Lil Gator Game Post-Release Interview

Given more time, we all had little things we would have cleaned up or experimented on, but there are indeed a few ideas we were excited about but didn't have time for.

Near the end of development, it occurred to me that four of the 10 special items you get during normal gameplay are just different ranged weapons. We had plenty more ideas for goofy special items, but by then, it was too late to do anything about them. I think that's for the best, though, because we didn't really want to cut any of the blasters either. It's nice to have that variety like you do for hats and shields.

The small quirks on cosmetic items like the ninja headband, inner tube, and grabby hand also showed up pretty late in development. It would have been cute if more hats changed the way you walk or more swords had a cool secret property.

What you see is the truth, and whether you choose to sit back and observe or participate in the make-believe is part of what makes your experience unique. We don't have any regrets about that in the slightest.

It seemed appropriate for a tale of self-discovery.

We thought they would be fun!

Most of them come from experience, but the designs changed a lot to suit the style or readability of the game. The space blaster was one of those plastic ball shooters before it was a dart gun, and I'm pretty sure I've never seen a sitcky hand in the shape of a lil gator footprint (although I'd like one!)

A reference is useful for quickly communicating or complimenting the bones of an original idea. I use them as sparingly as possible and avoid them like the plague in first drafts. If you hunt for places to include them, you will find those places, and homage will swiftly dissolve into parody.

If I'm desperately in the mood to make a Danny Phantom reference, I'll go chat for a few hours with my pal who likes Danny Phantom and get it out of my system. But if we've already decided on a multiple-choice courtroom drama, we might as well borrow from the best.

Martin is based on a real horse!

I mean, after about 50 quests, you start to run out of ideas, but I don't think that has anything to do with the nature of the game. That's just a lot of ideas. Plus, it's only temporary. You get some rest, watch a good show, look at things from a new angle, and you're off to the races again. At one point, Scott had to stop me. I could absolutely keep going. It's a fun world to write for.

Interesting fact about that, I didn't write a single line for the bracelet monkey. I would get up to make a grilled cheese or something, and when I sat back down, the lines would just be there, and a few coins would be missing from the tin of change I keep near my desk.

I have a working theory that every creepy magical salesman-type character from a videogame is written by the same entity, and I don't find myself prepared to ponder that entity's inspiration.

We were friends before, but Lil Gator has taught us a lot about how to work as a team. When to talk about things or save them for later, what to focus on, what we're good at vs what we like to do, how to egg each other on and stay motivated.

Technical skills, of course. Scott was already a Unity wizard, but now he has even more tricks for making beautiful art on a GPU budget. I discovered an instant affinity for Blender, so we know to put me on the front lines of modeling next time. Robin used the dynamic soundtrack as a chance to experiment with expressing the same motif in a ton of different instruments and styles.

Side note: Robin used to live outside of the USA, so one thing we're very excited NOT to deal with during future projects is intercontinental tax documentation!

We were big on keeping the dialogue G-rated, which obviously meant avoiding swearing, but we also felt weird about words like "heck" and "crap". I even wanted to use "crap" a single time for emphasis, but we ended up taking it out.

Censoring swears while maintaining the weight you employ them for is a challenge, but avoiding those sorts of phrases entirely made for a very different script. I occasionally had to change the way a scene was headed to accommodate the vibe.

Scott's favourite is Neil. There are a few OGs that Scott made before I joined the team, but whose lines I edited later. Neil is one of the ones I never touched!

Robin's is Gunther. He just thinks it's funny.

My favourite is Pepperoni, which I made to test my Blender chops. Among the first to be designed and among the last to have a quest written, which is perfectly in character for her.

My favourite quest to write was Jada's. Most characters adapt to or adopt Gator's energy and ideals, but with her, it's the other way around. It's Jada who sees her reflection in the plant, but Gator sets aside and even briefly forgets their ultimate goal in order to help it thrive. Jada hasn't changed by the end of the quest, but if only for a moment, Gator has!