Since I expect we’ll get a lot of new visitors after our big announcement at PAX later this week, I thought some introductions to bring the newcomers up to speed might be in order. Hopefully some of this information will be new to our longtime fans as well.
Zeboyd Games was created in 2010. The first game that we released was Breath of Death VII: The Beginning. Our second game was Cthulhu Saves the World. You can get both games on PC via Steam here, via Gamersgate here, or on the XBox 360 here and here. We have received a number of positive reviews from sites like Eurogamer, Joystiq, and RPGamer.
Our third game will be announced at PAX later this week. We’re all very excited. 
Zeboyd Games is primarily a 2-man operation. There’s me, Robert Boyd – I do the design, writing, and programming – and there’s Bill Stiernberg – he does the graphics, animation, and level designs. In addition to helping to make our games, Bill has also gained a certain amount of Internet fame for having one of the oldest DNF preorders. We’ve also worked with various talented individuals such as Gordon McNeil (did the music for Cthulhu Saves the World) and Alex Mauer (doing the music for the secret game that will be announced at PAX).
As for me personally, here are some random factoids:
I’m 30 years old, married, and have 4 daughters.
My top 10 favorite games of all time in no particular order are probably: Resident Evil 4, Siren 2, Pac-Man: Championship Edition DX, <Insert newest Civilization game here>, Titan Quest, League of Legends, Chrono Trigger, Persona 4, Lunar: Eternal Blue, and Shin Megami Tensei: Nocturne.
My oldest daughter’s favorite game is Final Fantasy IV.
My younger daughters’s favorite game is Sissy’s Magical Ponycorn Adventure.
My wife’s favorite game is Plants vs. Zombies.
My favorite authors are Douglas Adams, Isaac Asimov, and Brandon Sanderson.
My favorite mangaka is Junji Ito.
I lived in Taiwan for several years and speak Mandarin Chinese as a second language.
My favorite color is purple but only if it’s dark. Like Evil Purple.
Now as for how I got into game development…
I’ve been a fan of RPGs ever since I first heard about the original Dragon Warrior and have long wanted to make them. When Microsoft announced their XBLIG service that would allow anyone to make games I was very excited. I started out by making a couple of text adventures – Epiphany in Spaaace! and Molly the Were-Zompire. Then I played Guadia Quest (one of the games in Retro Game Challenge) and thought, “I could totally pull this off!” Thus Breath of Death VII: The Beginning was born.
My basic design philosophy is that the RPG genre is a great field with limitless possibilities that can be unlocked through a combination of learning from the past and trying out new things. Many developers and publishers seem to feel that the RPG genre is broken and the only way to make good RPGs these days is by combining them with other genres. Now don’t get me wrong – there have been a number of great hybrid RPGs like Mass Effect, Bioshock, and Borderlands that I’ve enjoyed playing – but I think there’s still a place for innovation and quality in the RPG genre without needing to change the genre into something it’s not. I think we’re seeing a lot of this promise in the indie game scene with quality, innovative games like Desktop Dungeons, Recettear, Dungeons of Dredmor, and hopefully our games (both present and future) as well.
And here’s Bill introduction!
I’m 27, and I’m about to be married (Yay! ). I have an engineering degree with a minor in business, and I’m a licensed attorney. My legal background (focused on IP) is incredibly useful for our team and company. My passion has always been the videogame industry.
My favorite games in no particular order include Super Mario Bros., Chrono Trigger, Quake 3, Super Metroid, StarFox, Ocarina of Time, Metal Gear Solid 3, Castlevania SOTN, Street Fighter IV. I enjoy almost every genre.
As far as game development, I’ve always been interested and involved with it my whole life. I used to code my own games in QBasic, and later worked on mods and maps for popular FPS games. I vastly prefer making game assets to coding, but having some experience in that area has been invaluable. When I started working with Robert, it seemed the ideal situation for both of us. We both have a passion for making games, and we appreciate the classics as well as newer well-known and lesser-known games. I love working within the RPG genre, as bringing life to our team’s ideas and producing these worlds and characters is extremely rewarding.
Recent Comments