ABOUT
ALEX
Thank you for visiting my website about Punkville, I’m Alex a 40 something fella living in the South East of England. I am also the Dad of two brilliant young boys.
For the past year and a half I’ve been developing Punkville in my spare time in the evenings, while during the day I work in video production. Fortunately I’m fairly multi-skilled, I can design, animate, create 2D/3D assets, do sound design and then bring it all together into a finished piece, whether that’s an edited video, or in this case a Virtual Reality game.
One of the things I enjoy most is creating engaging content. If I can make something that makes someone smile, then that has made my day. I don’t consider myself to be a particularly funny person, but I will always try to add humour into almost everything I make.
I started making Punkville: Lifeswap because I felt that there wasn’t really a game like it out there. There are a good few open worlds in VR, but they’re often dystopian, post-apocalyptic or overrun with zombies. I wanted a world that felt like a normal, run of the mill town, somewhere you could simply exist, explore and do what I wanted.
So in many ways I’m making the game that I’ve always wanted to play, to relax, have fun or get up to mischief, or follow the game mechanics and progress your character if that’s your thing. When people ask what the game is like, the quick answer is “The Sims in VR”. But really it isn’t at all. Yes, you want to have a nice house, you need a job and you have to feed yourself, but Punkville is much more about being in the world. You can play, explore and interact with everything, and experience the town directly rather than simply telling a character what to do.
If I was to say what inspired me? It would be the brilliant Jones in the Fast Lane (1991), but no one remembers that. I’ve always loved games that let you carve your own path, and Punkville is my attempt to build a world where players can do exactly that and create their own stories if they choose.
I want Punkville to be a fun game to play, full of satire and hopefully make people laugh. Being British it’s quite typical of me to poke fun at many things, often drenched in sarcasm. So if there’s something to read or look at in the game, there’s a good chance I’ve done something silly in there. Tinned Pizza anyone?
Punkville is currently being developed entirely by me in the evenings after work and family life. That means every shop sign, character, sound effect and idea will have passed across my desk at some point.
The fun of building Punkville is too good not to share, which is why I’ve created the Patreon page. Support from patrons helps me keep building Punkville and growing the town. More importantly, it allows me to spend more time developing new features and ridiculous ideas, bringing the game to life sooner that it might otherwise arrive.
Punkville is still growing, and there’s a long road ahead. One of the best parts of sharing the project online is seeing people enjoy the world, spot the silly details, and suggest ideas for the town. Supporters on Patreon aren’t just helping fund development, they’re helping shape Punkville as it continues to expand.
If Punkville ever makes you laugh, or brightens your day even a little, then it’s doing exactly what I hoped it would, and I’m glad you’re here to be part of it.
Thank you for your support.
Alex
Ps. Tinned pizza. Don’t knock it until you’ve tried it. …then knock it.