Awem Studio Blog

The release day of The Island: Castaway is round the corner. It remains only a few days till the mysterious shore welcomes its first castaways. The development process took us over a year and it was the most exciting and at the same time difficult project for us.

To realize all of our ideas we required advanced tools. And it took us over eight months to create special level and scenario editors. They were essential to customize the balance of the game and create diverse locations.


Once the editors were ready, we gave vent to our imagination to map out the island. Altogether there are 17 diverse landscapes in the game. Each part of the island has its peculiar features.

To increase the impression of the mystery we had the idea to introduce sacred statues which are hidden across the island. They are of grand importance for disclosing the island’s secrets and each new found statue brings the castaways closer to the clue!

• Artwork – creating the surroundings

One of the most essential aspects in the game development process is artwork. The artists create the world of the game and settle it with characters. In The Island: Castaway the artwork started with creating personages. The player meets 14 characters.

Working on the natives the artists invented their own tribe. Every detail was carefully thought-out: extravagant attires and accessories of Ugo, coarse features of cunning merchant Nomato, courageous and frank look of the young hunter Phato…


The graphics contributes considerably to the whole atmosphere of the game. But to attain the presence effect and immerse the player within the game world we have spiced the game with lively animation. The player can feel the slight movement of the surroundings: lapping ocean, crackling fire, etc.

• Audio illustration

Working on the audio illustration, we developed a special sound engine which allows stuffing the island with diverse environmental sounds. According to the locality where the player is, the tune smoothly changes.


The audio in the game can’t be described better that it did one of our beta testers: “I keep forgetting to mention how much I enjoy the music background in this game. When you are an island where there are plenty of fruits, but no boars or snakes, the music is soft and easy-going. But get the attention of a boar and the pulse of the music intensifies, and so does my heart rate! I know I have to run like the dickens! And when you get close to snakes, the music becomes really creepy and spooky, so you know you'd better watch where you step, because they could be hiding behind a bush where you can't see them. It's always a pleasure to get back to the easy-going music, and I know I can relax and go about my chores without having to fear for my life!”

Besides, we took into consideration that most of the players don’t like to read the dialogues. That’s why our personages are voice-acted by thoroughly casted actors.

• Trophies

The trophy system has become a nice tradition in our games. Trophies are integrated with the profile at awem.com and let the players increase their score and get a higher rank on Awem forums.

In The Island: Castaway there are 45 trophies. They can be upgraded while progressing through the game. To make things even more challenging we offer three scales of each trophy: bronze, silver and gold.


Of course, these are not all the surprises we’ve prepared for you. Welcome to join the castaways and reveal the mystery of the Island yourself!

The Island: Castaway Developer’s Diary. Part I

Planning a new project our main aim was to extend the experience, and what is more to try a new game genre. Awem studio already has an experience in developing arcade games (Star Defender 1-4 series) and match-three games (Cradle Of Rome, Cradle Of Persia). Recently we’ve released a new hidden object game Golden Trails: The New Western Rush. Now we are ready to venture into a new genre.

We had an enthusiastic professional team, lots of ambitious ideas and an eager desire to produce something really fresh, never-seen-before.


Before engaging in the development process, every game developer has to make important decisions: fix on game genre or even genres, choose the setting and so on. The idea to create The Island: Castaway originated over a year ago. It was early spring and we were all missing the sun. “Enough of these gloomy days, let’s craft our own piece of earth with sunny beaches, blue ocean and warm breeze! What if our game will be set on a tropical island? Spiced with a moving story and remarkable characters, it could be amazing.” This was like a call for action.

Caught in the toils

Having fixed on the setting there were no doubts that it would be an island filled with mysteries. The first question we faced was how to introduce game characters and what they are supposed to do on the island. Everyone in the team had his own version of the storyline. We decided to sift all the ideas and use the most exciting ones.

