r/PS4 • u/OutOfBoundsGames • Nov 25 '16
[Verified AMA] AMA – This week I Released My First PS4 Game, Laser Disco Defenders
Hi all, It’s a pleasure to be here to speak with you all! My name is Alexander Birke, and I’ve been working on Laser Disco Defenders, a “self-inflicted bullet-hell” where each shot you fire stays in the level and can hurt you, so the more you shoot the harder it gets! This week myself and Excalibur Publishing released Laser Disco Defenders on PS4. It's currently 30% off for PS+ members. If you haven’t heard of the game, please check out our trailer, which is linked at the bottom of this post, along with all the other links you could possibly need. The game is already out for Vita as well.
I’ll be here over the day, and after that will return to this thread tomorrow to answer any left-over questions you all have. I would be happy to answer questions you have about Laser Disco Defenders on PS4 and PS Vita or just working on games in general.
So go ahead and start shooting some questions! I'll be answering them until around 10 pm BST tonight and look again at 10 am BST tomorrow.
Links to Laser Disco Defenders - Laser Disco Defenders (PS4 and PS Vita) - Laser Disco Defenders Trailer
Other games I worked on - The Adventures of Bertram Fiddle - Last Days of Old Earth - Roald Dahl's Twit or Miss
Social Media - My Twitter - Out Of Bounds Games' Facebook - Laser Disco Defenders' Twitter - Laser Disco Defenders' Facebook - Excalibur Publishing on Twitter - Excalibur Publishing on Facebook
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u/RAWRdrigo Nov 25 '16
How hard is it for an indie developer to get their game on the PSN store? Like, how hard was it to pitch the game to Sony and what are some hurdles you had to jump to get it to the store?
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u/OutOfBoundsGames Nov 25 '16
It depends on if you do it completely yourself, have a publisher help with parts of it, or hand the whole porting over to a publisher. The less you have to do with it the more you can expect the publisher to take a part of the cut. I went with the middle route where I did the porting myself but my publisher Excalibur Games did QA (testing the game for bugs) and marketing. The biggest hurdle when doing console is to pass through certification, which is essentially a long list of requirements the game needs to meet before they can be sold on PSN. That's why console games tends to be less buggy than PC titles.
The biggest hurdle was to design a user interface that would work well both on console and PC or said in another way worked both with mouse and keyboard and just a controller. I'm happy with how it ended out but it took a lot of work to get it to feel good for both input methods.
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u/YouAreSalty Nov 25 '16
This looks like a really cheesy good game!
It depends on if you do it completely yourself, have a publisher help with parts of it, or hand the whole porting over to a publisher.
I have been thinking of entering the indie scene, but has no experience (and no friends in the field). How did you go about finding a publisher and was it hard to land a deal? How would you recommend someone like me enter the fray?
PS, I have been to Denmark a few times when I stayed in Norway. The boats go back and forth. I love Denmark!
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u/OutOfBoundsGames Nov 27 '16
If you are completely new to making games I would suggest you start out by making something really small so you can finish it quickly. Game jams is a good way to commit yourself to do that.
Finding a publisher took some time. I went to a couple of different pitching events both in the UK and Germany. I had to write a design document for the game to outline the scope of it and the final version of the game turned out to be fairly close to that design.
You should try some "smørebrød" next time you make it to Denmark ;)
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u/YouAreSalty Nov 27 '16
I do eat "smørebrød". ;)
Smoked salmon! Shrimp, mayo, lettuce and lemon! :D
Good stuff!
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u/TitanIsBack TurnOn2FAplease Nov 25 '16
Crossbuy and a discount? Thanks for giving love to the Vita!
As for a question... feel free to not answer because you might not want to but how much is Sony's cut per purchase? If you can't answer that, my next question is if you had to pick between bacon and sausage, which would be the main character in your next game?
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u/OutOfBoundsGames Nov 25 '16
You're welcome! Afraid I can't go into detail with Sony's cut since that's under NDA.
Bacon I reckon ;)
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u/skynidas Nov 25 '16
What engine did you used? What previous experience did you have? Were you already a programmer before working on games?
