We are Teknopilot / Sarepta - Norwegian Game Developers AMA

Which is better, Sweden or Denmark?

Hehe, I always like to pretend to not like Sweden (like teasing a little sibling). Sweden is way ahead of Norway when it comes to the game development industry. And Denmark has cheaper stuff.

I'll go with Denmark XD

[Catharina]

(Sorry guys please let me still come to the Nordic Game Conference in Malmø)

Hehe, I always like to pretend to not like Denmark (like teasing a little sibling). Sweden is way ahead of Denmark and Norway when it comes to the game development industry. And Denmark has more trash. I'll go with Sweden XD [Catharina] (Sorry guys please let me still come to the Nordic Game Conference in Malmø)

Fixed

XP

As a Norwegian - and fellow Scandinavian - that question is just impossible to answer ;-)

[Elin]

It's deilig to be Norsk in Denmark. Swedes are dumb, we make jokes about them.

Det var en gang to svensker som gikk på en vei så sa den ene: Titta, en död fågel. Da ser den andre svensken opp i lufta og sier: Var da?

Swedes are not dumb, we just love making fun of them and them of us. It is a beautiful relationship (we even use the same jokes).

[Catharina]

I know :) Love it!

That is a relief. If I had to end up defending their honor I would run out of ideas pretty quickly ;D

[Catharina]

Your game sounds super depressing, what would make me want to play it?

It is created to be an engaging game. You see games such as This War of Mine, and Revolution 1979 take on heavy topics while still being interesting to play. The game is, at its core about raising a child with complex emotions and his/her own life views. Going through the experience of getting to know the child and the story around this history is something that will be an engaging experience.

You get to help a child through difficulties, you'll see the effects of your kind and motivational actions. It is meant to be an uplifting experience in the end because you will see the child grows from it.

The game has a sad story, but it is also an engaging experience as you get to know the child and have fun too.

[Catharina]

How have you done research on this project? There have been several studies on the subject, but have you also spoken to surviving children of german male soldiers and norwegian women (there were, of course, also children of norwegian men and german women, but these were not singled out for abuse in the same way)?

The start of this project was actually with Teknopilot co-producing a documentary film about the Lebensborn, where we interviewed several of the "children". We've also had several meetings with the Lebensborn associantion in Norway. In addition to this, we've read scholarly studies, interviewed researchers and historians, read books from Lebensborn children and official reports on the topic of the Lebensborn children and the "German children" - the wider group including all children with German soldiers from WW2 as fathers. We're also in contact with the global research network called Children Born of War, who study the wider topic of children from enemy soldiers.

[Elin]

First of all, let me just say I'm looking forward to play this game and try to learn more about the previous projects, since I am a fan of narrative driven games. Said that, I have 2 questions.

1- When you are developing a game where the main focus is the narrative, and the story is trying to explore deep and somewhat dark themes, what are the things you are looking for to keep the audience attached to the game?

2- Since it is narrative driven, how much detail do you feel the game's story needs to keep the audience stuck on the game?

Thank you for the time :)

Thank you TacoPires that means a lot :) I will try to keep my answer short. (difficult)

1-

When we started looking at the concepts we were more looking for interesting and new ways of telling the stories of the Lebensborn while also exploring people's emotions. We wanted to make something that would feel conflicting to play.

In that sense we didn't initially think about it in that sense. Of course as we have been developing the game, seing how easily impacted we are by the sadness of the child we wanted to make sure to put emphasis on the good times.

After all, the child that you meet is not the sum of his/her experiences, they are more than that. And that is what we focus on in the game. Yes, it will get tough. Yes it will get tougher than you thought we could make it, but the core is still the child and your relationship.

We have to be careful to make sure to let the good times (and the semingly trivial everyday-tasks) have enough space in our game.

There is a lot of mystery in the game, in a way, through all the things that we (and the child) choose not to tell the player. I believe that aspect is something that we could have more of in games. Even though from a design perspective it is a bit scary. We probably out right tell the player only 10% of what we have actually written. The rest is just conveyed through how we write and how we design the days.

