The Intern, Alexander Rohn
So one of our Krazy Knights Staff members has gotten involved in doing his own little indie project. Since he has focused on promoting people projects we decided to promote his game "The Intern".
So Alex you know the drill. Who are you? How did you become a game developer? Well I went to school in Savannah and got my BFA and currently my MFA in game development. I work for several indie companies and Microsoft, Fantagraphics and Junction Point on a few canceled projects. I then started designing racetracks for Land Rover freelance and for one summer I was the only official graphic designer working on Biggie Smalls and Snoop Doggs clothing line. I then starting work as a game designer for a famous drag queen named Biblegirls Big Apple which Is launching very soon You are a two person team. Who else are you working? What do you two do on the project? I am working with Sana Freeman. Awhile ago I was working on a MMORPGMOBA (it had a big scope to say the least) with a indie company company and I brought her on as an intern. I was working on my game The Intern on the side and I started making more progress on it than the other project. People started to leave the company so I showed Sana my project and she liked it so we jumped ship and started to work more on it. She works on the all the sprite art, the main character Bob and his animations. She also is currently working at Rooster Teeth on RWBY along with Red vs. Blue. I kind of do everything else I am a bit of a jack of all trades.
So tell us about The Intern? Whats is it about? Whats the gameplay like? You play as a guy in his last quarter of college named Bob who is completely broke and unable to afford to graduate. He finds the only paid intern ship that is extremely vague and unusual but offers the exact amount of money you needs. He is then drugged and wakes up in a bizarre experiment run by poorly disguised robots who have a very poor understanding of human behavior. The player must perform a series of timed pointless office tasks every day. During your first day you discover a note left behind by the last intern giving you instructions of how to escape. You only have a couple days and the levels will change depending on the players actions. You basically have to perform the tasks to escape in conjunction with your work tasks. These can range from something trivial to more elaborate and dangerous. When I designed the gameplay It plays like a 2D platformer but has a focus on puzzles you would find in a point and click adventure game. I wanted the fast paced twitch action of a platformer broken up with periods of puzzle solving, NPC interactions and Inventory management. Certain parts of the office can allow player top access other parts of the robots layer acting as challenging platforming segments while style managing your daily work schedule.
Whats your plan for launching the game? Before we do kickstart, greenlight or apply for a grant at unreal I want to make a fully playable free demo. I want to have something playable for the public before I start begging for money. At launch I am going to include alternative ways to escape aside from the initial instructions. Each will range in difficulty and complexity. Thanks for the interview Kyle!