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Interview

Rocket Void Interview with Benfont

Do you enjoy playing simple mobile games in your free time? We do, so when we stumbled upon Rocket Void (by Benfont) on Twitter, we knew we had to give it a try! …that was a while ago now, which is why today we would like to share our interview with the Benfont Team, the developers of Rocket Void!

If you have yet to check out our review of Rocket Void, you can do so here!

Before we start we’d like to thank the Benfont Team for participating in our interview and for answering all of our geeky questions! Thanks Guys!

…and without further ado, our interview begins…

 

The Interview


Thanks for taking the time to talk to us about Rocket Void! Could you kick-start this interview by telling us a little about your studio, yourself, and what drew you into the gaming industry?

My name is Jonathan Bencomo and I am the founder and sole developer of Benfont, an indie game studio located in Dublin, Ireland.

I have been making games since 2016 and Rocket Void is my 10th game release.
My background is completely unrelated to video games, I have a degree in business and worked in finance since I left college. But in 2016 I decided to learn how to make games and that is when I started Benfont.

What drew me into the gaming industry? Well, I have always had a passion for video games, so I guess that was it, plus the fact that I have always wanted to start my own business.

 

 

Ok, let’s start talking about Rocket Void… What are the highlights of your latest release?

Rocket Void is a fast-paced game with very tight controls and good looking graphics.

It is a game that is easy to learn but hard to master, and also is a game that can be played for as long as you want to play – you could play it for 20 seconds or for hours if you wanted to. There is really no time restriction in the game – it is what we call in the industry a “Snackable” game.

 

What was the core idea or inspiration behind Rocket Void? And perhaps more importantly, where do you find inspiration for your games in general?

The first prototype I made of Rocket Void was a ball avoiding obstacles, but after working more and more in that prototype I decided that instead of avoiding obstacles I should have small openings to go through which made me think of adding rings to the game. Adding the rocket was one of the last things I did – I asked myself what could go through rings that are floating in the air? So coming up with the idea of using a rocket was kind of obvious in the end.

Where do I find inspiration for my games?
Well in my particular case the best place to find ideas is to work on prototypes. The flow of ideas is higher when I am in front of my computer working in a prototype so I can test on the spot which of my ideas work and which ones do not.

 

How long was Rocket Void in development for? And are there any interesting and/or exciting moments or experiences you would like to share with us from that time?

Rocket Void was in development for about 3 months up to the release of version 1.0.0. Today I sent to the store version 1.0.3 which updates the game in some key areas I wanted to change. Rocket Void is still not finished, I am going to continue working on the game for some time and constantly release updates to keep interest in the game high.

Rocket Void was developed in Unity and before releasing this game, I had no experience in the framework. So I guess that is the most exciting experience about the development of Rocket Void.

 

What software, developer-tools, or black-magic(?) did you use when making Rocket Void? Is there anything you would like to share with the developers who read Edamame Reviews?

I have recently switched to Unity, and I must say that I am absolutely in love with the tool. It is by far one of the best video game development frameworks that I have tried (and believe me, I have tried almost all of them). So if other game developers are reading this article and you are considering using Unity please give it a try, it is worth the effort.

Apart from Unity I use gimp to edit some images and I do some basic stuff on Blender, but nothing too fancy – I am a terrible designer.

EDAMAME – A terrible designer wouldn’t land a place on Edamame Reviews first try, you are great! 😆

 

Is there any secret “developer-advice” you can give our lucky players who read this interview?

In Rocket Void there is a speed booster that is shaped as a sphere and has the same colors as your Rocket. So if you find that power up in a level, getting it is the best help you can get to finish that level. Also always remember to keep your eyes open and focus on moving the rocket to the right distance to avoid collisions with the rings.

 

What can we expect to see in Rocket Void or from Benfont in the not so distant future? What do we have to look forward to next?

As I mentioned before, I am going to continue working in Rocket Void – more and more updates will be released and I will be adding more features with time.

From Benfont you can expect nothing but good things as I am going to continue working very hard in the company and will do my best to provide quality games to my players.

 

Lastly, is there anything you would like to say to our awesome team of Writers, Developers, and Patrons who keep Edamame Reviews up and running?

Many thanks for taking the time to talk with me. Edamame is the place to go to read game reviews and I was honored to see that you reviewed Rocket Void – thanks for that!

Please continue with your hard work and many thanks for always keeping the indie dev community in your content.

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