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If there's a wide variety of websites focused on offering Flash-based games and animation, such as Kongregate, one of its true pioneers is Newgrounds. Launched in 1995 – when Internet was still crawling in Brazil, and there was quite a long road ahead of it worldwide – this website hosted not only indie developers' productions, but also their own team's work. Created without any grand plans, one of its in-house projects was the way in to the console world...
"Alien Hominid" was a huge hit as a free webgame after its 2002 release, and the will to turn it into a worthy contestant on the console market gave birth to The Behemoth, who released an expanded remake as its debut title on PlayStation 2, GameCube and Xbox in 2004. From that point on, their characteristic art style – featuring Dan Paladin's easily recognizable drawings – and the tendency of tipping their hat to true classics (if "Alien Hominid" is "Contra", "Castle Crashers" is "Golden Axe") made the company one to keep an eye on.
A bit before the announcement of the PS3 version of "Castle Crashers" and their mysterious third game for unconfirmed platforms, we've had the opportunity to chat with Dan Paladin, John Baez and Tom Fulp, three of The Behemoth's founding fathers. Check out what the trio said about their productions, their origins, the current and future market in our exclusive interview:
About The Behemoth
FinalBoss: First of all, thanks for your time! Introduce yourself to our game fans!
The Behemoth: Hi! We are Dan, John and Tom of The Behemoth!
FB: How did you start your career in game development?
TB: The team got into gaming from different directions - Tom Fulp created Newgrounds.com over a decade ago to host his Flash games and movies. It soon evolved into the internet's first Flash portal where artists, programmers and musicians could share their work with the world.
John: has an architecture background and decided to switch careers after playing Doom II in 1994. He moved to San Diego and was hired on at various game development studios as an artist/level designer. He met Dan in 2002, where they worked together at a game development studio shortly before founding the Behemoth.
Dan: I moved out from Cleveland for a dotcom venture that didn’t end up doing too well. When I was looking for work I applied at like 20 places, animation studios, game companies, etc. All the staffing people told me I wouldn’t fit into games at all, so they wouldn’t even consider me. They told me there was no way I would ever work in games, and I started to believe them. At the time I had some friends on an art forum who saw I was looking for work, so they got me an interview at Presto Studios. At Presto, during the interview, I realized that this was what I wanted to do with my life. Follow your dreams, kids.
FB: Do you enjoy playing in your free time? If so, which games and genres are your favorites?
Dan: "Starcraft". I like "Team Fortress 2". A lot. I like to play Burnout Paradise and race around on a motorcycle to classical music. I really enjoy "River City Ransom". The timing and humor in that game is great. "Red Faction" is pretty fun.
Tom:: I like "Gears of War" and "Street Fighter" although I mostly just play web games nowadays.
John:: "Starcraft" and crazy Japanese puzzle games.
FB: When was The Behemoth founded? How many people work there, and how is a day at the company?
TB: Despite our grand name, the Behemoth is a small group of developers. Our team size fluctuates during the process of making a game, but at its core, we are less than a dozen developers. When we first begin a project there are usually only two or three people working on it.
A day at the company? I don’t think there is such thing as a "typical" day at The Behemoth. We are all working on so many different things all at once! On any given day we could be collaboratively making levels for the new game, getting stuff together for an upcoming tradeshow, designing fun merchandise, lifting heavy boxes, saving marriages… all kinds of stuff!
FB: What are the pros and cons of running an indie development studio?
TB: The biggest benefit is that we own our own intellectual property. We don't have to get permission from anyone to work on a new game concept or to design a new figurine- we can just do it. No one can force us to make sequels or port the game to other systems if we don't want to. It's also great to have a small hardworking team.
As far as cons, on the financial side, it is always hard to self-fund a game. It might take years for a game to be developed (like "Castle Crashers") but everyone still needs to eat and pay rent every month. And there is no guarantee that your game will make back the money that was invested.
About Alien Hominid, Castle Crashers and That Third Title Only You Guys Know The Name Or Not
FB: It was great to see "Alien Hominid" going from a Flash title to a full retail product, and then to XBLA. How did this whole process go?
Dan: "Alien Hominid" started out as a Flash game on Newgrounds.com. Tom and I just made it for fun; we didn’t think it would ever go anywhere else, and we never meant for it to. John noticed that there were millions of people playing it online, and he liked the look and feel of it and wanted to make it a full title. After The Behemoth was formed we released an expanded retail version on Gamecube and PS2, and then later released "Alien Hominid HD" as a downloadable title on Xbox LIVE Arcade.
