If you haven’t heard of this game by now, you should definitely try out this awesome game. It’s a free-to-download, high quality game for all fans of Mega Man and Street Fighter! This game brings the world of Mega Man and Street Fighter together. If you are a fan of any one of the game, this is a geek’s-dream-come-true game. In Street Figther X Mega Man, you play as Mega Man who fights Street Fighter Bosses like Ryu and Chun Li. Like all Mega Man games, you will get the power-up of the bosses once defeated. Mega Man can now throw a Hadouken or a Thousand Burst Kick to get him out of sticky situations.
So before you start thanking Capcom for releasing such wonderful game, you might be surprise to know that the creator of this game is none other than Singaporean Seow Zong Hui who built this game out of his passion. A final year Nayang Technological University Student, Zong Hui developed the game from a precursor Mega Man engine that he developed previously. We manage to get an interview with the man himself who is uber friendly and willing to share his experience with our readers.
GT Editor: Where did you get the idea to develop SF x MM? Both are classic Capcom games but who would have thought of putting them together in a game? This idea is brilliant!
ZH: It is decided on random because I was creating a Mega Man engine for programming practice and coming up with you own bosses is very normal and many fan games have already done it. Since I had some experience drawing small resolution sprites, I tried putting Street Fighter characters in and it seems fine.
GT Editor: For the geeks and aspiring game developer out there, what are the programs you used to develop the game?
ZH: Gamemaker but its is not recommended as it might be difficult to port to other system. I would recommend Unity but it has a steeper learning curve.
GT Editor: Did you come out with all the sprites, music and sound by yourself? If so, that must have taken years of training! Where did you accumulate such experience?
ZH: I did sprites and programming for the game, A-rival Luke was in charge of music and I had a friend Geo to help out with background tiles sprite. I did sprite work for fan games since may be 2006 just for leisure.
GT Editor: Some people were complaining online that Capcom is simply ripping off a fan’s work and published the game under their name. To be fair, what assistance did Capcom provide to you that you can share?
ZH: First of all both franchises are owned by Capcom, I am happy enough they did not sue me and release the game. They provided feedbacks and we have weekly updates. They also provided lots of exposure for the game. They have also setup booth to showcase the game in SF 25 anniversary tournament finals, made trailer with 1.4+million viewers. The game would not have done as well if not for their help.
GT Editor: By now, lots of people around the world would have downloaded and played your game. How do you feel about being a Singaporean who put Singapore in the world map for game development?
ZH: I am happy of course, But I hope that someday I could make something original as successful or better. I still feel a little surreal about the project and I was very lucky
GT Editor: Most of us just play games. What gives you the inspiration to develop your own game?
ZH: I had lots of idea when playing games, I really enjoy putting my thoughts into a game and watching things happen in reality.
GT Editor: What other games have you built? Can we download and play them as well?
ZH: I helped out with street of rage remake, but it was shut down by sega due to copyright issues. Most of my previous personal projects are just for practices and have many copyright issues. SFXMM is probably my first serious project.
GT Editor: Any future projects that you are working on such as SF x MM 2?
ZH: I am focusing on school work for the next semester. No news on a sequel now, but I could not talk about it even if there is news.
GT Editor: Since you will be graduating soon, would you be getting a game developer job in Singapore? Or have you think about working overseas?
ZH: High chances overseas as a game developer. As of now, its difficult to get a job with good incentives and high creative control at the same time especially when I am a fresh grad. I do pretty normal in school and singapore focuses a lot on academic.
GT Editor: Most games that we played today are from developers in Japan, US and Europe. Do you think Singapore can one day be a country that produce games loved by people around the world?.
ZH: Yes, the game developing scene is evolving in Singapore and we have a little recognition here and there already. Example, Imaginary Friend Studio artwork.
GT Editor: What do you think of the prospect of a game developer in Singapore.
ZH: I think there is much more opportunity to go into game development industry as compared to the past.
In terms of growth in the field I find that it might be difficult for us if we were to join a big company in Singapore.
I get the impression that Singapore is just being outsource for less mainstream titles or work that requires minimal creative content. On the other hand I think some of us are really well trained in the skills that are required to work in the game industry and deserves better. Many strong programmers that I know of just go indie instead. Another issue that a game developer may have in Singapore is the way how academic focused Singaporeans are.
I have seen first class students who cannot even code a polytechnic level algorithm and I have also seen people struggling with their academics but able to produce industrial standard projects. I find that companies should be aware of this matter and creativity is one of the most important aspect in this field which cannot be measured. I am not sure if this is the result of the educational system or the way companies hire new workers.
It depends on what the developers here wants. To me, I find that it is hard to have both Creative control and prospect in this field in Singapore.
I must add that I am still very new and might be wrong about these issues.
One would probably have better prospect in US or Japan if he is able to get a job there as of now.
No doubt the gaming industry in Singapore is still at it’s infancy stage. Compared to countries like US and Japan, people hardly know of any home-grown games. We hope that Street Fighter X Mega Man can be remembered not only a high quality fan-game but a game developed fully in Singapore by our local talents. We certainly look forward to seeing more games by Singaporeans! Do drop us an email at blog[at]gametrader[dot]sg if you heard of any worthy news on game development in Singapore!
Happy Holidays everyone!
Download the Street Fighter X Mega Man here!