Firing Up The Forge
Hey, friends!
Don and Mike writing words at you from Los Angeles, CA where we’re currently working on an indie game called Swordcery.
This post is the first of many that will document our treacherous journey through game dev and the trials that arise as we work hard to pass Swordcery from our hands to yours. For our introductory post, we’d like to share what sparked the idea for our game, what inspires and motivates us, where the game is now, and how it got to where it is.
The Spark That Would Become The Flame
We first met each other while working as cinematic animators on the most recent God of War game (shoutout to the wonderful team at Sony Santa Monica and all of our friends there who support us!). Like most people when they start a new job, we slowly tested the waters of what was acceptable humor and what might cause an email from HR to show up in our inbox. It wasn’t long before we realized that we could both bear the full brunt of our inane jokes and wordplay. Bonding over dumb antics, we saw God of War through to its completion while spending lunch breaks crab-walking through parking lots and seeing who could crush the most pop sock-its in a row the fastest (Don has the record at 20). We were both super thankful to be working on such a huge, once-in-a-lifetime project but once it ended, we felt the need to make something that we could truly call our own. As scary as the idea was, we knew that if we didn’t do it now, we probably never would. With both of us on the same page, all we needed was an idea – a spark. That spark came to us in the form of pizza cutlery.
The First Blade
Don dreamt (like, literally) of a hero who wielded a giant, triangular pizza server. Mike questioned why it would be a server instead of a pizza cutter with an actual blade. Don cried silently over the fact that Mike would never truly understand his dreams. Without knowing it, this minor debate forged what would soon become the basis of our game. Life would have continued as normal, had one sweet, seductive idea not crept its way into our humble, yet powerful brains: “What if there was a hero who wielded the power of hundreds of really weird and quirky swords?” The pizza cutter (or Father Johannes as we’ve come to call it) became the first of these blades. We spitballed for hours on end about random swords, what their hilarious names or references could be, and what powers they could grant the bearer. And although we came up with some pretty great ideas, none of it mattered without a plan for the game. Where would these weapons come from? What should this game be about? How should it play? We knew we couldn’t move forward without answering these questions, so we decided to take a closer look at the things that inspire us, not only as developers, but also as people who just really love to play video games.
Crafting The Alloy
After exactly two seconds of talking, we realized that we both love Zelda and both enjoy the flow and the challenge of combat in the Dark Souls series. We’re also heavily inspired by indie games like Enter the Gungeon, Rogue Legacy, Wizard of Legend, and Binding of Issac and feel that there’s something truly enjoyable about collecting LOTS of weapons and items to become powerful while progressing in a run with no idea of where the end will be. Our goal is to combine the feeling of juicy melee combat with the satisfaction of experimenting with new weaponry.
Striking The Iron
As we mentioned briefly, both ya bois have animated professionally on AAA games. However, In the indie game world, this is a bit of a double-edged sword (huehuehehhe). A game created by two animators will certainly have buttery smooth anims, but buttery smooth anims won’t fill up a plate. That is to say, that we started this project with definite gaps in our capabilities. While developing this game, we’ve had to become much more than just animators and have spent the past year trying on all the different hats of game dev so that we can now wear them comfortably. So worry not, friends! We’re dedicated to making this happen and are hard at work every day to make Swordcery a reality – whatever it takes!
As it stands now, we’ve gotten just far enough to show off the basic functionality and mechanics of the game, a few rooms from two of our levels, and some of the special powers that define Swordcery. Our to-do list is gigantic, but we’re chipping away at it steadily.
If you’re still here reading this, we have only one thing to say… THANK YOU! Thank you for your support and encouragement, and we hope you’ll look forward to future updates!
– xoxo gossip girl
(Spoiler alert! We are “gossip girl.” And by “we,” we mean Don and Mike. And by revealing ourselves, we in no way admit to ever having actually seen an episode of “Gossip Girl.” But we are also not necessarily opposed to watching it.)
Look for more updates at:
Discord: discord.gg/YNMYDr7
Twitter: twitter.com/TempleDoorGames
Instagram: @Swordcery
Facebook: facebook.com/Swordcery