Welcome to the third edition of the Gandi IDE Creators Interview series. We have invited Mov as our guest for this interview. Mov left a deep impression on me. He participated in six Scratch Game Jams hosted by Gandi IDE and achieved first place in the third one, creating many outstanding works such as Flood Tower and Ruby Temple.
What particularly impressed me was when my 4-year-old son saw me rating submissions for Scratch Game Jam #2 and became very interested in Panicrops. I let him try it, and he had a great time. This experience highlighted the purpose of our community: the creations by our users bring joy and inspiration to others.
Let's learn more about Mov's story!
Interview Content
Brokenstrings: Can you briefly introduce yourself?
Mov: My name's Man-o-Valor, but most people call me Mov. I'm a witty high schooler with an aptitude for programming. :)
Brokenstrings: How did you start with Scratch programming? What sparked your interest in Scratch programming and game development?
Mov: Well, it feels like I've always been using Scratch. The join date shown by Scratch is January 2018, but even before that I used other websites and apps like CodeCombat and Hopscotch to practice skills. I liked Scratch because of its large community and possibilities to be noticed. Hopscotch, which is very similar, had a smaller community and some important features that are free in Scratch were locked behind paywalls.
Brokenstrings: Where do you usually get your creative inspiration from?
Mov: Gosh, well-I get inspired by lots of things. Artwork, Music-anything! When I'm feeling uninspired, I go outside or listen to music. Sometimes it takes months or years for me to fully envision an idea. My idea for Panicrops actually has been "growing" since 2020, and the Scratch Game Jam #2 actually is what brought it to life.
Brokenstrings: Can you tell us about some of your representative creations? Which one are you most satisfied with and why?
Mov: Well, if you know a little about how I started out, you might recognize a "representative work" by me as Choo-Choo Chaos. This project was featured in 2022 and was by far my first source of popularity. It was also the deciding factor in whether I wanted to really pursue coding as a career. Although it's become my brand, Choo-Choo Chaos is not a perfect game, and my works since then have been better as I have gotten even more skilled. (For the ones I'm most satisfied with, see Flood Tower and Ruby Temple.
Brokenstrings: Your work always impresses me. What are the unique features and innovations in your games?
Mov: One of the things I like most about making indie games is having a unique idea for the game. In my eyes, a game is only good if it does something new and revolutionary that hasn't been done. One example of this is my game Flood Tower, where the gameplay is like Tetris. You place blocks down to make a tower, but the catch is this: Your spirit is escaping a flood by using your blocks as stairs! You need to be careful to not crush him, and give him a path upward.
Brokenstrings: Flood Tower is one of my favorite works, and I recommend everyone to experience it. How do you usually start a new project?
Mov: To start a new project, I do this:
- Think. Don't start making it right away! I always give myself time to have new ideas and even come up with better ones.
- Draft. I love using pixel-style artwork for my games, and sometimes I'll get graph paper to draw sprites with. The page is long gone, but the first ever part of Flood Tower made was the block patterns, on an 8.5x11 sheet of 1/8th-inch graph paper.
- Start! Open up a new Scratch project and start coding. Envision the most core elements of your game, and make those first. Sometimes that's a tilemap, and sometimes it's physics. Either way, break your game into chunks of tasks to do: Make tiles render on-screen, make platformer physics with a point hitbox, modify to use four points for the hitbox, et cetera.
Brokenstrings: This is a highly commendable practice! I am curious what are your favorite editors and extensions?
Mov: My favorite editors are Turbowarp and Gandi. I use Penguinmod sometimes to draw vector sprites, because of its wider variety of options. My favorite extensions are Pen of course, Clones+, Temporary Variables, Math, and Text.
Brokenstrings: What challenges have you faced during development, and how did you overcome them?
Mov: Well, for challenges I always turn back to game jams. I love game jams and the idea of how they work-- Make a new game from start to finish in a limited time and fit these criteria. Whether it's a Cocrea Scratch Game Jam for two weeks or the world-famous GMTK game jam in only 48 hours, game jams are always the best way to challenge yourself. Some challenges with game jams are just not having a good core. If you come up with ideas too quickly, you might end up with one that is not only un-fun but also un-satisfying. Some of my games still suffer from this (but I'll let you find them yourself, vigilant reader ;)) and sometimes I never fix it in time. Sometimes the best way to fix it is just to scrap the idea! There are infinite possibilities for games, and not all of them are fun!
Brokenstrings: You participated in 6 Scratch Game Jams, and achieved first place in the third one. That's really awesome! Compared to Original Scratch and the Scratch Community, what different experiences have Gandi IDE and Cocrea brought you?
Mov: The Gandi/Cocrea community is really amazing compared to the Scratch community. It's much easier to be noticed by others if you make something really good.
Brokenstrings: Yes, we'll do our best to make more great works visible to everyone. Additionally, we have a rating system for works, which makes our platform more inclusive to user-submitted creations. What are your future plans or goals for your creations? Are you planning to try out any new technologies or game genres?
Mov: Right now I'm working on a project on Turbowarp that I'm going to sell on Itch with a free demo. The plan is to remake Choo-Choo Chaos, but better than ever in every way. I also created two Discord bots with Discord.js and I'm hosting them myself, which was a great learning experience. I plan in the future to use other game engines like Godot or Gamemaker.
Brokenstrings: How do you allocate your programming time in daily life?
Time for things to get more real :0 Mov: Truthfully, it's not easy to have so much programming time in a day, especially when it isn't over summer break. What is really helpful, though, pretty much boils down to homeschooling. I have only a few hours of time needed to spend on school a day, and I don't even have to go outside (lol I do). I still get all A's and I'm a grade ahead in some subjects like Math.
Brokenstrings: Besides programming, do you have any other hobbies?
Mov: Not much honestly, but I also like drawing, cooking, and camping :)
Brokenstrings: What advice do you have for beginners just getting into game development?
Mov: DO IT. Even if your first projects are horrible, remember pretty much everyone starts like that! Just look at one of my first projects Space Smash: Horrible name, janky controls, unappealing graphics, and more. Just get started! I twill take years for you to gain more skills and friends, but it's worth it.
Brokenstrings: What insights can you share from your experience in game development?
Mov: I've pretty much scattered insights all throughout this interview, but basically, just keep trying! Expand your portfolio by trying new things. If you have a new idea to try something, look into it! If it looks possible, go for it! Step out of your comfort zone, a little at a time. If you have never done something before, try to find a way to add it to your resumé!
Brokenstrings: Is there anything else you would like to share?
Mov: Well, my latest project Food Truck is a discord bot that you can play like a game. I'd appreciate it if you tried it out, added it to your server, or joined mine! The more servers it's in, the more Discord notices it. It's also already in the Gandi community. :) https://discord.gg/5HQvgeE8G8https://discord.com/application-directory/1189308444109451295
Brokenstrings: Thank you for participating in our interview. Do you have any final words for the community?
Mov: Blaze your own path! Take my advice, or come up with your own. Never stop finding ways to improve. :D