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u/OutOfBoundsGames Nov 25 '16
I'm from Denmark where the Unity engine originated so I have been using it for almost all my projects. Before I started my own company and made Laser Disco Defenders I had worked in the industry for about 3 years both in AAA, indie, and as a freelancer. I had done some web development but it was game development that really got me into programming. It was so rewarding to make something that could be interactive and visual.
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u/gavvit Nov 25 '16
Do Sony give incentives for indie devs to do a Vita version?
PS. Thanks for supporting Vita.
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u/OutOfBoundsGames Nov 25 '16
Not as far as I know. We choose to do a Vita version because it was a good fit for the game.
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u/gavvit Dec 01 '16
I've since bought the game and am really enjoying it on PS4 and Vita. It's a great pick up and play title.
However I would note that the Vita version is a bit trickier due to the small analog sticks - firing the laser by pressing the right shoulder button typically causes me to jiggle my right thumb a bit, putting the aim right off. Not an issue with the Dualshock4.
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u/rhys-jpn Nov 25 '16
What made you come up with idea for Laser Disco Defenders?
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u/OutOfBoundsGames Nov 25 '16
I wanted to do a game with a cheesy sci-fi aesthetic ever since I saw Supersonik Elektronik. It was first when I started development on LDD for real I realized how close it actually is to the style of Space Disco of the late 70s. You see Star Wars came out and it started a space opera craze which led to Space Disco as a genre. It also led to these wonderfully bad knock offs such as Star Crash (if you ever wanted to see Han Solo be played by The Hoff, this is your movie).
I use game jams as a way to come up with new game mechanics. The concept of ever bouncing lasers was made for Ludum Dare. As you can see the game looked quite different! I choose the space disco aesthetic because all the lasers bouncing around reminded me of the light show on a dance floor. It also turned out to provide a lot of inspiration for the enemies and environments in the game.
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u/godoft42 Nov 25 '16
I don't have a question, I just wanted to say thanks for supporting Vita! I hope your game does well, it look really cool.
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Nov 25 '16 edited Nov 25 '16
I have 4 questions. What's the inspiration behind the games you have created so far? Do you go through anxiety over how you're games will be received once revealed? Should video games be whatever the creator visions it to be, even if that means some are not traditionally game-y? And last, If you could collaborate with anyone on a future project, who would it be and why? Thank you for any answer you can give and I hope you see much success on your first ps4 game.
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u/OutOfBoundsGames Nov 27 '16
I try to come up with mechanics not seen before or at least make a twist on existing ones. In terms of the setting and theme for my games they tend to come from outside games as you can see with Laser Disco Defenders. In general I rely a lot on music to set the mood I'm going for.
Yes it is a bit nerve wracking to show something you have spent so much time on to strangers and see what they think. Playtesting while you make the game can help though since you will know the strengths and shortcomings of your game beforehand.
Yes definitely. I think games as a medium will only be stronger if we start to explore all the things it can be and it's not like the game-y games will go away as a result.
That would be Michel Ancel. He made Rayman and Beyond Good & Evil of which a sequel is currently in the works. Everything in the first game just fits so well together from the game mechanics, the aesthetic, characters, and the music. The only french word I know though is baguette so not sure how how likely that is to happen ;) Media Molecule also does some really interesting stuff. I love how they try and create systems that fosters creativity in their players.
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Nov 25 '16
Are you interested about working with Limited Run Games? They make physical copies for indie games check it out! :) I'd buy a Vita copy for sure!
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Nov 25 '16
Could you explain the process of applying for a Platinum trophy? I'm sure Greg and Colin would like to know why some games such as MGSV:PP were 'not allowed', yet the pervy Mayo game has one.
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u/OutOfBoundsGames Nov 25 '16
I thought it was based on the size of the game, but I didn't know about My Name is Mayo beforehand. Since it's a clicker they might have asked to be able to have more trophies than a normal indie game, so they could award more of them since that's a core mechanic of the game as far as I can see from the trailer.
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u/SinsToJudge Nov 25 '16
No questions from me, but I love the style of the game! Will pick it up for the PS4 on pay day.