Ultimately I believe that the care the player will feel for the child is what will make them keep playing, even when it gets tough. Because that is when the child will need them the most.

2-

I am not sure I understand that question. I am personally a fan of saying as little as possible, but making sure there would be a lot that could be said. Trying to create a space for the player to interpret and decide things for themselves.

(sorry I said I would keep it short -.-*)

[Catharina]

You actually answered the 2nd question on the answer to the first one, but this brings me another question about the game.

Since you are talking about the player's relationship with the child, are you looking for a first person game when you have a direct relation with her and feel it like it was affecting us too or are you looking for a third person game where the player just sees what happens with the child and reacts to the toughness you talk about?

(I hope I'm not trying to know too much, if there is something you don't feel comfortable or you just don't want to say just tell me and I'll go my way xD)

I think it is great that you are asking.

When we started we also looked at the first persion view, but realised in the concept stage that there is no way that you as the player could ever feel, or properly understand what these kids experienced.

In stead we put the player as the adoptive parent of a Lebensborn child. The child will go through all the experiences, and you as a parent will mostly only be witness to the effects that has on the child.

It is up to the player to try and help the child, explain the world, explain why this is happening. Influence how the child feels about himself/herself and how they view the world. We saw early on that the level of empathy you get when experiencing difficulties as a player versus seing someone you care about experience those difficulties is not even comparable.

So we have decided to use the "nurture" genre and explore what can be done with it.

We have explained a lot about how the game works here: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1071941972/my-child-lebensborn-a-nurture-game-about-emotional?ref=62evoe

There is an early gameplay trailer if you scroll down.

[Catharina]

Well thank you for the time spent with me. I will explore that page to know a little bit more

And congratulations for what it seems to be a pretty good project. It has a lot of good ingredients and I hope you have success with it. It's good to see that there are still people trying to innovate on the gaming industry. Good luck with this game and with all future projects for both Teknopilot and Sarepta

Thank you, it is great to talk with people who are so interested

[Elin][Catharina][Kjartan]

Do you prefer a classic white loaf, or wholemeal ?

Wholemeal is always more interesting... (and white bread, called "loff" in Norway, isn't really seen as proper bread for our packed lunches... A bit weird that way..)

Loff is for shrimp and soups! A working body need some real energy!

So true. And as a Norwegian's diet consists 70% of bread, you get pretty picky. Nutrients!

[Catharina]

Why is there so much bread in your diet

We have a culture of "Matpakke" a Norwegian tradition that literally means “packed food”. Every child in Norway takes matpakke to school, most adults continue the tradition into their working lives.

Eating at restaurants or even cafeterias is very expensive in Norway, and our general stores usually do not have that much prepared foods (due to Norwegians being used to cooking their own meals).

[Catharina]

How do the cafes and restaurants survive, if no one wants to eat there. Does this mean, mostly the really wealthy / big businessmen eat out and dine there ?

Must be. But I actually have no idea...

I think it is more young adults before they get families. Friends who have get-togethers, dates, parties that kind of thing.

[Catharina]

We have fewer cafes and restaurants. And while it's possible to survive, many dont' and many are dependant on a good summer with people from other places coming over for vacation. And some tourism. For example: Smaller cities may only have one or two different pizza places, with only one of them having a dedicated dining area, while the other offering only takeout.

I live in a small city (for America at least) and there are no fewer than 20 dedicated pizza joints within two miles of my house. Of course, dining out is one of the few past times we have here, but that is a stark contrast.

Yeah, I have been to the US and the UK. I always go nuts in the stores, buying way too many sandwitches and the like. Just so much fun.

Interesting!

What is the main purpose of your game? How do you want your audience to feel or even learn from playing?