So, in the beginning the player learns that after escaping a terrible crash, some of the voyagers reached the nearest shore and have become its captives. The idea to solve the island’s mystery and get back home by any means unites the castaways.


Atmosphere above all

We focused ourselves on creating an atmospheric game, spicing the plot with unexpected twists and kicks. Therefore, the most important part in the game is the player’s experience. The key genre of The Island: Castaway is simulation. Honestly, it was a real challenge for us to set things going: neither Awem studio nor Sahmon Games have ever stepped before in the domain of simulation games. But we had the intention to create a special atmosphere and make the most out of the game play.

The main genre of the game supposes that the player has a set of tasks in order to accomplish the major mission. In the game the castaways got marooned on an unknown island and they must find out how to survive. First of all the player should learn how to provide the fellow tribesmen with a roof, food and other necessities.


There are many possibilities to get food: gathering fruits, fishing, catching crabs, gardening and hunting on the advanced levels. The player will unlock recipes to prepare meal and various potions.

However, it would be erroneous to reckon the game only to the simulation genre. The Island: Castaway features also a bit of quest. And what is more essential the player chooses means of accomplishing tasks by himself. We don’t impose any tactic, the player is totally free to develop his own strategy. Besides, the game supposes different possible endings.


Nevertheless, the key goal remains solving the Island’s mystery. The player should explore the whole island and unlock its previously inaccessible parts. Searching for the clues he will deal with the natives, conclude bargains and at the same time get deeper into the mystery.

Discussing the way of story presentation, we took into consideration that most of the players don’t like reading intro and long dialogues. Besides, too much information would overwhelm them. But we wanted the player to be imbued with the game. And it seemed impossible without some details of the story. Therefore, we decided that it should be introduced unobtrusively from the game play.

Island dwellers

Speaking of the characters, it took us quite a long time to form the group of personages we actually have. While working on the castaways we wanted to show the versatility of the human’s characters. The personages we created have their individuality. Besides, every character has a particular mission. They haven’t got accidentally on the island and each of them plays a special role. We introduced a conscientious doctor, a credulous artist, a Native American whose knowledge was essential for the castaways, and even a child whose curiosity allowed the castaways to meet the locals.


Another group of characters is the local tribe. We sift through a pretty amount of encyclopedias, watched lots of shows by National Geographic to gather information about various solitary tribes. Of course they differ from each other so we took the most typical behavior and created our own tribe to settle the Island.


In this part of the diary we’ve told you a bit of the game story and characters. Next time we’ll tell you more about the twists and turns of the development.

The Island: Castaway Developer’s Diary. Part II

When making Golden Trails: The New Western Rush, we were trying to choose vivid and the most pleasant to the eye locations, create bright and remarkable characters. Artwork is always one of the most exciting aspects of the game development. Artists are those people who create a big world of the game, fill it with living creatures and set the appropriate atmosphere and mood.

Golden Trails: The New Western Rush is a game with western setting, so it’s natural that we had to take into account every little detail in order to create a true Wild West world. Some of the locations underwent considerable changes before they went into the game.

Let’s have a look at the creation of the Wild West world.

LOCATIONS

Bank
The first variant of the Bank is a typical western construction. However, it was too simple and flat, and looked like a Holywood decoration. So, we changed the whole construction and made the whole place a bit warmer and lively, filled with soft and welcoming colors.


Church
Here are two different sketches of the Church. The first one presents a stone building which is not typical of western towns and cities. It looks bulky and bleak. So, we refused it. The second sketch reveals a small wooden church. As you can see from the third picture, we moved it closer to the player thus creating a small and at the same time convenient place for search.


Farm
Trying to find the right foreshortening. The first two pictures are the sketches of the Farm. The first one is far away from the player, while the second is a bit unwieldy. So we steered the middle course.


