The father of 'Anh Hai's Pho Restaurant' wants to pay tribute to T1

In recent days, Brother Hai's Pho Restaurant is a game that has received a lot of attention from Vietnamese Internet users. Beyond the scope of a game, its related content has spread rapidly, spawning a series of derivative products.

Surprisingly, the team that created this game consisted of only one person. The game was completed on a low-configuration computer in the free time after school of a student at Hanoi University of Technology. Tri Thuc - Znews had a conversation with Marisa0704, the author of Brother Hai's Pho Restaurant.

Anh Hai's Pho restaurant was inspired by John Wick

Your only public information is your nickname Marisa0704. Are the rumors about you true online?

I am a student of class 66 of the Faculty of Information Technology and Communication, Hanoi University of Science and Technology. I am currently studying to graduate. I have been passionate about game programming since grade 10, exactly after seeing the success of Flappy Bird by Nguyen Ha Dong, also a former student of the University of Science and Technology.

I have done many small projects before, but most of them were not very famous and most of them were deleted. Anh Hai's Pho Shop was the first successful project.

The author's biggest inspiration is Nguyen Ha Dong, a former student of Bach Khoa - Hanoi and the father of the Flappy Bird phenomenon. Photo: Tech Frontier.

What inspired you to choose the pho restaurant theme for this game?

My original idea was to develop a game with pure Vietnamese culture. But the genre of spiritual horror and ghosts like Than Trung or Co Mau is not my forte or favorite.

So I chose a different direction, working on pho. This topic is both familiar to Vietnamese people and famous worldwide. I chose a small pho restaurant in Dan Phuong (Hanoi) as the setting to promote my hometown.

However, the main motivation for me to make the game to the end was to build the character of the shop owner Anh Hai . It sounds a bit strange, but that idea came when I watched action movies like John Wick or Now You See Me . I suddenly thought, why not combine the simplicity of selling pho with action and mystery elements? This made me very excited and started the project right away.

Is this game developed by you alone or with support from friends or team?

This project was a one-man project. I came up with the idea, programmed it, designed the background, and even animated the characters. However, the game used some assets that were publicly available on the Internet.

It took me more than a month to do it. Making the game only took up my free time, because most of my time was spent on school subjects.

In terms of graphics, my laptop is not powerful enough to run Unreal or Unity, so I chose Godot Engine. Overall, the finished game looks a bit ugly. But in the end, this was the right choice. That was the direction from the beginning, not a forced choice for the new graphics.

Anh Hai Pho Restaurant is a combination of everyday things and action movie universe like John Wick. Photo: Summit Entertainment.

What was the biggest challenge you encountered while developing the game and how did you overcome it?

Luckily, the development process went without major problems. However, the problem arose after packaging the game. The itch.io platform only allows uploading files under 1 GB, while the game weighed in at 1.6 GB. At that time, I was very panicked.

Luckily, I found some tips to compress the file to be extremely light while still keeping the content intact. But these tricks are the cause of the game crash error for a small number of players. Currently, I am trying to find a way to completely fix it.

Many people also suggested putting the game on Steam. But the platform requires a payment of 100 USD per game. I am not in a position to do that at the moment. The review process is quite long. However, I will try to do it.

I have already thought about the mobile version. If the demand is high enough, I will find a way to release it. MacOS is a bit difficult because of the strict security requirements there. For an indie game like this, the possibility of publishing is very low.

A mobile version of Anh Hai Pho Restaurant may be coming soon . Photo: Marisa0704.

Where did you learn to make games?

Polytechnic University does not have a major specifically related to games. I am studying traditional IT. Game programming skills are completely self-taught, mainly through free resources on YouTube. I often watch existing projects to understand the structure and how they make a game.

Part 2 of Pho restaurant

What else do you have to do with Anh Hai's Pho Shop?

Currently, I am focusing on fixing minor bugs that cause the game to crash due to file compression. As for updating more content, features or expanding the plot, I cannot confirm yet.

T1 World Finals is coming up. Many fans are asking me if I will update 6 stars. I'm thinking about this too, if T1 really wins, there's a high chance I will.

If T1 wins Worlds, I will add a star to the wheelchair
Marisa0704

What are you preparing for the next product?

The game being received to this extent is something I never even dared to dream of. Although I cannot confirm anything about the sequel or the upcoming journey of Anh Hai and Cau Vang, I am very grateful for this support.

The sequel to Anh Hai Pho Restaurant could be a game related to Bun Dau Mam Tom. Photo: Gemini/AI.

Even before the game became popular, I had an idea for a new story, one that shared the same "universe" and also involved traditional Vietnamese food. That was bun dau mam tom.

In this story, Anh Hai and Cau Vang will play cameo roles but not for a small amount of time. At the moment, this is still purely an idea.

What is the secret to the success of Anh Hai Pho Restaurant?

First is the familiarity and closeness of Vietnamese culture. Then, the game has many memes (jokes), making players very excited. And the element of surprise in the plot is indispensable.

At first, the jokes were put into the game just for my own enjoyment. Because making a game has to be fun first. But repeating the same old jokes will easily get boring.

With the following projects, I want to be more serious and limit "touchy" content. The plot can be more serious, I will still try to keep some funny elements.

There are many controversial details that appear in the game. Can you explain them?

The character Cau Vang was indeed inspired by the work Lao Hac . However, the real model was a dog near my house. But that dog passed away, so I put it in the game as a way to show my gratitude. Coincidentally, I saw a dog in Hanoi that people shared looked very similar to Cau Vang.

Tam - the owner of a barbecue restaurant in Dong Da district is "causing a fever" because he looks like Cau Vang in the game. Photo: Facebook.

Dan Phuong district is my hometown, now Dan Phuong commune. The location "Number 10 Dan Phuong" is completely fictional. I put it there to create a sense of closeness and familiarity, like the signs of pho shops in real life.

As for the logos of many YouTube Gaming channels, they are people who inspire me. They regularly play and support indie horror games - small, unpromoted projects. It is through that support that the anonymous game is known.

Studying at Polytechnic, do you still owe many subjects?

I would like to not comment on this issue. (laughs)

Source: https://znews.vn/cha-de-quan-pho-anh-hai-muon-tri-an-t1-post1599836.html