"Super Mario War: Stomp Arena" creator: EON8ight interview!

Remember Super Mario War? That amazingly popular fangame that slowly died and faded into obscurity? Well, it's coming back, as Super Mario War: Stomp Arena, and I have an interview with the person who envisioned it! EON8ight!

PS: So, when did you decide to recode Super Mario War (SMW)?
EON: A combination of factors led to me wanting to rewrite SMW. Most significantly, when I learned of Florian Hufsky's passing, I wanted to continue his legacy in some way. I remember reading that he envisioned 72dpiarmy as being a gathering place for ideas and creative minds, and although I'm not sure how creative a rewrite-of-a-rewrite can be, ideas are definitely something I can bring. I was also influenced greatly by Minecraft; I had decided that if someone out there can make a groundbreakingly popular game, I can too (or at least try to). On top of everything else, I also wanted to help develop and support SMW myself, but honestly, I couldn't be bothered to teach myself C++ while I was still relatively new to Java.

PS: The level editor is a lot different from the original. Is there a reason you decided to change it?
EON: The biggest reason we changed it was because we were able to. A fully mouse-driven GUI is a lot more intuitive and easy to use than a keystroke-based one. It's like if you had to use Word or Photoshop using only keys - it's a lot simpler with a mouse.

PS: Will there be a lite version of the editor?
EON: Anything's possible at this point. We released Pre-Alpha 3 not too long ago - the game's still early in development. It's not our highest priority at this point, but somewhere down the road we may add a more "retro"-style editor (that's what lite means, right?) alongside the current editor.

PS: Is there anything we can expect from Super Mario War: Stomp Arena (SMW:SA) that wasn't in the original SMW?
EON: Absolutely. We've already shown you guys a few new features - increased map size, a new editor, and more map options - but there's still many, many things we've been working on that we haven't shown you. Like mod support, for example. I don't want to spoil any surprises, but back in '06 and '07, the three most requested features for SMW were slopes, swimming, and netplay. We've already included slopes. One of those other two features will likely be included within the next few releases.

PS: Are there any modes you plan on bringing back?
EON:  All of them! Hopefully, at least. It's going to be somewhat of a slow process. Like I said, we're still very early in development. However, incorporating all the features of the old SMW is one of our top priorities. JM has written a base for all game modes, so modes are actually easy to add. Right now, aside from a developer-only mode to help test the game, we have Classic. The next modes I can imagine being added are Frag Limit and Time Limit, although those might be combined into Classic as mode options.

PS: Do you think that this game will make the 72dpiarmary forums popular again?
EON:  I can't say for sure, but I definitely hope so. I remember 72dpi's glory days, and when I came back to this place a few years ago, things had gone downhill very quickly. As soon as we get a proper 1.0 release out, with enough publicity, 72dpi might be back to the way it was back in 2007.

PS: Do you think the game itself will be popular?
EON: Like the previous question, I can't say for sure, but I think it will be. I wouldn't write this game if I thought no one was going to play it. I have a good feeling about the way things are going, and with enough publicity, the game could be as popular as the old SMW was.

PS: Have you worked on any other games before? What were they?
EON:  MW:SA is the first real game I've written. I've written terrible, terrible "games" for high school computer science classes, but they sucked and they don't count. This game definitely won't be my last, though. Once SMW:SA is released, easily maintained, and popular enough, I plan on writing an RPG-style game similar to Pokemon, but more expansive. I'll probably take some ideas from /vp/ when I get started on that. They always have good ideas.
As for other programming endeavors, I was recently hired by my friend Vic to do server-side work in PHP/MySQL for his graphic/web design company (shameless plug: http://www.leangraphics.net/), so hopefully that'll lead to good things.

PS: What is your favorite part of working on the game?
EON:  That's a tough question. Working on the game itself has been a great experience. I'd have to say my favorite part is seeing people use what I made. It's a pretty rewarding feeling. Another great part is working with JJames and JM on this project. They're great guys, extremely knowledgeable, and this project certainly wouldn't be where it is right now without them.

PS: Well, nice talking to you!
EON: Thanks! It was my pleasure.