Hi to all videogame enthusiasts!
We are a small indie game studio. Well, both of us have a non-game related job, but in our free time, we work on several projects that we would like to share with you and push them into the world. But first, let's start by introducing ourselves.
Mobile game we are working on - sandbox with an autonomous ecosystem (still in development phase)
Who are we?
We are a couple.
He
His name is Tomas, he will be 35 years old soon and he has been playing games since birth. He started on Atari ST and his favorite games included Metal Mutant, Space Crusader, and Prince of Persia. Games were his passion and so his childhood dream was to make them. And he fulfilled his dream right after his high school graduation.
In 2005, he found a job in Bohemia Interactive, where he worked as a 3D graphic designer for 7 years. He has worked on projects such as Arma 2 and Take On Helicopters.
Later he came to SCS Software, where he worked as a 3D graphic designer again. He made a few trucks for Euro Truck Simulator 2. It was a time when he began to develop his own games in Unity.
His first project was a mobile racing game called G-Bikes, which was released in 2012 on Google Play. You won't find it in the store anymore, but you can still watch its launch trailer:
She
Her name is Jana, she is 25 years old and she has always loved games, even though her parents didn't allow her to play them (much) as a child. So she plays them now because she wants to catch up on everything she missed. It's no coincidence that she met Tomas thanks to games. They had a mutual friend with whom they played Overwatch.
In 2018, she completed her bachelor's degree at the Czech Technical University in Prague in the specialization of Software Systems, so she is quite close to technology. At school, she enjoyed UX the most. She wanted to study it further, but the school gradually sucked up all her happiness, so after half a year she left and went to work to make money.
Already during her studies, she worked part-time as a tester, and she is doing it until now. She doesn't like testing anymore so she will become a programmer soon enough (her boss told so). However, her dream is to left work and make her living just by doing stuff she likes.
After the release of G-Bikes, he decided to start working on a slightly more ambitious project.
It was a sci-fi RPG game with turn-based combat called Forbidden Unit. He worked on it for 4 years before he realized that he won't be able to do it on his own. He left SCS Software so he could devote himself to Forbidden Unit, but his savings were gradually running out. The only hope for this game was a successful campaign on Kickstarter, where he would be able to raise funds to hire more people to help him.
The campaign was launched in 2017, but unfortunately, it was a failure. It's a shame because its trailer looked pretty good:
She has no experience with game development, but she helps with the creation of its content. Her role is:
Consultant and tester
She is the only one who can give some feedback or an idea for improvement so far.Graphic designer
Mostly pixel/voxel art."PR manager"
Someone has to start promoting our work.
She may eventually become involved in other development activities, but currently, she has more personal projects including cosplay.
The main reason for the unsuccessful campaign on Kickstarter was probably the underestimation of advertising and the fact that Tomas didn't have many followers. He found out that without a fanbase or a well-known brand, you simply don't have a chance to succeed in Kickstarter. (He also didn't have Jana to push him a little and help him with the promotion.)
And that's one of the reasons we're here. We are not planning a new Kickstarter campaign, but why to release a game if no one knows about it and so no one will play it, right?
That's why we decided to come to the Hive and share our projects and experiences with you. Now it's up to you! Every Follow and Reblog will make us a very happy indie studio!
Each of you surely has a dream that you would like to fulfill one day. Will you help us fulfill ours?
We are already preparing Discord server for everyone who will want to participate in the development of our games or just to hang out with us. When we settle it (now it is quite empty), we won't forget to share it with you! And who knows, maybe you will become our tester! :)