FB: "Castle Crashers" was one of the Summer of Arcade's biggest hits. We know our readers - at least the ones who don't have a Xbox 360 - will grill us if we don't ask this: what are the odds of seeing it getting released on other platforms?
TB: We have recently announced that we are working on "Castle Crashers" for the PS3!!
FB: What can you share regarding The Third Game? Is it a multiplayer gig? Yes, we are very, very curious.
TB: Yes, it is multiplayer, both online and local. But it will have a single player mode as well. Also, it is really crazy fun!
FB: It's been a while since we've started to see indie games such as "Meat Boy", "N", "Cave Story" and others getting remade. Which other indie games should get a chance as a full downloadable / retail game?
Dan: I’d love to see the game "Gesundheit" as a full title. Its really charming and Matt Hammill did everything, art, programming, even the music! I am sure there are a lot more awesome games out there, but I haven't had time lately to explore them all.
FB: How did Alien Hominid's cameo appearance on "Super Meat Boy" come to be? Will Meat Boy be on the Behemoth's next game?
TB: Alien Hominid loves to be in video games! Who knows what mischief Meat Boy will get up to…
FB: Are we ever going to get a Pico [a violent series of games, a satyrical approach on American school shootings] game? Or any other Newgrounds classic, for that matter?
Tom:: Anything is possible, but I would say the characters from "Dad 'n Me" are more likely to appear on a console before Pico does. We don't have any serious plans for either at the moment, though.
About the current market and future developments
FB: What's next for The Behemoth? Are there any other things brewing, apart from the Third Game?
Dan: Just a string of really fun games and the toys and clothes that go along with them!
We are always looking for ways to allow more people to be able to participate in our games just like we’ve been doing. I think the main evolution between "Alien Hominid" and "Castle Crashers" has been a big increase in the approachability of the game (while maintaining challenge) and I want to keep exploring in that direction.
FB: What is your take on current consoles (360, PS3, Wii)?
TB: We are a fan of all three consoles and would love to someday see all our games available on all consoles. Its definitely difficult as a small company to do this, since at least a good third (yes, 1/3) of a developers time is spent conforming to the requirements of a particular console hardware manufacturer. This is a lot of time in addition to the time to the development time to make a fun game.
FB: And what about portable systems (DS, PSP, iPhone)?
Dan: I always liked the GBA adaptation of "Alien Hominid", it was the most "true" port I've ever seen. And that made me very happy. Tuna Technologies did a great job!
TB: We are always looking into other platforms. We have no hardware allegiance. We are Switzerland.
FB: So far, you guys have released retail and downloadable titles, and your next project also seems to be a digital distribution offering. Do you plan to stick to this medium, or are there plans for more retail titles as well?
Dan: We like downloadable a lot because everybody wins. Gamers pay less, they get it instantly, there’s no real overhead other than development for us to pay.
FinalBoss' Classic Round of Questions
FB: Which game made you think "I wish I had created that", and why?
Dan: "Shadow of the Colossus". In the first rendition of "Castle Crashers" we had a giant hydra, and you stood on its face and smacked it in the eyes and things. But our engine was never really meant for climbing on bosses. After I saw "Shadow", I was wishing we had done more with this idea.
FB: Which other game developers do you look up to, and for what reasons?
Dan: I like Double Fine. They seem to have a lot more freedom in general than most developers. Criterion always caters to my favorite camera angle in racing games, which is the view from the front bumper. I play every Rockstar game. Technos Japan made some of my favorite games ever. Thanks for the memories!
FB: Have you ever been to Brazil? How well do you know the country?
Dan: Brazilian women are hot.
FB: What's your advice for people interested in getting into game development?
Dan: Show your game to as many people as possible and gauge the response appropriately. if people aren't seeming to be excited about your game, redo it. That's what we did for "Castle Crashers"! Find the right guys that do it all for the right reasons and pull their weight, keep your heads down, and never stop believing that there’s a light at the end of the tunnel. Use the nay-sayers as fuel.
Aspiring designers should have some sort of appeal — if it isn't new gameplay, then it really needs to be something visual. Not many people will be patient enough to play something that doesn't bring something new to the table, but that goes for any game, not just community games.
FB: Please leave a message to our readers and game fans!
TB: Thank you so much for playing and all the great feedback and support! We will try to keep making fun games for you to play. :)
FinalBoss would like to thank Dan, John and Tom for sharing a bit of their experience, and all the gang at The Behemoth for offering lots of fun for game fans – including the fine girls, see Dan? Stay tuned for our next inclusive interviews!
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