The Pandemic: A Surprising Beginning!
For several years, Jean-Pierre and I have shared a close friendship, collaborating on a variety of thrilling endeavors. Our past projects include restoring a vintage Matahari pinball machine, building an arcade game console from the ground up, and enjoying countless late-night multiplayer gaming sessions!
Two years ago, the pandemic struck, and while multiplayer gaming remained enjoyable, we soon found ourselves drawn to the idea of creating our own game. As experienced software developers, we had the skills to make it happen. After evaluating both Unreal Engine and Unity, we chose Unreal Engine due to my familiarity with it and Epic’s royalty model aligning better with our business strategy.
Thus, we embarked on our journey and established Braintonik GameStudios!
The art style should be the cornerstone.
From the outset of our ambitious Spheriums journey, we prioritized the game’s art style as its foundation.
We shared a vision for an art style that would leave a lasting impression, utilizing rich, vibrant colors to elicit an emotional connection between the player and the game environment. We wanted players to feel compelled to explore each planet, appreciate the stunning landscapes, and marvel at key scenic locations. Every world we crafted needed its unique color palette, level design, and atmosphere.
Unearthly Environments and Creatures: A Unique Gaming Realm
While many contemporary games feature violence, human-like characters, blood, gore, strong language, and stereotypes, we sought to create something radically different. We aimed to develop a game centered around imaginative worlds and peculiar creatures—simple visuals, colorful designs, strange behaviors, and endearing qualities. Furthermore, we wanted to create an inclusive game that would appeal to families as a whole.
Unleashing Our Creative Impulses: A Deep-rooted Passion
As musicians, with Jean-Pierre having the experience of being in a band, we find that music captures the essence of joy and sorrow. Embarking on the journey of game development opened up new avenues for our creative expression. Ironically, we discovered that time constraints prevented us from composing music for our own game. Despite this, the excitement of exploring diverse creative facets proved to be a rewarding challenge.
Learning from Mistakes: Avoiding a Costly Error
A year into the game’s development, we launched it on Steam as an early access title in December 2021 to gather valuable community feedback. This turned out to be a fantastic decision. However, when we recently sought a publisher, we discovered that many were hesitant to consider early-access games. While there are publishers willing to work with early-access titles, they are few in number. Had we been aware of this earlier, we would have pursued alternative methods for obtaining feedback, as it is possible to do so even without early-access status.
Conclusion
Pursue your dreams! Failing to try may leave you wondering if success was within reach. Naturally, not every idea has the same potential. However, if you have faith in yourself, there’s no greater motivation than the passion fueled by your aspirations.
