CreatingSFF podcast

Weapons maker Alekseyev Ilya interview – Super Magfest 2018 – youtube

Ilya Alekseyev is a weapons maker, armorer, engraver and philosopher. I spoke to him at Magfest 2018 about his work with the Man At Arms Reforged show and other things.

2:03 – Alexei talks about the Kings of Avalon sword. He is proud of the amount of engraving he did for it. Engraving is his specialty.

3:18 – He is inspired sometimes by the subject matter. Sometimes the material he uses inspires him. The challenge of the project also inspires him.

4:17 – He’s a big fan of the Japanese tradition of sword smithing. They treat swords as artwork and have established traditions for this. Most other places in the world do not have a continuous culture of appraising swords and treating them as artwork.

6:43 – His library is the most important tool for his work. His classical literature collection is what is important to balance his skills. It helps to guide his hands.

9:20 – The two things he enjoys most are one, using the charcoal forge. The process is meditative. The second is engraving and chasing.

11:11 – He started weapons making in college when he needed a job while studying Philosophy. His first piece of armor was probably a chain mail shirt. His first sword was a Polish sabre. A 17th century one.

12:38 – His Philosophy thesis was on intellectual property.

17:29 – Philosophy is still a very big part of his life.

18:11 – He doesn’t remember his first professional sale. He works during the day on Baltimore Knife and Sword projects and after that he works on his personal weapon projects. He treats weapons as art objects not as something for violence.

20:19 – He was inspired by Tolkien just like everyone in the Western world. Anime has inspired him a lot. He really likes the anime Kill la Kill. Bladerunner is amazing to him. Zelany’s work is great food for the mind. Bradbury’s Martian Chronicles gave him an appreciation for American literature. Ghost in the Shell was and is amazing.   He knows the Stanislaw brothers works and enjoys them.

23:22 – He would like to make the Divined Jewel Spears of Heavens from the Kojiki. He would like to make one or both of Charlemagne’s swords. The saber was made in Russia and requires a lot of gold.

 

Links

http://imakeswords.com/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kill_la_Kill

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ghost_in_the_Shell

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kojiki

 

For more “Creating Sci-Fi and Fantasy – An Inside Look” please follow me on Facebook at crisalvarezwlc, on youtube at Cris Alvarez and on Instagram @crisalvarezscifi

 

Guests: Ilya Alekseyev

Host: Cris Alvarez

 

 

Game developer Brian Palladino interview

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Brian Palladino of WhiteBoard Game Studio studied industrial design but decided to go into indie game development two years ago. I interviewed him at Magfest 2018.

0:47 – Brian talks about his game Disco Ships. It’s sort of like Asteroids and is multi-player. Also, your health is your ammo.

2:40 – Brian started in industrial design and decided to design games using Unity. He took classes on making games and started making prototypes. He was in New Jersey but moved to Philly since there’s a lot of game development going on there. They’re the PHL Collective.

5:30 – The key is to just keep making games. They have weekend game jams to make games. Magfest tries to keep the convention indie. AAA aren’t a part of this convention. Lots of AAA designers like to go indie to create what they want.

10:00 – Brian talks about applying industrial design to help finish a game. Producing is the key. You only learn all the facets if you keep trying new things and new projects.

12:44 – Brian is inspired by all the games he’s played. He likes making things people enjoy. Game creation used to be wizardry to him until he learned how to do it.

14:40 – He loves Nintendo and is inspired by their stuff. Mark Brown on youtube puts up videos on good game design. He’s created his own artwork for the game but he really likes the technical side.

17:40 – He couldn’t do his work without Unity. Music is big for him too. He’s also been in a band with his brother. Creating games brings all his interests together.

20:51 – He loves working on the core mechanics of a game. Game loops are very interesting to him. Adding “juice” or particle effects are really interesting as well.

23:35 – He once designed, on paper, a huge game and realized he had to de-scope the game. Managing his time is one thing he picked up while developing games. He also learned the studio pipeline and process.

24:55 – Game designers should provide enjoyment to people. It’s a circle of enjoyment between the players and the designers.

27:30 – He mentions Stardew Valley as a really interesting task game. Games have tasks to varying degrees.

29:30 – He’s always been a big Star Wars fan. He saw the prequels before the originals. He likes the visuals in the prequels more than he likes the originals. Evolve is a game he really likes. It’s a very futuristic game with a lot of strategy. The developers streamed game development on twitch before they released it.

33:51 – He never watched tv as a kid. He always played games. He’s hard pressed to see a movie. He’s focused on playing games. Interactive content is more interesting. He did like the Aliens series. He also liked Lord of the Rings too. He loves Skyrim and Fall Out.

