Declarations of Independents focuses on the most independent of game developers: Small teams or individuals whose games have little or no marketing, advertising, or outreach, yet which have extremely loyal and dedicated followings. These games are the hidden treasures of the game industry, and it is our pleasure to bring you the thoughts and experiences of their creators on what it means to be an independent developer.
On today’s feature, we examine the sincerest form of interactive flattery — the fan-game. When Valve announced to the world that they were working on a little game called Portal, gamers were quite excited about the possibilities and the puzzles the concept held. Ido Tal and Hen Mazolski were more than excited — they were smitten. Based solely on the trailers and teasers Valve released for Portal, the two fans produced their own flash version of the game, simply out of a desire to play Portal that much earlier. Thus was born Portal: The Flash Version and its two-man team, We Create Stuff. The work took on a life of its own, growing from a small audience of friends to a worldwide free release (shortly before Portal itself was to launch), going viral nearly overnight as Portal fever gripped the gaming community. Following the wild success of Portal: TFV, We Create Stuff realized another act of admiration for their favorite dimension-jumping franchise, and adapted their homebrewed levels for use in the actual game. The Portal: TFV MapPack was released for free download, allowing Portal fans to add another 40 original levels to their game.
We spoke with Ido and Hen to ask about their unique contribution to Valve’s universe.
GameCyte: When did you first decide you wanted to develop an independent game?
Ido Tal: Personally, I’ve always wanted to develop games. I was too young to be taken seriusly, and were no video game development courses where I live, so I decided to just start on my own, using my home - the internets!
Hen Mazolski: Like Ido said, I always wanted to make games. Since I was young - even at the age of 11, I made games using Microsoft PowerPoint because that was my only tool. Since then I’ve alwayed been interested in making games.
GC: Tell us about Portal: TFV. What inspired the project? How did the development process treat you?
HM: The first Portal trailer came out, and like the rest of the world we were excited, very excited. So excited, we couldn’t wait to play it, and started to make our own little version of the game, to see how it worked. We didn’t even intend to release it to the public, but after some work we had one piece of a quality production. We just HAD to share it with the rest of the world.
IT: Although the development started as a fun side project, we insisted on releasing it with or before the original Portal. Not out of competition or anything, but because we believed it wouldn’t get any popularity if we released it afterwards.
And so, from a side, on-and-off project, after deciding to release it to the public and estimating a date, we had to work our asses off to make it on time. We ended up releasing it 5 hours before Portal. Personally, I took freaking days off school to finish coding the last few levels! But it was worth it (;
GC: What made you decide to create the map pack?
HM: I always wanted to do it. When we designed the levels for Portal:TFV, I had tons of ideas that couldn’t work in a 2-D environment so I had to abandon them, until I started working on the mappack. Moreover, I wanted to revive Portal:TFV and our site again.
GC: Have you worked a part of a larger development team before? If so, how has it compared to directing your own project independently?
IT: Not yet, but I’m only 16!
HM: Never worked with other people. The only person I’ve worked with so far is Ido; I’m still young.
GC: How have you managed to sustain the project? Do you make money from sponsorships or donations? What is your “Day Job?”
IT: The project was purely Flash-made, which luckily both me and Hen already had, so we had no expenses. Other than the pure Flash elements, the sounds were taken from the trailers and gameplay movies, and Ryan Champion made us the awesome background music.
I’m pretty much a high school student at the moment, warming up chairs at school.
HM: The game was not meant to make us money from the very beginning, and it didn’t. We linked a couple of friendly sites through our game, but we didn’t sell it or anything. We’d kill ourselves if we did, that would be disrespectful and we can’t betray our beloved Valve!
But yeah, luckily the traffic kept our little site, We Create Stuff, running and kicking.
I’ve just graduated high school, and I’m heading to learn some graphic design.
GC: How has word spread about your game? Has it all been word-of-mouth?
HM: The Internet is an amazing thing. The first day we released the game on a few websites, and after a few days, the internet caught it! Everyone knew about the game; I even met guys in real life that started to talk with me about the Flash. It was crazy.
The same thing is happening with my MapPack today.
IT: I’ll go over the stats: Portal: The Flash Version has been played over 5 million times around the internet (Over 2 million views on Newgrounds, half a million on Armor Games, half a million on Kongregate, 1.5 million on our site, etc). It was mentioned in many famous blogs and websites (Kotaku, The New York Times, Wired, etc), was featured on many game portals and won different awards (recently nominated for the 2007 Tank Awards at Newgrounds, and won a GameIS 2008 Oscar).
I’m not aware of full numbers on the mappack, but you can Google it and see for yourself, it’s getting recognized as well.
GC: What has it been like to have such a dedicated fan base? Has it helped or hindered the development process; how receptive are you to suggestions or demands from your community?
IT: Before the release of Portal:TFV, We Create Stuff was hosted for $4/month. We didn’t have a fan base. Immediately after the release it grew, and we even have a little community going on there now, which is pretty nice — and damn helpful and motivating for future projects.
HM: We love our community; I’ve met a lot of good people. And I’m always using the community for help, ideas and support. The community was what drove me to start working on the mappack, and a lot of times when I got stuck I asked them for help and give ideas. We have an “Ideas needed” thread for our projects on the forum.
GC: What’s the best part of being an independent developer?
HM: We are not bound to anything, and can do what ever we want and like. We work whenever we want, whether it is nights till mornings, or mornings till mornings. Naturally, Portal:TFV could never be made if we were a huge company.
GC: What’s the worst?
IT: There are some who simply underestimate indie developers. They figure there’s no huge budget or a company behind the game, so they’re quick to judge it. Luckily we’ve only encountered a few of those, and we ignore them happily.
GC: If you could share one valuable experience or piece of advice with ambitious game designers, what would it be?
IT: If you can’t work stuff on your own, find an ambitious partner, and see how it goes. I have an enormous amount of unfinished games, and working with somebody simply pushes me to finish it.
HM: Just do what ever you like and don’t give up. There was a lot of times when Ido or I almost gave up, but each time we pushed one another to keep up the work. It’s always great to have a good partner; a friend that thinks like you.
GC: What can we expect to see from you next?
IT: More Flash games! I’m currently working on a new game, still marked as the “?” project on We Create Stuff, but it will be revealed soon, so stay tuned!
HM: Well, my free time is starting to run out. I hope I will be able to finish my other mod, “Nightmare House 2,” and then, like I said, I’m starting to study. Then, hopefully, I will do something I truly like, just like I am now.
We would like to thank Ido and Hen for taking the time to answer our questions. Portal: The Flash Version can be played here, and the MapPack is available to download here, both free of charge.
Tags: Declarations of Independents, Hen Mazolski, Ido Tal, interview, Portal, Portal: The Flash Version, We Create Stuff
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