7DFPS Linux Dev Questionnaire

Name/handle: 
7DFPS jams participated in: 
Development distro: 


1) Please describe your 7DFPS game.

2) What attracted you to 7DFPS?

3) Have you worked on any games previously? If so, what are they, if not, what's inspired you to try?

4) What was your favourite part of working on your 7DFPS game? What did you learn, and what were the biggest hurdles you faced?

5) Do you plan to continue developing your 7DFPS game?

6) What advice would you have for anybody wanting to develop a game using Linux?

Andy "Hero" Conrad
2014
Arch Linux 64 bit

1. Haunt is an asymmetric multiplayer survival game made by the SteamLUG 7dfps 2014 team, where 4 humans work together to escape the clutches of a single ghost. The concept was your idea! It had been worked on during last year's 7dfps challenge, but this year we switched to the Godot Engine.

2. My growing aspirations to make a game and the companionship I found in SteamLUG convinced me that 7dfps was a perfect opportunity to get involved in developing something with a team.

3. The only other game I'd made, AntigoMe, was something I put together for a class in lieu of writing a longer paper. It is a choose-your-own-adventure computer game adaptation of an illustrated book, which is itself an adaptation of a Greek play. It was made using Panda3d and is so small that I don't usually count it as a game...

4. I enjoyed every little triumph the team made throughout 7dfps. Many of us had minimal game development experience, so each task completed added to the feeling that "we are really doing this!" My knowledge was expanded regarding git and the Godot Engine, but I learned the most about how to plan the development of a game. Our biggest hurdles were probably inexperience and sometimes unclear communication, but everyone did a great job despite these.

5. We are continuing development on Haunt! It is far from finished in its current state and we are excited to create a complete experience. Development updates will be posted to 7dfps.com.

6. Specifically on Linux, game developers must be familiar with the tools available for their entire workflow. I say this because many developers will be accustom to Windows tools that might not be available for Linux, so alternatives must be used which may have different behaviors. For our team, this was not an issue as all of us use Linux as our primary operating system and the technology was entirely native.

Nemoder
2014
Debian Testing

1. Please describe your 7DFPS game.
   Haunt: The objective is to see how long you can keep from laughing while watching other players hop around with lanterns and oil. Someday it may involve teamwork and escaping the ghost player.

2. What attracted you to 7DFPS?
   It's great fun to work on projects with other Linux gamers.

3. Have you worked on any games previously? If so, what are they, if not, what's inspired you to try?
   Just personal projects. Only released game was the puzzle game Swapto:

4. What was your favorite part of working on your 7DFPS game? What did you learn, and what were the biggest hurdles you faced?
   My favorite part was working on the official concept art. I learned that I shouldn't show certain people concept art unless I want it to show up in the game. My biggest hurdle was not knowing the language we are coding in and not knowing how scenes should be setup in the engine.

5. Do you plan to continue developing your 7DFPS game?
   I'm a man, I can code, if I have to, I guess.

6. What advice would you have for anybody wanting to develop a game using Linux?
   Start simple. If you are new to programming make a text game. If you are new to game design make a simple 2D game. It might not be what you really want but you'll learn enough to move onto bigger things later.

Name/handle: beansmyname
7DFPS jams participated in: 2014
Development distro: Arch Linux 64-bit

1. Please describe your 7DFPS game.
   Haunt is not a game. It is an experience.

2. What attracted you to 7DFPS?
   The opportunity to collaborate with fellow SteamLUG members on a community project.

3. Have you worked on any games previously? If so, what are they, if not, what's inspired you to try?
   Haven't worked on anything that was published and never on something in 3D, but the combination of free time and a desire to learn something new led me to participate in the 7DFPS.

4. What was your favourite part of working on your 7DFPS game? What did you learn, and what were the biggest hurdles you faced?
   Being part of a team that was all running Linux as their primary dev machines and getting practice with git.
   I learned that I know even less than what I thought I knew about the process of making a game.

5. Do you plan to continue developing your 7DFPS game?
   Yes.