36:16 – He’d love to create an online multi-player especially as an indie game. He also loves class-based games like Overwatch. He would like to make a mech game. He wants to change up what the controls do for every different character. It would be a form of game art. Grow Home & Grow Up kind of did that.

40:30 – Only 2 years ago he wondered what it would be like to create a game and now he’s here at Magfest. He says if you want to do something just do it. There are lots of resources.

41:50 – They’ll try to put the game on Steam. It’s on itch now. They’ll send press kits to the big companies. They’re on @discoships on twitter.

 

Links

http://discoships.com/

https://phlcollective.com/

https://www.youtube.com/user/McBacon1337

https://unity3d.com/

https://stardewvalley.net/

https://www.evolvehq.com/games/3673

https://playoverwatch.com/en-us/

http://store.steampowered.com/bundle/1691/Grow_Home__Grow_Up/

 

For more “Creating Sci-Fi and Fantasy – An Inside Look” please follow me on Facebook at crisalvarezwlc, on youtube at Cris Alvarez and on Instagram @crisalvarezscifi

 

Guests: Brian Palladino

Host: Cris Alvarez

Tags: indie game design, video games, magfest, magfest 2018, PHL collective

Game developer Brian Palladino interview – Super Magfest 2018 – youtube

Brian Palladino of WhiteBoard Game Studio studied industrial design but decided to go into indie game development two years ago. I interviewed him at Magfest 2018.

0:47 – Brian talks about his game Disco Ships. It’s sort of like Asteroids and is multi-player. Also, your health is your ammo.

2:40 – Brian started in industrial design and decided to design games using Unity. He took classes on making games and started making prototypes. He was in New Jersey but moved to Philly since there’s a lot of game development going on there. They’re the PHL Collective.

5:30 – The key is to just keep making games. They have weekend game jams to make games. Magfest tries to keep the convention indie. AAA aren’t a part of this convention. Lots of AAA designers like to go indie to create what they want.

10:00 – Brian talks about applying industrial design to help finish a game. Producing is the key. You only learn all the facets if you keep trying new things and new projects.

12:44 – Brian is inspired by all the games he’s played. He likes making things people enjoy. Game creation used to be wizardry to him until he learned how to do it.

14:40 – He loves Nintendo and is inspired by their stuff. Mark Brown on youtube puts up videos on good game design. He’s created his own artwork for the game but he really likes the technical side.

17:40 – He couldn’t do his work without Unity. Music is big for him too. He’s also been in a band with his brother. Creating games brings all his interests together.

20:51 – He loves working on the core mechanics of a game. Game loops are very interesting to him. Adding “juice” or particle effects are really interesting as well.

23:35 – He once designed, on paper, a huge game and realized he had to de-scope the game. Managing his time is one thing he picked up while developing games. He also learned the studio pipeline and process.

24:55 – Game designers should provide enjoyment to people. It’s a circle of enjoyment between the players and the designers.

27:30 – He mentions Stardew Valley as a really interesting task game. Games have tasks to varying degrees.

29:30 – He’s always been a big Star Wars fan. He saw the prequels before the originals. He likes the visuals in the prequels more than he likes the originals. Evolve is a game he really likes. It’s a very futuristic game with a lot of strategy. The developers streamed game development on twitch before they released it.

33:51 – He never watched tv as a kid. He always played games. He’s hard pressed to see a movie. He’s focused on playing games. Interactive content is more interesting. He did like the Aliens series. He also liked Lord of the Rings too. He loves Skyrim and Fall Out.

36:16 – He’d love to create an online multi-player especially as an indie game. He also loves class-based games like Overwatch. He would like to make a mech game. He wants to change up what the controls do for every different character. It would be a form of game art. Grow Home & Grow Up kind of did that.

40:30 – Only 2 years ago he wondered what it would be like to create a game and now he’s here at Magfest. He says if you want to do something just do it. There are lots of resources.

41:50 – They’ll try to put the game on Steam. It’s on itch now. They’ll send press kits to the big companies. They’re on @discoships on twitter.

 

Links

http://discoships.com/

https://phlcollective.com/

https://www.youtube.com/user/McBacon1337

https://unity3d.com/

https://stardewvalley.net/

https://www.evolvehq.com/games/3673

https://playoverwatch.com/en-us/

http://store.steampowered.com/bundle/1691/Grow_Home__Grow_Up/

 

For more “Creating Sci-Fi and Fantasy – An Inside Look” please follow me on Facebook at crisalvarezwlc, on youtube at Cris Alvarez and on Instagram @crisalvarezscifi

 

Guests: Brian Palladino

Host: Cris Alvarez