EllyRox

Since its inception in 1995, Newgrounds has evolved from hosting a few flash games to a DIY gaming empire. In addition to the exponential growth in its user community the quality of the media and games hosted on the site has continued to evolve. Team Meat’s ‘Super Meat Boy’ and ‘Alien Hominid’ were initially flash games on Newgrounds.

As Newgrounds continued its a success, Tom Fulp started The Behemoth with John Baez and Dan Paladin in 2003. The Behemoth won 3 huge awards at the 2005 Independent Game Festival. During July of 2005 Tom was a co-host on ‘Attack of the Show!’ Alien Hominid HD,  a version of the game developed by Tom Fulp and animator Dan Paladin, on Newgrounds in August 2002. Was released for the Xbox in 2007. Hominid even shows up in The Behemoth’s 2nd effort, Castle Crashers.

Castle Crashers, a co-op brawler shown at San Diego Comic Con 2007. It was released August 27, 2008, free of the bugs that plagued its initial showing and fine tuned for Xbox, it has become something of an indie darling. In august of 2010 a PS3 version was also released, and it’s available on PC and MAC since 2012.

BattleBlock Theater, released on April 3, 2013, it was published by Microsoft Studios for Xbox 360, Windows, and Linux. It is the third outing for Behemoth, which Destructoid called “a hallmark of excellence” and gave a 9/10 rating.

The Behemoth is developing a turn-based strategy game only known as Game 4 currently. Tom is also an investor in Barcade Philadelphia, which recently celebrated its 3rd anniversary. Tom oversees all of this from an unassuming suburb of Glenside, just outside Philadelphia. I got the chance to ask a few questions about the upcoming, mysteriously named Game 4.

PGG: Thanks for making room to talk to us in your schedule! Recently, Behemoth and Raptr played some Game 4 for Extra Life, and raised $1331.58 for for local Children’s Miracle Network hospital: Rady Children’s Hospital. New Grounds also works with several charities. Has charity always been important to you?

Tom: Charity has always been important and our recent efforts with Newgrounds have been focused on providing equipment for artists who lack the necessary resources. For example we’re currently sending drawing tablets to select artists and microphones to voice actors

PGG: Did you ever imagine you’d become a mild-mannered geek mogul? How hard is it juggling your various endeavors?

Tom: I was always very shy and quiet and wanted to show people I had stuff going on in my head, so I’m happy to have achieved that! Juggling different projects has been tricky because you always feel like you’re neglecting something. It’s nice to have daily variety, though.

PGG: Did you ever think New Grounds would be the bustling community it is today?

Tom: I never imagined it would keep growing and become my career, when it all started I was just goofing off and hoping to get some emails from people!

PGG: How did Behemoth get started?

Tom: Dan and I met on Newgrounds and made a few web games, resulting in Alien Hominid in 2002. The following year, the game company Dan was working for closed it’s doors and his co-worker John had the idea of forming a new company to make a console version of Alien Hominid. The rest is history!

PGG: Is there a specific audience you have in mind for this game?

Tom: We’re expecting Game 4 will please traditional turn-based strategy fans as well as newcomers to the genre and all Behemoth fans in general!

PGG: How much of a game’s success comes down to the aesthetic, and how much is in the development?

Tom: I would say that a well developed game can be great regardless of the aesthetic, however a good aesthetic will elevate any game and help people look past the rough edges. Dan has a really strong art style and his art alone makes people want to play the games he’s involved with. We just have to do our best to deliver on the development side!

PGG: Do you play a lot of games yourself? Do you have any stand out favorites?

Tom: Now that I have young kids I’ve been in a “kid friendly” phase, so some of my favorites from this past year were Super Mario 3D World and Mario Kart 8. Also Super Time Force. On my phone I’ve been playing Helix by Michael Brough and helping out with Angry Birds Star Wars when needed.

PGG: Do you think New Grounds will always be on the east coast or move it out to San Diego with The Behemoth?

Tom: I’m pretty rooted in the East Coast so a move isn’t likely. I do like visiting San Diego though!

PGG: Any advice for someone looking to break into creating video games?

Tom: Take a look at what tools people are using to make the games you like, then try some tutorials! Whenever I’m curious about a new development framework or IDE, I go straight for the tutorials. If you need motivation to actually make a game, game jams are a great place to start. There are game jams happening somewhere on-line pretty much every weekend and they will give you a good kick in the butt to get something made.

I’d like to thank Tom again for being so gracious and obliging in answering our questions, and making awesome games!