ATTRACTING STRANGENESS

Strange Attractors has become quite popular of late. It is unique, innovative, addictive and just plain fun (just the way videogames are meant to be). Originally developed for Retro Remakes One Switch competition, the game was polished and further developed during the months afterwards. Not only has it been featured on some of the more popular indie gaming websites but it has also been nominated for an award in the 2006 IGF Awards and has been downloaded over 11,000 times. The brilliant game in question was developed by a team of people that like call themselves Ominous Development and as you may have guessed by now – I got the fortunate opportunity to interview the whole team. Sit back, relax and read on..

Give the readers a little background about yourselves (names, ages, where you all live, etc)

Chris McGarry, 24, Ann Arbor, Michigan.

Eric Walker, 24, Kalamazoo, Michigan.

Joseph Saucedo (aka, Joseppi the Younger, Spongejoe Nopants, King Donken of Punchstania, etc.) 25 years old I currently reside close to Kalamazoo, Michigan. Umm, I don't know what else to type here.

Bret Alfieri, 23, Hoten Michigan (Waaay up North, going for a second degree at Michigan Tech so that he may take over the world with tiny robots).

Scott Stanfield, 24, Stormwind, Azeroth (though he's occasionally seen in Kalamazoo, Michigan).

How did you all meet and how did Ominous Development form?

[Chris] We're all friends from way back in middle school, who stayed in contact while we moved across the countryside, honing our individual skills.

[Joe] We were friends in high school. Back in the day we all had a resounding interest in video games and all things nerdy. Ask us someday about our "time as jello" theory. On second thought, don't do that. Ominous Development was originally conceived of by my pineal gland (and is thusly forever more dedicated to the prettiest one) but I'm a nice guy so I give equal credit to all the current members' respective strangenesses.

[Bret] Eric and I have known each other since elementary school. I met the rest of the gang in high school when Eric asked me to help out with some artwork for a tile-based game they were all working on.

Where did the name Ominous Development come from?

[Chris] I don’t remember this.

[Joe] See previous answer. Though, now that I think of it, Chris may have come up with the name. He always was a verbose motha', well, after a few rounds anyway.

[Eric] Heh. The actual answer is that it was kind of inspired by Jack London. We were reading some of his books in English class around the time we all started working on games together. It was emphasized over and over in the text of the books, by the teacher and by various test questions, how ominous everything was. It became kind of a running joke for a short while and it also sounded like a cool name for a video game developer.

What sort of projects had you all worked on before you worked on Strange Attractors (either together or separately)?

[Chris] Various self-released home recorded ambient audio projects.

[Joe] I think the rest of the crew had been interested in coding for a while before we even decided to join forces. I, on the other hand, have primarily worked with pen and paper rpgs and the like. During the D's inception we were trying to create a sci-fi rpg with tactical space combat elements but we had neither the know how, nor technology for it. I still have all the old notes, however. So if we ever get off our asses perhaps the world may yet be graced with Onyx Star.

[Eric] We've been playing at making games for a long time. The list of unfinished and/or bad ideas is a long one. Some notable titles would include: "Fun Noodle Fighters of Death" - a fighting game based on the use of neon fun noodles. "Guac 2003" - A 3D top down squad based space simulation, similar to Subspace, but with more customization and no multiplayer. A few clones of our favorite games, like "3d Spy Hunter", "Mario" and "Battleship" and of course, our unfinished masterpiece, "Onyxstar" - the best game EVER.

[Bret] Embarrassingly, there have been many projects, some big, some small, yet none of them before Strange Attractors have ever gone far. Our imaginations generally overwhelm our time, our skills, and the limits of current technology.

Strange Attractors is a very original and innovative game. How did the idea (and name) of Strange Attractors come about? What influences and inspirations helped form the game ideas that made it into the game that it is today?

[Joe] I wasn't much a part of SA's development. I deal mainly in storyline and concept, ya dig and SA is rather storyless (though badass just the same). I seem to remember one of the crizzew saying Jezzball had some impact on wanting to make a game like SA. I don't know though, those kids are rather mysterious.

[Eric] It was, of course, inspired by the RetroRemakes One Switch competition last April. The idea for the game itself came from an amalgamation of old game ideas. Chris and I made a game a long time ago where two players controlled a ball, using an array of gravity generators. The idea was to sling the ball into the other person's goal. Strange Attractors is kind of the inverse of that idea. Now you sling the gravity generator through the portals. As for the name, well the game is weird (Strange) and it’s about gravity (Attractors). There's also a bit of fun in the fact that although the game may seem to be moving randomly, it’s really all based on the player pushing the button. If you were able to hit and release the spacebar at exactly the same time during two games, you would follow the exact same path. So it turns out there's a little chaos theory in there as well.

