Asteroids

On Tuesday 17th of May 2017, us the Yr13 media studies class set up an interview with a Game programmer Johnathan Cummings. He is a programmer of a very well known game called Proton War. It was a privilege to be talking to a game developer due to our assessment on developing our own game, so it was very helpful listening from a game developer, very helpful. During our interview with Mr Cummings we asked questions that will help us for our assessment and also for the conference that we will be attending in New Zealand, so talking to him was a honor for me.

These are some of the questions that we asked during the interview
What influenced your choice to become a game developer?

I had always been around computers ever since i was young. My dad was a programmer when i was a kid, and taught me how to program when i was very young. And well, games are cool, and fascinating. These are Johnathan Cummings words. So basically what he's trying to say is that being a game developer you need to learn more on programming and working your way around computers, that's why it was a huge help talking to someone who actually knows and has created a game.

How long did it take to develop Protonwar?

Johnathan Cummings said that it took him 2 and a half years to develop the game and it is still in development, it is not officially finished. So for me as in for our assessment knowing that it will take long to develop a game it is going to be challenging for me to develop a game in a matter of weeks, but i am excited for that challenge.

What skills/dispositions are needed to develop a game?

Johnathan said that everyone can develop a game but if you really have the passion, if you are passionate about creating your own game than you can, because that is how Johnathan was so motivated in finishing his game.

We have asked a few questions that is relevant to our assessment but i chose these three questions because i think these questions will help me in terms of developing a game. So it was an honor talking to a game developer and learning more about games and the skills that you have to learn in making a game. He also said that you dont always have to code games, sometimes you can make a game without coding.

One of the questions that we asked Johnathan was 'Where did you get your inspiration from?' his response was "I grew up playing id software games, commander keen, wolfenstien, doom, quake. I always idolized them, there was just something so passionate about the way they made games, it inspired me from a very early age". He also got his inspiration from a company called ID software and the programmer John Carmack, they are the ones who made the game quake and doom. 

One of the biggest challenges that Johnathan faced was the marketing side, even though he spends a lot of time marketing it will still not be enough to get his game noticed. So it was harder for him to get his game out into the world then creating and developing his game.