Great question! The main purpose is hard to put into one thing, but we'll try. It's to show the stories of the Lebensborn in an engaging, immersive way, so that you really feel what it's like for a kid who is seen as an enemy and doesn't understand why. We are making Karin/Klaus as "real" as we can, hoping you'll get the feeling of "being there together with the kid" as the true events are unfolding. In this way, we want the history to come alive and the player to really understand and feel the unfairness of punishing a small child for something others have done - to become aware of the ethical blindness it is to take hatred out on others because of their genes. And I guess this identification and ethical awareness is really what we're aiming for.

[Elin]

How have the actual Lebensborn children reacted to the game?

We have presented the game project at their annual harvest meeting, and they are curious about the idea of a computer game and very positive to being depicted as children for once. There are some films interviewing several of them, but nothing that shows them as children. We've also presented the different scenarios in the game and gotten approval - and even suggestions - to make it as representative as possible.

[Elin]

Are you going to make a version for PC?

As we use Unity as a platform, we could certainly port it to PC. The challenge is that an important part of the game and interaction is based on touch screen.

You will simply not get the same experience playing on PC. We will not say a definite "no never", but it will not be our focus.

[Catharina]

Men faen... Gjør det :D

I believe it is important not to allow a player to play the game the "wrong" way. Portin it to a platform that does not fit seems pointless and reckless to me. There will have to be good reasons for it, and a strategy taht makes sense.

[Catharina]

Will you be releasing any extra content for the game over time or will the game be released as is?

The game will be a premium game. Narrative-driven. Our goal is to release the full game on launch. If there are story elements we see after release we would wish to add, of course there is a chance we could update. However that is not our initial plan.

[Catharina]

The project looks great! My question: When tackling emotional content, games easily become slapstick (eg. when interactions or movement allows for weird/unwanted situations), or otherwise plummet into the 'uncanny valley' (facial expressions etc). Do you have any thoughts on how to avoid that? And how do you avoid it in this project?

Thank you Bromlebass!

We are using a 2d art style which makes the facial animations simple, yet expressive. The animations is linked directly to your actions, which will make it responsive to the situation, and the 'simple' art style helps us avoid plummeting into the uncanny valley.

[Kjartan]

There is a bit off a jump from shadow puppeteer to My Child Lebensborn. What made you take that jump?

Also, Catharina, how was it to guest lecture at HINN?

Meeting Elin from Teknopilot (inspirational woman) and learning of the dark past of our country, is what made us drawn towards the project initially.

As we developed the concept and saw how impactful it could end up becoming, we realised that this was something we had to do. It is a unique concept and unique starting point for us. It feels like a game that just has to be made.

In many ways it still follows some of the design visions of Shadow Puppeteer: Being inspired by the emotional core, narrowing the experience down to just focus on the characters that matter. Trying to find the essence of the story.

They were horrible to me!

No just kidding. I really enjoy guest lecturing, especially at HINN ;) It is stressful, though, as you never truly know if you give the students what they need. You just have to hope that they ask the questions that they need answered. :)

[Catharina]

I'm interested in knowing the relationship between the Lebensborn children and Norway, since you mentioned it on your post.

Also, what is something you'd like for people to know about Norway?

Best of luck with the kickstarter!

The intention of the Lebensborn program during WW2 was originally that Nazi officers should have children with "aryan" women. But the end result was that any woman who got pregnant with a regular German soldier - and was considered to be "aryan" in 3 generations, had their child registered as a Lebensborn child and could get some child support. Some of the children were also given to children's homes, so called "Lebensborn homes", where they were cared for by German nurses. Because Norwegian women were considered to be largely "aryan", half of the registered Lebensborn children were registered in Norway during the 5 years of occupation in WW2. This is thought to be around half of the 10-12.000 children that are estimated to have been born by German soldiers and Norwegian women during WW2. We are telling the story of a Lebensborn child in our game, but the story is on the whole also representative for all the "German children" born during WW2.

