I have hired a concept artist to help me with keyart and logo design, then I made this onepager to introduce the game to potential publishers.
Blog on game design and empathy
Category: Personal
I am currently stuck in a limbo, and I will not come out easily from here. But I will do it.
I am preparing all the material needed to participate to the IndieDevDay24. I have hired a freelance artist to help me to the promotional material (one pager and pitch deck) of Pawtners Case.
For now, zero publishers accepted to meet me. I don’t know if this is normal because it’s the very first time I am willing to pitch to indie publishers. Anyway, the experience is worth to me. I am doing something different, at least.
For the rest, here’s the limbo: from one side I have companies that are offering very high positions to me, but then they disappear because I have never held that same position in another company. From the other side I am getting in touch with smaller realities that value well my work but they are offering too low compensation.
That’s a mess, and it’s hard to be patient with money running out of the bank every month. Wish me luck, if you read this.
This week I have worked intensively on my indie game, Pawtners Case. You are a police dog and you have to help your colleagues to solve cases.
The first level I am prototyping is a medium one. The goal is straightforward, you need to reunite with your colleague, Agent Quinn, and escape a warehouse. There is a bomb to dismantle, too.
This week I have implemented a lot of features, and a blockout. You can see the result here:
For the blockout, I started by looking for references and setting up a moodboard:
Then, I proceeded to create a notepad where I defined my goals, the sequence, and so on. Later I created a map:
Then, in Unreal Engine I set up the level, iterating on the concept. I have to say that I find Unreal Engine versatile for a game designer. It has integrated a gameplay framework that makes things easier. I am happy with my choice!
Today I have completed a set of new mechanics which will be useful for the very first prototype of my game. You can watch here:
I have also changed the name of the game, after listening to the first feedback on a Discord server. The game will be called Pawtners Case, I am studying also layouts for a possible capsule. This is what I got so far:
I am impressed by Unreal Engine. I don’t know why I didn’t use it until now. It has a whole gameplay framework already implemented, you can set things up very easily. And placing object in the level is fairly simple. It doesn’t have the huge community that Unity has, but it’s a powerful tool.
Now I need to focus on the level for the first prototype, and double check which mechanics I am missing.
I discovered that AEVI, a local association that helps game developers in Spain, activated a help plan for independent developers. They help you financially with the development of a prototype.
My first solo dev game in Unreal Engine is taking shape! I am excited, and I am willing to keep things very small and doable. I want to make a complete game in 6 months, and I can add 2 more for QA and debugging but that’s it.
My intention is to keep things fairly simple:
- You control a police dog and your goal is to help your human companion solve a case
- No dialogues, just emojis to express emotions. I want to avoid too many terms to translate. You can develop a relationship with your human colleague which will help you during levels
- As a dog, you can find valuable items (+$) but also damage the environments (-$) and this will influence the economy of the central station
- Everytime you perform some action you will learn more abilities during the level which can be useful to solve the case, so you decide
- No violence, PEGI 12, E10+ game. Explosions and shots will be funny using ragdolls and silly animations
When I was younger I was addicted to TV shows with a policeman and a dog. The most famous one was called Tequila & Bonetti. I still remember that piano music that Bonetti played at night, recalling his dark past.
I am studying Unreal Engine and I had an idea: an action game with a story where you are the dog and have to solve situations to move forward with the story.
For now it’s called simply “Dog game”, I am implementing the first mechanics.
What’s up readers? I hope you are good. As you can see, I am still recovering from vacation catching up with everything and I am not able to post daily for now. I will get there, just the time of closing a couple of deals…
I am studying intensively Unreal Engine because I noticed there is a growth in need for tech designers and I find it a great excuse to get better at that engine.
Today I wanna talk about my conception of social media use. I don’t have a proper strategy, I use it because I find it fun. And when I don’t find them fun anymore, I leave them. That’s it.
Someone may suggest you to write at least 3 times per week on LinkedIn to boost your engagement, bla bla. It’s all bullshit, believe me.
The main way of creating leads on social media is not by posting daily but interacting to other people’s content. Write them publicly and privately. You will get to know much more people like that, compared with sharing the little you know.
I post on LinkedIn and here because I freakin’ love life and my job. I have passion for game design and I love to speak about it loudly, that’s all. No strategy, no technique. Just pure fun. And when I don’t have fun anymore, I quit!
I am back from a relaxing vacation with my family. I have probably lost a possible client because I wasn’t available to have a meeting during my rest. I had an interesting interview with a big company that then decided that they prefer a Russian speaker (!!!).
I am back at my desk, ready to start a new working year. I have private challenges ahead, but I am sure I will figure everything out. I think I will use less LinkedIn, lately the trend is losing too much time on it and the return is low. I would prefer, this year, to engage more with Reddit and its communities. I would like to find a community to serve with small games, and show up regularly. I am on it!
I am also tired of many of the podcasts I used to listen to. They are a good resource to start, but they can also bring to analysis paralysis. So I will dedicate that time to more interesting activities.
Good to be back!
Hello and thank you for reading my blog. As you may have noticed, I wasn’t posting every day in the last 2 weeks. That is because I am closing my year and going off to vacations with my family.
I will return to post regularly on August, approximately. I need to enjoy a full disconnection and stay 100% with people I love. I need to read books and stay away from screens. My year was intense, full of work so I deserve that.
Have a great July and see you soon!
I have an idea for a videogame buzzing in my head since many months. It should be an adventure game in a solar punk setting where the Player moves on a skate and fights capoeira.
The name of the project is Silinha for now. Silinha is the family nickname of my wife and I want to dedicate the project to her. In fact, also the main character should be similar to her.
The story is inspired by 3%, a Netflix Brazilian series. But I want it to be solar punk, utopic, not post-apocalyptic.
I have started sketching out ideas and engaging with the Solar punk community on Reddit. This is my very first concept:
It’s ugly, I know, but I can see a lot of things in it. It’s not a good concept to share with a team, but it works for a solo project. I didn’t use AI to generate it, I looked actively for images (skaters, capoeira, solar punk) and made a collage in GIMP. I sketched on top to get the layout and then used plain colors to fill the shapes.
It’s bad, it’s ugly, but it’s mine and it’s my first attempt. So I am happy with it!