Anderson teaches courses on game development through GameMaker Studio, a “professional 2D game development engine” utilized by many indie developers. His online courses on Udemy have seen over twenty thousand students. Now, through a Kickstarter campaign, he wants to bring to life a new course: how to make a turn-based fantasy RPG using GameMaker.
The course will not be for beginner students, as it will teach more advanced GameMaker techniques. For those new to GameMaker, it might be wise to check out Anderson’s other courses first. But if you have some experience with the program, then this course can help you grow even more.
Money raised from the Kickstarter campaign will be used to fund Toby Dixon, the pixel artist creating the game’s beautiful animation. The campaign’s rewards start from $3, where you will receive a copy of the game to play, and rise to $25, where you’ll have early access to the game’s source code plus all previous benefits from the tiers in between.
At the time of writing this article, the campaign is less than $200 away from the goal. Benjamin Anderson was kind enough to answer some of my questions about the course.
Noor Sami: You’re working with Toby Dixon as the pixel artist for the game – how did you choose him, and how has your experience been?
NS: Are there any specific challenges you anticipate might come up during course creation?
NS: What do you think the hardest part of the course will be for your students?
NS: What made you choose a turn-based RPG as the teaching form of this course?
NS: Is there anything else you’d like interested students and backers to know about the course?
NS: I have to ask- what’s your favorite RPG?
I’d like to thank Ben for taking the time to chat with me. If you’d like to know more, check out the Kickstarter campaign and the Heartbeast Studios Twitter, Facebook.