Norway is a peace loving country in Scandinavia, which also has the honor of handing out the Nobel Peace Prize every year. And we have a lot of resources and generally high living standards. But still - as a society, we didn't protect these children. This is a general problem for all Children Born of War, but in heavily troubled countries you can understand more that "larger problems" take center stage. In Norway, we can't really blame it on lack of resources or other conflicts. But we were still blinded by the hatred towards the enemy - and saw enemies instead of children. We are still today partly blind to this part of our history, and thinking less of the "german brats" is in many ways part of our culture. It's long overdue that we take a more active stand to this kind of thing.

Thank you so much for the detailed reply, this was really interesting to read!

Really glad to hear it!

Hi Sarepta! How well do you think this video game genre will work on mobile? Have you considered developing the game to other platforms as well? Thanks!

Hey JinTox, as we created the concept for the game we built it specifically for mobile. The nurture genre is a genre that usually is played on the mobile.

We are definitly considering other platforms too (Sarepta loves console). Our ambition is the Switch, but I am very strict in making sure that what ever platform we port to - it will have to support touch.

The cononection you get as you directly interact with the character is one of the major visions for the gameplay (we have been approached by ertain distributors though).

[Catharina]

The more general issue of psychological development seems to be an under-communicated one. The more I learn about it, the more I see hidden issues of people around me, both historic and current.

Can this game contribute in that regard?

Hi Steinbitglis - you're addressing a big topic, and I agree that we are generally not good enough at "seeing" other people and their struggles. My impression is that we really need to get to see the subjective stories of other people and learn about their struggles that way instead of being told statistics and facts. We need to "get up close and personal". And this is really also what we're doing in the game - we're telling the larger "story" about the Lebensborn by making it personal - showing the subjective fate of one child. That's one reason why we've chosen the nurture genre, where the child fills the whole screen. The child is always "there", and not just one figure in a larger narrative. Also, the child will express many of it's emotions through body language and facial expressions, so that you really have to pay attention to the child. We think this will make the gaming experience more personal and intimate.

[Elin]

Unsure why some of your replies are getting downvoted. Ya'll are passionate about this project and that is amazing in itself. Ok ok here's my question: What can players expect from this narrative driven game? I mean is it going to be like... we choose what we want the character to say / do?

Glad to hear it :)

What the players can expect. The game follows many of the typical elements of a "pet-simulator", but adding resource management and branching dialogue.

The initial gameplay is centered around everyday actions in taking care of a child. Including the balance between money and time spent with the child.

An important element in the game will be the dialogues you have with Karin/Klaus (you choose between a boy or a girl). You get to choose different answers that will affect the mood of the child and how the child perceives you.

We are working towards making choices that are never wrong, but just different depending on different personalities and parenting-styles. You can try to affect what the child does or what they share with you, but the child has their own mind.

Sometimes they might not want to share something with you, because they don't believe you will understand. Or sometimes because they want to protect your feelings.

The game will go through a certain time of the child's life, in a linear fashion, but how much of that you learn, or how you learn it will vary. It is the player's job to take care of the child, be there for them and to find out more about the child's biological family.

Very, very fascinating. When will this be released?

Second half of 2017 :)

[Catharina]

Kinda odd question, but what would you call "device" in norwegian? (Maybe duppeditt, as some people do?)

Hm... I think it varies depending on the type of device. Apparat? Enhet?

[Catharina]

If I were to tell you that the next thing I say would be true, but the last thing I said was a lie, would you believe me?

Yup

[Catharina]

As a student and someone interested in getting into the game dev field, I have a question that is slightly unrelated as well.

How would you pitch a game idea. What do you focus on, to make sure your pitch gets people's attention ?

Are your teams excited to be working together? Have your two teams worked together before?

Do you think the gamedev scene in Norway would be good enough, to be the reason to move from Australia?

Great questions.

