9. Yuan-Hsi did all the GFX, etc. pretty much besides programming, correct? How did they develop such a unique, yet appealing art style?

Well, as for myself, I've been working on graphics and sound department for quite some time now. Dot (or pixel) art is one of the fields I'm most experienced at. All artists learn by imitation, and I can’t say that I didn’t copy anything from other dot art and chiptune masters; even when I am self taught. However since dot art is something so new and has no Academia, I had the freedom to learn it my own way and come up with my own personal style. My first work was much simpler and looks pretty dated now, but is still very recognizable and has my distinct style.

I thank you for describing it as “unique, yet appealing”; I’m glad there are people who like it! Game illustration, animation, sound, music… it’s the same as everything: learn, practice, and solve new challenges to get better over time.

10. Do you still have the two extra programmers you had helping you to finish for the contest deadline?

I am in charge of most of the programming now; however one of the programmers, Alejandra, is still helping us. Mauricio is working at another company, but occasionally helps us.

11. Would you mind explaining a bit more about the dynamics of the game, and the difference between the different modes?

12. So you two (Yuan-Hao and Yuan-Hsi) are brothers?

Yes, that is correct. We happen to be siblings.

It is sometimes a Chinese tradition for brothers or sisters to share a common part of their names, Yuan in our case.

13. Do you think that GP2X might wind up being the birthplace of Tien Shia, or a host to any of your other games? or possibly even new, exciting titles? Seems like you mentioned Tenshin as a possibility anyway :)

As you all know, we are not including DRM and we are giving away the game at a low price so that people who find it worth it actually buy it, of course after playing our full-release version demo (not the teaser demo!). Needless to say, we are also aware that piracy has a great impact on videogames; however we are very confident that the community will support us, and of course more games will come if we are satisfied with the number of copies sold. Being a small console, piracy is practically intolerable. In other words, it’s up to the community to decide whether to remember Yuan Works as “the developer who brought original quality titles to the GP2X”, or as “the developer who had to leave the scene”.

That said, we learned a lot about the GP2X so it would be easier to program more games, and quite faster :). I am in fact eager to start a new project for the GP2X, since there would be just too many improvements in design, playability and programming.

14. What is your impression of the manual Tripmonkey_uk made for gmenu2x?

It’s really nice; the first “unofficial” use of our art, haha! We’re grateful Tripmonkey took the time to do it! It really makes us think that some people like our game just as much as any other big commercial release.

It’s pretty good, and we really appreciate his effort! :) I hope that everyone who is using gmenu2x starts using that manual!

15. So A r k is Yuan-Hao and Yuan is Yuan-Hsi on the GP32X.com forums?

Yes, that's right.

A r k is my online nickname, most people call me Hao.

16. What kind of hidden mini games did you put in Wind and Water? (maybe just some hints)

We don’t really want to ruin the hidden surprises! But here are some screenshots for now :)