23 September, 2008 | No comments

Q & A with Bob’s Game creator, Robert Pelloni

Bob's Game is the culmination of 15,000 hours of hard work and perseverance, over the span of 5 years, all done by one man. That's right, the creator of Bob's Game, Robert Pelloni, spent 1/5 of his lifetime (ages 20 - 25) writing, programming, and designing every single pixel and sound you will encounter throughout the game.

Here are some details about the game, according to the website:

• -For Nintendo DS
• -20-hour-long retail-size, retail-quality adventure title
• -Focus on story, puzzles, item collection, and communication instead
  of repetitive battles with palette-swapped enemies
• -Over 200 unique characters that evolve throughout the story
• -In-game time effects, like changing weather patterns
• -...and much more

Thanks to the wonders of e-mail, Retro Video Gamer was able to do a Q & A with Robert to get some inside perspective on Bob's Game.

RVG: What was your main inspiration for creating Bob's Game? Was it a crazy idea that just popped into your head? Were you upset with the direction game development was going in? or perhaps someone told you it couldn't be done and you wanted to prove them wrong?

Robert: It's actually the game I wanted to play when I was a kid- specifically the modern-suburban simulation setting. I had an idea of what I wanted when I was very young, probably 10-12. I used to watch my older brother play a lot of NES, Dragon Warrior and Mega Man, and I wondered why there wasn't anything like that set in the normal world.

RVG: I understand you had limited knowledge and were basically self-taught, but, in reality, did you really not know anything about game development prior to Bob's game?

Robert: Not a thing. I took an introductory C++ class in High School, and that's the only knowledge I had. I literally started programming "bob's game" by downloading a GBA emulator and a development environment, and just started trying to get a pixel to move on the screen. It's all from scratch since that point- I basically "reinvented" the entire design of a game. Some things are probably not as efficient as they could be, but I'm sure some things are pretty unique in terms of actual code design. I didn't have any graphics or music skills whatsoever, those came from practice.

RVG: At any time did you ever think to yourself, "What did I get myself into?"

Robert: Lots of very hopeless, depressing nights, especially during the first half. Of course, the more I had done, the more confident I became, and the second half was great fun once I realized I knew what I was doing.

RVG: Throughout the 5 year development process, what was the biggest roadblock that hindered your progress?

Robert: Nothing that I can think of, especially. Mostly real-life obstacles, more than technical ones. Running out of food was always irritating.

RVG: I see you are actively searching for a publisher for the game, how is the search going?

Robert: I'm in talks with a few. "bob's game" will be on store shelves.

RVG: Are you worried that a publisher may take control of the game and change aspects of it from your intended vision? Why not keep the game a completely grass roots operation since the development of it was all independent?

Robert: I don't think they can change it now! That's one of the biggest reasons why I've pushed it online myself, and especially why it's called "bob's game," with me as the end boss- It protects my work, they can't steal my ideas, and they can't change it into anything else, people are going to wonder where "bob's game" went.

RVG: Can you shed any light on a possible release date?

Robert: Probably sooner than people would expect. All that remains to be done is a port over to the official Nintendo SDK, bug fixing, quality assurance, and manufacturing. Not very long.

RVG: Finally, how does it feel to know that something you poured over 15,000 hours into is highly anticipated in the gaming community?

Robert: Great! That's the most important thing to me. I've had people telling me I'm marketing it wrong, that I could make a lot more money this other way, that sort of thing. That's not what matters, that's not why I put half a decade of my life into it. All I've cared about for the last five years is making something truly excellent, a game worthy of being called the last great 2D console game. I want people to play it!

We would like to thank Robert for taking the time out to answer our questions and wish him all the best with Bob's Game.

Bob's Game Official Website:http://www.bobsgame.com

Bob's Game Official Trailer: