Over several years of being in a game studio, consciousness definitely changes. Over the course of 4 years, I managed to develop not only a couple of my chosen areas, coding and gay design, but also a variety of positions, for example, artist, accountant, team lead, networking manager, community manager and some other roles that I took on himself, being just a developer of one indie game. Honestly, I couldn’t even imagine that this path would lead me here, from where I would write an article on the 4th anniversary of game studio.
Flat Reality is celebrating its anniversary!
Thanks for stopping by! In October, our team (with everyone who can join!) celebrates the anniversary of the project. For several years we have been working on various entertainment projects: we started with the creation of additional. content for video games and we end... or rather, we open ourselves in the person of video game developers to everyone! Our team did a lot of different things under different labels, but it was always related to technology, programming and entertainment. We're currently actively (seriously, almost every day!) working on our debut video game, The Nick, which is in development right now. By the way, we’ll talk about it in this article. October is the month when all this began. Today, as a team lead, I first of all want to give credit to my team, which is developing a video game with open enthusiasm. It's interesting to ask what they actually think about all this. And in this article we prepared the first interview of the Flat Reality team, which we gave to ourselves :)
Until the end of October, my team and I will be in a festive mood, which we really want to channel in the right direction! We have planned a closed meeting in Moscow City, Federation tower, where we will eat donuts, chat and decide the future course of the studio. So, this means that the whole team will be in Moscow by this moment, in a group. So if you guys want to get together or invite us to an event, we're more open to suggestions than ever! Write to us at commercie@flatreality.ru whatever you want. We can organize a meeting even on the street. But in this case, please help with the organization on your own :}
If you are in another city or country, we are still open to invitations, because it will be much more convenient for us to organize transfers to the event point.
The entire Flat Reality team works with pure passion and is not paid! In honor of our anniversary, you can support us with a one-time or regular donation. Thank you so much for any support - it allows us more time to work on the game!
Общение с членами команды
Anna is the de facto golden member of the group and takes a vital part in the development of The Nick. She and I started developing a video game and continue to work together. She takes the role of artist and art director, so to speak. We asked her a few questions and here's what she answered.
Q: What do you do in the studio and in life in general?
A: I believe that every person should realize themselves as widely and as qualitatively as possible, so my activities both in the studio and outside are quite diverse. Within the team, I am the manager of everything that is called art dep - which in turn is a big responsibility. It’s difficult to single out one path that I pursue, because they vary greatly from task to task, but to generalize, all responsibility for the “visual” lies largely with me. This, to be honest, is a pretty exciting direction, so in my free time I prefer to sketch in traditional books, read popular science literature (I’m writing a research paper on phonons for the second year), watch independent films and, of course, play games.
Q: How do images of sprites and design come to mind?
A: In order to work with graphics - to know and be able to use them to set the tone for gameplay - you need to sufficiently see the game universe/specific situation through the eyes of Mr. Sometimes it’s entertaining and looks like child’s play, and sometimes it makes you think seriously and bring up forgotten problems. The task of a pixel artist is not to generalize an object to a format of a couple of pixels, but to fill it with meaning and associations, to transform color and shapes into a single, living thing. More than once I have come across situations like “the kettle is not old enough / the painting is not breathing,” so I would say that the artist grabs chaotically emerging images in his head and tries to “grab them and pull them onto the canvas” with the help of edits and specification.
Q: What is your main motivation to continue doing this business?
A: The main motivation for me is a warm, parental attitude towards the video game. I am excited by the thought that now ordinary people, such as our team, can unite and do something beautiful that accommodates our emotions, fears, experiences, and helps us realize ourselves and our creative and professional potential.
Q: Describe the upcoming The Nick game in one sentence!
A: The Nick is a supernova... no, not even that.
The Nick is a supernova explosion in the world of game development, affecting every dusty corner of the trembling soul, making you think, think and think again about your life.
Christophe is a veteran game composer who has worked on most of The Nick's soundtracks. His projects fascinate me and many other listeners/players. I want to promote it on SoundCloud, which has a lot of interesting things to listen to. When you have time, be sure to check it out! You can enjoy wonderful sound in our game thanks to Chris. I asked him a few questions about the process of developing music for a game about a boy and a psychological novel.
Q: What do you do in the Flat Reality and in life in general?
A: I'm Chris, I live in Paris and I have the pleasure of composing music for this
awesome game, The Nick! I love exploring a lot of different musical activities
in my life; it goes from playing with rock and metal bands to guitar teaching, creating
synthesizers, and, of course, composing for movies and video games!
Q:Why Music?
A:Music has always been an important part of my life. When I was young, there was always
music at home, whether recorded or played live by my father and his friends. As
I grew older, music started to take more and more place in my life, to the
point that I now live for music! The cool thing with music is that you never
stop learning and discovering! I play a lot of different instruments, double
bass, piano, modular synthesizers, shakuhachi, guitars, etc. I’m not a
fantastic player in all of them but I enjoy the different musical experiences
they provide! There are also a lot of different activities you can engage with
in music: composing, playing, teaching, creating your instruments – music offers
a whole world of exploration, and I have the intention to do as much as possible
with music during my time on Earth!
Q: What features did you find in the development of
music for the game?
A: Composing music for a videogame, especially for one as deep and powerful as The Nick, is a fantastic adventure! In The Nick, there are a lot of different emotions and ambiances,
and I do my best to emphasize them with music. My favorite moments in composing
music for this game are discussing with the Team about the game, its story, and
the feelings they want to convey. Matching words and images with music is such
a great experience! I usually sit in front of my piano, try to picture in my head
all the elements discussed with the team, and just let the music do the job! Composing
for video games requires a lot of humility as what you’re doing is not at all
about your music but how the music will serve the game.
Q: Describe the upcoming video game The Nick in one sentence!
A: Talkingabout The Nick in one sentence is very hard, there’s so much to say! I would say that we’re trying to provide the players with a deep gaming experience that
explores a lot of different complex emotions – try to picture a mashup of Twin
Peaks and The Shining in a videogame, you’re almost there!
Ekaterina is another artist. She took a huge part in creating the Flat Reality logo, some of the studio's promotional materials and of course many sprites for The Nick. It was very interesting to find out in more detail what she thinks about things that, by the way, I already asked Anna!
Q: What is your role in the team and what is your job in life in general?
A: My main hobby is drawing, so the skills I gain from my hobby in everyday life can also be used to draw sprites for the game.
Q: How do you get inspiration for creating art for the game?
A: Images of sprites appear in my head when listening to music, the atmosphere and sensations are similar to what I need to convey with the help of a finished picture. In addition, I take as a basis vivid memories from the past, including abandoned buildings and their unique atmosphere.
Q: What is your main motivation for continuing to do what you do now?
A: My motivation is the desire to see a finished project and try to fully immerse myself in it. I'm interested in what's happening, but besides that, it's very interesting to take part in the development directly, creating the environment and picture for The Nick.
Q: Describe the upcoming The Nick game in one sentence!
A: The Nick is an unusual game that has a frightening atmosphere, well-developed characters, a plot and music that can completely immerse you in the action of the game.
The Nick Digest
Developing an indie game with a qualitatively new gameplay is not an easy or quick task. During our work, we came up with a lot of different things, which decorate the story very well. Because of this, it may take longer - we polish and sand every pixel. Perhaps my perfectionism plays a role here (I’m a team lead), but now I can’t imagine The Nick without Nick and other things that were already implemented in the process.
Mechanics of the subconscious.
No spoilers. Nick will be forced to thoroughly explore the depths of his subconscious, regardless of whether he wants it or not. This is a key story mechanic that we will fully implement in the near future.
The first chapter is ready for..?
Exactly 50%. Subsequent revisions should be faster. In any case, every location that will be present in Chapter 1 has already been drawn.
EXCERPT OF THE NICK MAIN THEME
Listen to this excerpt from the Main Theme written by Chris. In my opinion this is perfect for the game. Reflects absolutely all the mood in one track. By the way, the full high-quality version is already ready, but on the studio’s anniversary I want to share something exclusive.
We'll show the trailer soon.
The first teaser trailer is already in development. The whole team is working on it, although it will not differ in any specific length.
Digests by e-mail.
We also remind you that we have newsletter subscriptions with different levels. We are very sensitive to those who follow our work with such passion, so we have prepared interesting surprises. For those who are not in the know, if you subscribe, we will send you a digest every time by email only with the news that you yourself have chosen to read. From reports to unique development factors.
The testing program for the Delta version is open.
We nevertheless decided to release test builds so that players could try the game before others and look for bugs. The builds are unstable... but it's fun! To join, you need to become a member of Flat Reality Testers. For this, by the way, you will get access to a special loyalty program and a unique “Tester” badge on your profile.
Gallery from the development front.
Here are pictures of what we're working on and what we've done so far! These are not promotional materials, just developer diary entries, so don't treat this as an announcement :)
The team needs expansion
If you have enough enthusiasm, want to gain experience, and also have free time, you can join! We will discuss all conditions individually. We require someone from:
Unity C# Programmer;
Pixel Artist;
Animator;
Community Manager;
Discord community administrator.
If any of this matches your element, please contact me directly at andrey.puchkov@flatreality.ru. So far, we have not regulated any clear processes for recruiting a team, so I will be the one who will talk to you. The chat on the site can also be a place where you can express your desire to create with us!
Unfortunately, we are too overwhelmed to have a big party for our anniversary. Otherwise, we could go to some event and give out free eclairs in honor of the holiday. The only thing I have time for now is to write this article. However, I hope we will obviously arrange something for our other events. For example, the release of The Nick.
Thank you for being with us!💜🍰