« Give me anything to learn and I’m happy 😉 » Wazana.io’s founder interview: Valentin, 26.
- When you were a child, what did you want to do?
Does every child really knows what he wants to do when he grows up? Honestly, I don’t remember what was my ‘dream job’ at that time. But I had several ideas during my youth. For instance, when I was a handball player, I always wanted to become pro but unfortunately at the same period I stopped growing up and wasn’t tall enough to one day become pro. I always loved living in nature, I probably imagined to live in a farm peacefully. But it would have been too peaceful for me eventually.
- Are the coding learning years difficult? Did you have doubts when you were learning how to code? Did you think about quitting? Why did you carry on?
Give me anything to learn and I’m happy 😉. Especially something that allows me to build anything. As I have studied mathematics, coding wasn’t difficult and thanks to MOOCS like Openclassrooms.com, you can find really good tutorials and courses to help you learn. Plus, I always thought that you have to practice to learn so I just tried to develop some ideas I had, and that is how I learnt the basics of coding.
While learning how to code, I realized something really important: If you take the time, everything can be created thanks to coding. I mean that you can create a world where everything is possible. So, no I didn’t think about quitting, rather the contrary.
- What made you decide to create your own online strategic game?
Haven’t you read my previous article? It wasn’t really the idea at the beginning. I just tried to do some stuffs with maps to make it as interactive as possible. I had the idea to create a game afterwards but I didn’t know what kind of game. And one day I imagined what game it would be… I thought « What kind of strategy games are based on real maps? Strategic games of course… » Booom! It was the start of Wazana.io.
What are the exciting and routine parts of coding?
« You have a problem and you must find a solution. »
What I like in coding is close to what I liked in maths. You have a problem and you must find a solution. It’s even better when you code: you must find the most efficient and elegant solution. My main challenge was to create a strategy game, it also meant a lot of problems to resolve! That was exciting to me.
The routine would be the following: Develop — Test — Correct — Test — Improve — Test — Start form the beginning — Test
- How did you come up with the design of Wazana.io? Did you look to any other popular strategy online games for inspiration?
I am not the best when it comes to design I think, so I prefer to rely on others and standards. That’s why I use design libraries on Wazana.io that follow the ‘Google rules’ and it allows me not to worry too much about design. And for the icons, I also used libraries icons. I especially like the Noun Project website to find really good icons.
When I visit other game websites, it is a bit depressing because they have a lot of money to create new icons and do great things… but I’m sure we will reach that level of quality soon.
- Why do you think strategy games are popular online?
I don’t think they are popular online, strategy games are rarely online. This is often very heavy game which need to be installed. Because they offer a lot of elements and details to display. With Wazana.io, this is a lot quicker and easier but it will take time to reach one day the granularity that computer strategy games offer.
- What do you like most about Wazana.io
Wazana.io offer a new way of playing strategy. You only have one base and so has the enemy. And the time to travel from a base to another is very quick. In general, in most strategy games, you often have to wait for your units to reach the other base. And it changes completely the way you are playing: You have to be very quick to decide what strategy you will use to beat your enemy. Plus, you can play from every city in the world which doesn’t exist anywhere else.
- What are the next steps for you in the development of Wazana?
Well the next steps are to allow other people to develop their own units/buildings or design their own map color. I want people who liked the game and who know the basics of coding to imagine the future of the game. Besides we will continuously improve the gameplay and performance of the code of course. And maybe add some extra/surprise soon! Stay tuned! You will like it.
- What is the one advice you can give to the person who are coding their own website?
« The best advice to me: Use all the tools, framework and help you can find on the internet to go faster. »
Readers, we hope you enjoyed reading this article.
Do you have any other question in mind? Comment below this article and Valentin, the founder of Wazana.io will come back to you.
And don’t forget to try Valentin’s game on Wazana.io!
Originally published at blog.wazana.io on September 10, 2017.
