#orange pixel

❖

For those who don't know you, who are you and what do you do?

Pascal: I'm Pascal Bestebroer (@orangepascal on Twitter) and am the main guy behind all Orangepixel games. I work together with my girlfriend who handles most support, social media and business related stuff, and Gavin Harrison who is a talented freelance musician and I recommend him to anyone looking for awesome music ;)

Which game engines/game making tools do you use for your games? Did you build your own? If you have used different engines/game making tools, which one is your favorite and why?

Pascal: I build my own framework/engine/library for various platforms. This makes it easier to port my games to new or different systems without having to depend on a 3rd party. Right now my framework works is done for Android and Blackberry10, iOS, and HTML5. I am currently looking at using LibGDX to bring my games to PC and Mac.

Do you use the same development process for all of your games?

Pascal: Not really. I do use the same framework as base, but game design wise I sometimes start with a clear gameplay idea, but other times I just happen to have a cool sprite in mind and build a game around it.

What programming language do you prefer developing your games on? Why do you choose it over others?

Pascal: I usually build the Android version first, which is in Java, and that's probably because I'm most familiair with it and also because it's very simple to try and test stuff on an Android phone or tablet. Once that version is done I usually port it to iOS and other platforms.

For gamejams I usually stick to HTML5 though, since it's a very nice environment to do quick prototyping or jamming and have cool results that basically everyone can play as long as they have a browser.

Do you use third party tools (map editors, sprite managers, animation suites, etc) or you build your own?

Pascal: I use Gimp for all my (pixel)art work, and I use the excellent Bfxr site to create my sound effects. Both free tools that run on either Windows, Mac or Linux.

Which tools and applications you usually use when developing a game (favorite IDE, text editor, do you use static analysis tools, revision control system etc)?

Pascal: I'm very used to Eclipse, which is also the default Android IDE, so all the Java and HTML5 coding is done in that. For iOS I'm forced to use Xcode...which will always be a love/hate relation ;) As sole developer I don't need much revision control system, I just often backup my stuff onto a Dropbox account.

Is there any specific library, framework that you always use on your games?

Pascal: As mentioned above : my own framework ;)

What is your computer setup? Do you use Mac or PC? What specs? Do you have a dual monitor setup?

Pascal: I've always been a Windows user, but to develop for iOS I had to turn to a Mac. I now use it as main system cause that was the only way I could get used to using it and thus be more productive for iOS development. Before I used a Mac for daily stuff it always felt like a huge hurdle to power it on and open Xcode and would rather stick to a Windows PC, so I forced myself to use it and it's not a bad experience at all!

Do you have any photos from your workplace?

Pascal: No sorry, I don't really have a workplace, I just work where ever my laptop is. So that's all over the house ;)

Which games inspired you the most? Do you have a favorite developer from the games industry (indie or not)?

Pascal: I'm very old school when it comes to game inspiration. So all the old 8 and 16 bit games and the gameplay from those games is what still tickles me. I do play a lot of console games and have most consoles, but for inspiration I really look at the good old days!

What's the single piece of advice that you would always give to someone, and what is something that you will absolutely avoid/never do again?

Pascal: Don't try to create the next big hit game, just create the game that you love and want to play. That's the best way to find succes. I've tried to come up with creative new game concepts hoping people would love it, but once I let go of that concept and just started doing what I was good at and loved it all worked out much better.

What is your opinion on the rise of free game development "suites" like Unity, UDK, CryEngine etc? Do you feel interested in using them for your next projects?

Pascal: It's awesome! I personally don't use them, but the fact that it is becoming much easier for a bigger audience to create games is great. On the other side tho, I do think a lot of developers are lacking basic skills these days due to depending on such "suites" to take care of the dirty stuff.

There is still a lot of stuff you can learn from creating your own game code from scratch.

What are your future plans? What games are you working on right now?

Pascal: I recently released Gunslugs and am now planning on bringing it to PC and Mac, and also have a Firefox OS version running. I've also started work on a "rogue like" which you can read all about on my techblog! So my plans are to complete the unnamed rogue like game, and bring my existing games to new platforms!

Thank you for this interview Pascal!

❖

Stay tuned for the third episode, next week! :)