Rocketship Park co-owner and game developer Shane McCafferty returns to Retro Titans to discuss his latest work for the Game Boy and Game Boy Color, including Hero GP, Roguecraft GB and WOLF.
Shane explains how burnout led him back to game development through PICO-8 and the Game Boy, and why working within the limitations of Nintendo's handheld has proved so creatively rewarding. We also explore his growing connection with Evercade, the challenge of recreating Roguecraft for different hardware, and the technical tricks behind bringing a Wolfenstein-inspired first-person game to the Game Boy Color.
In this episode, we explore:
1️⃣ Rediscovering game development
How PICO-8, an Analogue Pocket and a love of the Game Boy helped Shane recover from creative burnout.
2️⃣ Hero GP comes to Evercade
Shane reacts to seeing his racing game appear as an Evercade Game of the Month and looks forward to its physical release on Indie Heroes Collection 5.
3️⃣ Bringing Roguecraft to Game Boy Color
How Shane rebuilt the Amiga game in C, redrew its artwork and preserved the distinctive feel of the original.
4️⃣ Making WOLF work on Game Boy
The raycasting techniques, hardware limitations and design decisions behind Shane's tense Wolfenstein-inspired FPS.
5️⃣ From Cave Dave to ZERO
A physical release for Cave Dave, the evolution of the Starseed series and Shane's attempt to create an F-Zero-style racer for Game Boy Color.
Plus, Shane takes on our Games of Your Life, with choices including Tetris, Sensible Soccer, Spelunky and What Remains of Edith Finch. If you enjoyed this interview, check out episode 8 of season 2 to hear Shane's first intereview.
🔗 Guest links
Shane McCafferty on X: x.com/EGVroom
Rocketship Park games: rocketshippark.itch.io
🎙️ Credits
Sponsored by Thalamus Digital Publishing, publisher of indie and retro games.
Production: Rocket Media
Voiceover: Mark Silk
Music: "8 Bit Skyway" © Piotr Pacyna
