Features

Interview: Cornutopia

By Marc Silver
March 13, 2005

Cornutopia was founded under the original name of Scorpius Software, developing shareware and commercial games for Amiga computers. Their first PC game was Arcangel in 1999, a squad level strategy game. At Cornutopia's core is Mark Sheeky, also of Bytten fame. We caught up with him and asked him a few questions about being an indie developer and about the future of Cornutopia.

TIGSource: When did you make the choice to become an indie developer and what, in particular, prompted your choice?

Mark Sheeky: Well I've been programming games ever since I got my first computer when I was 10 or 11, and started programming public domain games in 1991 on the Amiga. I got one or two publishing deals in the late 90's but all of them turned sour one way of the other. My final Amiga game was effectively stolen by the publisher and the Amiga was close to dead by that time so I sold up and bought a PC. After a few games, a few aborted developments, and more bad experiences with publishers I decided to sell online myself late in 2002. I'd had enough with being ripped off by publishers and I didn't like the factory jobs I was doing so I quit and decided to do things my own way.

TIGSource: What about being an indie developer is it that you enjoy most?

Mark Sheeky: The freedom to decide on a project and control over it are probably the only benefits any indie developer has. I used to moan when publishers wanted changes to a game, now I find myself making them because the customers directly request them! As a solo developer I'm responsible for all of a project from the concept, programming, artwork, music, testing, marketing and sales so most things feel more like work than enjoyment, but the rush of a new idea at the start of a project, and for me, writing the music give me the most pleasure. I occasionally write music for other developers as well as making instrumental music CD's as a hobby.

TIGSource: You founded bytten.com, and regularly write reviews there. Does being a developer yourself give you a more unique insight into how well a game has been produced?

Mark Sheeky: Yes, to an extent. It also works both ways because I can learn from some of the games I see. I have to be careful to view games as a player and not in terms of how they are developed. Game reviews are a good way to learn to write, and a good way to learn to assess games. I think that a good review should explain a game to the reader but not rate it. The scores therefore are usually more a case of personal taste than the hopefully more objective review text.

TIGSource: What, in your opinion, is the biggest advantage and disadvantage of being an indie developer?

Mark Sheeky: The biggest advantage is freedom and the biggest disadvantage is working long hours for little or no or unsure returns.

TIGSource: Which game have you enjoyed the most success with?

Mark Sheeky: Flatspace is my most popular game, and probably my best over the 40 or so I've written since 1991. Hilt II on Amiga was also popular among fans and critically acclaimed but sold less than 50 copies as licenceware. The only game to make it (legally) into shops was Burnout on Amiga, published by Vulcan Software. At least two other games have made it illegally into shops. Many of my free Amiga games were incredibly popular, and incredibly bad too!

TIGSource: Taskforce is (according to your site) due for release in March or April; tell us a little more about it.

Mark Sheeky: Specifically, the release date is March 21. Taskforce was my big project of 2004 but recieved a lukewarm response so I've removed the game for a refit. It's a squad level turn based strategy game, in the mould of games like X-COM or my previous games, Arcangel and Hilt II. The game is technically a sequel to a freeware Amiga game, Taskforce, that I wrote in 1994. I've always been a fan of turn-based strategy games. I don't find R.T.S. games strategic.

In Taskforce, you command an anti-terrorist unit in a series of plot-based missions. Many of the missions borrow plots from movies. Mission two for example, Born of the Dead, puts the player in a shopping mall full of zombies (yes, they do need a shot to the brain!) and features background music that parodies Romero's Dawn of the Dead. Future missions include fighting giant spiders, clones, and all sorts of plot twists and turns. The Game Tunnel reviewer of version one didn't see past the first demo mission so unfortunately all the best bits were simply unseen.

TIGSource: Flatspace 2 is scheduled for development later this year. What can users expect in the sequel?

Mark Sheeky: The central ethos of the game will remain, it will be a top-down space trading game, however there will be more of a story (including a new alien race). There will be difficulty levels and the game will treat beginner players a little less harshly than in the first game. In Flatspace, the player ship is on equal terms with the other enemies in the galaxy but that can make life tough, also unfair deaths can occur that I want to stop. Needless to say there will be more equipment and ships, and various selectable scenarios will allow players to play a 'classic' Flatspace gamewithout the story. Development on the current game isn't over though. I want to include some of the balancing changes in an update. I'm currently discussing a UK retail deal for Flatspace and it might be a good idea to offer current registered users, and those who buy the retail version that special update.

TIGSource: Will Flatspace 2 be using the same engine as Flatspace, or can we expect any changes?

Mark Sheeky: It will use the same game engine. All of my 3D games use my shader based engine called Hector.

TIGSource: Will Flatspace 2 be more combat orientated than the original?

Mark Sheeky: I can't really say until it's playable.

My next immediate game project will be an impulsive reactions shoot-em-up. Of all shooter genres, I prefer top-down rotators best, in other words an Asteroids viewpoint. I've written a few in the past (Roton, Xenex, Outliner) but none with modern 3D graphics so I'd like to give it a go.

I've also got a music project coming up as I produce some pop songs to demo a talented singer and friend Steven McLachlan. As the sound effect designer for IndieSFX, a new set of shoot-em-up sounds will be released in the coming months, and Andrew and I are thinking about having an alternative award ceremony at Bytten to highlight the indie games and talent that we think were overlooked elsewhere.

The hardest thing to do in Bytten is to find a bad game that was clearly lovingly created. As reviewers we have to judge each game relative to its best and worst peers, and I know that a lot of effort goes into a top end highly polished game, but in some ways even more effort goes into the games created by those just starting out. Our alternative awards could highlight those games, and perhaps award some of the weird avant-garde games we see to create a truly unique award list.

TIGSource: Great, thanks!