All in all it really depends on what audience you are speaking to. You definitly need to find the thing about your game that stands out. Sometimes using other games as example might be a good way of getting people's attention. Like "Resident evil meets Kirby's adventure"

For Shadow Puppeteer our pitch was "Atmospheric co-op adventure" For My Child: Lebensborn it varies between:

My Child Lebensborn: A nurture game about emotional survival

A story-driven nurture game based on the stories of Children Born of War

Regarding the pitch we have made a video about this in our DevBlog on Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YAnQPWo9SWM&list=PLy5hAPhyMod0_Fm9YqFHb8kbCQxNl8DAv

Mostly what you need to do is to keep testing it. There is a lot of noise out there so it is not easy.

-- We are really excited to be working together. We have not worked together before, but we have much of the same visions and drive.

-- The gamedev scene in Norway is still very small, but we really seem to be making games that stand out. I would not just move without any potential jobs, but you could definitly keep your "feelers" out for potential openings.

The weather here is very different though: Be warned! :p

[Catharina]

Sooooo are you accepting music for licensing? :)

We have hired in our own musicians for this

How would you guys go about getting in to the scandinacian gamedev scene? I'm working on a application for Westerdals, but I wonder if there are other options/(no school?) your team have good experience from?

Saw this ama too late! Goddamn. Want to point out that I love your concept!

Thank you Apeloff :)

Again, it really depends what you want to do. Gamedev usually means programming but it is not an exclusive term any more. Could mean a lot of other things too.

Just jump in, really. School is important as it teaches you discipline and how to learn. (depending on school) it usually takes you through the neccesary steps.

You do not strictly need school, you could easily do online courses by amazingly talented people. If you are driven enough you can learn what you need on your own. Buy books, study hard.

What school also does is give you challenges, tasks, feedback and a community. You could find many of those things online.

What is it that you want to do when it comes to game development? And do you want to work more towards indie or towards AAA? Norway or outside or Norway?

How does someone become a writer for a project or pitch an idea for a game?

Disclaimer: Just my own personal opinions and impressions (have onlys started my own company and worked in the industry for 6 years (in Norway). Have not worked in any other company than my own, although I travel a lot and talk to other devs.

ON WRITING I think it is very difficult to become a writer for a game project. I don't have much experience there.

My experience is from hiring. And having many, many people looking for writing jobs that we have not been able to hire. Our first game had no text. For our second game we have:

1. Contacted writers that we feel have merit within our genre, that have been recommended by seasoned developers (so experience as a professional writer) and

2. We have started collaborating with another dev that is in our collective who really wanted to write, we trust him, know he is dedicated, has done good stuff before (even though not in our genre) so -> Know a lot of people, be a trustworthy and likable person and get lucky (I guess).

So I would recommend studying to become a professional writer. Make good stuff that builds your reputation and have a good network.

Or just start your own company and make things, hire in better writers to guide you, if you get any funds (super risky, but also valid).

ON PITCHING

Pitching your game for someone else? It doesn't work that way. You

a) Make your own company. Then there are tons of ways of pitching the game to potential team mates (they have to believe you can run a company too).

b) Go the QA - route (I have heard that is something people do). Become a trusted and seasoned QA person and then maybe you could be hired in at some point as a game developer and get to pitch your idea to the team that might possibly choose your idea.

c) Get a job in a company because you have amazing art, are a programmer, have other usefull talents that is sought after in a team. Then potentially that company lets you pitch your idea.

[Catharina]

Does your game enable you to play with the protagonist beyond being a child as that would be amazing and if not why?

It would be great to be able to keep following Klaus/Karin as you will get very attached, however in the game we will only be following a specific part of the child's life.

These are one of the restrictions we get, working with this historical content. We have to stay true to their stories.

Without saying too much of what happens, the journey you go through is at a critical point in the child's life.

It is not really possible for us to let the game go on over several years and without an end it would make staying true tos the story difficult.

But we believe these constraints will actually allow us to craft a better game.

[Catharina]

Thanks for that! Will you be publishing the game on Google Play Store for non backers to purchase?

Yes, definitively - iOS and Google!

[Elin]

I'm excited to play :D

Glad to hear
:)

[Catharina]

Tell us more about the music in the game? Is there music and what style of music was chosen for the game and why?

