Developer posts and news about this game.
Right after the Phoenotopia Flash game wrapped up development in 2014, there was some pondering over what to do next. At the time, there was just me and one artist. But, I had nothing for her to do. Me: "Nothing to draw right now, so... talk to you again in a few months?" You can
A rare trip has come up. An old friend is getting married, which has necessitated I travel to the other side of the world. So on that note, let's talk about "Fast Travel" in video games. One might be tempted to think it's an easy question: "How soon should we have it?" But actual
When creating a game world, you have to tackle various design questions. We're familiar with the big front-facing design questions - things that require clear intent and are likely to be listed in the game design doc. They'd be questions about the game’s core genre and tone, the
Star Iliad uses a "Heart" system to display player health - which is a marked change from Phoenotopia's “HP”. Today, I'll explore why that is. Did we consider other health systems? And is using Hearts simply a cosmetic decision or a major change that will shape the game design fu
Happy New Year! New years invite reflection. Today, I’ll reflect on dev logs themselves. More specifically, why do we write them? What are they for? And why do I have writer’s block? ( Note: Chinese Translation of this devlog is available! Courtesy of Baojie ) A Quick History I s
Spot the difference in this picture of two enemies at the moment of their demise. On the left, an enemy in Phoenotopia. On the right, an enemy in Star Iliad. Notice anything? The one on the right sports a “hit glow” FX. Note: Chinese Translation of this dev log is available! (Cou
One common feedback we received for Phoenotopia was to add a map. Note: Chinese Translation of this blog post is available! (Courtesy of Baojie ) Unfortunately, it was too difficult to do since Phoenotopia wasn’t designed with 2D geometric considerations in mind. Perhaps it’s bes
The game has evolved a lot from whence it started. For fun, let’s dive into some old concepts. Don’t worry, they won’t be spoilerific since the current story has evolved far away from what will be shown. Note: Chinese Translation of this blog post is available! (Courtesy of Baoji
One of the most common requests I received for Phoenotopia was to add a double jump. Of course, once the game was out, adding a new movement mechanic like that wasn’t feasible without dramatically altering the levels and puzzles. It’s one of those deceptively small changes that c
Note : Chinese Translation of this blog post is available! (Courtesy of Baojie) When it comes to making commercial video games, let’s just say it’s not our first rodeo 😎 (It’s our second) Steam automatically compiles various play data from gamers. From Phoenotopia, I know that w