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
Lisa522
