Hello friends! Welcome to this small segment called The Interview! Here, homebrew developers will be able to share with you, the community, information regarding themselves, and their projects, through a good old-fashioned interview. Today, I am pleased to launch this first episode, with the participation of TurtleP!

To begin, can you share an introduction? How did you first discover the homebrew scene, and what motivated you to become a part of it?

Haha I’ll try to make an introduction. I’m TurtleP, a 21 year old indie game developer. I first discovered the homebrew scene after hearing that Löve, a game framework that uses Lua, was being unofficially ported to homebrew. This also motivated me since I’ve been using this framework for a few years now.

What are some homebrew projects that you are currently working on?
 
Oddly enough, there’s three of them. I don’t entirely like juggling too many things, but it kind of just happens. Two of them are games and made with Löve Potion, the port of Löve for homebrew. The first is Idiot, a puzzle platformer game. It’s not a very serious game as there’s humorous moments in cut scenes. This was made as a port of my friend’s game called Idiot: Puzzles which was also made with Löve. I decided to port it *and* also rewrite it so that it surpasses its original design in every way.

(More on GitHub)

Secondly, Turtle: Invaders is a cross-platform game I’ve taken quite a bit of time into doing the first time. It too is a port, but of one of my games. The original took about two years to release as a proper version that I fully enjoyed. However it was severely flawed and I hoped the community would enjoy it. That is why I decided to remake it and port it to homebrew. Although so far online play is not going well. I do hope to fix that.

(More on GitHub)

Finally, Flask is a pure C++ program designed to be pleasing to the user while still being powerful. Its goal is to manage installable archives for homebrew applications. It would be kind of like how Google has their Play Store or Apple has the App Store. All applications would be free, but you can donate to a developer using something like Paypal or Bitcoin. It’s a long shot but I’m hoping this goes well.

(More on GitHub)

Out of the three homebrew that you mentioned, is there one that you’re having the most fun creating?

I’ve not thought of that before, but I’d choose Idiot. It’s great when I can make a cut scene that can just be outright funny because of how the characters will interact with one another based on their personalities. On top of that, it strengthens my weakness which is creating maps (specifically puzzles). It’s hard to do, but I’ve gotten some puzzles in there for people to enjoy.

Are you open to collaborating with other homebrew developers? Are there any that you would like to collaborate with?

I’m perfectly fine with collaborating with other homebrew developers. I currently collaborate with VideahGams to help him with Löve Potion. I don’t really know who I’d insist on collaborating with in terms of “hey let’s do a project!” I guess that time will come when I feel the need or someone approaches me about it.

We’re getting close to the end! What would you say to someone that is interested in learning how to create homebrew?

Don’t be afraid to learn how to use a programming language. If you’re truly interested in whatever kind of homebrew–game or applications–just learn! You won’t go far unless you take time to learn on your own C or C++ (those that I know homebrew supports). There’s lots of online documentation for these languages and if something’s unlear, ask someone!

Awesome! Do you have any final words, to conclude the interview?

I’d just like to thank Smea for all the work he and the others have put in to make homebrew possible. I had only dreamed of making games for 3DS and now it’s a reality. Furthermore, all the devs who have made amazing homebrew applications are amazing. Each and every one of them.

That is it folks! I want to give a special thanks to TurtleP for participating and showing support.  Who would you like to be interviewed next? What questions would you like to see in the next episode? Leave your feedback below!