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This article comes from the official account of Wechat: ID:chuappgame, author: etc.

"in the past three years, I have spent a lot less time with my wife and children. I haven't slept in spirit for three years."

Prototype Robot DeLTA (Protodroid DeLTA) is a 3D action platform game created by individual developer Adam Karim and released by Humble Games. It was just released some time ago. For Karim, the whole development process is like going through a "difficult mode" because he has to strike a balance between taking a full-time job, developing games and raising children.

"some people think I'm trying to make up the number. after all, I don't have any background in game development." Karim said with a smile, "I majored in mechanical engineering. I currently work in a technology company, working in the direction of hardware engineering, and I also regard games as a hobby." because I've loved games like "Sonic Adventure" and "Rockman X" since childhood. "

"I often wonder if I can improve these games? maybe we can make a 3D Sonic game that is more comfortable to operate? in my opinion, Sonic Adventure didn't really do that."

Fighting alone, Karim says he has always wanted to make the Locke series 3D. In early 2018, he began to make fellow games for "Locke people" during the winter vacation. "A friend gave me some popular science about game engines, and since then he has actively participated in various online courses and watched a lot of teaching videos."

"many channels on video sites teach viewers game development knowledge and skills. I spent a lot of time studying and learning, gradually accumulating certain development capabilities. However, compared with other developers, I may pay more attention to the design-centered way of thinking. I often think about how to build new mechanisms and think about why players like or dislike certain characters. This is my characteristic."

Karim explained on GDC this year why he developed a 3D version of the Locke game with people. At the GDC conference in March this year, Karim gave a speech entitled "looking for inspiration and planning luck: the story of an independent developer of color." Karim currently has a full-time job at Google as a product design engineer. "strictly speaking, I am also an amateur developer." Karim points out that full-time workers provide a sense of stability for him.

"as far as game development is concerned, working full-time allows me to make decisions very freely and flexibly because I don't have to rely on it to support my family. I can spend a week, two weeks, or more thinking about a mechanism that doesn't have to be on schedule or force myself to meet deadlines. As an individual developer, I don't have much psychological burden. I don't have to tell my colleagues, 'Sorry, guys, I can't pay you next month's salary'. "

"my idea is that it would be great if developers could work on personal projects without interfering with their daily work. however, it is recommended that you make games of a smaller magnitude, because it is very difficult to do both."

Prior to the success of crowdfunding, Karim had been using his personal savings to maintain external support for the project. At the end of 2019, Karim had released several peer games based on "Sonic" and "Locke," when he began working on "prototype Robot DeLTA." Karim said that while several of his peer works were well received, they also encountered an insurmountable hurdle-the game IP obviously did not belong to him.

"I've invested a lot of time and energy in making these games, and I should at least clear the obstacles on the way to commercialization and make them really my stuff, and that's why I decided to make prototype Robot DeLTA." "A lot of the inspiration came from the peer games I made, which gave me confidence and convinced me that it was the right choice," Karim said. "on platforms like Itch.io and Game Jolt, Lockman's peer games attracted thousands of people to play, and many players commented: 'this is so much fun! this is what the Locke X7 is supposed to look like.'"

"in a sense, I feel recognized for my abilities. Since players like the peer games I make, why not make a work that is free from any IP restrictions and can be created at will?"

In 2020, prototype Robot DeLTA was selected by Humble Games and became one of the first games to receive support from the Black Game developer Foundation. In fact, of all the games supported by the fund, it is also the first work released by Humble Games.

Prior to that, Karim raised research and development funds for prototype Robot DeLTA on Kickstarter, attracting more than 1600 supporters and nearly $60,000 in crowdfunding three times the initial goal.

Humble Games spends 1 million dollars a year to provide broad support for talented black game makers when asked what challenges he encountered during crowdfunding, Karim said with a smile: "how much time can a person have?" Crowdfunding is too difficult. It would be very helpful if you could find a marketing team or a studio to organize crowdfunding events. Many people may not know that most successful crowdfunding projects are advertised. In addition to taking the time to create an introduction page for the game, developers have to conduct A / B tests (to determine which solution works better), find the best advertising material and manage the entire process. So on sites like Kickstarter, the biggest challenge for developers is how to successfully operate advertising to promote the continuous dissemination of product information, which is the main source of funding for the project. "

It was the crowdfunding campaign that brought the prototype robot DeLTA to Humble Games's attention.

"the Black Game developer Fund is great because it was created by Humble Games in response to the black human rights movement, and they put their money into action and really want to bring about positive changes in the game industry. To achieve this goal, helping black developers who are creating games is the best way."

Karim said there are no strings attached to Humble Games's economic aid. " They don't ask developers to sell IP, and they don't preempt distribution rights. Their attitude is that you can do whatever you want. We just want to see a demonstration of how to play the game and see the progress of the project. In addition, they introduced me to senior people in the industry and helped me establish contact with many suitable people. It was like a Trojan horse gift-I thought I could only get a sum of money, but I didn't expect to play an important role in the whole project. "

"at first, I wanted to release games on my own, because I have always enjoyed the complete freedom I have. I can launch games at any time and add or delete certain games at any time. I cherish this autonomy without any restrictions. In my vision, the game will only go to PC and don't need to take it to the mainframe or other platforms. But Humble Games is a great partner, and my concerns about the strings attached are superfluous. They are very transparent and then provide me with release support. "

Karim's two children provide a lot of inspiration and help for game creation.

Character design for Karim, working with Humble Games will help him continue to create a "prototype robot DeLTA" in his own way. This is a 3D platform game with distinct personality, and during the development period, Karim attached great importance to character design.

"in most cases, these characters do look different from the traditional characters in the gaming industry, which is very important to me. If you look carefully, you will find that in the past, the characters in the game were more or less the same, either white or light-skinned. For example, Nintendo Star Battle offers 64 optional characters, but how many of them have dark skin? There are only 24. Among these dark-skinned characters, if 22 animal roles are excluded, there are only two humans left. Many black kids may wonder which characters look like me when they play Nintendo Star Battle. One is the embodiment of evil, and the other is Mr. Game & Watch. "

"as a result, I think carefully when designing characters, hoping to create characters for players who rarely see their appearance close to them in the game, and draw inspiration from different cultures. I used to live in a neighborhood where blacks and Hispanics lived together, so I wanted to create a game for them. Over time, players will feel less' abnormal 'when they see a large number of black and Hispanic characters in the game again. "

In Karim's view, it is also important to portray women more fairly. According to him, women rarely play leading roles in the game, often as supporting roles, love objects, or just "tool people" who promote the development of the storyline. "I want to break the usual routine and make a female-centered game in which the core narrative conflict occurs between two women, and the protagonist is also a woman. This is an important feature of the prototype robot DeLTA, and it resonates with many players."

Today, there is a big difference between the real world and the game world. Karim admits that in the long run, he may not be able to develop a big game while working full-time.

"next I may make some Mini Game, or, if the performance of the prototype robot DeLTA is good enough, it may completely change my life. If I have the money, I can do whatever I want. This is my dream." "but it's highly unlikely," Karim said with a smile. I've spent a lot less time with my wife and children in the past three years, and I haven't slept in spirit for three years. I don't want to have a similar experience again, so I have to make a choice. " This may be a problem for anyone who works full-time as a part-time game developer.

This article is compiled from: https://www.gamesindustry.biz/protodroid-deltas-journey-from-mega-man-fan-game-to-humble-published-title

Original title: "Protodroid Delta's journey from Mega Man fan game to Humble-published title"

Original author: Marie Dealessandri

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