Mansion
Neil Barrow’s Mansion. Neil Barrow is one of the richest men in the city. So we had to create a luxurious house. The first sketch depicts a living room of generous proportions with sumptuous leather furniture and a huge window. But our task was to keep to the country style. So we changed the concept and added wooden material, such as wooden staircase, wooden floors and ceiling, elements of wood in furniture and even a luxurious chandelier is also made of wood.


From sketches to color pictures.

Sheriff’s Office and Mine Yard.


Canyon and Forest. Refining locations.


CHARACTERS


Cowboy Joe
Cowboy Joe is a true cowboy; he is brave, rude and adventurous. We tried to think over every detail of his appearance to convey his character.


Catahecassa, Tribe Chief
Though the Tribe Chief is not the main character of the game, he is a vivid image of an American Indian. His part in the story is small. However his adds greatly to the game atmosphere and is one of the brightest characters of Golden Trails: The New Western Rush.

Awem studio wishes you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year! May this festival bring abundant joy, happiness and peace in your life and your world be filled with warmth and good cheer this Holy season, and throughout the year!

May has always been my favorite month. And mostly because of Mother's Day. It is a time of breakfast in bed, family gatherings, and crayon scribbled "I Love You". Anna Jarvis made a great thing when proposed to celebrate moms.

There is no much time left before the holiday and it’s just the right moment for making the last preparations. I think, a nice gift would be a bouquet of flowers, a delicious cake from the confectioner's round the corner and of course a good game.

Funny to notice, certain games remind me some popular mothers. If you played Emerald City Confidential you’ll surely agree with me that Petra possesses qualities of Mary Wollstonecraft, known as “Mother of Feminism”. Or loved by thousands of players Flo from the Dinner Dash series makes me think about Alice Waters, who has successfully demonstrated how a restaurant can flourish.



To increase the spirit of the holiday we propose you to play the best family-themed games. Enjoy the charm of caring the lovely babies in Diaper Dash. Or look after the whole family in Virtual Families and Nanny Mania 2.

No matter what game you choose to play we are sure you’ll have a nice Mother’s Day. And… don’t forget to kiss your Mom!

I won’t be mistaken if say that spring is the most long-awaited season (100% for me). Shinning sun and verdant grass, pipes, promenades along quays… It sounds prettily, isn’t it?

And with it, in spring I start to regret all these tasty pizzas and double burgers I treated myself to. Or maybe you are a sweet tooth and were treating cakes and chocolates? Well, I’m one of you…

It’s time to get ready for the new season! I see brave runners here and there. The fitness centers became overcrowded. And, frankly speaking, I had the idea to call on the gym round the corner.

The casual games market seems to march in step. The Dinertown citizens go en masse to Jo the Jogger’s gyms in Fitness Dashgame. And Vikki works day and night to help people get fit and feel great in Fitness Frenzy. Of course, they won’t help you lose a kilogram or two. But you can pick up some useful exercises.



In any case, spring has come! And in spite of everything enjoy these rosy aromas hovering in air and bask in the sunshine. Vive springtime!

Do you like playing games? Do you know that the games you play are called casual games?

Very often the term “casual” confuses most players. Actually, there is nothing to write home about. They are the games that you can play from time to time just to relax, to spend an hour or two…

Casual games are of different genres and game-play. You may manage a farm (the Farm Frenzy series), create an ancient empire (Cradle Of Rome), investigate a mysterious case (Mushroom Age). You may be in charge of a tribe lost somewhere on the islands (My Tribe and Totem Tribe). You may go further and take a trip through time as in Mortimer Beckett and The Time Paradox, Alabama Smith in Escape from Pompeii.



I can make a bet that many of you don’t know that the first casual game was … Tetris. This hit of the 90th was invented by a Russian computer programmer in 1984. Of course, the term “casual games” appeared much later, in February 2000.

Nowadays casual games are not only a pleasant pastime, but the rapidly rising industry. Since 2002 many companies engaged in casual games industry have appeared.

So, you are welcome to join their adepts and become an ace casual gamer!