Interview With HakJak Productions

Author: gutenberg
2017-05-05
3 0 3

Introduction

Guts and Glory is a game about dodging spinning saw blades, deadly spikes, explosives, turrets, and a growing list of other hazards—while navigating insane tracks set in a wide variety of environments. It is a game full of LOLs and WTFs and OMGs, where failing can be just as much fun as winning. This time we have a interview with HakJak Productions, the producer of Guts and Glory. The interviewer is Alwaysmadowl, a member of Project Gutenberg.

Interview

pineapplebao
Hi! Glad to chat with you again lol. When did you start to be an indie developer? Tell us a bit more about yourself.

Studio

I’ve dreamt of making video games all my life, but I didn’t actually start learning until about 2 years ago. I was working a full-time job and finishing college and learning how to make games all at the same time. It was crazy. I just learned everything from tutorials and online forums, but I learned a little bit at a time and soon started my first game, Guts and Glory.

It was this day,exactly 1 year ago, that I announced it to the world and started the Steam Greenlight process. Soon after it was discovered by some big YouTubers and became famous overnight. I was so surprised and excited!

Now I work on the game full time and I hope to make more games in the future.

pineapplebao
What inspired Guts and Glory at the beginning? How did you come up with this idea?

Studio

It basically started as a learning project. I put a ragdoll character on a box with wheels and drove him around. I thought it was so funny watching him flop around! So I started experimenting with other vehicle ideas. As soon as I put a guy on a bicycle and made a cannon shoot at him my friends thought it was the best thing ever! So I just kept adding more and more crazy stuff.
glory1

pineapplebao
Hahaha, wonder do you like driving and cars in real life?

Studio

I secretly want to be a rally race car driver. Like these guys xD
maxresdefault

pineapplebao
Chinese players love the character Yang Family so much because of the identity. How did you come up with this character?

Studio

I really wanted to make my game something that people around the world could enjoy. It seems like most games just have white American guys in them… and I barely see any Chinese or other asian people in games. I wanted to change that.

pineapplebao
And how about other three characters? Share with us about their story plzzzzz!

Studio

John is a hard-working dad trying to get rich by winning the Guts and Glory games… at any cost! He rides his favorite brand of bicycle, the Golden Goose. He love his bike more than his son Jimmy, I think.

Earl is a fun-loving redneck! He loves beer, guns, girls and having a good time. His favorite activites are driving his ATV through mud and fishing with dynamite.

Larry is a genius scientist. But unfortunately he tried a drug called LSD and has never been the same since. He’s still super smart… just really crazy! I’m about to do a big update for Larry in a couple weeks, so you’ll get to know more about him soon.

pineapplebao
In China this game gets very popular via live streaming! Do you know about it? Did you watch any of it?
Studio
Hahah, yes, I’ve watched videos of people playing Guts and Glory all around the world. Even if I can’t understand anything they’re saying, it’s still fun to see their reactions.There are videos from Spain, Germany, Russia, Australia, Philipinnes, Japan, Korea, the UK… all over. It’s crazy!
glory2

pineapplebao
This game is very fun and happy, and even a bit crazy for us! Could you tell us a bit about your opinion on game design?

Studio

I think games should be intrinsicly fun, before game reward mechanics are added. I don’t know how that translates to Chinese, but basically it means that a game should be fun by itself, before adding external rewards like points or prizes. Kind of like how playing with a bouncy ball can be fun, before you even use it for a game. I wanted to experiment with making games fun by themselves, before adding extra stuff.

pineapplebao
We saw some update contents on the steam store page! Really looking forward to AI characters! What do you think is the best part about it?

Studio

I think the best part about making this game is that I could add anything to it and it would fit. Now that I have the basic parts of the game done, I can get really crazy with it and start adding all kinds of silly stuff. I don’t want to spoil any surprises though….

pineapplebao
Possible multiplayer???

Studio

Unfortunately, I can’t do online multiplayer. That’s something you have to plan from the beginning with a 3D game like this. However, I might be able to add local multiplayer when the game is closer to being finished.

pineapplebao
What indie games are you playing now? Which are you excited for this year?

Studio

I’ve been so busy making games lately that I haven’t had much time to play them. However, one of my favorite indie games right now is called Totally Accurate Battle Simulator, or“TABS” . It’s totally wacky and fun!

pineapplebao
Haha, one last question! Anything else you would like to share with Chinese players?

Studio

I hope everyone has fun playing the game, and I can’t wait to show you all the new things coming this year!

pineapplebao
lol would you like to share your photos to players?

Studio

haha, okay sure… here’s a weird one that probably nobody wants to see… but you can use it if you want. xD

glory

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