Hi everyone!
We wanted to do this devblog just after the announcement trailer but time flies and it’s already August! 😱
The announcement itself was quite terrifying between not knowing if we wanted Silksong to be announced (we just want to play it too of course) or not (Well, It'd have been a bit bad for us, even though we are convinced that MIO has a lot to give!)
All the comments and love we received was so heartwarming, thank you so much!! 💙
One of the first concept art by our art director, Etienne
We had some wonderful feedback on the game, the graphics and flow was almost unanimously praised which was a huge release since we were not completely sure it was going to work.
Behind every iteration was only the simple question of “do you like it better or less now?”, in a quite disorganised way of doing things but in the end we’re quite proud of what we managed to achieve !
We’ve been working on this project for the last three and a half years. No one outside the studio (except some playtesters) had seen it, so showing it at the Nintendo Direct was such a great opportunity but also a bit intimidating.
Some old moodboards for the game made by our art director, Etienne
How it started
It has changed a lot since the beginning of course!
We started with a very simple pitch : “A metroidvania game with a hook in a science fiction universe”. And then it morphed into what it is now.
We’ll try sharing some parts of the process in the next months. It was our first time doing this kind of gameplay and non linear experience. We had to experiment a lot.
A very important thing: the code name of the project is FLAMBY because of the look of our main character in the very first prototype of the game. I think we’ll always call it Flamby with the team, it has become such a habit.
One of the first prototype for the game
New keyart
With the team, we were also working on new main art for the game, even more representative of MIO's universe. Today, we're thrilled to show it to you!
We had the chance of having a wonderful team for this project and we can't thank everyone enough for all they did and are still doing as we speak. It’s a small team (around 15/20 people at the most crowded moment) so everyone was a big part of the process!
The Team - by Julia & Camille ("Merci ! On vous aime" meaning "Thanks! We love you!")
Our tiny cosy studio
Our studio is located in an old movie theatre and we can use the common parts regularly so it’s always great to go out to the garden in order to take a break or talk about the game in a friendly environment!
Plus it’s always a good opportunity to bring Ino outside to play with us 😁
Ino is the dog of our producer, she’s an Old German Shepherd and definitely a big part of the studio! She’s a very calm dog, often present during video calls and meetings and definitely a big source of distraction and smiles. ✨
Our little studio and wonderful dog, Ino
We were at Gamescom
We will keep working on the game in the next months and polish the game!
In the meantime, we have finally shown the game to journalists at Gamescom. It was quite intimidating but everyone was very nice and it was a great experience !
We also went to visit the indie area in the event, there were so many amazing games, you should definitely keep an eye out. Some great things to come 😉
If you're interested in finding out more about MIO, we have a X (Twitter) account where we regularly post content about the game. Don't hesitate to follow us!
We’ll keep you in touch!
https://store.steampowered.com/app/1672810/MIO_Memories_in_Orbit/