The 2010 IGF Student Winners have been announced and 10 different titles landed in the spotlight. At the festival in March the 10 will compete for an overall Best Student Game prize, but to get to this point they definitely had to be special. We’ve dug through them all and contacted their developers in a series of interviews called The Future of Gaming. Because if anyone is going to take over the industry, it’s these bright minds.

Our latest Q & A is with the team behind the title Devil’s Tuning Fork. We’ve discussed the title before here at DIYgamer. The title is all about soundwaves, as you can only see your surroundings by ringing a bell; and even then it’s just a sonar wave that passes and you’re once again left in the dark. Trust me, the screenshots don’t do the game justice and you really need to see it in action. You can download the game from its website here. It’s an innovative title and were able to discuss the game with four members of the development team. You can see the Q & A discussion we held below.

DIYgamer: I just finished the game over the weekend, and I’d just like to say great work and congratulations on the IGF result.

Matt Lazar: Thank you, we appreciate your warm remarks.

DIY: Can you introduce yourselves and your positions on the project?

Jason Pecho: I’m Jason Pecho, second-year grad student in Game Development at DePaul. I am the project and technology lead on the project.

Matt Lazar: Hello my name is Matt Lazar, a recent graduate, and I was the producer on the project.

Tony Perkins: My name is Tony Perkins, a senior in the Game Development program here at DePaul. I am the Level Design Lead and Web Designer for Devil’s Tuning Fork.

Kevin Geisler: I’m Kevin Geisler, a senior in Game Development Programming at DePaul. I am the sound design lead and audio/visual programmer.

DIY: You guys are known as the DePaul Game Elites. What did you guys do to “join the club,” as it were, and can you tell us any more about it?

Matt Lazar: DePaul Game Elites was created by Alex Seropian. He had the vision for a group of talented DePaul University students to create a game from start to finish and compete at the IGF Student Showcase.

To be part of the team, each member had to go through an application process. It was very much like a job interview. We had to go in to answer questions, fill out an application, and prove we had the right skills to make a game. The group was officially formed in May and development began officially in late June.

DIY: What other notable projects had you guys worked on before getting to this point?

Jason Pecho: The last long term project that I worked on before Devil’s Tuning Fork was my undergraduate capstone class. We made a 3D dog-fighting game where you battled in air as fantastical creatures. Devil’s Tuning Fork has been the largest and most successful project I’ve worked on to date.

Tony Perkins: As a student, Devil’s Tuning Fork is my most successful accomplishment yet. However, I also worked on a mod for Unreal Tournament 3 called Toon Doom that is currently in the final running for the Educational category of the Make Something Unreal contest. In addition, I currently have an internship at Wideload Games (Disney Interactive) here in Chicago and previously had an internship with Midway Amusement Games as well.

Kevin Geisler: I’ve had a long history of doing a variety of multimedia projects, ranging from websites and videos to games. The last larger-scale game I worked on was Apes of Wrath, a networked brawler game for XNA, where I contributed audio & shader work.

Matt Lazar: The most notable game I had worked on before this was an XNA platformer called Go Gimbal Go. I am still working on it and we plan to release it on Xbox Indie market later this year. You can visit the game’s video on YouTube.

DIY: Where did the initial concept come from? What other ideas were tossed around by the Elites?

Jason Pecho: To start the project, the team entered into a 4 week long concept boot camp. For the first two weeks, game ideas were pitched individually. From there, we formed small groups and expanded a small set of those ideas into 8 page pitches that included a title, concept art, and a tech summary, as well as a few other things. After compiling about 20 of these “8 pagers”, the group decided to narrow it down to two for prototyping.

The first two games we prototyped were Echo, the precursor to Devil’s Tuning Fork, and Istoria, a story-based 2D platformer with mechanics that trended towards those in Scribblenauts — one of the main reasons we abandoned the prototype.

The Echo prototype came through the process under several different iterations & ideas proposed by members of the team. One of the pre-prototype proposals was being able to see sound through a spectrum of color, while another proposal involved interacting with the world through the use of the player’s voice using a microphone.

One of the other ideas that was constantly picked up for iteration involved a marionette, popularly pitched using Nintendo Wii controllers for quirky control. Ideas ranged from having simple mechanics made difficult, like climbing stairs, to the main character being a clumsy, giant golem trying to help people instead of destroying them.

DIY: What other games helped inspire Devil’s Tuning Fork?

