Interview: Annabelle Kennedy
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Annabelle Kennedy is an artist, animator and game designer. I started following her work after finding some of her adorable indie game fan art. Since then, Annabelle has collaborated on a few different games, such as Self Destruct, and more recently has been working on her one-woman project, Tiny Survival Horror. Her work is already impressive, and I can't wait to see what she comes up with in the future.
Thanks for taking the time to answer my questions, Annabelle!
What games are you currently working on?
With my collaborative project Ciellus currently on hold, I have been focusing my energy on my own game, TSH (Tiny Survival Horror). I am relatively new to programming and making games. I only seriously started practicing last year, but through a lot of trial and error (and the amazing MSVS debugger) I have come a long way!
I'm planning on keeping this a solo project, because I have a lot of fun working on all the different aspects—graphics, music and level design. I've been holding off on showing a lot of it until I have something that I'm satisfied with.
I worry a lot about what people think, because it's really hard to have people tear away at something you've put your heart and hard work into for a long time. And given some of the things I've seen happen to people in the past, I worry about similar things happening to my game.
I didn't realize Ciellus was on hold! Why did you stop working on it?
When Terry [Cavanagh] and I realized we wouldn't make the IGF deadline with a demo, we lost a lot of motivation. He's been spending time working on a bunch of smaller projects and I've been focusing on TSH.
Let's talk more about TSH. What was your inspiration for starting on it?
A lot of inspiration came from (surprise!) Cave Story. People these days are negative towards Cave Story derivatives, but it wasn't like that when I started.
Cave Story was my ‘gateway’ game. It showed me that one person can do it all. It's inspiring, but everyone has heard that story before.
Does TSH draw inspiration from Resident Evil or any of the traditional survival horror games?
Well, in its early stages it did more than it does now. It has evolved more into a candy coated survival horror. It has that type of story structure, but aesthetically it's very different.
Are you making it in Game Maker?
No, of course not! I'm making it in C++ with SDL/OGL.
C++! That's not a very beginner–friendly way to make a game.
I believe in learning by doing. I bought a C++ primer to learn the basic syntax, and since then I've just been sort of roughing it.
Are there any people that you'd like to collaborate with on future projects?
Almost all of the people I look up to are great artists as well as creative, so I'm not exactly sure what I could bring to the table. But who knows, I'm open to anything!
Who are some of those creative people you look up to?
I look up to a lot of people in the indie community, but for starters, Joakim Sandberg is a big inspiration to me. He can make all the aspects of a game by himself and finish it, which is really hard to do. He's got all kinds of determination, and is just generally fantastic.
I also look up to Arthur Lee, who in a similar way has a lot of determination. He manages not to lose hope and work on his projects despite what people say or think of him. Seeing someone who deals constantly with negative attention and never gives up is amazing to me!
I have a lot of respect for Phil Fish and the Kokoromi/Polytron team, because they're out there making it happen. Phil is confident, he put together a great team and he's living the dream.
And finally, of course, Daisuke "Pixel" Amaya because he has an amazing sense of vision, and by himself was able to create an experience that's more gripping and enjoyable then most games I've ever played. He's really modest and great, and now he's finally getting the attention he deserves!
Are you going to pursue making indie games full–time, or is this more of a hobby for you?
Creating games is a new thing for me and I have no idea where it will lead me, but what I do know is that it brings me a lot of satisfaction to work on my own projects. It's refreshing to be able to work at my own leisure, as a treat for myself. It's a very personal and enjoyable thing for me, but it's hard to say where I'll go with it.
You can follow Annabelle's artwork on DeviantArt.
January 24, 2009
Annabelle Kennedy / indie games / Tiny Survival Horror / interview / pixel art
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