Thank you for the question. Disclaimer: I am writing, as a none-musician.

There is music in the game. It is actually quite tricky to work with as we need something that fits the style of the genre while at the same time both being able to convey the vision.

We are working with film composers who use aucustic instruments true to the time period the game is centered around. We are going for a simplistic style that is based on the child's emotion. So childlike, careful but playful and warm, homely.

As the animations and dialogue in the game adapts to the feelings of the child, influenced by the story and the input from the player, we want the music to do the same. So the music will change slightly based on the childs emotions.

[Catharina]

And when you decided to work with those composers, what did you hope they would bring to the game that wasn't there before?

Difficult question. I want the music to be able to give you a sense of the child's personality. Of the personality of this polite, caring and naive person, and to make the player feel right from the beginning that the player and child create a home together.

A lot in the game is based on seing the child. Reading his/her words and understanding their bodylanguage. Sometimes the child will lie to you. I want the music to always betray the childs emotions. To help you feel it when something is not quite right, and to help you feel the enthusiasm of the child when things are good. (insanely ambitious, I know)

[Catharina]

No, I think with the right composer and a dynamic music system this would be possible. Various states of the child could trigger different music stems which could be layered together etc.

The games I've composed for have been slightly simpler, but it sounds like a dream game to work on. I'll keep an eye on it. Best of luck!

That is actually some of the idea. Thank you :)

[Catharina]

What changes in your development process have you had to make for developing this game (i.e., one that deals with real historical and deeply emotional issues) vs. other games you have worked on in the past?

I could probably write pages upon pages about this topic (might at some point make a Gamasutra post about it). So I will just pick some of the changes.

For Sarepta, creating a game that was based around a specific story that needed to be told was new for us. The first process of working with Teknopilot to understand the story and the core of what we wanted the game to achieve is not something we are used to in to the same extent.

We have had to be a lot strickter with the team when it comes to ideas they want to implement.

The research part of our development has certainly been a lot longer than usual (and I didn't think I would ever end up crying at work).

The genre is quite different. The gameplay and story are built to compliment each other, at the same time nothing can really be implemented if there is an uncertainty in the story.

There are certain strickt rules that we have to follow, but this is in some ways liberating as it frees us to be more creative inside our space.

Hope that answer was good enough.

[Catharina]

Is there any interest from you to create games for use on the ethereum network?

This is the first I have heard about it. But after reading about it I don't really see the need for us.

Why do you have the same name as a energycompany? (wind-power company)

Sarepta studio? Well we probably took inspiration from the same mythical tale.

There is also a florist and a baker called Sarepta. It's all good I like flowers, cakes and clean energy ^{_^}

[Catharina]

Is it easy to become a game developer in Norway, or should I say Er det lett å bli spillutvikler i Norge?

Hehe, it is fairly easy to become a game developer (you can go to an incubator or game hub and get help starting a company). Staying a game developer, on the other hand is not easy.

Getting a job without starting up can be a challenge. Really depends on your skillset, portfolio etc.

But we are lucky to have many advisors in Norway and also, if you make a good case, government grants.

[Catharina]

Tar en Bachelor i Spill og opplevelsesteknologi på Nord Univeristet, Steinkjer atm. Vi blir ofte på minnet om at det ikke er så lett, mye jobb for staten eller andre tradisjonelle selskaper som vil ha noe gjort i for av et spill. Er mye leting etter funding, har vi hørt fra endel i bransjen, blant annet folk fra ablemagic og megapop.

That is true. If you are to go into a game company in Norway you need to be lucky and skilled. If you want to get a job outside of Norway you need to be extremely talented with a good portfolio. And there is a risk they will work you like a dog.

You could start a company in Norway, but then you will have to work yourself like a dog. We have had some really tough times, but it is great to now have a workplace where we can do what we do and I can send my people home after 7,5 hours of work.

