In a world of ever-more complicated AAA titles - replete with branching narratives, side quests, and detailed visuals - James, the solo indie dev behind sidescrolling shoot ‘em up Hazelnut Hex, thinks there are still some out there who crave simpler concepts. That, along with a desire to build games that reminded him of his childhood, drove James to put together his debut title, which released in early October.
James, who asked to be referred to by first name only, started working on Hazelnut four years ago as a passion project, largely alone. Game ZXC spoke with James about what he learned during that process, and how audiences have received the shmup so far.
Hazelnut Hex and the Trials of Solo Development
James had always had an interest in making video games, but he didn’t think to try his hand at the process until he started Hazelnut Hex. Before that, he was working a programming job and doing freelance animation work on the side, for example on Adult Swim’s Smiling Friends animated series.
“Shortly after quitting my old programming job, I said, ‘Well, I’d still like to do some programming in my own time,’” James said. He had already created a forward-facing Internet presence in the form of Chunderfins, a name that he had previously attached to his work in music and animation. Around 2018, James made Chunderfins his dev studio.
When he first set out to build Hazelnut, a bullet-hell shmup in the style of the genre’s classic arcade titles, James was optimistic about the game's development timeline. “At the time, I thought to myself ‘how long could this possibly take? I’ll have this out in October of 2019.’” Hazelnut wouldn’t see a release until about three years later.
As it turns out, developing a video game on one’s own is a bit more complicated than first anticipated. Something that started out as a fun side project quickly morphed into his full day job, James said.
“I’d never done any sort of game development outside of Flash games when I was a high schooler. I didn’t really know what the most time-consuming parts of the process were going to be.”
Although he had plenty of animation experience, that was the part of development that James said was the most time-consuming. The game’s less-complicated enemies took a full day or so to draw and animate, but characters with more complex moves and phases took multiple days. James wasn’t completely alone in his work, however. He had some “very talented friends” lend a hand with voice acting and Hazelnut’s cover art.
Hazelnut was completely self-funded and self-published, something that James said was made easier by the availability of developing tools. “I think video game creation is more accessible now than it ever has been. I’m working on a computer that’s 10 years old. I’m not rolling in it. But, the PC development software I used was very affordable.”
Hazelnut Hex’s Dry Run
Throughout the development process and in the run-up to Hazelnut’s release, James had the opportunity to gather valuable feedback on his work. Difficulty was one of the main sticking points, he said.
“The game was probably impossible to anyone but me before playtesting. Testers told me things like ‘the bosses are straight up impossible.’”
James’s goal for development was to make Hazelnut beatable in 10 lives by his best friend, who he grew up playing shoot ‘em up titles with. His friend, who was the final playtester, ended up finishing the game in just seven, and told him to “make it harder.”
That feedback allowed James to adjust Hazelnut’s gameplay enough to where he said he hit the “sweet spot” between difficulty and playability. “I may have overcorrected,” he said. “I’ve heard several people say it’s too hard, but I’ve also heard people say it’s too easy.”
Perhaps the most valuable feedback opportunity for Hazelnut was at October’s Vintage Video Game Convention in Colorado, where James had a table. He said that was a particularly unique experience. “I’ve never done a convention before or had a table like the one I had. I’m not cut out for standing that many hours.”
Despite the tribulations of the exhibition, James said it was exciting to see people of all ages playing and enjoying Hazelnut. The world-record speedrun holder for 1993 shmup Gunstar Heroes even played the game. “He said the game ‘wasn’t ass,’” James said, “which is probably one of the better reviews you can get from a speedrunner.”
One of the most striking things James noticed at the Colorado convention was that younger people were especially enthralled by Hazelnut. That wasn’t something he expected.
“I didn’t know if an old-school shoot ‘em up could hold a kid’s attention for even two seconds, but there were a few kids under 10 that sat there for a half hour and played the whole damn thing.”
Observing kids interacting with Hazelnut’s simpler format made for a couple of sobering observations about the state of gaming, James said. “One of the most heartbreaking things I heard at the convention was from a kid who said he liked my game because it never makes you stop to watch an ad. That was horrible.”
Despite that, James said he was happy to see that games like Hazelnut could still appeal to a broader audience. “Kids still appreciate a good shoot ‘em up.”
Hazelnut Hex is available now for PC and Switch.
