Manned by a two-person team of FGCU alumnus, James Beans and senior Jacob Tempkins, Moonfall Games LLC is a local indie games studio with an up-and-coming title.
Winner of the Taco Bell Indie Games Garage competition and green- lighted by a Steam community vote just six days after submission, “Space Revolver” is the culmination of Beans’ experimentation turned concrete and some of the most iconic sci-fi references out there.
The cyberpunk-action platformer draws inspiration from the “Mega Man X” games with a focus on competitive multiplayer gameplay and intense character customization. Beans, a spring 2015 graduate, began development of “Space Revolver” before forming Moonfall Games. For him, a software engineering major, it was a means of gaining much-needed experience for his resume as well as exploration of new tools.
“When I started working on this game, Unity Five had just come out,” Beans said. “I wanted to see how easy it was to make things with the new set of online tools that it had. It turns out it was really easy, to the point where I ended up almost developing the full game.”
Beans also happens to be one of the very first graduates at FGCU to graduate with the physics minor, though his newfound skills in quantum physics had a very small role in the development of “Space Revolver.”
Tempkins, however, is not a developer. Set to graduate next spring, Tempkins is a communication major with a focus in PR.
Instead of pixels, he works on the business side of Moonfall Games, managing public relations, marketing and more.
“I got involved with James and Moonfall after meeting him at a Christmas party,” Tempkins said. “I told him what I can do. I liked a lot of the stuff he showed me, and I thought it would be a good idea for me to work for him and to make this game a whole lot bigger.”
Outside of battling friends to the death with a variety of unique weapons, “Space Revolver” has a character creator unlike many others. Players will be able to create custom skins for their characters through the Microsoft Paint inspired in-game designer.
Beans and Tempkins already have the title approved for the Steam marketplace for PC, Mac and Linux. The pair are also pursuing the Humble Store and DRM free marketplace Good Ole’ Games.
“If someone can get the game, they can bring it to their friend’s place, have their friend play it so that way they can both play the multiplayer together even if they’re not in the same room,” Tempkins said. “It’s more of our dream and our vision to have something that people can enjoy and that people can talk about … We don’t want to deny people the experience that they’re looking for, but, at the same time, we just want to make a fun gaming experience for everyone.”
“Space Revolver” is currently undergoing a Kickstarter campaign to raise $15,000 for covering development and legal costs. The campaign can be found under “Space Revolver” at Kickstarter, and the studio can be followed on Facebook and Twitter at Moonfall Games.