It is generally a tough industry (but there are many of those). Then again I have to honestly say that I am extremely content in my work. Even with all the stress and uncertainty.

I look at the clock each day at work and think "Damn, the workday is almost over!"

[Catharina]

I look at the clock each day at work and think "Damn, the workday is almost over!"

Haha, we have a class called Game lab, where we have to work as a small game studio to make a game through a semester, and we have executives we have to impress every week. I know that feeling, most days just fly by!

That sounds great :) I hope they make you release at least two games a year too. Very valuable

[Catharina]

Do you have any advice for one-man-band game developers who're just starting out? What are the most important skills or technologies to learn? Is there anything you wish you'd known when you were starting out?

The game looks great btw, I've chipped in on kickstarter and can't wait to give it a go!

I have not experienced going at it alone my self, but what I see from others is that you need to be really good at what it is you decide to deliver. Finding your strengths.

Some use Game Maker, some use Unity. It really depends on your situation and what game you want to make.

I would say that trying to find others to talk to, share joys and frustrations, to show your game to. I don't know what the oportunities are in your area but finding an incubator or a game development hub can be so valuable for a lone-wolf game developer.

So many things I wish I had learned. Still many things I feel I need to learn.

When I first started out I wish I had looked at what I could make in a week, made it and released it. Then looked at what I could make in a month, two months, half a year. Starting with something big makes it take too long for you to learn important lessions.

Even if you want to go ahead with a big game, you should look at one small element in that game, and make a tiny game out of that first to release.

Not sure if that helps you ;)

Good things will usually always happen if you connect to other devs. Go do that (minimum at least go to game jams).

[Catharina]

Thanks. I'll have to see if there are any game jams or incubators in my area. I'm working on little games at the moment as I try to decide whether to use Unity or Unreal for a larger game.

Yup that is a good idea. Really you learn so much by interacting with others in this way.

Make sure to release some of them first ;)

Oh and thank you so much for the support on Kickstarter :D [Catharina]

Morn du! Fellow Norwegian here, with some very off-topic questions:

What is your favorite:

• Norwegian TV show?

• Norwegian film?

• Norwegian band or artist?

God påske!

Jo hei :)

• I have not watched television in forever. From a nostalgia factor: The Julekalender. The boring newer answer: Nytt på Nytt
• Trolljegeren
• kaizers orchestra

Morna!

[Catharina]

Whats your favorite kind of sandwhich?

Chicken curry :)

[Catharina]

I've been hearing a bit about G2A having especially pronounced negative effects on smaller studios outside of the United States. Have you or any of your peers ever had to deal with this and is there a way to preempt the issues that they can pose that you've found?

Hm, that is a tough question.

This is just personal opinion really. G2A has a reputation of being so risky that I think pirating is still a much bigger problem for developers. If someone saves 80%-90% on buying my game, that is not the biggest problem I have.

Of course it is sad that people would rather risk losing their money, to save a few bucks than just support the game developers.

As far as I have heard from my peers, they have lost a lot more to pirating. And I have to admit I am not that sure of how to preempt it. I just choose to believe that most of the people who refuse to pay for the work we have put so much into, can't afford the game. Then I'd rather have them play it anyway.

[Catharina]

Random question, where in Norway? I'm out of a job :P

Hamar is the place to be (depending on the type of job ofc.) We have the Hamar Game Collective here

[Catharina]

Damn, I assume moving to Hamar is the only criteria and I can start working with you guys right? ;)

Haha, cough

I think looking for work before moving is the wise choice. If you start a company then you could probably join the Hamar Game Collective and get guidance and help.

I'm 15 and I want to be a indie game dev when older, any advice?

Hey, great to hear :) It really depends on what field you want to specialize in. I would say start learning to code, at the same time you can play around in engines like Unity, Unreal or Game Maker. C# is nice I think.

Make things, even try to have it released. It is great experience :) Start early when you have all this free time and less financial worries ;)

Oh and watch everything by Extra Credits on Youtube

[Catharina]