Tony Perkins: It is hard to name a single title that helped inspire Devil’s Tuning Fork. The major design hurdle we had to overcome, the player being unable to see regularly, was idea that very few games had ever touched upon. Though it may not look like it at all, Super Mario World was a game I constantly looked back for inspiration and motivation. We have a small palette of abilities, just like Mario, and we try to use them each in interesting ways. The influence allowed us to focus onto our core mechanics.

DIY: As a student team, what were the most difficult elements you still had to learn to create the finished product?

Matt Lazar: There was a lot we learned during the development of this game. I could create a long list, but the ones that stood out to me the most both had to deal with testing. The first lesson was understanding how important it is to fully prototype the mechanics before moving forward. We left this stage too early and we ultimately had to return back to create all the mechanics we needed to make to finish.

The other lesson dealt with QA. We had no real formal structure in place when we entered this stage. We quickly developed a system to prioritize, label, and close bugs. It was not easy, but we learned the hard way and became a better team for it.

DIY: Can you comment on the sound design of the project? What were your goals for the audio landscape and do you feel you achieved them? I must say my fiancé kept interrupting me to ask what the creepy voices were as I played through the mansion.

Kevin Geisler: The sound design for the project was decided after players played the early prototype and told us what they were feeling when. Even though the prototype was pretty sparse, players would comment positively on the haunting atmosphere that it evoked, so we went with the goal of making the player feel like they were in a void. When the story & voiceovers were added later in the development, our goals were able to mostly stay the same. Our sound designer, Johnny Owens, did a great job in combining the sounds he created with the voiceovers in a way that maintained our original goal for the atmosphere. The technical work involved in the game engine also serves well to make this feel like a believable environment.

DIY: What parts of the game are you most proud of?

Jason Pecho: I have to say that I’m most proud of the overall experience (a combination of the visuals and sound). The atmosphere the game creates and the state of mind it puts the player in is spot on. We weren’t sure how well the experience we wanted for our players would manifest itself. A lot of the feedback we received confirmed that the experience we conveyed was, in fact, a success.

DIY: Is there anything you would have done differently if you could do it all over again?

Matt Lazar: One of the chief goals of the DePaul Game Elites was to create a learning experience for students on game development by having them actually go through the full development cycle. When we started we were still green behind the ears, but we continued to learn as the project went along. Watching the growth of the team was incredible and by the end we were a tight, efficient unit. I think the whole team would have wished for us to start the project with all the lessons we learned by now. But that is the learning experience.

DIY: What’s next for all of you? Do you plan to collaborate again?

Jason Pecho: We are continuing work on the game for a new version for GDC. We plan to continue with the game after that to see how far we can push it.

DIY: Are you guys going to make it out to San Francisco for IGF?

Jason Pecho: As of right now, we have 14 of the 15 members confirmed to go out to San Francisco. We will definitely be representing.

DIY: What do you think of the other student titles that made the cut this year?

Kevin Geisler: Every year the bar gets raised in this competition and it’s always interesting to see what kind of trends are beginning to form. A lot of us had tossed around similar ideas to some of the other student showcase titles, but I think it’s very satisfying to see other groups actually nail it. I’m a huge fan of platforming games, so games like Paper Cakes, Continuity and Dreamside Maroon really appeal to me. It’s definitely an honor to be listed with the other student showcase winners.

DIY: What advice would you give someone considering pursuing an education in game design?

Tony Perkins: There was something I was told freshman year that has stuck with me all through college. The best thing to do for yourself is to go on your own or with a small group of friends and make a 100% complete game from start to finish. Even if the game does not look the best or does not have the best gameplay, being on a team from beginning to end shows dedication. Also, if you are in school or planning to go to school for game development, DO NOT leave the school without at least one finished product you can be proud of.

Matt Lazar: The biggest advice I would give aspiring students is try game development for themselves before they go to school. Try to pick up a programming language, mod your favorite game, or model in Maya. If this is fun for you then game development as a path for higher education is a great route to take.

DIY: Is there anything else you’d like to add?

Jason Pecho: I just want to say a quick bunch of thank-yous. This game would not have been possible without the amazing development team we had and the guidance of the advisors (Alex, Patrick, Scott, Joe, and Bill). The dedication this team showed was unlike anything else I’ve experienced. Finally thanks to DePaul, the College of Computing and Digital Media (CDM), and Dean Miller for getting behind this game from the get go. I’m lucky to have been apart of it.

As mentioned, you can download the game from its official website.

Full Series: The Future of Gaming
*Ulitsa Dimitrova
*Puddle
*Devil’s Tuning Fork
*Boryokudan Rue
*Continuity
*Dreamside Maroon
*Igneous
*Paper Cakes
*Puzzle Bloom
*Spectre