Developer Spotlight: Dan Marshall, Size Five Games
Amid the panic of the Global Economic Meltdown, Dan Marshall set up Zombie Cow Studios as a part-time indie game developer. Several years later, this “horrible name” was swapped out for something “much less stupid” and the studio became known as Size Five Games.
As purveyors of fine electronic entertainment, Size Five has created ‘Ben There, Dan That’ and its sequel, ‘Time Gentlemen, Please’, the BAFTA award-winning sex education game ‘Privates’, ‘Gun Monkeys’, and earlier this week we saw ‘The Swindle’ launch on PC and PlayStation consoles.
We caught up with Dan to ask a couple questions about his work with Size Five Games.
What does your work with Size Five Games entail?
I run the company, which is thankfully a small, boring part of my job. For the rest of the time I'm designing and programming games, making explosions and adding cool new features.
What was it that drove you to game development?
A ridiculous love of games. I've always been into them, and it's an absolute dream to be making them.
What has been your favourite project to work on; personal or professional?
I really enjoyed working on Time Gentlemen, Please! because it was so knockabout and there was no stress involved - it wasn't my *job* at the time, and if it only sold one copy that didn't matter. I think there was a carefree attitude behind making that game that I'd love to be able to recapture.
I've loved working on The Swindle, though. Having the finances to get a team behind me to make something unique and special has been a blast.
What hardware/software do you usually use?
I use Unity for the game dev, Spine for animation and Photoshop for all the art stuff.
What misconceptions do people have about your job?
People think that I just sit around playing video games all day. They also think that because I run the company I can just take time off whenever to do things, and don't understand when I say "no, I need to get on with some work".
If I don't work, I don't get paid and getting that through to people is infuriating!
What do you love most about your work?
Working from home. I don't have to commute, I just make a cup of coffee and lock myself away fro the day, and honestly that's beautiful.
Do you have any advice for budding game developers?
Yeah, don't quit your day job until you have a hit game selling. Make it in the mornings before work, the evenings and weekends. Every spare second you get, but have a job that pays for your food and rent and shoes. Once the game's made you financially stable, quit and go full-time.
If you could’ve worked on any game in the past, what feature would you have added?
Oh man, I have no idea. I'd have loved the XCOM remake to be procedurally-generated, so I can just play maps over and over, so guess that. I hear they're doing that with the sequel, so there goes my free time.