Meet the Team
over 5 years ago
– Thu, Mar 04, 2021 at 08:23:57 PM
Hi Everyone, It's Ben with my first update. I thought I'd introduce the team that's been working on Nemo, and let everyone share some stories about their background and influences and maybe share some stories about projects we've worked on and what drew us to this game. If you'd like to see more of this kind of thing let me know! Kick it off Chris!
Chris Totten
Hi, I'm Chris! I've been drawing the stuff you see in Little Nemo (with help from some of our outside collaborators!) I've been developing the look of Little Nemo and the Nightmare Fiends for a bit over a year. I'm working on developing the look of our version of Slumberland and I hope you'll look forward to some of the art updates that I'll be doing on Wednesdays (as well as some other design updates)!
I’ve been making games for 15 years and have been working as an artist, animator, level designer, and project manager. I once 3D modeled and animated 26 characters (the letters of the alphabet) in 1 week during a freak storm/heatwave combo that knocked out all power in my apartment except for 1 outlet (so feats of animation daring-do are not new to me!) I’ve been teaching game development for 11 years at various universities and even wrote a book about level design and architecture. I founded Pie for Breakfast Studios in 2014 to make games that explored the connections between games and the arts, founded some game festivals at art museums, and have even had games shown in museums!
I’ve been a huge fan of Little Nemo for years since I first rented the NES game from our local grocery store. I later discovered the comics and was amazed by the architectural detail, innovative layouts, and amazing creatures. After that, I readily dove into any and all Winsor McCay stuff I could find! From my experiences making games based on public domain works (including various works of art and the novel Don Quixote) I’ve gained a keen sense of how to balance a game’s design with the details of its source material. We’ll be able to create a game that honors and even builds on the legacy of this work, while offering new surprises for longtime fans! We hope you’ll enjoy what we’ve got planned!
Adrian Sandoval
Hey there, I'm Adrian! For the last year or so I've been helping Ben and Chris with the overall design of the game, including the various gameplay systems, character abilities and the general feeling of moment to moment gameplay. I've also been involved in the preliminary level design and structure of the game as well. I'll be posting updates about our design process and overall philosophy for the game, so please look forward to it!
I've been making games professionally for over ten years as a technical producer and lead designer, having shipped games for PC, mobile, and the Nintendo DS. I've also been teaching both game development and game history in Philadelphia for the past couple of years, and have written about games for various outlets as well. I'm also currently the chair for the Philadelphia chapter of the International Game Developers Association.
Like a lot of folks my age, I first experienced Little Nemo through the NES, and was immediately taken not just by how imaginative and captivating it was. The word 'surreal' wasn't a part of my vocabulary back then, but it's one of the first times I can recall experiencing such an emotion from any piece of media. When I later found out about the comic and its long reaching influence across not just comics but all of entertainment, it was a similar revelation; a tour de force of fantastical adventure and surreal imagery that sometimes could be funny, sometimes breathtaking, and sometimes even scary! My goal with this game is to capture all of those feelings both in the play and the world of Nightmare Fiends, whether it's your first experience with anything Little Nemo or if you've been a fan for ages. That's why I'm forever grateful for your support, and the opportunity to help bring this game to life. Cheers!
Benjamin Cole
Hi, I'm Ben. I'm the programmer on Nemo. I've been working on prototyping features for Nemo for about a year and currently, I'm trying to get some frameworks in place to build out the full game. I really hope you can join me on Saturdays during the campaign for some development streams. We'll be posting a streaming schedule here shortly. I also really love talking shop! Hit me up in Discord any time if you want to talk games or programming.
I've been working in or adjacent to games for over 20 years, and have had all kinds of jobs. Early in my career, I worked as an artist and animator before moving into production. I even helped out with sound design on a game once upon a time. Now I'm mostly doing programming. I did a lot of work on PS2 and Gameboy Advance games back in the day and was the producer on Snoopy vs the Red Baron for PS2. I co-founded Pxlplz in 2011 and have shipped several independent games, including another pretty cool MetroidVania called Star Saver on iPhone.
I absolutely love working on kid friendly games and properties, but I like to give the games I work on a weird edge. I think Nemo fits in well here. Of course overall it's gentle but it's going to have those surprise moments where we can really push the envelope. Anyway, that's me. Thanks so much for backing Nemo! I'm looking forward to seeing you in the streams and really looking forward to getting the game out to you!
