Is getting into the games industry bound to be an Epic Rail?

With over two million views in 182 countries in only 5 days after its release, flash game Epic Rail is proving to be a big hit.

_Tell us a bit about yourselves first._

Craig: We’re both 3rd year Computer Scientists here at the university. Scott did the programming and game design and I did the artwork, sound effects and music.

_So, what is Epic Rail about?_

Scott: It is a fast paced puzzle game where you have to use your reactions and abilities to navigate trains around tracks, making sure you drop passengers off at their correct destinations and avoiding train collisions… although it is quite fun just to crash the trains.

_What inspired you to make this game?_

Craig: Having been playing games ever since I was young, there hasn’t really been a time where we weren’t coming up with ideas for games.

Scott: Same, I have made other flash games before this one. We originally set out to create a game which was a series of mini games; one of which involved guiding trains. We liked the train mini game so much that we scrapped our original game plan and decided to flesh it out into its own game.

_How long did it take?_

Scott: It took us about 9 months to get it complete, but that was because we were doing other things too. We originally designed 40 levels but cut out 6 to make 34 levels, as well as making it accessible to colour blind players.

Craig: In terms of solid work it would probably have taken us about a month. In the beginning we were putting in a couple of hours a week but as it came close to being finished, it went up to 6 hours a day.

_The game is free to play online so how do you make any money from it?_

Scott: We approached several games websites and Not Doppler agreed to pay us if we embedded their logos and advert into Epic Rail. The game will be spread throughout the Internet with their logos on.

_What were your favourite and least favourite parts of making the game?_

Craig: For me, the best bit has to be the middle part of development, when you’ve decided what you’re going to do and it’s just about coming up with new ideas and implementing them. The worst bit is when you’re close to completion because you’ve been working on the game for ages and there still seems to be loads of little tweaks to do that take ages!

Scott: Once we developed our level editing program, it allowed us to make levels within a matter of minutes which we used for prototyping. Before we made the level editor we were hard coding each level which took a long time: not fun at all! It’s great to see our friends’ reactions the first time they play our game though.

_What advice can you give to aspiring flash games designers?_

Scott: There’s a difference between thinking of a game idea and actually making it happen, you need to think of a specific game element that will make the game interesting and also be able to program it.

Craig: Practice over and over again and you will get good at what you do. Make sure you enjoy it, too, or when it comes to the hard work of completing the game, it will become too much of a grind.

Scott: We used Flash ActionScript 2.0 but soon you won’t need to learn any specific programming language. You can use Unity to develop a game and from there export it to whichever platform you wish.

_Do you hope to pursue this and go into the games industry when you graduate?_

Craig: I’m not really sure yet, as long as I can work at a project that I enjoy and get my teeth stuck in then I’ll be happy.

Scott: Yes, I’ve always wanted to get into the game industry. More recently I’ve been thinking I would like to get in to making small, indie games or perhaps for a mobile platform. Of course, working for Nintendo will always be the dream!

_Lastly, what is your favourite game of all time?_

Craig: Mine is definitely Deus Ex. It’s such a fantastic game with great depth to it as well as a non-linear but deep story.

Scott: It’s got to be Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time for me. It combines so many different game play elements: one minute you’ll be in a sword fight, then you’ll be riding a horse and next you’ll be doing puzzles.