The Making of Aquaria (Part 2 of 2)
An interview with Derek Yu

Posted on January 24th, 2008

by Gamer-girl

Derek Yu is an illustrator and web developer who has previously released a handful of successful freeware games, including Eternal Daughter and the satirical action game I’m OK. He has also been running the indie game news site TIGSource for almost a year now. He basically just draws and stuff.

This is the second half of a two-part interview. Read the first half, between Gamer-girl and Alec Holowka, held in late December.

Click to download the Aquaria demo

Caffeine: You run The Independent Gaming Source, in addition to your illustrations. So you obviously have a great passion for games.

Derek: Yeah, I do! I really love them. I think they're really fascinating, and fun to play. They were a big part of my childhood, and ever since I can remember I wanted to make them. As much as I love drawing, there's something about giving someone something you made, and having them actually play with it, and even change your perception of what it is, that is extremely uplifting.

And TIGsource is just... really, the site I've always wished existed. A great community of intelligent, creative people who are passionate about playing and making games.

Caffeine:The games you’ve worked on have all featured strictly 2D art. Ever have any thoughts of moving to 3D? Or do you feel that 3D just doesn’t have the same charm?

Derek: I enjoy a lot of 3d games, especially FPS's, but in terms of art, I've only had a fleeting interest in modelling. I think it'd be cool to do a 3d game, but it is a different type of thing. Like the way a Pixar movie is different from traditional 2d animation. I like both, but yeah, I guess the traditional stuff does have more charm for me. I think when people start exploring more interesting ways of doing 3d, I'll get more interested in it.

Caffeine:Your bio on your website http://derekyu.com/about.html states you’ve been independently developing games for the past 10 years. I hope this means we can soon see an Aquaria 2?

Derek: Haha, I have been making games for a while. I don't know about Aquaria 2. We'll have to wait and see!

Caffeine:When creating the art, did you feel that the music in the game influenced your work in any way?

Derek: Oh yeah, totally. I think everything we did influenced everything else. That's what I love about developing a project like Aquaria. The way everyone who's on the team adds a bit of their personality into it, and something beautiful comes out.

Caffeine:I like listening to music myself while painting, any favorite music of your own while working?

Derek: Gosh, what did I listen to... "In Rainbows" came out toward the middle/end of our development, so I listened to that quite a bit. I also enjoyed listening to David Bowie. A lot of his songs are (to me) about the joy of visiting other worlds, and about hope in strange experiences. It really reminded me of Aquaria, in that sense.

But mostly, I just listened to Alec's music! I never get tired of it.

Caffeine:Aquaria’s world is beautiful. Could you tell me more about the process you undertook when creating the assets?

Derek: Thanks! It took a while to get the look down. For the most part, I just worked digitally, in Photoshop, to create the majority of the art in the game. But occasionally I'd do some sketches on paper to show Alec, and we'd discuss the designs. For inspiration I looked at underwater photos, movies, and games that I liked.

Caffeine:What’s your favorite piece of art in Aquaria that you made?

Derek: Hmmm, maybe this is too obvious, but I liked the way Naija turned out! And it was really hard to get her look down. Very frustrating at times, but a good challenge.

Caffeine:Do you have any suggestions to the aspiring game artists out there?

Derek: Try new things! Be yourself! Love what you do.

Caffeine:What unique challenges have you faces as a game artist, as opposed to being an illustrator?

Derek: You have to draw a lot of dull things, like rocks. Aquaria has a lot of different types of rocks in it, and it was tiresome to draw them all. But they're fun to look at once they're in the game!

Caffeine:How did the story in Aquaria come about? Did you have any hand in writing it?

Derek: Yeah, Alec and I developed the main story together! It was a long process, and I can't remember exactly who came up with what. He wrote most of the dialogue, and he deserves a lot of credit for developing Naija's "voice" (along with our voice actress, Jenna Sharpe). I think I may have developed more of the mythology. We made a lot of changes to it along the way. When we started, it was much more complicated, but, in my opinion, a lot less thoughtful than it is now.

I really enjoy talking with him about the story. It's a nice back-and-forth type thing. Eventually, the story really just starts to write itself, if you are good about taking out the parts that don't work.

Caffeine:What was the biggest challenge you faced when developing Aquaria?

Derek: Definitely communication over the internet! And managing our time and expectations.

Caffeine:Have you played any good games recently?

Derek: Yeah, a lot of good independent games! I'm an IGF judge this year, so I've been playing a bunch, and really enjoying myself. Rock Band has been great fun, too.

Caffeine:If you could full creative control and nearly unlimited funding, what game would you make?

Derek: Hmmm... have you ever read the comic book Arzach, by Moebius? Probably a game that feels like that! Or maybe a game where you get to run around a big city, but instead of a gangster, you're a kid who can turn himself into any animal.

Read the first half of the interview

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