Monsters’ Den, one of the greatest flash games I’ve played to date, is a deep dungeon crawling RPG by Daniel Stradwick. Bringing me back to a simpler time, Monsters’ Den reminds me of when I was playing Advanced Dungeons & Dragons games like Eye of the Beholder on the SNES. I had the opportunity to speak with the game’s creator about his past, present, and future in the gaming industry.

Rob: What’s a typical day in the life of Daniel Stradwick like? Are you a full-time game developer? Somehow, I have the impression that you’re stuck behind a computer, coding away all day.

Dan: I am a full-time developer, and 99% of my work time is spent behind the computer. Coding does make up a lot of what I do, but when you’re an independent developer there are a lot of other factors you have to worry about. Adjusting art and layouts, dealing with contractors, or trying to figure out tricky design issues.

Rob: A lot of aspiring game designers start out with Flash. I couldn’t wrap my brain around RPG Maker, let alone Flash – but you managed to pound out Monsters’ Den in only three months? How did you do it?

Dan: What’s interesting about the development of the original Monsters’ Den is that I had never used Flash before. That was the project I used to learn the platform. It seems strange to me now that I was able to do it so quickly, and I couldn’t manage that pace now. It’s easy to fall into the trap of thinking you can, though, and run into scheduling issues (the bane of software development). I wasn’t a novice programmer though, I had a degree in computer science and years of hobbyist programming experience. The other thing that helped was a set deadline… I knew that the game had to be completely finished by a certain date to be eligible for a contest. I felt quite confident I would win, and I really needed the money. I didn’t win any money.

Rob: Speaking of contests, Kongregate has taken to helping the indie game development community out by issuing seemingly thousands of dollars to developers submitting to their site – if they win the top-rated contest that’s run each month. September’s contest was sponsored by Full Sail, a university in the USA that’s renowned for its video game development courses. Do you have any thoughts on this?

Dan: I’ve been lucky enough to win Kong’s monthly contest twice, once with each game I’ve released. I think it’s a great little bonus, and I’m glad they’ve kept it up. If they’re able to offset the cost of it with a small text link to a sponsor I think that’s fine.

Rob: With 2 games in development (Monsters’ Den: Chronicles & Godfall) you must be feeling some pressure from your fans for some new content. Is there a lot of outcry for a new Monsters’ Den game? Have you considered adding any additional content to the original Monsters’ Den, aside from the previous Book of the Dread expansion/rerelease? Do you have a tentative release date in mind for the two new titles? Will you be timing the releases to coincide with any upcoming contests?

Dan: There is some level of fan anticipation for a new Monsters’ Den game. I get emails fairly often, and people sending me messages on Kongregate. There’s also a core of fans who have continued to follow my blog throughout the long hiatus. I have updated the earlier games numerous times for bug fixes, and a couple of times for content. To BoD I added the legendary lure, store badge and (later) Pandora’s box.
I don’t have firm release dates in mind– Chronicles is “whenever I can get it finished” and Godfall is “later”. I have no interest in contests any more so that isn’t a factor.

Rob: I originally played Monsters’ Den on Kongregate, where I’m still a member to this day. Has their acquisition by Gamestop affected your desire to post any upcoming titles on the website (for better or worse)? Will you be releasing Godfall & Chronicles elsewhere (Armor Games, etc.), or do you have some sort of exclusivity deal with Kongregate?

Dan: I still think Kongregate is a fantastic site, and I don’t think the acquisition has really changed much. I have friends on staff there, and they seem to be going from strength to strength. From a developer’s point of view, the site has lost a little of the independent, DIY, flavour it had in the beginning as more and more large companies start putting games on the site. To an extent that’s just the industry growing up. I consider Kong instrumental in the success of Monsters’ Den, and they did sponsor BoD. I don’t have any existing deals with them, but I am sure I will be talking to them about the new games when the time is right. No matter who ends up sponsoring the game, I’m sure you’ll see it on other sites eventually. It’s just not good value for the sponsors otherwise.

