@burastar - @Aalasteir (Q) - Index

Q: How would you describe your life

 would say I have a comfortable, routinary life nothing crazy. I have a software engineering job at day which gives me financial security to persue my personal creative jobs, which is right now videogames right now and other side projects. I try to exercise regularly too, to take care of both the body and mind. I don't know if it's just me but days where you don't get physical activity you usually tend to have less creative power. I would say sometimes it's hard to balance this after-work time with social activities though, I get stuck in the flow and time passes too fast.

Q: What are your goals in life? And why do you think you have those specific goals?

One of my main goals in life is creating a game that leaves a big impact. Kind of ambitious, I know, but it's truly what got me into programming as a career and it's always on my mind. I don't think the games I am developing right now are what will achieve this goal, but I think they give me experience to get closer to that goal. As for why, I am not really sure. I like making people smile and improve their days. Life outside can be a little tiring and anxiety inducing so if I can make someone's day atleast 1% better I am happy. I think videogames are great ways to achieve that. I am really inspired by small crew dev teams that achieve this goal through persistence (ZUN, "Pixel" Amaya, Toby Fox, Eric Barone, and many others). I am really fortunate that this goal is more realistic nowadays with sites such as Newgrounds to collab with others, game engines being more accesible than ever, and a great amount of resources to learn programming, art, and music composition.

Q: The story of your username: burastar

I used to go by Blaster for the greater part of my Internet history, not really a story behind this one I just thought kid version of me though it sounded cool. For a short period of time in my peak Sonic fan edgy kid phase it was BlasterTheDarknnes (spelled wrong). This "rebrand" was actually just recently. I am a huge fan of Final Fantasy XIV, and needed to come up with a name for my character. For those that don't know, in this game you need to create a nickname with first name and last name unlike other MMOs. So I tried to do a bad Katakana translation of "Blaster" for this game: "Bura Star". It was kind of a joke at first but the name stuck to me so I renamed all of my socials to this and think I am know stuck with it lol.

Q: How did you discover NG, and why did you join?

I've been a lurker in NG for a LONG time (Unsurprising if you go back previously where I mentioned that I was a edgy sonic fanboy). I had an account but it was lost some time ago. I don't think I posted that much anyways. What made me re-join and actually start posting this year is mostly that I tired of other social media plagued with bots and weird algorithms. You can't even open a Twitter post to see comments without seeing 10+ bot posting unrelated content. I still use other socials, but find myself nowadays prioritizng Newgrounds to be honest. While I haven't been that long posting seriously here, I've loved it. I really feel NG's scoring system and communtiy are great as an artist. I really admire the work of the NG crew for keeping this website alive for almost 30 years. I wish I've started posting earlier.

Q: What makes a good Internet user from your perspective, what are the qualities you like to see in online creators?

I Iike online creators that share their method of work, things that they've learned and explaining the hardships they have endured. I feel like that transparency makes you connect with others as well as being open to talk and responding to comments. I guess this should be obvious but also users that are open minded and respectful of others, willing to collaborate and help others rather than insulting and being belittling.

Q: How would you define a video game?

That's a hard one haha. I guess I would say videogames are a portal wherethat users/players can create their own adventures inside a defined imaginary world. Videogames combine music, visual arts, writing, and programming to create a unique experience. 

Q: What do you like about GDC, Sakurai's channel, game development documentaries, etc, and what would be some specific videos you would recommend?

I like learning about the team behind the games and what lead to design decisions. There are a lot of real people involved behind curtains and everyone has their own unique story. It's fascinating to me learning how people are able to create big games such as MMO's or simulate real life physics like in Tears of the Kingdom.

I recommend watching this FFXIV documentary even if you don't play the game. The story behind the team and how the game was rebuilt is fascinating https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xs0yQKI7Yw4

This one is more technical. It's rare that Nintendo hosts a GDC talk but they are always good. I recommend this recent one that they did for Tears of the Kingdom's physics engine https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N-dPDsLTrTE

Q: What makes a good game from your perspective?

Videogames should be a blend of challenging, creative, and immersive. I feel like they should make the player really want to sink all their time into the game, and have constant rewards for doing so. A game should have the perfect balance of challenge so that it's fun to learn and master, but not too hard that it feels like you are wasting your time. A game should also be immersive by creating graphics that can look good even years after and with memorable music.  