How long did Strange Attractors take to complete? When was it released?

[Joe] I dunno, man, I'm not into time.

[Eric] The original RetroRemakes competition lasted for a month last April. After that we tweaked it a little more over the course of a few more months. I would say 5 months of working on it but most of that was spent slacking off.

[Bret] I would say that I put in 40 - 60 hours over the course of the 5 months the game was in development. I really wish I would have known the game was going to reach the level of popularity that it has. Much more attention could have been given to the artwork and level design.

Graphically the game is rather unique – where did the ideas for the graphics come from?

[Joe] I assume the ideas came primarily from Bret's pineal gland. Though I know for a fact that the purple car carrying a hundred "spacemen" (with the "la cucharacha" horn...) from the first version was inspired by my first car - a rusted-out '79 nova.. aaaah memories.

[Eric] Bret came up with all the graphics. What we have now was not his first idea and I think the world at large should thank OddBob of RetroRemakes and/or Barrie Ellis for implementing Rule #9 into the original competition. I don't remember the exact text of the rule but the jist was that the game should be family oriented. Trust me on this one.

[Bret] Yeah, my original idea for the artwork was to have all the spheres be really obese people. They would eat the little space men if they got to close and they would burp, puke, fart or have diarrhea if you hit them with your ship. The ship itself was going to be the skin of someone's mouth stretched out over a hoop - imagine a scary looking Twizzler's mouth - and it was going to talk to the player and also eat spacemen. Unfortunately, Eric felt this would have been questionable for rule #9.

So instead I came up with this futuristic, industrial age, clockwork-like technology. The design really could have been much more cohesive but considering the deadline and other stuff that I was working on, this really only got about 30 hours of my attention.

Was this project challenging? Did you all learn a lot during development or did you already have the knowledge to complete the finished product without any hitches?

[Eric] It wasn't very difficult at all to pull off. The engine that we've been working on over the years can handle a lot more than what this game required, in terms of graphics and the like. The concept and physics are all pretty simple and I put together a playable demo over the first weekend.

[Joe] Mainly, I learned that if I leave these guys alone for a year or so they actually make games.

[Bret] I learned that level design is very fun and very hard. I had no idea it would take as long as it did. It takes many iterations of play testing and tweaking to get things right and even when you think it’s right, someone else may have a problem with it. There are still about ten levels that I would like to spend more time on.

Was the end product exactly as you all had originally envisioned? Were you happy with the results?

[Joe] I am quite happy we finally made a playable game..

[Bret] It wasn’t until we added the level editor. This gave us more control over design instead of the levels being randomly generated.

The response to this game has been quite positive so far, with a nomination for the 2006 IGF Awards. Did you expect the game to be as successful as it is becoming?

[Chris] The first moment I played Strange Attractors, I immediately knew there was something very "on" about it. It was ultra simple and immensely fun, as all the classic games tend to be. If you had told me even 100 people would have played our game back when we started, I would have been happily surprised but this really mind blowing.

[Eric] I agree. The last time I put a game up for download was back on the CompuServe Game Developers forum who knows how long ago. That game got 68 downloads and I was pretty impressed. SA has almost 11,000 downloads from our site alone.

[Bret] I knew it was a fun game and great concept but considering the mold current gamers have been put into, I didn't really expect more that 100 people to download it. And entering into the IGF was sort of a joke to me. There was no way I would have ever thought that it would be a contender for an award. All I was really after was some feedback from the judges. So, after I was informed that we were a finalist, my pants weighed more for the rest of the day.

I've asked a few developers this and you guys seem to invite this question - is there enough innovation going on in the video gaming industry?

[Chris] There is not nearly enough innovation in game design. As more and more people play games, the industry itself gets larger, more money is involved and the more it attracts that which tends to strangle innovation and art, the suits, people who know nothing about games and everything about choking every last drop of cash out of an unsuspecting public. Hence we have 16 "Need for Speed" games, 73 (yes 73) games with Mario and an endless parade of FPS games that really haven't evolved much from Wolfenstein 3D. It's sad, it's really sad. If there's any hope in it at all, it’s coming from where gaming started - the independent game developers!

[Eric] Again, I agree with Chris. When I sit down to design a game, there are really two things I think about. First, what would be fun to play and second, do I have to make this game or can I just go find it someplace else.

[Joe] I don't think there will be enough innovation in video games until Onyxstar comes out... (check store shelves in 2020!)

