[[Programmer]]
Turtle: Red-Bellied Turtle
Pronouns: He/him

When did you first get started in games and how?

I started getting into actual legit video game development at age 10, though I guess you could say I started even before that. At younger ages than that, I’d love to make board games and games on paper, and I was obsessed with any video games that had built-in level editors. I’d spend hours taking turns with my cousin, with us designing levels in those level editors for the other person to challenge. Eventually I started to feel restricted by the limitations of the level editors, so at age 10 I did some research on the Internet and stumbled upon the program GameMaker, which I started using as my first game engine for actual dev work.

How did you first get started in the game industry?

Akupara Games was and is my first job in the industry, which was sparked off through the “Rain World: Downpour” project. It started out as a collaboration, with Akupara helping to support and publish a game development project I was leading, but the collaboration was so favorable that it eventually led to me being brought on as a full-time employee.

What is your proudest accomplishment with Akupara?

We shipped a game, and it was a top seller, and got an “Overwhelmingly Positive” review score on Steam! Go play Rain World: Downpour!!

One advice you could give someone who wants to get into the gaming industry.

Forget one advice, I will give several advices. The gaming industry is very diverse and there are a wide variety of positions that go into the development, marketing, and distribution of any single game — try to learn what they are, and you might find ones relevant to you that you didn’t even know existed (hint: when you beat a video game, actually pay attention to the contents of the credits roll). Create lots of stuff in your spare time and put together a portfolio where others can see what you made; also consider trying out game jams! And network with others!

What were you doing before you joined the game industry?

Prior to Akupara, I worked as the lead software developer for an autonomous robotics company. We built industrial robots that would help inspect critical infrastructure such as bridges, enabling early detection of surface and sub-surface areas of the structures that might be in need of attention or repair. I got to work with a lot of interesting sensors, like 360-degree and infrared cameras, LIDAR devices, Ground-penetrating radars, and more. Also got to work on writing the programs to control giant robotic arms and self-driving rovers, so pretty fascinating stuff!

What is your favorite video game or series?

Touhou Project, without a doubt. It has endorsed and spawned an unfathomably huge community of talented fan-content creators, and the art, fan games, music (ESPECIALLY the music) that comes out of all of it is just wild. No matter how deep you try to dig down that rabbit hole, there really seems to be no end to the ocean of incredibly cool content that you will uncover there. To top it all off, the fact that the Touhou series was and still is entirely created by a single independent developer, ZUN, is very inspiring to me as a fellow indie game dev.

What was your favorite subject in school?

Obvious answer is Computer Science, though for a more interesting answer I actually really enjoyed the Japanese foreign language classes that I took in college. It was an interesting change of pace from the rest of my studies, and some of my fondest memories in university come from the Japanese conversation and culture clubs that I was a member of.

What activities do you enjoy doing?

I also play the piano, with a particular insterest in learning to play piano covers for songs from various video game soundtracks!

Controller or Keyboard?

Keyboard, generally. I play a lot of precision platformers and other games that require very deliberate inputs, and analog sticks are the bane of my existence there. I need my WASD or arrow keys.

Console vs PC?

Definitely the majority of my time is on PC gaming, though I certainly play on consoles too. However, I dabble a lot into modding and customization, so PC gives way more freedom and flexibility in that regard.

If you like to connect with Andrew or any other members of Akupara, join the Akupara Discord.