@kaiakairos - @Aalasteir (Q) - Index
Q: The story of your username: kaiakairos
1. my name is kaia and i wanted something that sounded cool
Q: What are the positives and negatives with the Internet?
2. i think its cool that so many people can connect with each other from all over the world and share cool stuff with each other, on the other hand the internet can be predatory and a lot of people live more on the internet than irl, i think that has skewed a lot of people’s perception for the worse
Q: How did you get interested in game development?
3. when i wad a kid (2011 ish?) my friends older brother showed me a game he made in ms powerpoint by using button links to other slides. it was only capable of making choose your own adventure type things, but i started making tons of little games and putting em on all the school computers so my friends could play. 2013 ish i wanted more complexity so i started making things on Scratch which taught me the basics of coding and really cemented the idea of making games into my head. havent been able to get it out since
Q: What is a good game mechanic and what is not?
4. for me its all about forcing the player to make interesting decisions, whether they are quick reactions or more deliberate thought out actions. good games will present you with the mechanics and the end goal and let u figure it out. if the solution is too obvious the game is boring. if the solution is too random the players decision making isn’t challenged. theres always exceptions though, and in practice i usually just make an idea and go “mmm… fun” without really thinkin about it
Q: What have you learned about making waxweaver?
5. i already talked about it on the winter fest panel so i wont repeat everything here, but tldr waxweaver was a so called “dream game” idea that took forever to come to fruition and i learned that generally you dont need to be a perfectionist about these ideas, if ur capable of producing a nice small portion of ur idea youll probably find that it can be just a fulfilling as pulling off ur true idea
Q: How did you get interested in creating art?
6. thats a hard question to answer. ive been drawing and stuff since before i developed sentience. as a kid tho i think i only understood art as a “drawing pretty pictures” thing. its only more recently have i wanted to try making art for the sake of self expression and articulating my inner workings. so in a sense im still trying to figure out the answer to that question. as of right now i treat making games as a sort of divine calling, its what i do because its what i do
Q: How did you discover the NG website? And is the community good?
7. ive been aware of newgrounds for a long time, i was a big fan of internet animation in the early 2010s sorta era, as well as a lot of the flash games from that time too. although i always saw that stuff through other websites like youtube or miniclip or wherever. i would see that tankman logo and go “mm interesting” and never bother to look into it more, which is something i really regret nowadays (ur tellin me non-144p versions of these animations existed??) at some point early 2022 i met some people irl who were all artists and did a bit of stuff on newgrounds, so i decided to sign up. that was a great decision, the community here is fantastic. it has its quirks but it has a small town vibe that you just cant get elsewhere on the internet these days. i love seein reviews from particular people on mine or others games, everyone has their own uniqueness to them. and its nice to have a place on the internet that actually values creativity and hard work and isnt totally poisoned by algorithmic garbage
Q: Top 5 pieces of advice that has helped you
top five advice:
- work with others, art isnt made in isolation
- dance because you are free
- you think your him but you’re not him
- you need to read more (seriously)
- its not that deep, its never that deep