P2

Team Meat - Super Meat Boy 

Edmund McMillen: 

What were their roles in the team, give examples of their key functions? 

Ed McMillen worked for Super Meat Boy as a Video Game Designer and an Artist. Known for his unique Tim Burton esque style to his characters, Ed helped create Meat Boys design. McMillen came up with the original idea of Super Meat Boy along with its extreme difficulty. Edmund says the reason for Super Meat Boy's insane difficulty is because "Without pain there is no reward". 

What Software did they sue to create Super Meat Boy? 

In a blog post after the success of Indie Game: The Movie and Super Meat Boy, Tommy Refenes detailed several things about video game development and FAQs. One of the frequently asked questions was 'What Software did you use to create Super Meat Boy'. In his answer, Tommy says that Ed used (and still uses) Adobe Flash for his Art and Animation. Because the two softwares were not very compatible, Tommy had to write an exporter for the animations in Flash all by himself in order for the game to be made. 

What skills did they need and use to create Super Meat Boy? 

Despite the obvious fact that you need to be a good artist to create art for a video game, it takes quite a lot of skill to create something quite as unique and iconic as Super Meat Boy. These skills are gained from creating Video Game after Video Game to get a hold of what works and what doesn't. Trail and Error is the key to creating Video Games and this reflects in the types of Video Games that Edmund creates. The years of playing Video Games that Ed experienced helped him realise what games stuck out to him and what didn't. 

What were their responsibilities in the team? 

With Tommy Refenes being the Programmer for Super Meat Boy, Ed McMillen had the role of Art Director and was responsible for how everything looked, how the characters acted, the visual theme of the video game (sombre or bright). 

What was their most important contribution to Super Meat Boy? 

Given that Team Meat is a two man group, nothing they make could be done without one-another. However, Ed McMillen's most important contribution would have to be the idea of the game itself. Without Edmund, there wouldn't even be a concept of Super Meat Boy let alone a fully released Video Game. Edmund also did his best to advertise the game and get the word out about Super Meat Boy as a reaction to Microsoft saying the Video Game would sell poorly.

What was their overall impact on the production process? 

Ed had a great impact on the production process by sharing his ideas with Tommy about what the game should be and how the game should have a distinct style.

Tommy Refenes: 

What were their roles in the team, give examples of their key functions? 

Tommy's role in Team Meat was as the lead Programmer and Designer, using Ed's art as his background for the game's style and feel in the mechanics of it all. 

What Software did they sue to create Super Meat Boy? 

In a blog post after the success of Indie Game: The Movie and Super Meat Boy, Tommy Refenes detailed several things about video game development and FAQs. One of the frequently asked questions was 'What Software did you use to create Super Meat Boy'. In his answer, Tommy says that he used (and still uses) Microsoft Visual Studio when making the game. 

What skills did they need and use to create Super Meat Boy? 

Tommy had been programming for a very long time before he and Ed created Super Meat Boy. This system of trial and error over the years before settling on your masterpiece is in the same vein as coding. 

What were their responsibilities in the team? 

Tommy had to programme different parts of the game such as the physics which make Meat Boy move around, jump and interact with different objects in the game. It was also Tommy's responsibility to fixes bugs in the code.

What was their most important contribution to Super Meat Boy? 

Given that Team Meat is a two man group, nothing they make could be done without one-another. However, while Ed had the original idea for the game, Tommy was responsible for creating everything behind the game's code and made everything behind the surface of the game. 

What was their overall impact on the production process? 

Tommy Refene's impact on the production process was huge. He helped in the communication between the two by creating his exporter between the two key softwares so the game could be created easily. 

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