Hi everyone! When we decided to document the development process of IDEA in this series of dev blogs, we wanted to give you a sneak peek at how it is to create a game such as this, as well as explain how the game will be and the creative decisions that are leading us to it. But we also wanted to introduce you to the whole The Longest Road Games team. Games development is a collaborative effort, but indie games are often created by small teams where every person really leaves a mark in the final product. In a nutshell, IDEA would be a different game if it were being done by different people, so we think it’s interesting to meet the whole team – and you’ll also get a glimpse of how’s the day-to-day life of a game developer and learn a bit about our work. Our first “guest” in this series of Q&A with the dev team is Eneritz Arizkorreta, our team’s Technical Artist.
What does a Technical Artist do?
In a nutshell, a TA works as a bridge between coders and artists, but it may change a lot depending on the needs of every project. The tasks can go from creating tools to make the artists’ job easier to creating shaders and particles. Generally speaking, it usually is the person that makes sure the art director’s vision is followed within the graphic engine while making sure at the same time that all art assets are optimized and the render capabilities are never compromised.
What else do you do in IDEA?
On top of the effects I’ve created as Technical Artist, I’ve been taking care of all the visual needs of the project: I’ve designed the HUD, as well as certain icons and animations. I’ve also done a bit of level design as well.
How does your daily work look?
Usually I have some meetings during the morning to discuss what we did the day before and what we’re going to do today, see if we had any problems or if we need to discuss some aspect of the game in another meeting… And then it’s time to do some practical work! I begin creating the visual assets we need and sending them as I finish to get them greenlighted (or to get feedback to improve them). It’s just the same with the level design part – when something’s done I ask [level designer] Javi and [game’s director] Arturo to oversee my work.
What’s the most difficult part of this project for you?
I think that would be level design. When we have to map a screen we have to create paths from one landscape to another, and they need to make sense and be intuitive, keep the gentle pace of the game… It’s just like putting a puzzle together, at first it’s complicated but it’s super satisfactory when you get it right and everything falls into place and feels connected.
How did you start working in games?
Truth be told, it was simple enough! Arturo was my teacher for two years, and he helped me with a personal project I was doing, so he knew what I could do and how I worked. He took me in as an intern and basically told me that if I didn’t mess it up he would hire me – I said yes, he did hire me, and here we are!
What’s what you like the most about IDEA? How would you convince someone to play it?
It’s that kind of cute, soothing game you can play by yourself, while at the same time having just that little bit of interactivity with other strangers who are playing as well that makes you feel connected. You set your own pace and challenges – it can be reaching a certain zone that seems unreachable, finding the final edges of the map, just collecting all the pieces of visual art or reading what other players’ have left behind… There isn’t a bad ending or “you lost” status, either. Even “failing” is part of the point, you get to leave your idea for other people to pick. IDEA makes sure you relax, feel good, and have fun tackling your own challenges at your own pace.
That’s all for today, but if you have any more questions for Eneritz, don’t hesitate to leave them in the comments. See you next week in the next entry of our dev diaries!