[Bret] Unfortunately, it seems that game design has become more about pleasing your investors than it is about making a new experience for the gamer. Granted, as technology grows, games are going to continue to take longer and cost more to make and the investor will become extremely important. But eventually we’re going to reach a limit where nothing new can be squeezed out of the marketing mold for games. Genres will become satiated and gamers will lose interest and "outgrow" gaming. The market will eventually collapse and investors will run away. To prevent this we need to push creativity. We need to keep giving the gamers new experiences to keep them hooked.

Do you guys get time to play any other games? If so, what do you play?

[Chris] Command and Conquer: Generals, Day of Defeat, Soldat, Homeworld, Desert Bus.

[Eric] Quake, Gauntlet, Doom Legacy, Halo.

[Sock Puppet Scott] All I do is play World of Warcraft. Occasionally I also eat.

[Joe] Civ. 4, Half Life 2, Morrowind, Kotor, Red faction on ps2 (I feel so ashamed...), Kirby's Avalanche ("here it comes!"), Megamek (freeware, baby!), and various emulated old school console games..

[Bret] Yes, I play every day either on my PC, Game Cube, X-box or DS. I'm currently playing Resident Evil 4 for the second time.

What's in store for the future of Ominous Development? Any new projects already in the works?

[Eric] Well, hopefully people will start donating money to us, on our website (so far, after almost 11,000 downloads, only five dollars have been donated. It's a little sad). We will continue to make free games and will become rich beyond our wildest dreams. Beyond that, it’s hard to say. We're working on a couple things now but they aren't really playable yet, so I'm not sure if they are even any fun.

[Bret] Hopefully we will finish another game!

Top. 5 games – what are they and why?

[Chris] Top 5 games:

1- The Secret of Monkey Island - the first game that really made my jaw drop. The possibilities of open ended game play seemed endless and at they time, they were. Combine this with well written and hilarious dialog, awesome graphics (for the day) and an amazing storyline and you've got a seriously classic game.

2. Mechwarrior2 - great, smooth graphics, atmosphere coming out of the arse, and such a rock solid combat engine are only the icing on the cake of what became my first serious online-play addiction.

3. Tribes - unparalleled. online. addiction.

4. Wolfenstein 3D- I actually printed out the manual to the shareware version and took it to school, reading it for fun.

5. Half Life 2 - Do I really have to say anything?

[Eric] 1 - Doom - I just loved that game. I used to take breaks from programming and see how far I could get on Nightmare without saving. I think one of the reasons I liked it was that I understood how they programmed it. It was inspiring to know that something so fun was not some mystical creation but something I could create myself if I wanted to work at it.

2 - Deus Ex - I like that there seemed to be many paths to the end of the game. Occasionally I felt like I was outsmarting the designers by finding another way around an obstacle.

3 - TIE Fighter - Smooth graphics and fun gameplay.

4 - Star Siege - This is the only game I really got into online. I really enjoyed the customization and balancing of it.

5 - Starflight for the Sega Genesis. The atmosphere and the thrill of exploration and profit were just cool.

[Joe] 1. Fallout 1 & 2 - quite possibly the coolest setting every devised, awesome replay value and all kinds of cool shite to do.. these two games, despite being dated by todays standards, still kick ass and hold up against newer games. and Ron Perlman did voice overs for them!

2. Morrowind - perhaps i just like getting lost and wasting about a day of real time walking around. Seriously, great rpg. I cant wait for Oblivion (not that my computer will be able to run it...)

3. The myst series - yes, these games are quite linear but they are gorgeous and incredibly immersive. I dig the back story behind everything.

4. The civilization series - Civ. 4 is the shizzle. I think I can play Civ. longer than i can any other game. 8 hour stints are not unheard of..

5. Day of defeat - (Scharfschütze!) back when I still had broadband, this was my "unparalled online addiction".. the other Half Life games rocked too.

[Bret] 1. Riven – It's really the most beautiful game I've ever played. The culture of the game world is so deep and interconnected, it's mind-blowing. I really don't even feel like I'm playing a game when I play it, more like an archeologist trying to understand a lost culture.

2. The Legend of Zelda (NES) – Adventuring in a world, filled with secrets. Something about that formula has made the game ageless for me. Every time I play it, it's just as enjoyable as the first time.

3. Thief - My first foray into a stealth based game. Something about stealth mechanics really made me feel immersed in the game. Plus, the strange world that Garret lived in was great.

4. System Shock 2 – One of the most immersive games I've ever played.

5. Resident Evil 4 – Again, one of the most immersive and scary games I've ever played. The game design, art and audio design for this game are just amazing.

Thanks so much for you’re time guys. It’s been an absolute pleasure.

Ominous Development's website.