I’m happy.
Luis: I actually found this game itself to be very hard. I’m not gonna lie I am still like a virgin to this animating for games thing. I learned alot from this experience though, MC was very mentoring in getting my things up to snuff, even letting me borrow some of his source files and shit to get me to understand concepts of what makes for more effective sprites. As for Neg.. well I still have to refine my relations with actionscripters, i have this attitude that they wont ever understand the art language I speak and so its difficult for me to keep chugging along. Also, I have this nack for piling my schedule up unless there is an immediate deadline to keep me focused :) Overall though I’m happy. Its beyond anything I expected and its very motivating to see the finished thing cause its like ‘damn all that labor really came together’.

Q:

While we are on the subject of challenges, what were some of your biggest challenges you encountered with coding this mammoth of a game? Do you feel like you were able to resolve them? Last but not least what areas do you see room for improving upon for the (inevitable million-dollar word) ’sequel’?

A:

NegativeOne: The biggest challenge is that a doubly complicated game is quadruply difficult. Every new feature compounds upon the others and they all have to be self-sustained yet able to communicate with other aspects of the game. It gets tricky. The sequel will probably have those little bits of fighting gold we left out, like grabs and character leveling. For the most part, I think we’ll be answering the cry for MOAR. More characters, more levels, more modes.

Q:

Challenges encountered aside, one of the most refreshing things about the game is the wide cast of characters… how did you narrow down to the cast of characters chosen? Where there characters who didnt make the cut or characters that did that were not originally in the gameplan? This question is for anyone who feels like taking a stab at it.

A:

Mindchamber: Fancypants, Gish, and Gill the Psychogoldfish were all originally planned to be in it, but the creators where either too busy or too lazy to finish. haha
And no, I’m not giving up my gay job, I mean DAY job,(teol) of making cartoons. This music stuff is just a nice, leisurely diversion; something to do when I take a break from my real job of sitting around and staring into space all day.
NegativeOne: DrNeroCF wasn’t able to finish Fancy Pants Man on time and I opted against using the Dad n Me sprites since it didn’t feel right using sprites from someone not really involved in the process, even with his permission. I know a lot of people would disagree with that decision.
Luis: Aside from the ones already mentioned, I actually snipped out 2 previous versions of Convict (one of them I actually feature in a tutorial), and a character named Tracie which was completely finished. But that was my first attempt and it was overly complicated and before recieving formal training from MC. It was an executive decision made by me and recieved with lots of grunts by Neg.

Q:

Naturally, everyone is bickering about ‘well you should have had this character or that one…’ its probably waaaaay too early to be discussing but are there any characters that come to mind that you think yeah definately throw ‘this’ character in the mix, or maybe definately NOT bring ‘this’ character back?

A:

NegativeOne: Salad either needs to be scrapped or (hopefully) redesigned because he’s 1.2 mb on his own, which is too steep if we’re going to be adding more content. I’d like to keep everyone else. You know Krinkels, can we get Hank, or what? Every fifth review is asking for him. Other common suggestions include people I wouldn’t care to add, like StrawBerryClock or Foamy. Others I agree would be great, like Bitey, Dirge, Miss Dynamite, Darnell. It’s mainly a matter of who’s willing to share their intellectual property.
Mindchamber: Theres a few I would want to see. Definitely Foamy, simply because hes a staple of NG and he will have more frames of animation in his sprite set than in the whole last 5 years of the show haha. aside from Foamy I would like to see. Dirge, Bitey, Joe Zombie, Miss Dynamite. .. Strawberryclock, Madness, Weeble. the last three I wouldnt be a fan to create because they are harder to translate since they are limbless.
Luis: I’m all about more obscure characters that add the mystique of not really knowing much about em and thus investigating more of where they come from in the portal. Maybe even feature em as hidden characters. So my picks would be: Tricky the clown, Madness Jesus, Hanzo, and Dr. Shroud.

Q:

Heres a simple question for everyone, what is your favorite aspect of the game itself?

A:

Mindchamber: The fact that we are all getting closer and closer to arcade quality in flash. Sure there are alot of prententious douchbags that think our game is shallow because it doesnt have some deep religious meaning. Sometimes I just like to playgames that lets you bash stuff, and NGR gives you that in spades.
NegativeOne: I’ll probably sound like a desperate broken record at this point, but I’d really like to believe that we created a game with such a seperate visual style and set of mechanics that we managed not to fall under Smash Bros’ enormous shadow. If you try to approach both games in the same play style, you’ll get your ass handed to you in one or the other.
Luis: My favorite aspect were probably the little touches of humor on the tool tips, and the endings. People bitch and moan how they werent animated or whatever but I felt they were awesome. They reminded me of the Mortal Kombat endings. It was especially cool for me because I had never seen them before and it was like opening a suprise gift.

Q:

Neg, you are one of those rare breeds of actionscripters with art instincts and you were able to wear both hats for this project, was that a concious decision or one out of necessity from my slow turnaround times :D?

A:

NegativeOne: I had originally intended for you to do all backgrounds, yeah. But once it was on my hands anyway, it felt right. I enjoyed it and it sharpened my skills a lot. Compare one of the earlier ones (like the Junkyard) with one of the later ones (like Meat Locker or Nene’s Store) and you’ll probably see the difference.

Q:

Alright final question, what’s next for you? Takin the summer off? Getting married? stalling your site redesigns? Whatcha up to?

A:

Mindchamber: I had originally intended for you to do all backgrounds, yeah. But once it was on my hands anyway, it felt right. I enjoyed it and it sharpened my skills a lot. Compare one of the earlier ones (like the Junkyard) with one of the later ones (like Meat Locker or Nene’s Store) and you’ll probably see the difference.
NegativeOne: I won’t say anything about them yet, but I have a couple more projects planned and I’ll be hopping into those as soon as the opportunity presents itself. NGR2 will happen so long as I have that engine sitting on my hard drive, and at least one reliable animator willing to pitch in, so that’s on more distant the horizon too. WiiCade will be requiring some attention very soon as well, which will probably delay my projects a wee bit. But I’ll always be working when I have time, so keep an eye out.

I still owe sprites for Stranded 2, and then I have the sketchbook tour going on, after that I’d like to animate to the soundtrack of a porn movie. seriously.