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James Silva - Ska Studios

As you may have seen earlier last week, we kind of really like The Dishwasher: Dead Samurai. I gushed about it to the crew here, and it seems that everyone is about as excited as I am. The gruesome action and intense sensory overload could only have come from one dude.

James Silva, proprietor of Ska Studios.

Mr. Silva was courteous enough to spend some time with us this week as we grilled him about his upcoming Xbox Live Arcade title, The Dishwasher: Dead Samurai. If you’re interested in becoming a game developer, learning the fundamentals of the game (as well as why it’s totally friggin’ awesome) as well as some juicy details about the game’s achievements, you’ve come to the right place.

Convenient. Read on for the full interview with James Silva, or else we might have to send a demented, heartless, cleaver wielding BAMF through the internet and in to your face!

As usual, our bits will appear in the oh-so-purdy green, while our favorite new game designer (ass kissing +2) will appear in black.

First things first: Who are you, and how did you get in this room?!

Um, I’m James Silva, and I’m not quite sure myself

Fair Enough. Since you’re here, why not explain a little bit about yourself. We hear you’ve got a title on Xbox Live Marketplace?

Yes–a special trial version of The Dishwasher: Dead Samurai is now available on XBLM. Since I’m currently trapped at GDC with no 360 to speak of, I can’t try out the whole download process myself. I hear it’s a little convoluted, but I’ve been told it’s totally worth it.

You’ve been told correctly. Regardless of the process, the game is definitely a blast. Care to explain the basics for the uninformed?

Sure. The game centers around the Dishwasher, a psychotic undead samurai who cuts through wave after wave of evil cyborgs. The Dishwasher is a stylistic action platformer with fast, fluid gameplay and a unique, dark visual style.

It’s definitely a unique style - personally it reminds me of Afro Samurai, an short anime series from a year or so back. Any particular influences from specific cultures, artists or themes?

I’ve always really appreciated graphic novel styles without actually being an avid collector of comics–so I guess I’m a bit of a poser in that respect. The whole concept of stylistic art and graphic storytelling is definitely an influence.

James’ art style is, as you can see here, totally bitchin’.

The music is on the same level as the art - it’s a combination of multiple themes, and is totally awesome and still feels fresh. “Traditional” Japanese twangs and heavy metal riffs - who made all of the tunes?

I did all the music. The Japanese twangs (it’s a shamisen sound) actually were added to that track after one of my roommates bought a keyboard–which should be somewhat indicative of the Dishwasher music creation process. It was basically me playing with toys (musical instruments, some call them) until I ended up with something I liked. There are jungle influences, electronica influences, and metal influences, and I’m really happy with the final product.

The music intensifies things, pumps them up past 11. The combat is particularly intense as well, but it’s still fluid and fun. It’s also more than a button masher. When creating the fighting mechanics, what were some of the key decisions in the development?

Combat was sort of a combination of inspiration and evolution. There’s a pretty standard formula for action games–combos, juggles, etc.–seen in a lot of great works like Ninja Gaiden and [Devil May Cry], which The Dishwasher takes a lot of inspiration from.

Combat evolved into something that’s really got it’s own feel–the pace is brutal, the moves are intense, and in the hands of a skilled player, the Dishwasher can just clear rooms in no time, leaving quite the excellent trail of dead.

Combat is essentially tied to two buttons, but it’s pretty extensive. There’s also multiple weapons , and we’ve seen two slice-and-dice toys in the trial on Marketplace. What can gamers expect to see when the game launches on XBLA?

Silva: One thing that the demo doesn’t get into is the weapon upgrades–throughout the game you can beat certain challenges to earn Psycho Picks, which are exchanged to upgrades. In the trial, The Dishwasher can play with the Cleavers, Shift Blade, Kama Blades, and Arsenal–but most of those weapons will be limited to upgrade level 1. The full game has 3 levels of upgrades as well as a fourth weapon–the Chainsaw.

Working alone on a game sounds tough… You’ve got a lot of content in this game, too. What was the most difficult decision you had to make in the process of bringing this dream to life?

I got the idea for The Dishwasher about 3 or 4 years ago, and since then I’ve tried to make it as many times. After three false starts, each with fairly different game play visions, I settled on the current one.

It almost seemed like in my mind The Dishwasher was waiting for a game could stand up to the concept, and settling on the current iteration was quite the commitment.

We love achievements. Any idea what kind of, or how many of these sweet babies we’re going to earn in the process of decimating and de-limb-ifying cyborgs?

The standard for XBLA titles is 12, and I’ve spread them out between typical story-advancing ones, crazy combat ones, and one excellent obscure reference.

This is only pretending to be obscure. Come on nerds, you can crack this one.

Enough about Dishwasher. What about you, sir? Let’s get the biggest typical, expected question out of the way: How did you become a game designer?

It was sort of a case of necessity being the mother of invention–when I was 12 my mom decided I had played too much Nintendo and banned Nintendo on weekdays, so I compensated by learning how to make text adventures in BASIC. Little did I know it then, but that marked the start of a roller-coaster career in indie development.

What advice can you offer any aspiring developers? Is there specific details or info you’d like to share regarding what to learn prior to making games these days?

Learn C#–taking a few Comp Sci classes couldn’t hurt too much.

Please don’t aspire to create an MMO or FPS–leave that to the big studios. If you start with something at a level that you’re comfortable with (think 8-bit era), you have an infinitely greater chance of succeeding than if you were to try to create something more ambitious.

Any ideas about what to do next, and will Ska Studios see an increase in staff members?

I’d like to keep doing the indie thing if I can.

Fill us in: when can we expect a release?

All I can say is: when it’s done!

Thanks James. We appreciate your time here with us, and we’re really looking forward to the game. Best of luck, and thanks!