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.
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.
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 
lferradino
