SUPER DUNGEON MAKER
Do-it-yourself dungeons
The two-person indie studio helping hobbyist designers take on Nintendo at its own game
Linda Treffler, co-director and artist, and Julian Treffler, co-director and programmer
H
usband-and-wife team
Julian
and
Linda Treffler
share a long-held ambition to make a
Zelda
game with do-it-yourself dungeon crafting. “Originally, the idea came from Julian, because when he was a child he thought that it would be super-cool to be able to just build your own dungeons in the
Zelda
games,” Linda explains.
Julian’s first attempt came when he was aged 12 and tried making a Zelda game using RPG Maker. “But RPG Maker is more for classic JRPG-type combat stuff,” he says, and trying to force the program into making something in the Zelda mould never worked. “That made me frustrated back in the day, which was also kind of a reason why, in the future, I went into programming, so I could finally create the stuff I really wanted and not be hindered by a tool that only offers specific stuff.” And with Super Dungeon Maker – released into Early Access on Steam back in February, and currently raising money for a Switch port via Kickstarter – the Trefflers are realising that dream, and giving new players the opportunity to do just what the young Julian could not.