A new indie bundle recently came to my attention that I thought… needed more attention so I got them on for an interview. Enjoy.
Tell me a bit about yourself, Dusty.
Well, I am the Game Director and Founder of Podunk Studioz, We will be entering our third year as a developer this January. My first game was Jazz Jackrabbit on DOS. The game that got me interested in game development actually was a PS2 demo disk that had a behind the scenes featurette on the original Ratchet and Clank game. Watching it I realized that I could make games for a living and I actually started designing my first game that day, maybe someday if I ever find the notebook I wrote it in that game will see the light of day. I started Podunk with my best friend back when I was 17 – I started a studio so young because when my mother passed away something clicked in my head that I couldn’t and shouldn’t wait to “grow up” to chase my dreams.
Sorry about your mom, but that is quite inspiring. Tell us a bit about your bundle.
Originally the bundle was meant to help raise funds for ScrewAttack.com’s SGC gaming convention. The intention of the bundle is to give lesser known developers a chance to shine.
How was ScrewAttack involved?
A little over a month ago ScrewAttack started a KickStarter to bring back SGC and while that is a great goal I felt that some of their reward tiers were a little lacking. As has been my experience with KickStarter the most successful projects are ones where backers are preordering a product but with SGC people could pre-order tickets but would still have to pay for air fare and hotel and what not. So I thought, “Wouldn’t it be a good idea if ScrewAttack did an indie bundle to raise money for SGC? That way people get an immediate reward for helping, developers get a boost in sales to keep making games and ScrewAttack gets a better chance to make SGC happen.” After detailing out how someone could do it on a blog I wrote and after receiving positive feedback on the idea it only made sense that if someone was going to do that I might as well be that someone. I took the idea to Mr. Skistimas at ScrewAttack and with his blessing I set out coordinating the bundle and emailing developers.
What has changed since you started? It sounds like it evolved.
The bundle has undergone numerous changes, the initially designed bundle had a completely different slate of games compared to its current configuration. But due to scheduling conflicts or conflicts with other upcoming bundles or just because they wouldn’t return my phone calls changes had to be made. When it first went up for preorder there were only two games announced to be in the bundle because I was still working on locking down developers who would be a good fit and it now has doubled in size to four great games with the potential of more to be announced once the bundle goes live.
The other big change is that we are no longer working with ScrewAttack to raise money for SGC since their KickStarter was successful the bundle was seen as no longer needed. Rather than just end the bundle, I worked with the other developers and we will be re-launching the bundle with a charity taking the place of SGC. We have relaunched the bundle as the Rising Star indie bundle and we will be working with the Get Well Gamer Foundation.
What games are in it?
The four announced games in the bundle are our (Podunk Studioz‘s) own Rainbow Ball,a fun strategic take on the brick breaking genre. Joining Rainbow Ball is MM Games’ retro inspired RPG Chronicles of Veltron, a game that pokes fun at the game it pays homage to. CS Squared Games has agreed to bring their co-op survival title Gremlin Invasion: Survivor,a fun mix of an arcade shooter and a survival game. Finally, rounding out the bundle is the dark sci-fi epic SickBrick from Magrathen Technologies, an old school FPS with modern graphics.
Why do you think the bundle thing is so popular?
I think what makes indie bundles so popular is the aspect that you can pay as little as you want for any number of great titles; That combined with the fact that a portion of the proceeds usually go to a cause or charity. It’s a great deal for the consumer and it helps get a lot of publicity for the titles involved as well as the charity. So what makes it popular is that everyone involved with them wins.
What charity is it for?
The charity we are working with is the Get Well Gamer Foundation. They are similar to Child’s Play – they bring games and systems to children in the hospital. The goal being to help the kids to feel more like kids and less like patients and take their minds of what is happening to them. Playing games is also a proven pain aid. They are a really great charity that does a lot of good work and me and the other developers wanted to help them out.
Any parting thoughts?
I just want to thank everyone who has been involved with the bundle: thanks to Mr. Ronnie Bell at MM Games, Mr. Chris Smith at CS Squared Games, Mr. Maxwolf Goodliffe at Magrathen Technologies, Mr Craig Skistimas at ScrewAttack and you, Nathan, right here at Indiegraph. I would also like to thank everyone who preordered the SGC bundle when it was the SGC bundle as well as everyone who helped promote it.
Official site: http://risingstarbundle.tumblr.com/
Indievania page: http://indievania.com/games/rising-star-indie-bundle
ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Nathan. He prefers his last name not to be known. He’s probably a high-class superspy, but we don’t mind. He is the editor of Indiegraph. He’s our point man for interviews, and occasionally he takes a blowtorch to a game to see whether it measures up to his standards.
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