Sculpting Moonscars: Here at Black Mermaid, we can’t wait for the launch of Moonscars, our first title as a development studio. You undoubtedly already know we like the Souls series since you saw our trailers. We’ve been fans for a long time and were motivated to make a game because of their fantastic world-building and innovative gameplay style.
We want to provide a tough experience that takes place in a 2D environment, with combat that feels fast and responsive despite its inherent limitations. Today, we’d like to tell you a little bit about the history of Moonscars and the valuable life lessons we’ve gleaned through our own personal roller coaster of success and failure.
Moonscars – a beautifully animated dark fantasy Souls-like action RPG in a land full of living clay sculptures!https://t.co/lpkYD5COQg
by #gamedev @MoonscarsGame #indiedev #indiegames #gaming pic.twitter.com/IPXkvtkpvz
— Alpha Beta Gamer (@gameralphabeta) June 6, 2022
Sculpting Moonscars
The Great Myths And Legendary Aces
You control Grey Irma, a clay statue of a strong female warrior who has been brought to life in Moonscars. Her current look was established a long time ago, when her design was taken from a painting Stefan produced in 2015 (above), and while her personality was shaped to match best with the plot.
The Sculptor, who is responsible for making all sculptures that come to life, was once a very important person. At the time of the events of the game, he still has a great deal of authority and is motivated to make the world a better place in accordance with his vision, but very few people are prepared to pay the prices and sacrifices necessary to make it a reality.
We enjoyed the narrative of the mythical monarch and sculptor of Cyprus, Pygmalion, and his ivory statue Galatea, and we thought it would be interesting to create a universe where this notion is developed—perhaps with a sinister twist. Our narrative takes place in a universe where clay, bone, and ichor are the primary materials and tools of the trade.
Our world’s color scheme is based on the subdued tones of dark grays, dark blues, and dark greens seen in Dutch oil paintings by old masters. With such a tiny group, the dark color scheme helped us out a little bit while painting the backgrounds.
The Art of Game-Design
Our paths first crossed when we were both employed in similar roles developing game-like experiences for use in marketing activities. After debating the feasibility of establishing our own business for some time, we finally decided to take the plunge and embark on our own venture.
We were able to show off a preview of our new project quickly because of Alex’s programming skills and Stefan’s traditional painting expertise. We felt more assured after receiving so many compliments and votes of approval. Andryi Moroz joined us as a game designer and narrative writer a few months after we teamed with Humble Games; Andrei Platon, who shares our enthusiasm for animation; and a few pals who lent a hand on an as-needed basis completed the rest of the team.
There were a few obstacles to overcome when we launched our brand-new studio. The first was assembling a full team of local residents. We also had the necessary background in producing entire games, so we had to learn the ropes as we went along, and we underestimated how long it would take to reach the point where everything really began to click when we first began working on the project.
We also wanted hand-drawn animations that were as fluid as possible, but we underestimated how many drafts we’d have to go through to get them just right. Thankfully, this was fixed in the later stages of production.
In addition, we were caught off guard by how rapidly we honed our skills, to the point that even work we completed as recently as six months ago began to seem dated and need redoing. Over the course of our three years together, this occurred a few times in the art department.
In retrospect, it was perhaps overambitious of us, to begin with, but with the aid of our team, Humble Games, and the community that sprung up around the game, we were able to see it through to the conclusion.
The most difficult part of preparing for the launch was probably getting everything to a point where we could stop working on it. The desire to improve and alter anything is constant and never-ending. Knowing when to stop is crucial, and we gained insight into how to do so as well as how to significantly enhance our pipeline for use in future endeavors.
On The Home Stretch
The finished game is quite dissimilar to our first concept. In the demo, gamers experienced several new and fascinating dynamics that were developed by Andriy. During development, we realized that it was important to not stifle innovation just because it ran against the project’s initial goals. Instead, we should let the project grow, hone in on its strengths, and amplify them, ultimately leading to a more polished and enjoyable final product.
Final Words
Friends assisted us by playing, providing criticism, and cheering us on. After releasing the PC demo, we got even more helpful criticism and words of encouragement, which really boosted our spirits and motivated us to keep working on the game and making it even better. (On our next endeavor, we promise to get a head start on this.)
Our anticipation and excitement for the gaming community’s response to Moonscars are growing as its release date draws near. When the game releases on September 27 for PS4 and PS5, we hope you’ll all give it a try.