Helping to create Friday Night Funkinsa国际传媒� has changed Cameron Taylorsa国际传媒檚 life.

Just over two years ago, Taylor started the video game project, enlisting the help of his friends on the Newgrounds website. It was meant to be a fun homage to the rhythm games of Taylorsa国际传媒檚 childhood and a chance to practice his programming skills.

But after raising $2.2-million on Kickstarter, the project has propelled Taylor full-time into the role of video game developer and CEO of his own company.

sa国际传媒淚sa国际传媒檓 just a small-town boy from 100 Mile House but now I guess Isa国际传媒檓 the CEO of small video game company as I manage this whacky situation Isa国际传媒檝e gotten myself into,sa国际传媒� Taylor, 22, said. sa国际传媒淓ver since I was a silly little teenager at PSO (Peter Skene Ogden Secondary) I just wanted to make video games with a bunch of different people and now itsa国际传媒檚 like sa国际传媒榞o, here it is.sa国际传媒�

Taylor and the gamesa国际传媒檚 co-creator and artist David Brown had initially hoped to raise $60,000 so they could turn Friday Night Funkinsa国际传媒� into a full game. Their goal, however, was met within a few hours and everything started moving at sa国际传媒渓ightspeed,sa国际传媒� with a million raised within a few days. The campaign ended at US$2,247,641 with 58,561 backers from around the world.

Over the last seven months, the pair have been learning how to manage that money by creating the Funkinsa国际传媒� Crew, a C-corporation based out of Philadelphia. Taylor said he became CEO in a coin toss with Brown becoming the companysa国际传媒檚 president. Two other friends form their core team, while others are involved on a contract basis or collaborate on music.

He said they sometimes feel like sa国际传媒渒ids playing dress-upsa国际传媒� and attending online shareholder meetings with his friends has been a surreal experience.

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sa国际传媒淲esa国际传媒檙e just kind of these young little creative type people. Our normal lives up to this point have not prepared us for the logistics of managing all these people and this money,sa国际传媒� Taylor said. sa国际传媒淚t can be a little punishing at times but thatsa国际传媒檚 the game development life.sa国际传媒�

Friday Night Funkinsa国际传媒� is a music-based rhythm game in the style of Rockband where players hit keys to sing along to the music. The plot follows the player-controlled boyfriend engaging in singing battles with his girlfriendsa国际传媒檚 evil dad, mom and their various henchmen across multiple levels.

The group has spent the last few months writing a variety of new songs for the complete game. The popularity of their initial demo has led to some sa国际传媒渃razy collaborations,sa国际传媒� Taylor said. He is keeping the artistssa国际传媒� identitiessa国际传媒� under wraps until the game is ready to be released.

The best part, Taylor said, is hesa国际传媒檚 been able to work with a musician whose style has heavily influenced the gamesa国际传媒檚 music. Taylor wouldnsa国际传媒檛 name the musician, who was well-known in the late sa国际传媒�90s, and said working with him has been sa国际传媒渏ust as beautiful as yousa国际传媒檇 imagine.sa国际传媒�

sa国际传媒淚t reassures us that, damn this is going to be a good video game wesa国际传媒檙e going to make. It might take a while to get there but at the end of the day it will be something that is highly polished and has a refined taste,sa国际传媒� Taylor said.

Taylor said the experience has taught him a lot about programming tricks, helping the entire team, grow from amateurs to professionals. He feels blessed the project has been able to push them all forward.

Some of the new features Taylor is working on as a result of the Kickstarter, include adding multiple new levels, a custom character creator, a mobile build, online multiplayer and modes that would remix songs and make the game harder.

sa国际传媒淭he plan is now much grander than originally intended just over a year ago,sa国际传媒� Taylor said. sa国际传媒淭he pieces are starting to fall into place and it makes game development a little less scary.sa国际传媒�

Taylor hopes his story will inspire others in small towns that they can achieve their dreams, no matter how big.

sa国际传媒淧eople can just do anything they put their minds to. Coming from small-town 100 Mile House you really can make a game a project like this from the internet. You donsa国际传媒檛 have to be from the big city, you donsa国际传媒檛 have to go to some college, anyone can make stuff happen the way they want to.sa国际传媒�

patrick.davies@100milefreepress.net
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