Welcome back to the Costume Jam interview series, a collection of perspectives on the dress-up game genre from notable independent creators. Our second interview is with Inga from DressUpGames.com, a hub for quality dollmakers established in 1998. The site mostly uploads games from other places that reflect the high standards of the artist community, but Inga also commissions professional artists to create all-new games with interesting themes and beautiful graphics. Lately these games have been using the Meiker format created by Doll Divine - who's next in the interview lineup - enabling her to focus entirely on the artistic side of the game without worrying about the code. Let's dive in!
When and where did you get your start making dress-up games? How do those origins compare to how dress-up games are now?
I started the website in 1998 and it was sometime in the early 2000s that I started to develop making games. I used a drag and drop script that worked with browsers in those days and I would usually get the graphics from KiSS dolls (Kisekae set system) - always with permission! :) Definitely google kiss dolls if you're interested in computer dress-up games, they are very interesting! There was a lively community around them for a while but once the website owner that had the most dolls decided to put a pay barrier, people just lost interest I guess. Kiss dolls came before browser dress-up game like the ones I have featured throughout the years.
People write to me, wanting to access the old games, but it's mostly nostalgia. Today's games are much better. Better graphics and better play features. Today's players would hate having to drag the clothes manually and try to drop them exactly in the right place. It was very tedious but we didn't have anything else!
What do you consider to be your specialty as a creator and curator of dress-up games?
I don't make games myself anymore, but I do buy the graphics. Because I've been doing this for so long I feel like I have a good idea about what people like and what will be popular. There are far too few game developers working today so I can not be as picky choosing games as I like to be. But I try my best. I now have a comments system on the site, under the games, and that has helped me knowing what users like and dislike.
You’ve been at this for long enough that this is a full-time job. What does a typical work day look like for you?
Sadly, I spend a lot of time replying to emails - not my favorite but necessary. I will be opening a new layout soon so a lot of my time now is spent on that. Exciting - but nerve wracking at the same time. As a general rule, users don't like changes, but sometimes it's just necessary.
This may be a touchy question, but what relationship have you had with your player base or users?
It's not a touchy question because I don't really have one. I do have a comment system under the games and sometimes I reply to comments and add comments of my own. But I wouldn't really call it a relationship. (Is it?) I've always wanted to keep my personal live private, which is why there is no information about myself on the site.
Where do you think the genre is going in the future? What would you personally like to see more of?
I would really like to see more online quality dress-up games. I would be great to have developers who are passionate about dress-up games and respectful of the users. Picrew.me and Meiker.io are definitely attracting new artists who can use those sites to make their art into games, that's exciting. I wish those artists would open their own sites, add advertising and they could make money from it. I know users don't like ads but they are necessary, we won't attract new artists and game developers if it's just a hobby to them and they have to pay all the costs.
Do you have any plans for future projects on DressUpGames? Any artists you're hoping to bring on board?
More games, more games - always more games!!! I have a relationship with some good artists that I hope will do more games for me, for example Lee Yan whose most recent game is Concert OOTD. I love his style and his games are always popular!
There are no artists that I have found but haven't brought on board yet. Finding new artists is extremely time consuming. You can email lots of artists and if you're lucky, one will end up doing graphics for me. Understandably, they have lots of questions for me so may contacts don't go anywhere. Once my new layout is online I'll go fishing for new artist!
The next interview will be released tomorrow! Follow me to stay tuned!
-Theta