Q: How would you describe your experience of creating an EarthBound mock-up in Unity?

It was kind of tiring haha. As I mentioned, this was done in a very bad laptop so I couldn't run it properly myself which is why the video is very bad quality. The original plan was not to remake the whole world I wasn't that ambitious but I did want to cover the first part of the game (Onett pretty much) sort of like a proof of concept. While the battle engine was mostly done I figured I would rather use my time to work on original stuff, and there are other remake works that achieve it better than my take. As for the development itself, it was really hard and I was rushing it since I wanted to get it done and uploaded before I went out for a long vacation outside of my country. So I was basically time crunching myself. The main thing I wanted to showcase is a 2.5HD style that Octopath Traveler popularized. At the time this style wasn't used that much and I thought it looked awesome. Nowadays I feel like it's a bit overused. While I feel like it could've been WAY better with more time, I am proud of the battle system and am glad a lot of viewers liked it too. 

Q: Why do you like drinking alcohol?

I think it relaxes my body. I really disliked the taste some years ago. But I guess it's a taste that gets better the older you get. I feel relaxed when I am with friends while drinking. It's about 90% social drinking though, although recently it's also nice to drink while watching something or doing creative work by myself. I am kind of picky with beer though, I very much prefer dark beers stouts than regular light beer. If you are like me and never really liked the taste of beer but would like to try I suggest trying different kinds and flavors, there is a huge amount.

Q: How to describe your experiences with concerts and music festivals?

I started going with friends some years ago and really liked it! Usually I go for specific bands that I like, but the cool thing about festivals is you discover new bands. It's kind of tiring to be standing and walking around in the sun all day, but it's fun. It's a guilty pleasure activity though, since it can be expensive. It may sound obvious but listening to a band played live is way way better than you expect. I am not a huge fan of Imagine Dragons but I watched them live some months ago and was surprised how good it was.

Q: What is the food that you like?

Everything with cheese is good to me. Italian good is the first thing that come to mind: spaghuetti, pizza, lasagna. Also like japanese food.

Q: Why do you strongly believe you are allergic to bananas?

I feel like I am allergic because most of the time I eat bananas I get a weird itch on my throat. I never thought about it or thought it was unrelated until someone mentioned to me this is a symptom. Even if I am, I don't think it's that big of a deal I would still eat bananas despite them causing me itches. I like bananas.

- llama story

When I was around 10 years old I remember going to a school trip to the zoo and a llama following me inside his closed area. It was strafing around and thought it was playing so I ran along. Turns out it was probably actually mad and spat on my chest/neck area. Fun fact: llamas spit is probably one of the worst smells you can think of and it stays for several hours. That's the story.

Q: How to describe the event has impacted you?

Other than the horrible smell and others laughing at me, I guess I also felt betrayed by the llama. I thought we were playing together and turns out it was actually hostile...

Q: What are the bands that you like?

Weird combination of genres:

Gorillas / Blur (Damon Albarn fan)

Radiohead

TWICE

Anamanaguchi

Enjambre

Q: What have you learned about yourself creating art?

I tend to spend a lot of time on details that I think most people won't even notice. This causes me to spend hours and hours on my work. Recently I've tried to tone this down so I can get work much faster, and found out limiting yourself like this is more enjoyable. After spending years trying to learn something and just abandoning it, I've found that for me to stick with doing something is to challenge myself on making small projects and releasing them to the public. Starting small, but every project adding an extra challenge. For example, for Blender doing a character with simple shapes. Then a new project where you try adding textures, after that trying shaders, after that new project where you add animation, and so on. Main point is sticking with it and working on something everyday.

Q: Your advice for life

This is cliche I know but I recommend pursuing what you are passionate about. I spent years not learning piano because I thought I never would be good enough and that I was too old for it. Last year I decided to start self-learning and while way way far from my goals I've loved it and it's really satisfying to see your progress. Try things that you are passionate about, a step closer everyday, without compromising your financial stability. Simultaneously, be sure to take breaks. While it's great to have ambitions, it's also important to step back and enjoy life with friends and family nowadays. Be sure to exercise and take care of And be kind to others!