[My very first interview for DIYGamer was conducted with one of the coolest dudes I've ever spoken to: Farbs. This is a guy who left big-shots 2K to work on his own artistry and give us tremendously varied experiences while at it. The "Captain" series has received high praise but Farbs' legacy extends far beyond that of a single series. Here, he and I have an e-sitdown and discuss his new online trading card game, Card Hunter, and what it's like to a filthy rich indie developer. One of those I'm kidding about...]

DIYGamer: So, it’s been quite some time since we last spoke (two years, in fact). Where are you now? What’s changed for you as a developer and as a person? Are you some bigtime indie guy who bathes in champagne or are you feeling no different than how you felt two years ago (in terms of monetary gain as well as otherwise)?

Farbs: Wow, has it been that long? When last we spoke I’d just gone fulltime indie and was pretty freaked out about it. Working from home was a huge change, and I was stressed about earning money. I haven’t made a fortune since, but our combined income is quite comfortable and I’ve settled into a good routine. There’s still a chance one of my games could explode and sell a billion copies, which remains exciting. Overall I guess I’ve just relaxed. I’ll be a father come March though, and I have no idea what to expect then. Poop, probably.

What new developments do you have for the Captain saga? We’ve seen the sale and it’s a steal — people can play all three games and even the new Captain Jameson alpha for half-price now ($9) — but where’s the series headed? What does Jameson have to offer that none of the aforementioned titles did?

Heh, thanks for mentioning the sale.

Jameson is the endgame for the Captain Forever project. It’s what I had in mind when I wrote the first design notes, but it was much too large for me to build all in one go. This is why I designed Forever around the core game mechanics, and why Successor builds on that with new ship types and modules. Jameson builds on from Successor, expanding the little screen-sized petri dish game into a huge interactive starscape. It’s filled with space stations and pirate swarms and asteroids and other (as yet unimplemented) exciting things. Jameson also builds on the playtime, so unlike the 10 minute blasting sessions of the predecessors a game can run for hours as you carve out a niche of civilization. In summary, it’s bigger. Much bigger. It’s still in alpha too, so it’s constantly embiggering.

I’m not sure if that’s Farbs… but I want that helmet.

Why did you stick to the Captain games? What makes you release them separately rather than just expanding on one through updates?

I stuck with the Captain games because they weren’t finished! When I started selling supporter access I promised more games, and though I’ve already delivered Successor and Impostor and Foraxian I want to give a bit more. I also want to play a finished Jameson one day, and I’m pretty sure I have to finish building it first.

I’d originally planned to create just one game and keep updating it, but when I suggested that on my blog a few readers thought they might find that annoying. I think at the time some TF2 updates had alienated a few people, who were upset that the game they’d purchased was no longer the game they were able to play. Instead of locking off builds I figured it would be more interesting to mutate the games from one to the next, which also allowed me to explore side branches of the concept in games like Impostor and Foraxian. Quite a few Jameson players still go back and blast through Successor occasionally, and I’m glad this process has given them that option.

Is there anything else you’re working on besides the Captain series? If so, what and when can we expect to see it?

Yes! I’m working on Card Hunter (www.cardhunter.com), which is an awesome card/board/browser strategy game. It’s like a cross between HeroQuest and a CCG, and despite being more of an arcade gamer I find it ridiculously fun. You should check out our teaser trailer starring IGF grand prize winner and all-round rockstar Alec Holowka. We’re running some very small testing rounds at the moment, and plan to start opening them up in early 2012.

I’m also dithering about with procrastination projects, and at the moment I have a mobile snowboarding game, a painterly garden renderer, an XBLIG Foraxian revamp, and a Kindle roguelike prototype all in various stages of completion.

Do you think the indie movement has changed since you won the IGF award in 2009? Has it moved forward any? What noticeable differences can you spot?

I’m honestly not sure. The indie movement and community is so large and diverse that I don’t think I’ve ever seen them in their entireties. That makes it hard to notice changes. I’ve also had my head down a bit lately, working on Captain Jameson and Card Hunter and my litter of procrastijects, so I haven’t paid a lot of attention to what’s going on outside my little world. I hope people are still making (and buying) awesome stuff.

What are some games you’ve been playing that have inspired you to better your development (these can be indie and/or mainstream, new and/or old)?

Prepare to groan. Are you ready? Okay.

Card Hunter.

Working in a small team has been great, since I’ve been able to learn from other designers. Captain Jameson (which I’m developing solo) and Card Hunter (for which we have a team of 4-10 people at any one time) have very little in common, and even occupy opposite ends of the orc<->spacemarine videogame cliché spectrum, but I still find myself picking up ideas for Jameson while working on Card Hunter.

The Binding of Isaac has also been fascinating, as it presents massive game variation through its many randomised elements. There’s definitely a lot to learn from it.

What words of wisdom can you bestow upon aspiring developers (that you didn’t two years ago when we did this)?

Stop aspiring and go do it! This is probably the same advice that I gave in 2009, but honestly I can’t think of anything more important. There are plenty of free tools that you can start with, and learning to make games just isn’t that hard. It really, really isn’t. It just takes time, and if you start now you’ll get there sooner.

Is there anything else you’d like to add? Any remarks for the overall gaming community?

<3

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