Rob: One of the neat things about Monsters’ Den was the character art. Will be Joe Calkins be providing any art for the two future projects? In a blog entry earlier this year, you made mention of your brother’s games (Battle for Wayland Keep and the still-in-development Ortus). Has he been any influence on the games you’re currently making, and/or the way you’re releasing them? Is he contributing to either of your upcoming titles?

Dan: There are several artists who’ve worked on the new games so far. With the older games, the character art was all stock– meaning I got it cheaply but had to work with whatever I could get. This time I am still using some stock art (though mostly in the form of line art I arrange to get coloured) but the bulk of the art has been contracted especially for Monsters’ Den. The single biggest contributor is Georgi Markov, who has painted the player character art and around half of the monsters. I haven’t decided if any Joe Calkins art will remain in the game.
My brother Matt was my original influence for getting into developing for Flash. His first released game (Monster Master) was a simple card game he did in his spare time as something for our nephew to play. When he got a sponsorship of several thousand dollars for it, I started to take the Flash platform more seriously and decided to learn, with Monsters’ Den. We haven’t collaborated as yet, our schedules never seem to sync up. I do wish I was as prolific as he has been.

Rob: The title of an independent full-time developer definitely sounds like a glorious one to the uninformed. Is it all it’s cracked up to be? What kind of advice would you have to offer to people that are interested in pursuing game development as a career path? Do you strictly develop video games, or do you develop other software as well?

Dan: Being an indie developer isn’t easy. You’re free of the pressure of someone telling you what to do, but the natural consequence of that is being free of the guidance of someone telling you what to do. You have to figure out everything for yourself, and then you have to actually DO everything yourself. Financially it can be very difficult, especially if you end up mired in a protracted development cycle like I have been. Having said all that, I wouldn’t rather be doing anything else, and I relish the freedom to make the games I want to. I did have an aborted attempt at selling a shareware utility a few years ago, but that’s a hard, boring business.
The number one piece of advice for someone looking to get into development is this: make games. Start today. Don’t wait for someone to give you permission, or proclaim that you are officially a game designer. Just start. It’s absolutely the best way to learn, and the games you make will be a much stronger resume than anything on paper.

Rob: Inspiration typically plays a huge role in any project. As someone who’s started several projects, only to have them fizzle out at the last minute, I’m certainly curious to know where you draw your inspiration from. Is it about the money or is this more of a labor of love?

Dan: Inspiration and motivation are huge, huge issues. How well you can manage them is probably one of the most important factors in whether you can succeed as an indie developer, without anyone else to crack the whip and keep you on-task. It’s definitely something I struggle with myself. To an extent it’s a labour of love– I start with a game I really want to make, but the initial enthusiasm inevitably wears off long before you’re finished. Then in comes in cycles, getting excited about the game and then getting sick of it again. Working on shorter development cycles definitely helps here, but it doesn’t solve the problem entirely. Money is a definitely a factor. Even when you’re sick of the sight of a game you can stay more-or-less on track when you know you’re broke until you finish it.

Rob: What kinds of games are you playing (if any) outside of the ones you’re creating/created? Any specific titles?

Dan: I play a lot of different kinds of games, though my backlog is huge. Some indies have a very negative view of AAA releases, but although I wouldn’t want to work on them I still enjoy a lot of them. Most recently I was playing Relic’s Space Marine. I have a huge soft spot for early 90′s PC stuff, and a lot of my favourite games come from that era (X-COM, Star Control 2) so Good Old Games is great for that. I just finished playing through Star Control 3 out of morbid curiosity, having been scared away by bad word of mouth at the time.

Daniel “garin” Stradwick is the owner & creator of Monstrum Games. A 31 year old man residing in Melbourne, Australia, Dan graduated from University of Auckland in New Zealand. Dan’s favorite super villain is Doctor Doom.
You can find his previous, and presumably future, releases on Kongregate.

F.L.O.G. (For the Love Of Gaming), is an article featuring interviews with developers from the gaming industry.

Tweet